This is for YOU: an urgent appeal from Ken Bur­nett, founder of SOFII 

It’s about SOFII and about you, but to explain prop­er­ly, I need to start fur­ther back with why SOFII exists in the first place.

Written by
Ken Burnett
Added
June 23, 2014

The idea for SOFII came to me when I was travelling to Heathrow airport, on my way to Australia. I was thinking about a great fundraising idea I’d introduced to a tiny charity called Book Aid International, which had raised lots of money and, in fact, saved them.

Book Aid International held me in great regard as a result, but the truth is, that idea wasn’t mine at all. It was a version of a fundraising scheme that I’d remembered the Bible Society of America using very successfully years earlier.

A good memory – it’s a tremendous asset for a fundraiser, which is of course in part what SOFII is. It’s our collective memory – a place where you can find successes to inspire more successes, but also the odd word of warning on what not to do.

And SOFII is getting bigger and better by the day, with new exhibits, blogs and features. Importantly, it’s being used, just as I had hoped it would be. The number of people using SOFII has grown enormously, but sadly it’s all happening at a time when our funding is reaching crisis point.

To keep SOFII free, I need your help. Yes, yours.

If you’re here, it’s probably safe to assume you’re a fundraiser – a conscientious one who wants to do the very best for your cause. I very much hope SOFII helps you to do that, just as it helps many other fundraisers throughout the world, who may not be in a position to give money to support us.

Of course, SOFII only exists at all because so many people give something. Their time, their exhibits, their comments, their opinions.

Now, we need your money – it’s a simple as that.

If you live in the UK, please click here to give your support to SOFII now.

If you live outside the UK, please click here.

Thank you.

Ken Burnett, Founder, SOFII

PS I didn’t explain the experiment, did I? Well, during your visits to SOFII, you’ll see a series of banners, inspired by this exhibit on SOFII.

Which will win? You will decide, but if SOFII survives as a result, we’ll all benefit.

About the author: Ken Burnett

Ken Burnett

Ken Burnett is author of Relationship Fundraising and other books including The Zen of Fundraising, (Jossey-Bass Inc, San Francisco, USA). The Tiny Essentials of an Effective Volunteer Board and Storytelling can change the world, both published by The White Lion Press, UK

In 2021, he wrote and published a book about campaigning fundraising, The essence of Campaigning Fundraising in 52 exhibits and 199 web links.

Ken co-founded SOFII with his late wife Marie and served as a trustee before retiring from the SOFII board in 2022.

Related case studies or articles

Falling for SOFII again

It's always great to receive positive feedback from SOFII users and here Tony Charalambides sings our praises and explains why you should fall for SOFII too.

Read more

I wish I’d thought of SOFII

Charlie Hulme blows SOFII’s trumpet as he berates fundraisers for, among other things, a shocking lack of vocation. But is he right? We couldn’t possibly comment, of course. The views of the author are, quite obviously, solely his own...

Read more