Press advertising, off-the-page and inserts

Though it has declined in importance for fundraisers in recent years there are many markets where there’s impressive potential for press advertising to make a significant comeback. This section features some of the most effective press advertising of all time, from the great Amnesty and Oxfam ads of yesteryear to today’s stunning ads for Bhopal.

The Salvation Army: the ‘for God’s sake care, give us a pound’ campaign

by SOFII

In this campaign the Salvation Army revealed the urgent need of people who had fallen off the edge of society. Their shocking photographic campaign sought to jolt people into action with the hope of raising £1 million.

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Lessons for fundraisers from yesterday’s cigarette advertising: instructive campaign images from the 1930s, 40s and 50s

by Ken Burnett

This article has been on SOFII for some time, but I have a feeling we didn’t actually tell anyone. We hang our heads in shame and urge you to check out some astonishing cigarette adverts – and what campaigners and fundraisers can learn from them.

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Kids Help Phone: buy a kid some time

A series of emails were sent out to past donors which encouraged them to visit the ‘buy a kid some time’ campaign microsite.

by SOFII

This exhibit demonstrates how a simple but powerful message combined with a comprehensive integrated campaign strategy can secure real success.

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The Children’s Hospital Trust operating theatre complex campaign

by SOFII

This is a good example of how different types of fundraising can work alongside one another to create a successful campaign with a broad appeal.

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The Wishing Well Appeal for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital

by SOFII

It's difficult to do justice to a capital campaign as wide, and complex. This is a condensed summary of a major capital campaign which, at the time, was the largest appeal ever mounted in the UK.

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The elephant man: a fundraising success story from 1886.

by Ken Burnett

The extraordinary story of how a successful fundraising appeal transformed the final years of one of the most tragic and moving figures of the Victorian age.

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Amnesty International: the shame Shell campaign

Amnesty’s shame Shell advert.

by SOFII

This exciting exhibit from Amnesty International UK reveals new and innovative ways to keep your donors at the heart of your next campaign.

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YMCA: ‘soft sell’ legacy advertising

by SOFII

In the mid 1980's, the YMCA offered a free legacy information service to generate a list of potential prospects...

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NSPCC: the Centenary Appeal, setting the gold standard in major campaign fundraising, from 1984

by SOFII

There are few really transformational moments in fundraising history and this exhibit sets out to capture one of them. The NSPCC’s Centenary Appeal campaign in 1984 propelled fundraising practice in the UK and Europe forward in one giant leap.

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RNLI: ‘He’ll face…All we ask of you’ press insert

The single-sided black and white RNLI insert from some time in the early 1990s.

by SOFII

Stained with the passage of time and perhaps more than a little carelessness, the face looking out at the reader from this single sheet insert has nevertheless lost nothing of its strength and power to impress. The simple direct proposition makes this one of the classic fundraising offers of all time.

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Dobrota Foundation: ‘everyone can be a philanthropist’ campaign

by SOFII

This massively ambitious multi-media campaign generated results that speak for themselves. It shows what can be achieved with vision and commitment, even in an emerging market.

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Amnesty International Australia: David Hicks press insert 2007

by SOFII

The clever presentation of a compelling message and the chance for involvement in a campaign that could make a real, tangible difference presented AIA…

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