Individual donors

What would fundraising be without donors? And what would SOFII be without a special area devoted to nurturing and developing donor relationships? Within this special space SOFII has selected and assembled a glittering array of specialist showcases in which we display a treasure trove of examples of the art and science of donor relationship development.

NSPCC: the Little Book of Change

A page from The Little Book of Change

by SOFII

A brilliant example of stewardship at its best, the NSPCC’s Little Book of Change is a superbly-chosen high value thank you for major donors and volunteers alike. The Little Book of Change was designed to bring to life a range of outcomes for children that had previously been presented in a statistical report. Individual stories of children and families are shown through letters, poems, stories, magazine articles and drawings. This approach could be utilised by any organisation to make its key stakeholders feel part of what the organisation is trying to achieve and to secure their help in the long-term.

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Station WDCN, Nashville, USA: special ‘thank you’ to a donor

by SOFII

A fundraiser really listening to her donor, thinking on her feet and responding in an entirely appropriate and personal manner with a communication that any donor would be delighted to receive.

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RSPB: brand stretch work

by SOFII

Ten brilliant images designed to inspire and introduce new audiences to the work of one of Britain’s premier conservation organisations.

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RSPCA New South Wales: cupcake day

Cupcakes

by SOFII

The brilliant thing about this idea is that the supporters do most of the work and they have a great time too.

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Covenant House Alaska: ‘moustache march’

A bevy of likely lads with acceptable upper lip adornments all line up for the first moustache march

by SOFII

Covenant House helps homeless and runaway youth in Alaska. Moustache march, has brought new supporters to their cause, as well as raising much-needed funds.

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Movember: moustache-growing campaign for men’s health

by Christiana Stergiou

This fun and lively event encourages men to grow a moustache, find out more about men’s health and raise money for prostate cancer research and awaren…

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Muscular Dystrophy Group: envelope test

by SOFII

In tests, when groups of fundraisers were asked, ‘which of these five envelopes do you think would provoke the best response?’, they almost invariably opted for the letter that looks most like a letter from a friend.

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Mencap: Christmas appeal

by SOFII

This is a colourful, well-designed appeal that makes very good use of an attractive and appropriate involvement device to raise more money – and make donors feel good.

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Womankind Worldwide: donor recruitment mailing

13 year-old bride Aberash, from the front page of the leaflet.

by SOFII

This high quality direct mail package cleverly involves donors in delivering support and practical encouragement to a real individual.

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Longwood Gardens direct mail membership acquisition pack

by SOFII

Colourful and creatively appealing, this package is also a textbook example of good direct mail acquisition practice.

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Greenpeace UK’s ‘forget it’ pack reactivation mailings

by SOFII

It’s easy now to forget that as recently as 20 years ago giving by direct debit was a comparative rarity. The paradigm for most fundraisers with large donor bases was the annual renewal cycle. This is the first mailing from a particularly good example of a renewal series, from Greenpeace UK.

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Greenpeace Frontline: launch of a high level monthly giving scheme

by Charlotte Grimshaw

This was an early monthly giving scheme by Greenpeace UK. Within a short while, one fifth of all its income was coming from Frontline members.

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