The main areas of fundraising
RCSB: Bhopal emergency appeal
by SOFII
Created in less than two hours, this ad went on to raise more than 20 times its total costs in just a few days, to become a classic example of disaster appeal advertising. More than £420,000 was raised and most of it directly attributable to the press advertisements.
Read moreMédecins sans Frontières: ‘field partners’
by SOFII
Without doubt all fundraisers want regular givers and lots of them. This is a great example of how to convert your existing supporters from random one-off gifts to planned regular giving, and how charities can change the giving behaviour of existing supporters.
Read moreThe early Christian Church: St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians
by SOFII
This may not be the world’s earliest ever recorded mention of fundraising but it could well be the first ever example of a fundraising director exhorting his troops to achieve their targets. Or, do you know different?
Read morePrincess Margaret Hospital Foundation: Wings of Hope appeal
by SOFII
This carefully crafted direct mail programme neatly combines an innovative donor involvement device with a symbol of hope that each year plays an impo…
Read moreAlbert Street Methodist Sunday School: the foot of pennies from the 1930s
by SOFII
A small yet colourful part of England’s fundraising heritage had been discovered in a Methodist chapel about to be demolished. As their finder explains, these fun feet of pennies are engagement devices designed to make collecting for charity easy and so to hook neophytes into the habit of giving.
Read moreBhopal Medical Appeal: B’Eau Pal publicity stunt: don’t go near the water!
by SOFII
Don’t go near the water: 25 years after the world’s worst ever man-made disaster, B’EauPal shows that effective political campaigning takes ’bottle’ (a commonly used London term for courageous risk-taking). This is a classic opportunistic protest in a good cause.
Read moreHabitat for Humanity: money back guarantee
by SOFII
Would a money-back guarantee help your direct mail? Habitat for Humanity tried it, and the results were as interesting and instructive as were their reasons for doing it.
Read moreRNLI: Britain’s first-ever street collection, 1891
by Carolina Herrera
An appalling loss of life in 1886 leads to the invention of a fundraising classic that's still raising millions today. A horrific double tragedy brought about Britain’s first-ever street collection for a charitable cause. It was a significant milestone in the history of voluntary action in the UK and elsewhere.
Read moreISRT thank-you and welcome letter
by SOFII
ISRT produced a ‘welcome pack on a single page’. This low cost example of donor relationship development shows fundraising creativity at its simplest and best. Every fundraising organisation could and should aspire to have a thank-you programme and materials at least as good as this.
Read moreActionAid: the inserts with built-in reply mechanism
by SOFII
This promotion raised £millions and won almost every direct marketing award going. It also helped propel a new and little known organisation called ActionAid into the list of Britain's top 20 charities. Action Aid created a new format, which was then copied by dozens, perhaps hundreds of other organisations.
Read moreOxfam’s press ads from the 1950s and 60s
by SOFII
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.
Read moreWWF Canada: new donor questionnaire
by SOFII
This questionnaire, though a separate and distinctive part of WWF’s new donor welcome process, is an integral part of it. Great donor development in practice, and easy to emulate.
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