Adrian Sargeant’s foreword to Bluefrog’s research into the causes of lapsing – donors have a right to feel good about giving
Last summer, Bluefrog presented its findings on a huge qualitative study to identify the key reasons why donors decide to stop giving. As many of you who attended the event told me, the information was great, but the presentation wasn’t. That’s why we have taken a little…
How a gold bikini took me back in time
When I was a fundraiser at the YMCA, we had a very specific problem to deal with – our brand was bigger than the organisation. Virtually everyone had heard of the YMCA (we had something like about 98% awareness), but few people really understood what we did. The Village People had…
One reason why Sainsbury’s supports Comic Relief
On Monday, Sainsbury's posted its best quarterly sales growth figures for two and a half years. One event that helped boost sales was Comic Relief. 19 million shoppers were attracted to the store around the week of the event. That's more than at any time outside Christmas….
Why donors are like parrots
I can’t remember where I found this story, but it sums up a particular characteristic of donors… A man goes into a pet shop looking for a parrot. “I want a parrot that can talk,” he says, “I don’t care what he looks like, but…
Now and again, something happens that surprises you
In my efforts to keep this blog dynamic and useful, I’ve taken to late night and early morning posting (It’s the only chance I get as I’m running Bluefrog during the day). At about half-past seven on Friday evening, I put up the preceding post…
I’ve given my first donation via Twitter
I’ve posted about FORGE in the past (A US based charity that works with displaced communities in Africa). They tried to implement the Kiva model (without the lending part) and it didn’t work too well. As a result, Executive Director, Kjerstin Erickson, went public about…
How to use Twitter to raise money
Everyone is ranting about the massive amount raised by Comic Relief. But behind the huge numbers is a great little idea by Peter Serafinowicz, who managed to raise over £5,000 on Red Nose Day with a combination of Twitter and Just Giving. His idea was…
So how much should people give to charity?
There are a great couple of video clips on tacticalphilathropy.com First off is an interview with Peter Singer, author of The Life You Can Save. In case you didn’t know, Peter is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University and his new book combines a…
How the direct debit cycle works
I posted a piece last week on Rapidata's paper on what's happening to direct debits in the UK. It can be downloaded here. Have a look. It isn't often you get such a chunk of great information completely free of charge. But just in case…
Return to Melksham
Just before my short break, I had a very interesting conversation with Helen Reynolds of Sue Ryder Care about their pay what you choose pricing experiment in their Melksham charity shop. This has been one of the most popular topics I’ve covered so I’ve started…
