15 things I would do if I were the new head of donor development, part 1

by Ken Burnett

This list came about when a US journal for fundraisers asked me to imagine I’d just started in a new job, with a clean slate and sufficient resources to set about transforming the donor development function. It’s included here to help anyone in an even vaguely similar situation. And to help me set out my philosophy of donor development.

Why should God have all the best ideas?

by Ken Burnett

Plagiarism, we all know, is the most sincere form of flattery. Why trouble to think of your own big idea, if you can steal – or, perhaps better, borrow – someone else’s?

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.

The gold standard in fundraising, part 2: exceeding expectations.

by Ken Burnett

Final part of a conversation about transformational fundraising that Giles Pegram and Redmond Mullin had recently with SOFII’s Ken Burnett.

The gold standard in fundraising, part 1: laying the foundations.

by Ken Burnett

Giles Pegram of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and Redmond Mullin of Redmond Mullin Limited describe how a seminal five-year fundraising campaign irrevocably transformed the fortunes of one of Britain’s top charities.

How to grow income rapidly, at a reasonable cost, retaining donor loyalty along the way

by Ken Burnett

In Relationship Fundraising, the classic read for all fundraisers, Ken Burnett takes us carefully through the fundamentals of good fundraising. Ken reminds us that a unique relationship exists between donors and the causes they support, and shows us how to preserve and develop that relationship.

Review by Neil Sloggie.

Ken Burnett’s two great stories.

by Ken Burnett

Here are two grainy, shaky but very inspiring stories; Gabriella’s new feet and The worst tourist in the world.

Dr Barnardo’s Homes: the home collecting box

by Ken Burnett

The home collecting box remains many people’s closest link with charitable giving. Some collecting boxes are themselves collector’s items.

British Heart Foundation: the ‘calculate the cost of heart disease’ mailing

by SOFII

This is irresistible. How could any cost-conscious businessman or woman resist playing with this gadget to get an idea of what heart disease is costing his or her bottom line each year?

Greenpeace International: the reinvention of face-to-face fundraising

by SOFII

Across the world the approach Greenpeace developed for direct dialogue changed the way fundraising organisations recruit new monthly direct debit donors. Raising millions, perhaps billions of pounds in the process.

ISRT thank-you and welcome letter

by SOFII

ISRT produced a ‘welcome pack on a single page’. This low cost example of donor relationship development shows fundraising creativity at its simplest and best. Every fundraising organisation could and should aspire to have a thank-you programme and materials at least as good as this.

ActionAid: the inserts with built-in reply mechanism

by SOFII

This promotion raised £millions and won almost every direct marketing award going. It also helped propel a new and little known organisation called ActionAid into the list of Britain's top 20 charities. Action Aid created a new format, which was then copied by dozens, perhaps hundreds of other organisations.