I really like this years TV ad for the St Vincent de Paul and the Christmas appeal page on their site is good (although could be easier to find from the home page). I like the Giving Tree idea too. Could be something to nominate for the Christmas Campaign of 2010?
Im a bit late this year with this, but think it was quite an interesting exercise last year. So I would love you to nominate your best Christmas Campaign for 2010. It can be
This year what I would like to do is compile as many nominations as possible and then create a shortlist and ask people to vote on that short list. So if you have a campaign you want to nominate please email me
conorsfundraisingblog@gmail.com
tell me about the campaign (maybe link me to more information, send me a version of the campaign). I will close off nominations on December 9th, so get nominating
And now for something festive!
The fundraising profession is developing in Ireland. It is great to see more and more people come to the sector and for it to become a career path for people.
I remember when I started off in Fundraising, I didnt have a clue what to expect. I was lucky to be surrounded by people who had been in the sector for a while and who guided me. The sector has changed since then but the need for guidance for new entrants is still there.
This is where I am hoping you can come in.
Lots of new fundraisers are looking for mentors. Someone who will sit with them for just a few hours, once a month. Someone who will talk to them and guide them. Lots of people in Ireland who read this blog have been in the sector for some time now, and would be perfectly suited to this role.
Yes I know you are busier now than you have ever been. But by helping bring through and mentor new talent you will be helping to make the sector stronger. You can also learn from it yourself!! As you well know meeting and talking to people is a great way to broaden your horizons and develop your own thinking, so there are certainly personal benefits to this.
As a mentor you could:
This is about the future of our industry. By agreeing to be a mentor you further committing to that future.
If you can spare just a few hours once a month, please contact Ed in Fundraising Ireland; info@fundraisingireland.ie
I’ve been meaning to post about Fastival for a while, since I heard the first ads for it. What is Fastival, well it is an add-on to the traditional Concern 24 hours Fast.
While you’re fasting for Concern, we thought the least we can do is to provide you with some entertainment to make the hours fly by. So, to help you celebrate this great cause with other fasters, we’ve organised loads of events across the country.
I think that Concern have really raised the bar with this one. They aren’t just offering free stuff to their ‘fasters’, if they did I don’t think it would work for them, instead they are offering to support them. They are recognising that fasting for 24 hours is hard and Im guessing that they have done a good bit of digging into the profiles of their ‘fasters’ and have recognised that this kind of support will be something they would like. (I wonder did they even do focus groups to find out?).
Last week the Red Cross (USA) released survey results today about Holiday Giving. They found that:
while the economy is still difficult for many people this year, the majority of you still expect to maintain strong levels of charitable giving.
- Eighty six percent (86%) of you say your personal finances are the same or worse than last year.
- Nearly three out of four (72%) of you will be donating more or about the same to charity this holiday season as they did last year.
- Nearly six in ten (58%) feel that because of the economy, it’s more important this year to give something to charity.
- Perhaps more fascinating is that you are not too sure about giving socially
This is a really great charity, they do some amazing work in really tough conditions. They have a massive impact on the lives of the children they help. Im a big fan. I like how they have used the Russian Dolls in this short video, very clever.
I posted about the Thank you book when it launched a few weeks ago. (take a look here)
I was just contacted by their agency offering to give away a book to a reader of this blog. So if you would like a copy just watch the short video below and let me know Who had the idea for the thank you project (its in the first few seconds of this video!)
And I will randomly pick a winner and get the book sent to you (here is a link to the book site )
A few weeks ago I asked for some help with something I was involved with for the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland. We had an incredible response with some really smart and generous people coming to an early morning meeting to give us some feedback and advice on a campaign. For over an hour we were given brilliant feedback and then made as many changes as we could before the site went live.
I would highly recommend this approach to people. Taking a step back and getting people from the outside to look in really gets you inside the mind of your potential donors and gets you outside your own perceptions of your campaign.
Anyway the campaign was the memory ribbon campaign, the idea is to allow people create an online memory of a loved one and place it on the online tree. The response has been really good with people leaving some amazing memories on the tree.
Here is a link to the site www.memoryribbon.ie
If you would like to create a ribbon just go to the site, it’s free to create and if you like you can make a donation too. Please feel free to share, tweet or post about this if you can
Finally here is a lovely memory Karla has of her grandad
Lots of people do lots of fundraising for lots of organisations every day all over the world. As professionals we have targets and set goals and look how we are doing on that basis.
Being involved with two events recently reminded me to always take the time to step back and think about the people who are taking part in events and, even though I probably won’t know the answer, at least ask the question or remind myself that a person is fundraising because….
Because it is possible that something in their life has compelled them to care about your cause. It could very easily be personal, and therefore their involvement with you is personal.
Of course it may be that they think your fundraising event is cool (movember has tapped into that).
But even then there could be personal motivations.
It’s just important for us to remember this when we review our campaigns, people are more than just a number aren’t they
Always worth a read, click on the image below or go direct to their site
I was listening to Ray D’Arcy (on TodayFM) earlier this week and Agony Aunt Denise Robertson was on to talk about a charity she works with, The Bubble Foundation.
She was fantastic and an incredible story teller, I was so engaged in what she had to say. She told the listeners how “shellshocked parents” would travel with their children to get the help of the foundation and when she started working with them “6 out of ten children died” but now “1 out of ten dies”
In about 20 seconds she managed to paint a picture, tell me about how bad things were and then tell me how the charity has improved things, but yet there is still a need.
She went on to tell a story about a child who was in a bubble for 6 months being looked after and another child who lost their mother just before they had to go into the bubble.
You should listen to her interview, it is about 40 minutes in, just click the link . It is a great example of how to do what we do well, by someone who isnt really a fundraiser, she is just a good story teller.
We like our logos and we like to change our logos but sometimes you really dont need to change your logo…in fact sometimes changing your logo is a really bad thing to do, because sometimes your customers (supporters) really like your old one, in fact sometimes they are really passionate about it. As Gap found out. So Gap had planned to change their logo (one they have had since 1969) this one
They clearly didnt ask their customers their thoughts while developing the idea, but when they announced the plan their fans took to the web in force telling the company how they felt about the changes and after a sustained backlash the company backed down and has reverted to the old logo (you know the one, the one that there really wasnt a whole lot wrong with in the first place!). They then decided to crowdsource a new logo, but that seemed to back fire so in the end they decided:
“Ok. We’ve heard loud and clear that you don’t like the new logo. We’ve learned a lot from the feedback,” the company said on its Facebook Page. “We only want what’s best for the brand and our customers. So instead of crowdsourcing, we’re bringing back the Blue Box tonight.”
According to Gap, the original logo will make its return “across all channels.”
As Mashable states:“While social media wasn’t the only reason that Gap felt compelled to revert to the old logo, it definitely was a major factor. Social media mobilized and spread the word about the logo change.”
Im not suggesting that all charities have people feeling as passionatly about their logo as Gap fans do, but my learning from this is think before you re-design and then consult your fans then think again!
I just read the paper Social Networking and Mid Sized Non Profits, whats the use? It is a really interesting paper, well put together, easy to read and short. It suggests that non profits need to be really clear about what they are using, how they are going to use it, what are the measures of success before they just jump into social media and social networking just becuase “its what everyone else is doing!”. Really great point. You can read the full paper here (well worth the read)
Well done to Barnardos, this is a really nice bit of work:
Conor Byrne's Blog 
