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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Station WNED, Buffalo and Toronto: ‘thank you’ card to a donor

Great responses to donors don’t have to be flashy or expensive.

by SOFII

This is so quick, simple, cheap and easy it is just great. Why can't all fundraisers take a leaf out of Channel 17's book and send donors promptly a cheery, appropriate and inexpensive thank you like this?

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Rebecca Brown and Agnes Holliday: mystery shopping tests for PBS and the Smithsonian Institution

Another lovely letter from a charming lady.

by SOFII

The purpose of these tests was to find out if the generally low levels of customer service offered by fundraising organisations in the UK and Europe were matched by similar organisations in other countries. While the results were generally depressing they also produced flashes of individual brilliance and a long list of useful lessons.

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