I sense a certain frustration in the NCVO offices that reactions to Sir Stuart Etherington’s Fundraising Review (actually it should be noted, a review of fundraising regulation) have concentrated heavily on the proposal for a fundraising preference scheme to allow individuals to opt out of fundraising communications. As one of the guilty parties, I do … Continue reading Unintended consequences
Author: Tobin Aldrich
Babies and Bathwater
The one thing you can’t accuse Sir Stuart Etherington and his fundraising review team of is tardiness. In record time, two weeks for taking evidence and five weeks for deliberation and write up we have the conclusions of what has been described as the most important review of fundraising in the UK for decades. It … Continue reading Babies and Bathwater
We need a new audience!
How many times have you heard something like this from a senior executive in a charity? “We have a real problem with our donors. They are really old. And they are really passive. They don’t understand the breadth of our work. All they do is give us money. We need to find a new audience!” … Continue reading We need a new audience!
Inside a Social Experiment
A while ago, we announced the launch of the Misfit Foundation, a new non profit set up to help charities connect donors with the work they are supporting through technology and the power of story telling. We did this because we thought donors deserved a better deal. And that treating donors better would create better … Continue reading Inside a Social Experiment
Fundraising lessons from Kids’ Company
If you were a cynical person you might wonder why we have yet another charity story in the media now. After all, the problems at Kids' Company have been around for a while, there seemed to be a perfectly sensible plan in place to deal with it (send charismatic but bit bonkers founder upstairs, find someone … Continue reading Fundraising lessons from Kids’ Company
And now for the plug..
With no end to the press onslaught on fundraisers in sight, it is more important than ever that charities' senior leadership are fully on top of their fundraising operations. So it seems like a good time to announce my new service, the Fundraising Audit. It's designed to give leaders of nonprofits of any size an understanding of how … Continue reading And now for the plug..
So what to do now?
We've probably had enough analysis now. There's been lots of really thoughtful comments and blog posts responding to the recent media assault on the practice of fundraising in the UK (and rest of the world, this is coming your way soon). Some of the best posts are here, here and here. And I've said plenty … Continue reading So what to do now?
Making the case for fundraising
Who'd be a fundraiser? Another day of unrelenting UK media assault on our profession and many of us are probably wishing we'd chosen a more publicly acceptable career. Like estate agent or merchant banker. Drug dealer maybe. It's depressing and salutatory to see how a vendetta in the right wing tabloid press followed by the other news media. … Continue reading Making the case for fundraising
Is fundraising broken?
Until this weekend at least, it had been a quiet summer so far for news in the UK. We know this because the press have devoted a lot of front page space to stories about charity fundraising. It's nice to be noticed. Unfortunately when the right wing press* runs stories about fundraising, they aren't about all the amazing … Continue reading Is fundraising broken?
How to do face to face fundraising
This is part of the Islington stretch of Regent's Canal in London. One of my favourite city walks. The other day as I passed by the stretch of the canal, I was approached by a fundraiser, working for the Canal and Rivers' Trust. It was a lovely day, I was in a good mood and … Continue reading How to do face to face fundraising
Fundraising Fundamentals 