The Girl Effect: starting conversations for change

by SOFII

The Girl Effect organisation has admirably mastered the art of creating short and powerful videos that inspire and move both old and new supporters.

Save the Children: Gaza ceasefire SMS campaign

by SOFII

When Save the Children took the thousands of messages they received to 10 Downing Street, the prime minister, then Gordon Brown, spoke out to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. They also converted 9,000 respondents to regular giving.

Medicos Sin Fronteras: medicine for someone else’s pain

by SOFII

‘Pills for another person’s pain is a project of awareness and also a new symbol of hope.’

Great Ormond Street Hospital: Christmas mailing from 1941

by Aline Reed

This direct mail appeal from 1941 has everything. Charm, courage, dedication and, perhaps most importantly, it is brilliantly innovative too. Plus, how many mailings have been preserved for 70 years and then end up being sold? Find out more in this great case study.

A debt to the master: the Ogilvy effect

by Ken Burnett

Part two of SOFII’s tribute to ‘the pope of advertising’, David Ogilvy.

David Ogilvy: A profile of the ‘father of advertising’

by Christiana Stergiou

While the thought of another ‘must read’ book for fundraisers might overwhelm, you really should read this book, especially if you want to hire, or are currently working with an agency, want to apply for a job, have to write copy or are using …

How to really understand fundraising’s reigning big idea, direct mail

by Mal Warwick

The foreword to this short and readable book summarises its value well, ‘For reluctant writers who need warm-up exercises and structured lessons…and for seasoned grant writers who get caught up in the jargon of our fields’…

Review by Jan Chisholm. 

The emotional brain

by Ken Burnett

Seasoned fundraiser Ken Burnett says of his latest article, The Emotional Brain, ‘It seems to me that fundraisers don’t know as much as they might about what it is that makes people give and why; what makes them loyal or repeat donors and what binds them to our cause above other causes, come what may. So I’m fairly sure that the emotional brain is the most important subject I’ve written about in a long time. Working on it has quite altered my view of what, as fundraisers, we should be doing when we acquire and then communicate with our donors.’

Commitment. And why it matters more than anything for fundraisers

by Ken Burnett

Has the argument about the value of donor commitment finally been brought to an end? Ken Burnett reports on how Roger Craver of the Agitator and his colleague Kevin Schulman have developed a way to calculate your donors’ commitment and, from this, ascribe a commitment score to each of them.

Three little words lost – the end of Make Poverty History

by Ken Burnett

The ambitious proposition explicit in the Make Poverty History campaign may not yet have succeeded in changing political agendas, far less in eradicating poverty. But it has certainly captured the public's hearts and minds.

Telephone fundraising, part 2: how to use the phone across different programmes

by Bethan Holloway

In the second part of her articles on telephone fundraising, Bethan Holloway gives an overview of fundraising campaigns that the telephone could massively improve.

Telephone fundraising, part 1: why the phone is a great fundraising tool

by Bethan Holloway

In this first of three articles Bethan Holloway gives five reasons why the telephone is such a great fundraising tool whether your organisation is small or large.