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36 pages tagged with Fundraising history:
- 800-year-old direct marketing knowhow, alive and well in the 21st Century Fundraisers, Denny Hatch reminds you to ‘steal smart!’. It’s just one of his takeaways from this incredible story of the Crystal Cathedral in California and the way it cleverly took cues from an appeal made 800 years earlier.
- A Dismal Swamp: an extract from Our Mutual Friend showing Charles Dickens’ view of fundraising in Victorian England Charles Dickens’ perceptive view of fundraising from Our Mutual Friend, 1864. Download this entertaining and instructive insight into fundraising from 150 years ago.
- A fundraising challenge to raise money for a legendary expedition Aline Reed comes up with another gem of fundraising memorabilia, this from the roaring twenties. Click here to see a wonderful idea that raised the funds to reach the top of Everest for the first time.
- A medieval ‘course’ in writing an appeal Do you think appeal writing is a recent science? Think again. In this article, Mark Phillips of Bluefrog Fundraising takes you all the way back to the Middle Ages.
- A timeline of modern British philanthropy In this fascinating article, Rhodri Davies takes you through a brief but insightful history of British giving.
- Celebrating donor recognition through history and exploring why it works Join Marina Jones as she shares a selection of her favourite examples of donor recognition. Dating back to mediaeval times, this is a wonderful (and sometimes weird) collection of ways that donors have been recognised for their gifts.
- Crowdfunding: A lesson from World War II The Spitfire was a single-seat, short-range, high-performance interceptor. But Britain faced an early and major problem with this impressive fighter plane – where to get the money to pay for the thousands that were required. The solution was fundraising.
- David Ogilvy’s secret weapon Few people more deserve the term ‘giant of fundraising’ than David Ogilvy. Here, in a fragment of film from days gone by, Ogilvy passes on a single gem from his glittering experiences. Those who heed his words will prosper.
- Eihei Dogen: fundraising letter from 1235 This letter, sent in the year 1235, may be the oldest fundraising letter on record. It’s certainly the oldest we know of. It is also an extraordinarily competent appeal. The letter identifies the different types of people that the writer, a famous Buddhist sage, wishes to address. It doesn’t just describe the need that donors can meet, it also recognises the benefits that donors might receive when they respond.
- Five insights for fundraisers from the British Red Cross Museum of Kindness We’ve been meaning to get this gem on SOFII for a while, and we hope you love this bit of fundraising history as much as we do. In this article Mark Phillips shares what he saw on his visit to the British Red Cross Museum of Kindness and shares what fundraisers can learn from their exhibition of wonderful things.
- Fundraising in the First World War: fighting the good fight Fundraising and charitable volunteering is a rather under-reported component of Britain’s war effort during the First World Ward, says Tony Charalambides, but it had an enormous impact on its outcome.
- Fundraising in the First World War: how the fundraising ground force made a difference Asking someone in your immediate vicinity for monetary help is as elementary as fundraising gets. More often than not, it’s as effective as it gets too – which is why it pops up throughout history. Fundraising during the First World War was no different.
- How do you say thank you for 41 million eggs? Fundraising history, donor recognition, supporter experience and thanking. This one has it all! Dive in and explore the many virtues of this World War One (WWI) National Egg Collection campaign. There’s plenty to inspire you and your fundraising, today.
- How the suffragettes became one of the most successful brands ever You might be surprised to know that one of the most successful branding exercises ever was performed by the first suffragettes in Britain. They were, of course, notorious for their demonstrations of bravery, but also for the splendid ways they raised huge amounts of money to promote equality for women everywhere. One woman was so inspired that she donated £1000 a year – £80,000 in today’s value, to be paid until women were given the vote. You’ll find out lots more here.
- International Committee of the Red Cross: Helping victims of the Turkish-Greek conflict Discover how efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) proved decisive in helping the victims of a brutal conflict.
- Ken Burnett’s archive on SOFII Index to Ken Burnett's archive START HERE! Click here for the full list of content with direct links to each article. For your convenience all content is grouped under headings: exhibits, case histories, stories, opinion pieces, techniques, books, videos and podcasts, plus additional material too. So dive in here, now.
- Legacy brochures from 90 years ago – what’s the same and what’s different to today? This is a rare ‘legacy edition’ from our ever-growing fundraising history project. Marina Jones has uncovered some gems in The Salvation Army archive, two legacy brochures from the 1930s. In this article she looks at what’s stayed the same (Marina found ten things!), as well as what’s changed, when it comes to talking to donors about making a gift in their will.
