Paul de Gregorio

Best mobile ad ever?

2012-02-27T22:53:00.000Z

I am very lucky to be at Greenpeace's Digital Mobilisation skillshare in Arnhem, Holland.

I'm representing Open Fundraising and facilitating the session 'the power and potential of mobile as a fundraising tool'.

As I prepare (worry) about my session tomorrow, my eye is constantly drawn back to this amazing ad from Save the Children. I've blogged about it before, it gets talked up at most conferences I go to, and yes I will talk it up in my session. The reason for all this attention is simple. For my money it's one of the best mobile campaigns I've ever seen.

It puts mobile or SMS right at the heart of the proposition. There is no other way to respond. I like to think this was a deliberate decision by Save the Children, who knows, maybe it was the only response mechanism that could be included at short notice. But it makes the ad the classic that it is.

So forget the hype about mobile, it's more than a buzz word.

Why?

Well, you carry your mobile everywhere, you never turn it off, it's never more than a metre away from you and you are likely have it in your hand at the point you feel moved or motivated to act.

I don't love this because it's a QR code...

2012-02-20T22:13:00.001Z

Source: twitter.com via Osocio on Pinterest

I love this because it's a clever use of a QR code. Etched onto the melting ice on a canal in Amsterdam. It links to the climate change page on the Dutch WWF site.

Amnesty, street campaigning, an electronic billboard and an iPad

2012-02-01T13:19:00.000Z

This is just brilliant. Absolutely superb.

I love the way that Amnesty International Sweden have integrated outdoor display, sound, street teams and iPad trickery to create this amazing way to engage the Swedish public in their Guantanamo campaign.

And it all leads to to an ask to become an SMS text activist.

You will love this short video...

I'm hoping that everyone who responded is followed up a big thank you and an ask to give a text donation. Mobile is the perfect channel to fuse campaigning and fundraising and I'm sure we are going to see a lot more it if here.

More here.

Hat tip to Charlie Cannell for spotting and tweeting the link earlier today.

Fwd: Your pickpocket oyster card holder

2012-01-31T23:13:00.001Z

I quite like this email appeal for Ken's election campaign.

A really simple & tangible ask based on something that will quite obviously help spread the message.

If I were fundraising for the Labour Party, I'd be lobbying like crazy to be able to get the same payouts from the networks as charities from text donations. It seems such an obvious fit.

And once the political parties have parity with charities, it would be nothing but good news for Greenpeace and other campaigning groups who at the moment can't take full advantage of text giving due to low network payouts.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Iain McNicol, General Secretary <london@email-new.labour.org.uk>
Date: 31 January 2012 15:37
Subject: Your pickpocket oyster card holder
To: Paul de Gregorio

Paul --

Last weekend was a great achievement for London Labour Party. With over 100 canvassing events held in every constituency in London speaking to thousands of voters across the city. It was one of the biggest campaign days in the history of London Labour Party.

This campaign is being fought street by street and we are taking nothing for granted. We are out organising the tories and as the General Secretary of the Labour Party I promise you that this campaign will be the best it possibly can be.

We want to win. Just two weeks ago the London team launched a new campaign highlighting the increase in transport fares under Boris and Ken's Fare Deal. We have now produced these great oyster card holders that reproduce the image of that recent advertising campaign.

The problem is we just can't afford to print them and we want to print 100,000. We can only print them if we raise £10,000 to pay for it. If you donate as little as £10 we will send you 5 oyster card holders in the post and you will help fund the cost of them being produced for campaign.

Donate at least £10 now and get 5 oyster card holders –www.kenlivingstone.com/donate

The reality here is that the Tories have more money than us. But with over 40,000 members in London we can come together and out organise them and with your help we can do great campaigns like this one.

Just £10 will help us pay for this campaign – donate what you can today here

Thank you

Iain

Iain McNicol
General Secretary of the Labour Party

PS We are currently running a prize draw for dinner with Eddie Izzard. For £5 you could win a dinner for 2 with Eddie. Click here to buy a ticket

A fabulous Amnesty & Shazam partnership

2012-01-24T20:29:00.001Z

One of my favourite blogs is the DigitalBuzz blog, it features lots of great not for profit and commercial marketing campaigns.

I saw this on on the site tonight, it's a collaboration between Amnesty and Shazam. I think the idea is just brilliant. A really good way to put your message in front of people who are typically hard to reach.

The blog on the DigitalBuzz site is here.

Update; for some reason the video has been taken off of YouTube. Will repost the link if I can find it somewhere else!

SMS donor behaviour from the other side of the pond

2012-01-18T18:37:00.000Z

Pew Internethave just published some great research into the attitudes and behaviours ofHaiti emergency donors in the US who gave by SMS.

Donors gave on impulse

89% heardabout the Text for Haiti campaign on the TV.

50% madetheir donation as soon as they heard about the campaign.

75% of thosesampled said their SMS donations were usually made on impulse.

SMS response is an attractive way of giving

74% ofdonors said they had never used their phone to give to charity before theirHaiti gift.

33% gave tothe appeal more than once.

Giving is addictive

50% of thosewho gave to Haiti have subsequently given to other SMS appeals.

Mobile giving is social

I wasparticularly struck by the data that suggested 43% of those who donatedencouraged others to do the same thing. With extra donations from friends andfamily being made in 76% of occasions!

Most of thisdonor get donor activity (75%) was encouraged via direct conversation withtheir friends and family, but, 34% encouraged others to contribute by sending atext message, 21% did so by posting on a social networking site and 10% did sovia email.

