40 years on: Why wouldn’t you wear a Band Aid T-shirt?
The reception of the re-release of Do They Know It’s Christmas? as a super-mix to mark its 40th anniversary highlights some shifting attitudes toward global charities that need to be understood by fundraisers who work for INGOs. Unlike its past successes, the single failed to…
Five fantastic insights for fundraisers from the British Red Cross Museum of Kindness
One of the many great things about charities is the people they attract to work for them – the changemakers – the people who actually get stuck into tackling poverty and fighting injustice, who support others when they are in need of help and who…
What can you learn from the early days of fundraising ads on TV?
This post follows the review of the early days of NSPCC TV advertising produced by Giles Pegram which can be read here. You need to read it before tucking in to what follows. There are hundreds of different charity ads on our TVs, but by…
How to raise money to build a cathedral (medieval edition)
One of my key learnings from my conversation with Giles Pegram (you can listen to the podcast here) was the recognition that the techniques he used for the NSPCC appeals were not new – they dated back to the middle ages. So after our chat,…
Why do people give? The podcast with Lyndall Stein
Lyndall is a remarkable fundraiser. Her experience includes setting up the UK fundraising operation for the African National Congress when Nelson Mandela was still in prison. She then went on to work for the Terrence Higgins Trust when HIV and AIDS were still beyond treatment…
How Oxfam used new power in the 1960s to help a group of teenagers raise £5 million.
A short while ago I met up with Giles Pegram to record his reflections and thoughts about why people give? (which you can hear here). As part of this discussion, Giles told me how he got into fundraising. His story repeatedly brought to mind the…
Why do people give? The podcast with Ken Burnett
This was another treat for me. Ken remains a huge influence on my thinking and this is the first time I’ve been able to dig into who and what influenced him. We kick off with a history of ActionAid. Ken shows how an open mind…
Why do people give? The podcast with Giles Pegram
One of the breakthrough moments in my career came when I began to understand just how much we could learn from our fundraising predecessors about how we should raise money today. I’m not talking about the last decade or so. I’m talking about going deep…
Three ways to supercharge your charity newsletter (time-warp edition)
One of my most popular posts was written back in 2010. It described how you could raise more money and build better relationships with donors by producing a great newsletter. You can find it here (but with the march of time and shifting platforms, most…
A medieval ‘course’ in writing an appeal
There is virtually nothing new in fundraising. It’s one of the reasons I spend so much time in archives, hunting around for historical examples of how people used to raise money for charity. I learn a huge amount that I can implement – with a…
The Essentials
‘Tis Halloween. Keep to the light and beware the Four Fundraisers of the Apocalypse!
Why do people give? The Donor Participation Project with Louis Diez.
A guide to fundraising on the back of a postcard
What does the latest research tell us about the state of fundraising?
How do donors manage their philanthropic budgets?