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May 2015

Fundraising Reading Round Up

It's been a hectic month, so apologies for the delay between round-ups. I'm hoping normal service will resume and it will be back to fortnightly from now on.

Last week I had the pleasure of spending four days with fundraising colleagues from around the world at Amnesty International's internal Skillshare. I learned a lot about fundraising from around the world. One of the most interesting talks was from the UK and their use of virtual reality on the streets of London. You can read all about it in this press release. I was impressed at the quality of the experience and how affordable/easy it is to set up.

Sadly, the last month has seen fundraising being under intense scrutiny from the UK media in the wake of the death of Olive Cooke. There has been a lot of talk and knee-jerk reaction, but I thought this article by Angela Cluff of the Management Centre gave some sensible and practical advice for fundraisers.

I also want to give an advanced plug for an article that will be published on the Rogare blog next week. Ian MacQuillin has put together a compelling response on the whole case and it's potential impact on fundraising regulation and ethics.

The case was also made me more convinced than ever that we need to consider how we fundraise. If you've not read Ken Burnett's five part series on the future of fundraising, then I'd urge you to do it soon.

Elsewhere on the web...

101 Fundraising has been in great form, with some top content over the last month. Here's just a small selection:

The Donor Dreams blog hosts May's Non-profit Blog Carnival. The topic? 'You are the future of philanthropy'.

Sean Triner shares some fascinating research on emergency appeal donors and the best way to inspire them to give again.

Tobin Aldrich on the joy of failure.

Richard Turner describes what it is to be a holistic fundraiser.

Michael Rosen explains his view on the five latest trends affecting your fundraising.

Lucy Innovation gives us 10 top tips to succeed at innovation.

The Veritus blog's latest series is on influence in fundraising and is well worth a read.

The Clairification blog reveal six secrets to getting your acknowledgments out in in 48 hours.

Bright Spot Fundraising share four tactics that shape an outstanding culture in your organisation.

Fearless Fundraising on major donor cultivation.

As a self-confessed data geek, I enjoyed this look at predictive modelling for fundraising at the CoolData blog.

Simplify. Specify. Multiply. A simple approach to fundraising from Jim Shapiro.

 


April's Nonprofit Blog Carnival: A Celebration of SOFII

It's time to share April's Nonprofit Blog Carnival. I'd like to say to a big thank you to everyone who got in touch.  It's definitely a case of quality over quantity, but in the coming weeks there will be great new content on SOFII from the following people - n.b. all links are to the contributor's websites.

Roger Craver from the Agitator is sharing some of his archive and curating a history of social movements in the U.S.A.

Giles Pegram CBE will be revealing some of the secrets behind the NSPCC 'Full Stop' campaign.

Michael Rosen describes how much a good story is worth.

Freelance copywriter Robbie Rae will be contributing a direct mail classic to the 'How I wrote it' series.

Concern Worldwide Ireland working with Open Fundraising shared how they revamped their welcome process for new face to face donors.

Reinier from 101 Fundraising has kindly shared their fantastic archive for future SOFII exhibits.

It's still not too late to contribute an article. So if that has whetted your appetite then do get in touch.

In the meantime check out five of my all time favourite SOFII articles:

All the fab talks from the 'I Wish I'd Thought of That' events over the last three years.

The Jerry Huntsinger tutorials: over 50 articles of wisdom and advice.

Indra Sinha has written some of the most emotionally charged and successful fundraising ads of all time. Read all the about the Bhopal Medical Appeal ads he wrote from 1994 onwards.

Lisa Sargent's 'thank you' letter clinic.

May's carnival is hosted by Erik Andersen from the Donor Dreams Blog. The topic? 'You are the future of philanthropy'. Do get involved.