In the UK, we’refinding that ‘share’ is a significant element of any mobile campaign.

By providingthe functionality to share via the bounceback ‘thank you’ message we can driveadditional donations.

In a recentcampaign, 5% of all SMS donors shared the fact that they had given, with over75% of those shares being made in Facebook. With large volume campaigns this isnot an insignificant number.

What next?

Once a donorhas made their first SMS gift we should be defining strategies that secure thesecond gift. This should include thank you messages and videos, updates on thecampaign and of course future appeals. All delivered by SMS.

And given thatmost smartphone users use their phones for social networking we should beencouraging these SMS donors to join our existing online communities and makingsure that once they’ve joined our Facebook group or follow us on Twitter thatwe are set up to deliver them a warm and engaging experience that supportsfuture giving.

WaterForward

2012-01-13T11:14:00.003Z

Charity: water seem to have come up with a brilliant idea. A great way to harness the power of the social networks of their supporters.

How WaterForward works. from charity: water on Vimeo.

I really hope that WaterForward works for them.

Greenpeace do good year in review video

2012-01-12T18:47:00.002Z

I'm loving this 12 month review video from Greenpeace that I was emailed a few days ago. Very simply put together it shows just how many campaigns they ran in 2011.

2011: How you helped us from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

If you've seen any other great supporter videos, it would be great if you could post links in the comments section below.

'Thank you from The Three Robbers' a guest post from Stuart Glen

2012-01-11T14:15:00.001Z

Stuart wrote this great piece and asked if he could post it on my blog. I've never really thought about guest blogs before, so wasn't sure. Then I read it, it's really good. So I said yes. Hope you enjoy.

A chance discovery in a museum on a family vacation in New England leadsto a wonderful example of personalised donor care from Child’s i Foundation?Stuart Glen explains,

With two wee boys – one aged six and the other two – a visit to TheEric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art was top of our to-do list inMassachusetts last summer. It’s refreshing to know that America can deliverattractions like The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art – not allattractions need to be crammed full of rollercoasters and fast food franchises.We spent a magical afternoon at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art,marvelling at the artwork on display, completing a treasure hunt and taking partin a storytelling session. The unexpected bonus was an additional exhibition ofthe work of Tomi Ungerer, a French artist, illustrator and author, who’swork until then I was unfamiliar with.

Six year Mackenzie’s personal tribute to the museum scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

The museum provided me with a magical memory that I will treasure untilthe day I die. I sat in the Tomi Ungerer exhibition with my two year old on mylap and read to him an exhibition copy of The Three Robbers. First published in1959, it’s a charming tale of three robbers with tall black hats who use theirplundered bounty to buy a castle in order to look after the abandoned childrenof the land. Exquisitely illustrated, it’s a tale that stands the test of time.The sentiment seeping through the story struck a chord with me as I sat in themuseum cuddling my two year old. I immediately thought of the wonderful Child’s i Foundation – a charity extremely close to my heart.

Child’s i Foundation are awesome. Their Baby and Family Centre inMalaika, Uganda provides short-term care for up to 24 at-risk babies; and thetenacious Lucy Buck, the founder of Child’s i Foundation is constant source ofinspiration to me. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Lucy now on a couple ofoccasions – I invited her to speak at the Institute of Fundraising ScotlandConference 2011 where she delivered an unforgettable and emotionally chargedclosing plenary. Not a dry eye in the house, or was that just me? Lucy has apenchant for making me cry.

As a thank you to Lucy, I presented her with the copy of The ThreeRobbers that we bought in the museum. This was a huge wrench for me – this bookconjured up images and emotions of a magical moment. Of course, I had to askboth the boys’ permission first. But the charming tale reminded me of Lucy andher amazing journey with Child’s i Foundation.

I know Lucy realised the significance the gift.

When she returned to Uganda I received an email that reduced me tears.Again. It’s a picture of Lucy reading The Three Robbers to one of the childrenin the Malaika Baby and Family Centre.

From Lucy’s email, “It is a beautiful book and I mustadmit I keep it in my office as I don't want the kids to damage it but it isbecoming a bit of a favourite!”

Lucy’s email was heartening but on Christmas Eve, Child’s i Foundationdelivered a level of personal donor care that I believe can only bedemonstrated by a small charity in tune with their donors. On Christmas Eve Ireceived a handmade, hand-written Christmas Card. No design agency wasinvolved. No clever creative or call to action. Instead, a thank you. The carddesign featured the hand-print of eight month old, Liam [as a parent I know howmuch fun was had making that hand-print] and inside a hand written message fromLucy. It read,

“Thank you so much for all your support this year and believing in meand Child’s i Foundation… “

I’ve done nothing. My £2.50 a month is not going to change the world,but Childs i Foundation make me feel like I’m genuinely making a difference. Ibelieve Childs i Foundation when they say, “The personal contribution of eachand every participant makes as they support Child’s i Foundation – whetherthrough time, money or love – is something we recognise and value highly.” Ibuy this.

The innovation Child’s i Foundation have demonstrated online is welldocumented. There is a strong community online supporting and advocating theirwork. But this magical personal touch really does strengthen the bond withtheir donors. The proof is in the pudding – this evening, I’ve doubled mymonthly contribution to Child’s i Foundation. Perhaps Lucy should don a tallblack hat?

Stuart Glen is Fundraising Manager at Kilbryde Hospice. He writes this article in a personalcapacity. Follow Stuart on Twitter - @stuglen.

