Fundraising archive
Fundraising has been around ever since people started to help each other. So examples of inspirational, instructive and innovative fundraising inevitably go back many centuries. But our records and record-keeping have not been all they should be. In this section SOFII aspires to display and describe the history of fundraising.
- Treasures from the twentieth century
- Wonders from history
- The second oldest profession: fundraising from the dawn of time
Fundraising in the First World War: how the fundraising ground force made a difference
by Tony Charalambides
Asking someone in your immediate vicinity for monetary help is as elementary as fundraising gets. More often than not, it’s as effective as it gets too – which is why it pops up throughout history. Fundraising during the First World War was no different.
Read moreFundraising in the First World War: fighting the good fight
by Tony Charalambides
Fundraising and charitable volunteering is a rather under-reported component of Britain’s war effort during the First World Ward, says Tony Charalambides, but it had an enormous impact on its outcome.
Read moreThe National Trust: recruiting members by the millions
by Aline Reed
The story of Octavia Hill, an amazing fundraiser and co-founder of the highly successful and respected National Trust.
Read moreThe Bhopal Medical Appeal grabs every opportunity to tell good stories
by SOFII
How very perverse that Dow Chemicals should pay to snoop on organisations working in Bhopal.
Read moreUnited Negro College Fund: David Ogilvy’s letter
by SOFII
Go back in time to meet one of the commuters who, in 1968, found this superb letter from David Ogilvy on the seat of the train taking him home to his comfortable New York suburb.
Read moreGreat Ormond Street Hospital: Christmas mailing, from 1941
by Aline Reed
What an achievement for Great Ormond Street Hospital’s fundraisers during the Second World War, someone kept their mailing for 70 years.
Read moreHarvard University: how Harvard got its name. Major gift fundraising in the seventeenth century.
by SOFII
The examples in this exhibit are almost 400 years old, yet it would seem that we are still making the same mistakes today when it comes to major gift fundraising.
Read moreHelp the Aged: ‘you have this gift’ direct mail pack
by SOFII
Both the text on the envelope and the incentive in this classic direct mail pack from the 1980s have been copied frequently.
Read moreDr Barnardo’s Homes: how the death of Carrots led to a powerful slogan, from 1866
by SOFII
The death of a lonely young boy led Dr Barnardo to declare that the children’s homes that bore his name should never, ever close their doors to any child. A great example of fine writing combined with sincerity.
Read moreDeerfield Academy: Bruce Barton’s fundraising letters from 1960, letter 22
by SOFII
It has been a pleasure and a privilege to bring you all these letters from that master of direct mail letter-writing, Bruce Barton. But, as the infamous ‘they’ say, ‘all good things must come to an end’. Yes, this is the last SOFII has. But, of course, as they also say, ‘the glass is half full’, so maybe there are more out there that will find their way to SOFII.
Read more
