Lon­don, 2013 

The sec­ond IWITOT in Lon­don took a sto­ry­telling theme with Once Upon I Wish I’d Thought of That. This time 20 hand-picked speak­ers from dif­fer­ent parts of the fundrais­ing sec­tor tell the sto­ry of a sin­gle fundrais­ing idea that they admire or envy in just sev­en min­utes each. Here are the ideas pre­sent­ed on the day.

Lauren Semple

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The story that was voted best of all at SOFII’s 2013 Once Upon I Wish I'd Thought of That event.

Lauren Semple presents Aching Arms teddy bears member-get-member scheme

Lucy Caldicott

Seventy years before social media, a 13-year-old girl changed the way we see our world forever. Now the Anne Frank Trust in the UK has started a campaign to encourage young people with a thirteenth birthday in 2013 to write to the prime minister, David Cameron, to tell him what kind of world they would like to see.

Lucy Caldicott presents The ‘thirteen-in-13’ campaign, from Anne Frank Trust UK

Jonathan Andrews

This campaign run jointly by UNICEF UK and the paint company Dulux raised £52,000 in the first day. And the company paid all the costs.

Jonathan Andrews presents UNICEF UK: ‘own a colour’ appeal

Aline Reed

The story of Octavia Hill, an amazing fundraiser and co-founder of the highly successful and respected National Trust.

Aline Reed presents The National Trust – recruiting members by the millions

Jane Bardsley

This partnership between Oxfam UK and Marks and Spencer is fulfilling the needs of people in the UK and developing countries. The planet is a winner too.

Jane Bardsley presents Oxfam and Marks and Spencer’s schwopping partnership

Teri Doubtfire

This appeal for the happiness of Martin and Lulu, two lonely capuchin monkeys is charming, honest, urgent and authentic. It captured the attention of supporters across the UK and beyond and is an example of fantastic storytelling without forgetting the ‘ask’.

Teri Doubtfire presents The Owl and Monkey Haven’s appeal for two lonely capuchins, Martin and Lulu

Matt Parkes

Giving circles like the Tiffany circles of the Red Cross can make giving more interesting, more satisfying with a group of other enthusiastic donors.

Matt Parkes presents The Tiffany circles of the Red Cross

Paul De Gregorio

Cancer Research UK’s race for life is an event for women only, so it gives them the chance to take action against cancer. Through constant innovation over many years, nearly £500 million has been raised to beat cancer.

Paul de Gregorio presents Cancer Research UK’s race for life

Gemma Sherrington

This extremely important campaign from Friends of the Earth perfectly integrates fundraising and genuine participation, through beautifully produced and interesting involvement devices, both online and offline.

Gemma Sherrington presents Friends of the Earth: the Bee Cause

Richard Turner

Oxfam’s first foray into television advertising was a disaster and they very nearly ditched the whole thing. But a chance remark turned disaster into a monumental success and added a new dimension to recruiting new donors.

Richard Turner presents Oxfam UK’s £2.00 a month proposition to new donors

Rich Mullens

Alexander’s Fund inspired a community and raised over £255,000 in less than two weeks to save a young boy’s life.

Rich Mullens presents Alexander’s Fund: how fundraising inspired a community to save a life

Danielle Atkinson

For more than 15 years UNICEF has raised many, many millions for the world’s poorest children from the simple but brilliant idea of collecting travellers’ unwanted foreign coins.

Danielle Atkinson presents UNICEF’s Change for Good® campaign

Adrian Salmon

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.

Adrian Salmon presents David Ogilvy’s letter for the United Negro College Fund

Andy Whyte

An appalling loss of life in 1886 leads to the invention of a fundraising classic that's still raising millions today. A horrific double tragedy brought about Britain’s first-ever street collection for a charitable cause. It was a significant milestone in the history of voluntary action in the UK and elsewhere.

Andy Whyte presents RNLI: Britain’s first-ever street collection, 1891

Matthew Sherrington

Knit a tiny hat and you could save a newborn baby’s life. This beautiful campaign from Save the Children UK shows what can happen when you make it crystal clear to people the difference they can make.

Matthew Sherrington presents Save the Children: knit one save one

Karin Weatherup

This excellent film from Facing the World makes it abundantly clear what the donor has achieved. It’s sentimental, just very moving.

Karin Weatherup presents Facing the World: excellent use of video