Another Thank You from Send A Cow

2012-01-06T12:24:00.001Z

The final instalment in the Send A Cow 'Thank You' campaign.

This time the people thanked are the charity's volunteers. I love it. I particularly like the way a call to action to become a volunteer has been incorporated into the video.

Thank you Volunteers from Send a Cow on Vimeo.

Quite rightly a lot of people in the fundraising sector are impressed by style and content of communications that US based non-profit Charity: water send to their supporters.

Send A Cow have shown us all, that it really isn't difficult to do. You just need a single minded focus that it's the right thing to do and the energy to make it happen.

2011 - my top 10 twitter peeps according to a machine!

2011-12-23T12:11:00.000Z

TweetStats tells me that these people are the people I interact with most frequently on Twitter.

I've no idea how it works it out but it seems about right. As the 10 people listed above are some of my favourite Twitter people. With the exception of number 10, my brother, he's one of my favourite people, full stop.

They all use Twitter in the way that I like the most. They share, talk to and engage with people - none of them are stuck on broadcast, shamelessly self promoting. They are people who genuinely care about the fundraising sector and I would encourage you to follow them all - even my brother (who will delight you with tales of being a Dad to A & R and his wonderful wife K).

So why should you follow them?

@Skipinder; funny, Scottish and curator/creator of the best charity crowdsourced friday Spotify playlist ever, that's ever.

@LucyCaldicott; Lucy seems to be far too busy to spend anytime on Twitter. Once seen singing the 'da na na na' bit of Reflex with Simon le Bon. The next big thing in fundraising.

@Zoeamar; one of the nicest women in the third sector. She makes me laugh a lot and I plan to have coffee and cake with her in the new year.

@derekhumphries; the nicest man in fundraising, this man is a legend, plain and simple.

@ALO365; passionate about fundraising and another rising star.

@fiona_pattison; the cliche is that you should always hire people who are smarter than you. Fiona is the newest recruit to the mobile team at Open, she is smart, funny and a fellow Somersetshire ex-pat. What's not to like?

@margauxs; Canadian. Clever. Loves birds. Margaux is a name you will hear a lot, if you are serious about a career in fundraising.

@AlineReed; we once leant against the same wobbly bar to prop it up, something I hope to do again in 2012. Aline will write the next must read book on fundraising and retire to Birmingham where she will buy her favourite team and invite me to see the game every week. Probably.

@Loopy_Lisa_Lou; funny, feisty and sometimes flippant, (but in a very very good way). Lisa rocks plain and simple.

@Sadvillafan; is exactly what his twitter names suggests.

Lists are a bit odd though as they have to stop somewhere, there are plenty more brilliant people that I interact with on Twitter - have a flick through the list of people I follow, and take your pick, nearly all of them are lovely!

One last thing, Happy New Year.

The 2011 social media story...

2011-12-22T15:36:00.000Z

A neat video telling the social media story of 2011.

Facebook alone accounts for 10% of all iPhone mobile data!

Another one of those numbers that is only going to go one way. And that's up.

One more time...

2011-12-20T19:52:00.003Z

All I did was write a couple of blog posts and make one donation.

Someone at Send a Cow made the connection and yesterday I got this amazing thank you card from them, full of lovely personal messages from the team there.

Love them all, but my favourite is from Tom the Temp who refers to me as 'a full on legend'. I'm from Somerset and know this is high praise indeed.

I was genuinely touched by this. I am now officially a donor for life.

2011 the Year of Mobile ... I would say that tho

2011-12-20T14:35:00.000Z

A snappy review of 2011 from a mobile perspective.

Some good stats and some incredible stats.

One beeped swear word.

From MobileFuture.

2011 as seen by Google

2011-12-18T17:26:00.002Z

Oil on Canvas, Greenpeace NZ campaign

2011-12-17T18:07:00.000Z

A really good campaign video from Greenpeace New Zealand.

Highlighting the destruction caused by the October 2011 Rena oil spill in a really effective and thought provoking way.

20,000 birds were killed in the spill. As the camera pulls back you get a real sense of scale as the screen fills with images created by the oil soaked bodies of some of the birds that perished in the disaster.

The call to action is great, it's a simple and single minded ask - text your name to sign the petition against deep sea oil drilling.

There was also an exhibition which displayed the prints.

Found on the always brilliant Marc van Grup's Google + page. His Osocio site is a fabulous resource.

Santa doesn't do poor countries

2011-12-15T09:07:00.001Z

Micheal Newsome posted this video from UNICEF Sweden on Twitter this morning.

It's short, simple and to the point. I love it.

Santa doesn't do poor countries.

I think virtual gifts are an under used form of giving, they are such a good way of connecting people to the work of an organisation. UNICEF do it really well.

And of course if you want to do the same in the UK you can. UNICEF's Inspired Gifts shop is the just the place to go. Or this year you can do it all via Facebook.

Yes, I'm obsessed.

2011-12-14T19:35:00.000Z

As you might know - I've become a bit obsessed by the Send A Cow thank you campaign.

Here's the latest instalment.

Thank you Tony from Send a Cow on Vimeo.

We all know we should thank donors, we know it means something to supporters. I'm sure we all wish we were running campaigns that were as simple and effective as this one.

I'm a Send A Cow donor now - the fact the the organisation I support goes to the effort to thank people in this way puts a huge smile on my face every time I think of it or see the latest instalment. Can't wait to see how this approach to donor care develops.

Photo from JelliS and found on Flickr.

