The main areas of fundraising
The elephant man: a fundraising success story from 1886.
by Ken Burnett
The extraordinary story of how a successful fundraising appeal transformed the final years of one of the most tragic and moving figures of the Victorian age.
Read moreReverse Book Club cold acquisition pack: Books change lives
by SOFII
Book Aid International’s latest donor acquisition mailing package, created by them with UK marketing and communications agency Catalyst.
Read moreAmnesty International: the shame Shell campaign
by SOFII
This exciting exhibit from Amnesty International UK reveals new and innovative ways to keep your donors at the heart of your next campaign.
Read moreCentrepoint ‘sponsor a room’: donor acquisition
by SOFII
This exhibit is proof that traditional direct response fundraising can still work in the current fundraising climate. It demonstrates simple yet effective press advertising combined with a clever use of digital technology.
Read moreHow I wrote it: the Sharp HospiceCare conversion letter
by Fergal Byrne & Tom Ahern
In the first of this SOFII series of interviews with leading fundraising writers, Fergal Byrne talks to Tom Ahern about a letter he wrote in 2002 for Sharp HospiceCare. Here Tom tells Fergal how he wrote this letter, explains his approach and takes us through the letter step by step.
Read moreLongstowe Church, Cambridgeshire, UK: restoration appeal
by Anthony Clay
‘Recession? What recession? It all goes to show that good fundraising still works, recession or not.’ How a tiny congregation in rural England raised the huge sum needed to restore their splendid church.
Read moreThe Bruce Barton letters: 22 classic direct mail appeals
by Ken Burnett
If you are new to SOFII, or an old hand, please have a look at some great fundraising letters you’ll love. Written by Bruce Barton over many years, they are priceless examples of the craft of writing fundraising letters.
Read moreYMCA: ‘soft sell’ legacy advertising
by SOFII
In the mid 1980's, the YMCA offered a free legacy information service to generate a list of potential prospects...
Read moreBook Aid International: the Reverse Book Club
by SOFII
This medium level structured monthly giving scheme is a good example of a fundraising product that has been specifically designed to fit the needs of donors to a very particular and specific cause.
Read moreThe Oxfamily box
by SOFII
Sometimes the simple ideas work best. Oxfam's neat device for involving families in the fight against poverty at Christmas time raised a lot of money and also helped families to put their own good fortune into perspective.
Read moreNSPCC: the Centenary Appeal, setting the gold standard in major campaign fundraising, from 1984
by SOFII
There are few really transformational moments in fundraising history and this exhibit sets out to capture one of them. The NSPCC’s Centenary Appeal campaign in 1984 propelled fundraising practice in the UK and Europe forward in one giant leap.
Read moreGreenpeace UK: their cycle of renewal and reactivation mailings – the inertia mailing
by SOFII
The last in this series of renewal and reactivation appeals is the cleverest, we feel. It introduces supporters who have resisted all the other requests in the cycle to the concept of a new and very dangerous threat to the already threatened environment: the donor's own inertia.
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