Another week of remorselessly terrible news. It’s enough to make the most pollyannaish of individuals start to become a bit gloomy. This isn’t just a health crisis. It is an economic and social crisis of unprecedented scale with stupendous but literally unfathomable consequences. There is enormous concern in the charity and non-profit sectors about the … Continue reading How bad is it going to be?

We are already hearing many stories of charities impacted by the COVID 19 crisis and facing the multiple issues of increased demands for their services, with staffing hit by sickness and self-isolation at the same time as income is taking an unprecedented hit. These are truly challenging times. Fundraising for charities has never been more … Continue reading Getting Digital Ready for the Crisis

Well this is moving fast. Just as they struggle to organise themselves to respond to the crisis, charities are grappling with understanding what the impact will be on their income. And if they will be able to continue to operate just at the point where they are needed most. Do we know how this will … Continue reading COVID-19 Fundraising Risks & Opportunities

We've been having lots of conversations with charity folks over the last couple of days. Of course there is enormous concern about the implications of the current crisis and how to respond. My initial suggestions are here. But if there is one question above all that has dominated it is, this. Do we launch an … Continue reading Should we launch an emergency appeal?

Well we all know we're in a proper crisis now. Last week we saw the coronavirus situation rapidly transform from an issue of concern to something that is now completely dominating the lives of all of us. In such a situation it's very hard to maintain perspective and do more than react to unfolding events. … Continue reading A proper crisis

I don't know about you but I am quite happy to see the back not only of 2019 but the whole twenty-tens. It is possible we will look back in future years and see all the good things that happened in the last decade that are currently hard to perceive but I seriously doubt it. … Continue reading A New Fundraising Decade

  That fundraising has changed and continues to change, fundamentally isn't news any more. Many people, including me, have been saying this for years now. The above chart (date from CAF's UK giving surveys) shows what's been happening to giving by individuals in the UK since 2014. At best, the picture is flat. Across the … Continue reading Moving to the New Fundraising World

I’ve always been fascinated by how non-profit fundraising varies across the world. I’ve done projects now in about 40 countries and each one has been interesting in its own way. There are a number of aspects of fundraising that are surprisingly similar across the world and some which are incredibly varied. Last month we carried … Continue reading Fundraising in South Korea

Brand people and fundraising people have fought in charities ever since I've been involved with the sector. Too often the two areas have had conflicting mandates and compete for attention and resources.  At its most extreme one brand manager in a charity I worked for explained to me that she saw her role as counter-acting … Continue reading How brand can really support fundraising

I've written before about my slightly weird preoccupation with charity benchmarking. Edited version, I'm a data geek and there's nothing someone like me loves more than comparative charity fundraising stats. But more pertinently, I think it's very hard to judge how well any charity's fundraising programme is doing without looking at its direct competitors.  How … Continue reading Why aren’t you benchmarking?