Making the Invisible Visible

2011-12-13T20:00:00.001Z

I just love this.

eBay, mobile & fundraising

2011-12-12T20:15:00.002Z

There seem to be lots of examples of virtual stores that utilise QR Codes to sell goods. Most of them for commercial companies, so this fundraising example from the USA really caught my eye.

Toys for Tots have bagged a fabulous corporate partner in eBay who've set up two ‘Give a Toy’ stores. One in New York and the other in San Francisco.But the really cool bit is that the stores have interactive store fronts thatenable passers-by to engage in the display by downloading an app and scanningQR Codes.

You can buy gifts from $2 to $25. As donations are made the toys come tolife on the donors phone to celebrate being donated and say thank you.

The campaign is supported by an online version for those that don’tlive in New York or San Francisco, you can also customise a virtual toy via Facebook.

Seems that a corporate partner helps drive innovation in mobile giving. The recent and brilliant UNICEF Own a Colour campaign was launched with the support of paint company Dulux and included text as a payment mechanism.

There will be lots and lots of this in 2012. The commercial sector has totally embraced mobile and can see that it's a great way to add significant value to their charity partnerships. There are some brilliant ideas being discussed out there at the moment, can't wait to see the ideas turn into actual campaigns.

Fwd: Buy an extra pint this Christmas

2011-12-07T16:24:00.001Z

So far being a Send a Cow supporter has been brilliant.


	Hunger-busting gifts for Christmas It's less than three weeks to go till Christmas, and thoughts are turning to all that delicious festive fare. As you stock up on your favourite food and drink, why not buy an extra special few pints for families in Africa too? With our Provide Milk gift, you could deliver hope to people going hungry this Christmas. Just £20 is enough to provide a child with a pint of nutritious milk a day – the recommended amount – for a whole year. It's an udderly brilliant gift for a friend or relative, and a real boost to the health of families in Africa. Margaret from County Down has already added a gift of Provide Milk to her Christmas round this year. Cheers to you Margaret, and to all our other gift buyers.



Provide Milk	Teach Food Nutrition	Provide 2 Dairy Goats

Why not buy a share of a cow which will provide healthy and nutritious milk to a child for a year? That's a pint a day – the recommended amount!	By teaching families the best ways to plant and grow veg, and by giving essential cooking and nutrition skills, we help mothers make the most of what they grow.	Goats are great for those people who are too weak to cope with anything larger. They still ensure the family has enough milk to drink and sell, and provide plenty of manure to grow crops year on year.


	Build a Fuel Saving Stove		Provide a Dairy Cow

	Traditional cooking fires can produce lots of health-harming smoke. A Fuel Saving Stove directs smoke away from the cooking area, meaning that families can gather together safely. Because they use two-thirds less fuel than traditional stoves, they prevent deforestation and free up the time it takes to collect wood.		It's not just a cow we provide but everything that's needed to look after her. Training in animal husbandry, nutrition, veterinary care, shelter construction and more. Not only that, our cows live around four times longer than cows in the UK! Watch a video of this gift in action!


Send a Cow Registered Charity Number 299717	Click here to unsubscribe

Send a Cow keep on thanking...

2011-12-05T19:24:00.001Z

Another great instalment in the Send a Cow Thank you campaign.

Charity: water do it well, Send a Cow do it just as good. Imagine that you are one of those kids and your teacher shows you this video tomorrow. You're not going to forget it are you!

Thank you Clutton Primary School from Send a Cow on Vimeo.

This Moo-ves me....

2011-11-23T14:49:00.001Z

I love cows. I follow Send a Cow with great interest on Facebook. For two key reasons.

1. Cows, as mentioned I love them.
2. Somerset, they are based in Somerset, I love Somerset.

I now have a third reason.

I saw an amazing thing on their Facebook page this morning.

They had donated their Facebook page profile to be a personalised thank you to one of their supporters.

So I tweeted about it and sent it to my wife who is equally impressed by such things.

They contacted me on Twitter and shared this link, it's to a video, again saying thank you to Joe.

Thank you Joe from Send a Cow on Vimeo.

I am a professional fundraiser, who to be blunt can sometimes be very hard to impress. This really impressed me.

So much, that I'm going to support them with real cash rather than praise. I hope the rest of my experiences are as brilliant as this one.

Water Works; new campaign from WaterAid and it's good!

2011-11-19T12:55:00.001Z

Ross Bailey sent me the link to the the new WaterAid campaign Water Works.

A simple call to action and proposition "Tell world leaders today: Water Works!"

Governments can do so much more to tackle the global water and sanitation crisis. Taps and toilets save lives and are cheap, simple and effective. And yet hundreds of millions live without these basic human rights, trapped in a life of poverty, disease and wasted opportunity. In April 2012 world leaders are meeting in Washington DC to discuss action on water and sanitation. We need to tell them: Water Works!

It's yet another example of how video can articulate a complex message extremely simply.

I love it. It's a really well put together campaign and I hope it does really well.

Get involved. Sign up and share the message in your social networks.

They've also created this great infographic.

Busman's holiday; a brilliant example of message & media from NYC

2011-11-13T14:01:00.001Z

I've just got back from my 10th wedding anniversary trip to New York City.

Mrs DG and I were supposed to go there for our honeymoon, but in the aftermath of 9-11 we decided to show our respect for the city's grief by not going at that time. We've been many times since we got married and it's a place that I absolutely love.

But as I'm sure all fundraisers do on holiday I'm constantly on the look out for examples of how things are done abroad.

