NSPCC: how to motivate fundraisers
- Exhibited by
- Giles Pegram CBE
- Added
- May 23, 2012
- Medium of Communication
- Target Audience
- Individuals
- Type of Charity
- Children, youth and family.
- Country of Origin
- UK
- Date of first appearance
- Unknown
SOFII’s view
These postcards are quite delightful objects of beauty and value in themselves. Add in a few carefully selected words of praise and appreciation and they’ll become prized and treasured mementoes capable of inspiring further and greater achievement. A nice touch Giles, which we’d love to see copied by other fundraising leaders.
Summary / objectives
The NSPCC has always encouraged its fundraisers to go the extra mile, to excel and then some. Some years ago Giles was looking for an appropriate way to thank individuals from the NSPCC’s large fundraising team when they had done something that deserved special recognition. By chance, the method he hit upon had the effect of not only thrilling and motivating the individuals he wanted to thank, but also inspired other fundraisers around them.
Background
One day Giles Pegram found himself in the NSPCC’s large and no doubt dusty archives, surrounded by the discarded paraphernalia of fundraising in a bygone age. Among the boxes of events apparatus and the piles of unwanted publications around him he came upon, quite by accident, some old posters from the 1920s and 1930s, advertising regional fundraising events and meetings for the NSPCC. He thought these rather charming so, tucking them under an arm, he took them upstairs and arranged for them to be reprinted as postcards. It is reproductions of these postcards that you can see, opposite.
Special characteristics
The postcards turned out to be an easy and convenient way of conveying the short messages of appreciation that Giles then began to pen and send off to worthy individuals from his fundraising network who, in one way or another, had excelled themselves. And that, Giles thought, was that. Job done.
Influence / impact
It was only later, when he toured the offices of the Society on his periodic walkabouts that Giles realised the true impact of this simple gesture. He began to notice some of his postcards had been given a second purpose. He started to see these short, colourful messages of encouragement proudly and prominently displayed upon the walls and desk spaces of different fundraising departments, decorating the work areas of their recipients like badges of honour shown off for other colleagues to see. Giles said, ‘I saw these posters in the archives and fell in love with them. I had six printed as postcards and used them to send brief notes to staff across our appeals departments who had done something special. I would find these nuggets out by contacting each of my management team every Friday. After I’d been doing it a while I remember walking round the offices and finding them pinned above people’s desks. It doesn’t replace walking the floor or holding regular staff meetings to tell people how good they are, but it became a valuable additional way of recognising performance in all areas of fundraising.’
Costs
Negligible.
Merits
It’s an example of the effective encouragement of fundraisers. It didn’t cost much yet was highly valued. It encouraged the recipients to walk a little taller and to share their achievement with the world. It’s a simple, caring touch that’s easy to copy.
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