‘Behind the clock’ legacy marketing – if you aren’t doing it, perhaps you should be

by Eifron Hopper

The decision to make a will and leave a legacy is often one that takes a long while. Find out how to engage with your supporters and deliver the legacy messages that will help them to make one of the most important gifts of all.

Cancer Research UK: ‘No-make-up selfie’ campaign

by SOFII-author

An 18 year old from Stoke in the UK is credited with dreaming up the no-make-up selfie craze that raised an amazing £1 million in the first 24 hours, mainly through text messages and social media. The craze went on to raise £8 million in a week. Cancer Research UK can now report back to their hundreds of thousands of new donors that 10 clinical trials are now in place that otherwise wouldn't exist.

Movember: A fundraiser’s story of raising money through personal sponsorship

by SOFII-author

A great case study from a ‘mo bro’ of doing fundraising, engagement and feedback well, and being focused on supporters’ needs and interest.

The collection: it’s never too late to do something wonderful.

by Ken Burnett

A new fundraising experience for less-than-new fundraiser Ken Burnett: rattling a bucket on behalf of Syrian refugees. Read how he met some interesting people, raised some money and learned that truly it’s never too late to do something wonderful.

In lieu of flowers: how to write lively memorial donation thank-you letters

by Lisa Sargent

Are your in-memoriam donation thank-you letters destined for donor oblivion?

This copywriting clinic looks to help you rescue them from a fate worse than, well… death.

Harvard University: 17th century major gift fundraising

by SOFII-author

The examples in this exhibit are almost 400 years old, yet it would seem that we are still making the same mistakes today when it comes to major gift fundraising.

The Obama effect

by Jonathon Grapsas

Six lessons from President Obama’s fundraising team to help fuel growth in your organisation.

Copywriting and design strategies for better donor newsletters: a before and after success story

by Lisa Sargent

Fundraising copywriter Lisa Sargent and designer Sandie Collette, of S.Collette Design, discuss how copywriting and design go hand-in-hand to make a Dublin-based charity's newsletter overhaul a success. Discover the strategies that helped make it happen in this case study of a nonprofit newsletter.

The early Christian Church: Paul the apostle motivates his church’s donors – c. 56 AD

by SOFII-author

This could be the first ever appeal for regular, committed donors. In the early days of the Christian church the missionary Paul asked his supporters in the city of Corinth to set aside a small portion of their income regularly, to sustain victims of a famine and then later to support good works generally.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific: the welcome process

by SOFII-author

Think objectively about the experience a new donor has within the first few months of joining your organisation. Greenpeace Australia Pacific has developed a new and simplified process to ensure that new donors receive clear communications that both thank and further engage them. The result is that they’re reducing the number of donors who leave within the first three months.

To ask or not to ask, that is the question when saying thank you to a donor

by Lisa Sargent & Sean Triner

Find out what Sean Triner, co-founder and director, Pareto Fundraising in Australia and Lisa Sargent, principal at Sargent Communications, LLC in the USA have to say about this.

Oxfam: Press ads from the 1950s and 1960s

by SOFII-author

These press advertisements really did change the course of fundraising in Britain. They helped Oxfam to grow into a substantial international charity. Though they might seem crude and simplistic now, these ads very effectively alerted the post-war British public to considerable humanitarian needs abroad.