On this trip I was really impressed with this corporate partnership between Heinz and the Wounded Warrior Project, the US version of Help for Heroes.

Before I went on this trip there was a wide ranging discussion in the office about how we need to be much more creative when thinking about the media we use for our clients campaigns. We've had great success with print and TV when it comes to driving response to SMS campaigns, but we really breakthrough with low cost per acquisitions when we test things that aren't so obvious. For example trains, service station toilet doors and changing rooms in high street shops.

We know that potential supporters carry their phone everywhere, we know that the right creative will drive a response in the most peculiar of locations - so we need to think much more creatively about where we place our messages.

Which is why I love this one. Think about it. In the run up to Veterans' Day in all the supermarkets, diners, restaurants and breakfast tables across america was this very simple message.

By texting thanks to the brilliantly sourced shortcode 57000 and Heinz will donate 57 cents.

You can also donate by liking Heinz on Facebook.

There is even a QR Code for smartphone users. As an aside QR Codes get a bad press here in the UK fundraising world, they were everywhere in New York.

This brilliant campaign really got me thinking about how we should be more creative with our corporate partnerships and how we need to constantly be looking for new places to put our messages.

In my mind the response to this was phenomenal, especially on the morning of Veterans' Day in the hundreds of New York diners. Like the one I took these pictures in. I look forward to finding out exactly how successful it was.

Amnesty iPad Ad cleverness

2011-11-12T12:16:00.001Z

Love this from Amnesty Sweden.

And a brilliant and simple call to action at the end to sign up as a text activist.

Found it on the Digital Buzz Blog.

Last word from the IFC - video & mobile

2011-11-01T00:10:00.003Z

I’m still going through and ordering my notes from IFC!

One of my favourite sessions was Michael Hoffman’s entitled‘The once and future media – the NEW state and outlook of online video’.

I went along because Mrs DG went to Michael’s session lastyear and said it was brilliant. Mrs DG was right.

The session was full of really interesting statistics...

YouTube gets threebillion views a day.

By 2012, watchingvideo online will account for over 50% of all internet traffic.

YouTube is the secondbiggest search engine in the USA and the third biggest site in the world.

Watching a video on ashopping site makes you 63% more likely to buy something and means that youstay on the site for double the time of a non video viewer.

I love statistics, but more importantly than that, Michaelis a great speaker who really really knows his stuff.

If you’ve read this blog before you will know that I’m a bitobsessed with the potential of video, specifically short video that can bestreamed to supporter’s mobile phone. I’m working with several clients at the momentto repurpose existing video for mobile, this session showed me that this is agood obsession to have.

Michael had some simple tips for creating the most effective video. Your video should be:

SHORT: less than 2 minutes long.

SIMPLE: as with most things that deliver success, videoshould have a single minded focus and not be trying to do too many things.

GENUINE: compelling not cool!

URGENT: demonstrating how the action you take, whatever itis, will have impact.

There were also great examples of video ...

Including this one from charity: water

And this one from http://www.tippytap.org/ which demonstrates problem and solution beautifully. Though not going to drive a huge response.

And he left me with thisthought. ‘Having a video go viral does not equal organisational success, there areplenty of videos with lots and lots of views that didn’t further the cause orgenerate a single new donor’.

Michael’s last slide was focussed on mobile and video – he promisedthat his session next year, will be full of examples of video delivered tomobile phones. I can’t wait.

One year on...

2011-10-29T22:54:00.003+01:00

A year ago today on the 29 October 2010 I left my job asClient Services Director at Pell & Bales.

A company so good I left it twice! I left once in 2000 towork at a children’s charity. I went back in 2001 when offered the amazingopportunity to head the agency’s general election response. Something SimonPell knew I would find impossible to refuse.

Pell & Bales was an amazing place to learn how tofundraise, I learnt loads from the people I worked with and for. But at somepoint last year I was starting to feel a little tired, uninspired and notreally enjoying agency life. So I left.

I spent a lot of time wandering around London, catching upwith friends, making new friends and going to all the fundraising events Ipossibly could. I read books, blogs and articles that in my previous situationI wasn’t fitting in. I even started updating this blog on a regular basis. As aresult I fell back in love with fundraising.

Loads of people helped me figure out what I wanted to do,probably without ever knowing it. I can’t list all of them, so I won’t eventry. But chances are you’re one of them.

So, things I’ve (re) learnt in the last 12 months and thingsI want to do more of…

1. It’s nice to be nice, it’s easier and much more fun. Sobe nice. And be nice to everyone, not just the people who pay you or who youwant to pay you.

2. Make time for people, I’ve always been happy to give timeto people who share my enthusiasm for fundraising or have something interestingto say. I realised that I had stopped doing it – so I started doing it again.

3. If you want to do something, do it. It’s a bit of a cliché,but recognising that you’re the one person that can have the biggest impact onyour own life is pretty important.

4. Life’s too short to do things that don’t make you happy.So if you’re doing things that make you unhappy, take control and stop doingthem.

Sorry for the self-indulgent post, (aren’t they all!), I’mfeeling a bit sentimental.

A glimpse into the future from Microsoft

2011-10-29T00:24:00.001+01:00

A glimpse into the future from Microsoft.

It's both exciting and reminiscent of an old episode of of Tomorrow's World at the same time.

This one filmed in 1979 featured the mobile phone.

My mate Stuart...

2011-10-27T21:53:00.000+01:00

My twitter buddy Stuart Glen gave this great Prezi at the IoF conference in Scotland. Sounds like it went down a storm from the Twitter chat that surrounded it.

