If you listen to charities talk about their donors, you'd be convinced we all love our supporters to bits. We use all the right words, we talk about how our charities wouldn't exist if it wasn't for our lovely supporters and we have lots of people with titles like "supporter care" or "donor services" in our … Continue reading Keeping donors. Part 3: The power of thank you
Fundraising
Keeping Donors: Part 2. Test & Learn
So no one thinks that losing lots of donors ever year is a good thing, right? It's very easy for outsiders or suppliers trying to sell stuff to pontificate about all the things a charity ought to be doing better. Making that work in practice in the very imperfect world that non profit fundraisers inhabit … Continue reading Keeping Donors: Part 2. Test & Learn
Keeping donors Part 1: Engagement
So how do we plug the leaky donor bucket? We know, actually, quite a bit about what the key drivers of donor loyalty. A good guide is here. In brief, they encompass a donor's beliefs and values (does the charity share them), experiences (how did they treat me) and emotions (what would happen if I stopped giving?). But … Continue reading Keeping donors Part 1: Engagement
The Year of Retaining Donors
You don't have to be Nostradamus to predict that 2016 is going to be a tough year for fundraising. In particular, as the impacts of greater regulation and a hostile press are gradually absorbed, it is almost certainly going to become even harder to recruit new supporters for the great majority of non profits. So we … Continue reading The Year of Retaining Donors
The War on Charities
Another day, another headline attacking UK charities in the press. There's no doubt 2015 has been an annus horribilis for the voluntary sector in this country. I can't remember a time when charities have felt so beleaguered and morale has been so low. As the year has developed, the focus has shifted from the fundraising practices … Continue reading The War on Charities
Asking for permission
Any historian will you that the trends we think are important today are rarely those which turn out to have biggest effect. Proper historical judgements take time. Chou Enlai, Mao’s longtime henchman* was once asked what he thought the long term impact of the French Revolution had been, “it’s far too early to say” … Continue reading Asking for permission
Optimism of the will
“I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will” Antonio Gramsci 1929 So I think more fundraisers should read Gramsci. You might question the relevance today of the words of an Italian Communist leader who died in one of Mussolini’s jails in 1937 but bear with me. Gramsci was not someone who … Continue reading Optimism of the will
Does investing in fundraising work?
A look at the results of major UK charities to see if they can prove the case for investing in fundraising.
For Liz
Yesterday we received very sad news. We heard that Liz Monks, one of the most respected fundraisers in the UK and a close friend and colleague to many of us in the sector, had died of cancer. She is a terrible loss. I didn't know Liz well but I was proud to be asked to became … Continue reading For Liz
Changing the narrative
Last week a group of fundraising folk had an open table discussion in London about the current mess UK charities are in and what we might do about it. Of course, this was far from the first such conversation fundraisers have had and will be a very long way from the last. Although there was plenty … Continue reading Changing the narrative
Fundraising Fundamentals 