- Magic moments part one: how small beginnings inspire great causes In this article Aline Reed and Ken Burnett describe some great founding moments – how small beginnings can inspire great causes.
- Magic moments part two: how some of the world’s best causes got started SOFII casts its spotlight on the early instants of inspiration that gave rise to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Greenpeace, Centrepoint, Freedom from Torture, NSPCC, the Fred Hollows Foundation and University College London
- Magic moments: The founding of Cripplegate Foundation and North London Cares There is a lot going on in this addition to SOFII’s founding magic moments. It has a wonderful ghost story and is a great example of a consistent donor relationship that has lasted over 500 years. And it shows how philanthropy moves on, changes and can help younger organisations do the same.
- Moses raises funds for the tabernacle – c. 1,500 BC This is now the oldest exhibit on SOFII (and will be, until you tell us different). It's also a surprisingly instructive fundraising case history. If you look at the detailed notes it becomes quite clear that the prophet Moses was an accomplished fundraiser who both understood his audience and appreciated the nuances of his fundraising proposition and how it would be received.
- NSPCC’s Full Stop campaign - a fundraising triumph. Part two: the launch and beyond In part two of our retrospective of the NSPCC's ground-breaking Full Stop campaign, Giles Pegram CBE takes us through the details of the appeal, covering extraordinary events, celebrity supporters and bold initiatives which all contributed to the amazing impact the campaign had on the British public.
- Once upon a time…Oxfam and Remember Me Aline isn’t too sure if the technology used in this great way to use stories to sell goods in Oxfam shops wasn’t a little too sophisticated. Anybody out there have any further information?
- Pearly kings and queens – fantastic fundraising Mark Astarita tells the charming story of the pearly kings and queens. With their colourful feathered hats and hand-sewn pearl button suits, the ‘pearlies’ are an instantly recognisable London institution dating back 150 years.
- Pliny the Younger and the first appeal for matching funds, c. 100 AD. About 20 years after famously witnessing the eruption of Vesuvius that engulfed Pompeii, Pliny the Younger, perhaps the most generous benefactor of the Roman era, created a matching fund to help the parents in his home town to fund their school.
- RSPCA’s ‘sow tethering’ telephone campaign Any marketing campaign that can have such an impact on members of parliament on the eve of taking their country to war has to be worth recording. This campaign is notable as one of the early UK examples of fundraisers using the telephone.
- Tank Banks: more sensational fundraising from the First World War Now for something completely different: give a tank to thank your donors. Okay, this is a little cheeky, there aren’t many of us today who can give a tank as a special thank you. But we can create pride and excitement in our donors, just like the Tank Banks back in 1919.
- Ten fundraising truths inspired by Booker T. Washington Booker T. Washington was the first president of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University). But did you know he was also a skilled fundraiser? In this article, Marina Jones shares ten fundraising truths based on Washington’s success and insight. Dive in and be inspired!
- The best developments of 2010. In her fourth post for SOFII, Lucy reflects on the coolest developments of 2010: apps, interactions and gaming and their impact on the fundraising sector. Could you use them in your next campaign?
- The SOFII history project part one: treasures from fundraising’s history Welcome to part one of SOFII’s history project. Dive in to explore the best campaigns from antiquity to the 20th century.
- The SOFII history project part three: the legends of fundraising Meet the women and men who transformed, improved and revolutionised fundraising.
- The SOFII history project part two: the all-time fundraising greats Do you want to learn from the very best in the fundraising business? This is the section for you as we explore the greatest ever campaigns, events and pioneering thinkers.
- The SOFII history project: introduction and contents Being a great fundraiser means knowing your history, and learning from it. This introduction helps you to explore SOFII’s collection of historical fundraising brilliance. Enjoy!
- United Negro College Fund: David Ogilvy’s letter 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.
- What can 6,000 appeal letters show you about fundraising 100 years ago? In 1912, researcher William Harvey Allen studied an incredible 6,000 fundraising appeals – and then wrote a book about it. In some ways, it’s a bit like an early SOFII, a place where Allen documented the fundraising tips (and mistakes) of his time. Marina Jones takes you through Allen’s findings and shares some of the ways in which fundraising hasn’t changed.
- What can 6,000 fundraising appeals from 1912 teach you about asking for money? In part one of this series on William Harvey Allen’s review of 6,000 fundraising appeals, Marina Jones noted that the challenges fundraisers face hasn’t really changed much in 100+ years. But today, Marina looks at what these historical appeals can teach us about how we ask for money from donors. Dive in to discover ten key lessons.