I was chuffed to see a screenshot of my JustGiving page in there. Stuart told me that the context was that 'these platforms (JustGiving etc) work because people trust their friends'.

Which is why I love what JustGiving do, their technology puts amazing tools in the hands of individuals like me who want to fundraise. I blogged about my experience here.

Digital fundraising: Blurring the boundaries between giving and living. on Prezi

What I'm bringing back from Holland

2011-10-23T17:53:00.001+01:00

So, it’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sat at the kitchen tablereviewing my notes from IFC thinking about what I've seen, learnt and what the key thing that I'm going to take away from conference is. And I'm drawn to AJ Leon’s session on Thursday, it was a brilliant and energetic session called ‘UnFundrasing – the ageof raising money by letting others ask for it'.

AJ’s session was focussed on a project he was a part of, thatwith a limited budget created a movement for change for one small village inKenya called Ola Nagele.

Using video, Twitter, Facebook, a simple Tumbler blog, mobile posting from thefield, the recruitment of a key influencer and a smart fundraising proposition –over $72,000 was raised to transform the village and provide for the communityin the areas of water, food, wellness, income and education. All for less than $250.

The story is a great story, really impressive. But for me, the real take out was the energy, commitment and positive thinking from theproject team. They never ever thought they were going to fail.

AJ talked at the end of the session about his philosophy andapproach to make things happen. I didn’t capture it verbatim, but inmy words, not AJ’s, this is what I’ve taken away from the session...

The world, especially the digital world is moving far toofast for benchmarking.
Don’t wait to find out how something works out for othersand try and copy it – do it first.
Do it first and expect to fail. Then try again.
If you believe in something, go for it, you’re probablybetter asking for forgiveness if it goes wrong than permission to try in thefirst place.
If you ask for permission you will probably be refused, so don't ask.
Writing a 10 year digital strategy is just stupid, thinkback to what technology we were using 10 years ago.
Anyone can do this, you don’t need to be a native, you justneed to be willing to learn and change how you do things.
There is too much average stuff in the world, be bold, takea risk, follow your instinct and you might actually do something really special.

So that's how it's going to be from Monday!

#IFCholland my first day...

2011-10-19T22:48:00.001+01:00

I've had a great first day at #IFCholland.

I've met a few people in real life that I've been following on twitter for ages which was brilliant. And went to see @BeateSorum's session on digital fundraising which I found really inspiring.

Inspiring because Beate included four great video's in her presentation.

You've all seen this one before, today it brought a tear to my eye (again).

I hadn't seen this WaterAid advert before - I was laughing at the beginning, by the end I was feeling extremely uncomfortable. I love this ad.

And this one, this means a lot to me. I'm honoured to be friends with Stuart Glen, I've never met him but was moved to donate to his son Mackenzie's charity: water page because the passion for the cause was so genuine.

Then there was this video. The CEO of charity: water sent Mackenzie a personalised thank you video. How cool is that! As Beate pointed out, we should all do a LOT more of this type of thing. It doesn't matter how big you are, you can make the time to do it.

And finally, right at the beginning of her presentation Beate showed us this video - jam packed full of great stats and insight.

Best of all was Beate, she was everything I wanted from the IFC today. Someone who was really passionate about their job, talked about it was loads of enthusiasm and made me smile. A lot.

If you're on twitter you should follow her. She rocked it.

Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?

2011-10-13T19:26:00.001+01:00

Just got this from Labour. Love it.

I love the humour.

Love the copy.

I love the personal touch from Tom Watson.

And I love the big red donate button! (but I'm not so keen on the landing page, please don't tell Tom).

The video at the end was my addition, it's a rubbish TOTP2 version and the crowd clapping is quite annoying - but Terry Hall is hilarious.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tom Watson <info@email-new.labour.org.uk>
Date: 13 October 2011 16:38
Subject: Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?
To: Paul de Gregorio

Dear Paul,

Thanks for making the first week as your campaign co-ordinator so memorable. We've raised over £8,500. As promised, the money has been used to design and print our "jobs and growth" campaign leaflets.

Labour HQ is buzzing with excitement. Our deputy leader Harriet Harman is thrilled. So, thanks.

We are so strapped for cash I can honestly say to you that these leaflets would not have been printed without your support. In fact, I'm so worried about campaign funding that I'm leaving the big red "donate" button at the bottom of this email just in case you feel you can give a little more.

I took the night off to see The Specials play in Wolverhampton yesterday. It was an awesome gig. I can't quite believe it's 30 years since they released "Ghost Town" - the track that defined an era. Thatcher's 1981 Budget was savage. Unemployment rocketed, growth stalled and huge chunks of our manufacturing base were destroyed.

And as the band opened up their gig with a big picture of Margaret Thatcher as a backdrop I thought, these Tories haven't learnt a thing. David Cameron and George Osborne? They're out of touch.

Families are struggling with higher food, gas and petrol prices. They're worried about jobs and the kind of future their kids are going to have. It's almost as if Cameron and Osborne haven't noticed.

That's why we're setting out a clear five-point plan for jobs and growth - to help families and support small businesses

And that's why this campaign - our fightback - is so vital. We haven't got time to waste. We have to convince the British people that it doesn't have to be like this. There is a better way. So once again, thanks for being part of it. I'm really looking forward to working with you.

Best wishes,

Tom

Near Field what?

2011-10-11T19:40:00.001+01:00

Don't know what Near Field Communication (NFC) is?

Watch this very short video, which shows how the Museum of London have adopted the technology.

I'm currently obsessing about how museums and other charitable venue based locations can use technology to drive visitor engagement, action and/or donations. NFC seems like a good tool to have in the box.

See I don't just blog about QR Codes.

Mobile for individual giving

2011-10-10T20:12:00.000+01:00

The lovely people behind Spring asked me to write a guest post for their new blog. It was published on their site on 08 October 2011. It's very quickly becoming a very useful resource, I'd recommend you check out their website.

Every time I leave the house for work I check for three things, my wallet, keys and my mobile and I’m sure I’m not the only one. When I’m on the train a high percentage of my fellow travellers aren’t reading newspapers or books, they are staring into their mobile phones or tablets.

They are reading e-books, playing games, catching up with the news, interacting with their mates on Facebook, reviewing their calendars or working. I think it’s safe to say that as a nation our mobile phones have become vital to our everyday lives.

As fundraisers we need to be thinking now how we are going to harness the power of mobile to help us raise funds and communicate our messages. Because if mobile is this important to our supporters, it needs to be really important to us.

There have been some amazing campaigns over the last few years, which have really shown the potential of mobile and it all started with the simple SMS or text message.Text messages are great. You don’t need a smartphone to receive or send a text message. Everyone uses text to communicate. Text messages are perfect for fundraisers as they are instant and you can send one in seconds. So it’s no wonder that it’s text that so far has really captured the imagination of fundraisers.

In the beginning we had text to protest

In 2009 Save the Children ran a series of press adverts appealing to the public to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Text response was central to the proposition and response was phenomenal. Over 180,000 people responded in one weekend from adverts placed in three or four newspapers. With every response came a telephone number, so very quickly this pool of highly engaged campaigners were converted into close to 9,000 new monthly giving donors.

It was the first large-scale example of how mobile, text, campaigning and fundraising could be integrated to achieve multiple objectives. It really was the moment when fundraisers realised that the technology could really help them drive mass participation.

Then we had text to donate

The next step change was the success of the campaign led by Joe Saxton for mobile networks to reduce the percentage of text donation they kept.

This really opened up text to donate as a viable fundraising method. But we all very quickly learnt that you can’t just stick a text number on a print or TV advert and expect instant success. Successful campaigns have mobile and text at their core, they have a clearly defined ‘itch’, the issue or situation that makes us feel uncomfortable and ‘scratch’ the action we can take to relieve the situation.

The advert below was the reason why I wanted to work where I work now. The itch in this case is clearly the fact that a child dies every 45 seconds from malaria. The scratch, just as simple, you can provide a net, right now for £3, which will save a child’s life.

And now it’s text to engage

Charities at the forefront of mobile and text giving are quickly realising that the opportunity is far greater that than simply building a pool of donors for a series of direct debit asks. Testing further text to donate appeals, the impact of campaign updates, thank you messages, asking donors to share the ask into their social networks and the provision of information for donors to keep and refer back to on their phone, are all things charities are currently testing.

And as smartphone penetration increases we are able to deliver very rich and engaging content via links to mobile optimised web sites included in text messages. It won’t be too long before the charities leading in this area will have detailed supporter journeys for their text donors just as they do for cash and direct debit supporters.

That will be the next big step change for mobile and individual giving in general.

RIP Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T08:18:00.000+01:00

When you see an advert as a kid and remember it for ever. That.

Put an end to Famine

2011-10-05T19:39:00.001+01:00

There is a new international campaign from ONE.org.

High impact, simple call to action.

Sign the petition.

And in French...

NFPtweetup 12: I went as me and left as an Ewok!

2011-09-29T21:22:00.000+01:00

I went to another fantastic NFPtweetup last night. Run and organised bythe lovely people at Beautiful World it's an event that continues to motivateand inspire me. I just love the fact that third sector people of all types (fromcoders through to direct marketers) get together once a quarter, tolearn, share, chat, drink and think together in such a relaxed and informal way.

What really inspired me last night was James Sadri fromGreenpeace UK’s presentation on the recent Volkswagen campaign; you just haveto check it out if you’re not aware of it.

The campaign objective is for VW to turn away from the DarkSide by dropping their opposition of key environmental laws.

James’s presentation was brilliant, a perfect NFPtweetuppresentation because he delivered it with a smile, shared lots with us all andwas so obviously in love with and passionate about his job.

But what really got me thinking was a fantastic aspect ofthe campaign that was created to incentivise people to spread the word and getothers to sign up.

In the hope that you might win a limited edition T-shirt,those who sign up to the campaign can embark on Jedi training. Basically yousign up, you register, and you’re given a personal page and URL. Then of courseyou are asked to spread the word into your own social networks. Greenpeace wantto harness the power of your referral to get your friends and contacts to signup and spread the word, you know the theory here.

But you get given points, one for every view of yourpersonal page and five for every person who signs up to the campaign from yourpage. The more points you are given, the further along the Jedi training pathyou go. Starting as an Ewok the goal is to unlock the T-Shirt once you haveaccumulated 1,500 points. Genius.

James went on to describe the lengths that people have goneto in order to further their path to the T-Shirt. My favourite was the guy who set up a blog claiming to know howto hack the page and get the T-Shirt, when you click on the link for the way todo it; you of course end up on his personal page and give him an extra point!

So I had to give it a go. I got home, registered and set upmy own page. So far I’ve progressed from Ewok to Princess Leia and justunlocked Jedi Mind Tricks next stop is to unlock the Wookie at 100 points. Havea look here to see what I’m on about. (And yes, that was a shameless attempt to get another page view.)

I loved pretty much everything about the campaign, but thinkthat this idea is brilliant. We can argue if all traffic is good traffic, butin this case putting the message in front of many people as possible seems likea decent outcome.

On a personal level it’s reminded me of how brilliant Greenpeace can be, and reminded me to set up that Direct Debit I keep on thinking about.

NB > I recognise that is the second post with a Star Warstheme in the last few months. Pleasedon’t worry, I would describe myself as geekish, but I’m not that Star Warsgeek we all know! And here is the proof!

Mobile use in Africa...

2011-09-18T19:15:00.000+01:00

Some amazing statistics about mobile phone use and growth in Africa.Incredible that mobile is so widespread. And with the rise in mobile payments - who needs a bank!

There are also some great introductory statistics; for example apparently the first mobile phone cost close to $4,000 in 1973! A bit cheaper and more accessible now at closer to $15.

And the video is beautiful.

Found on the brilliant MobileActive.org site.

My amazing online fundraising experience...

2011-09-18T13:18:00.000+01:00

To be honest I don’t see myself as much of a premeditated writer.I seem to write what I think is my best stuff very quickly when I’m in the momentor am grabbed by something I really want to say.

So when I decided that I wanted to raise money for theAlzheimer’s Society in lieu of birthday presents for my 40^thbirthday, I put off writing the reason why on my JustGiving page for weeks.

Then I wrote this, and I like what I wrote...

The fact that you are here means you are thinkingabout donating which is fantastic. Thankyou so much. I should explain why Iasked.

My grandad, Aniello de Gregorio and I shared a birthday, the25 August. If he were still alive today he would have been 99 on my 40thbirthday. He died aged 95.

There are few people I view as a hero, but my grandad is onthe list. A hard working man born in the south of Italy who came to England tomake a better life for his family.

He was a man of few words, but I hung on every one of them.He loved his family, his garden, his wife's cooking and the odd glass of redwine. He worked hard to keep southern Italian culture alive in Somerset and forthat I love him even more.

He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and needed full time care. I didn’t see him enough towards the end ofhis life, but when I did I was convinced I could see a flicker of recognitionin his eyes. I was probably wrong.

I decided to ask for donations to the Alzheimer’s Society inlieu of 40th birthday presents because I don’t need anything. And no one shouldhave to watch someone they love fade away like you do if they are struck withthis horrible disease.

Thank you so much for giving.

And what happened next blew me away.

I had set myself the target of £400, well initially £300, but Idecided that as a fundraiser I should set what I thought was a stretch target!I expected some close friends and family to give me a few pounds in lieu of thebottle of red wine or novelty gift that they would normally get.

Nothing of the sort. The response was amazing. People I havemet briefly in real life or never met ever bar on Twitter proved to beunbelievably generous. And of course my family and close friends were superb. I've said thank you to everyone who has given, but I will say it again. THANK YOU! You're amazing!

Today, Sunday 18^th September the total is £1,830.My JustGiving page helpfully tells me that’s 458% of my target. I am genuinely humbledby this.

And doing it all via JustGiving connected with the geekfundraiser in me. The thrill of getting an email telling you that you have anew donation is extraordinary. And when I sorted out the text to donatefunction I was in GEEK heaven, some numbers that will satisfy your inner geek:

96 donations in total
£165 in SMS donations - 9% of the total value
21 gifts labelled as SMS - 22% of the total number
£375 in Gift Aid
£140 offline

So, here comes the financial ask I’m sure you're expecting.

Do you fancy helping me get to £2,000?

You can use your mobile phone and it’s very veryeasy. Think of it as sector research if nothing else.

To give £10 text PAUL71 £10 to 70070

To give £8 text PAUL71 £8 to 70070

And as all good telephone fundraisers know, 25% of responsecomes from the third ask, so to give £4 text PAUL71 £4 to 70070

Thanks very much.

http://www.justgiving.com/pauldegregorio

Happy 40th Birthday Greenpeace

2011-09-16T08:02:00.000+01:00

I was 40 a few weeks ago. This year a lot of my friends are 40 as well. Including Greenpeace. They were 40 yesterday and one of their friends made them this great video as a lovely present. Please excuse the swearing!

Found on Osocio

My 20p's worth on the Rapidata report

2011-09-14T13:19:00.002+01:00

Some quick thoughts of the recent Rapidata findings that report August 2011 to be the highest month for Direct Debit (DD)cancelations.

Mark blogged about it brilliantly here.

It’s been very clear to us all for the last couple of years thatthe source of new regular givers is rapidly changing. A client whose strategy I know very well, 5years ago recruited over 60% of it’s new monthly givers from the traditional sources ofDRTV, direct mail, door drop and inserts. That same client is now recruiting over 65% of its new monthly givers from dialoguebased sources like Street, Door to Door and Cold Telemarketing.

We all know that these new dialogue sources of monthly giverdeliver higher attrition rates than the more traditional sources of monthly giver.

So, it follows that as the proportion of donors from thesesources increases, then the proportion of cancellations has to increase aswell.

I’m not denying the impact of the global financial situationon giving at all. It’s clear that there is a growing concern amongst the publicthat their disposable income is shrinking. But we need to be careful not toblame the economic situation when the biggest driver of increasing cancellations might be channel.

So what to do?

Whatever you do don’t stop recruiting from these higherattrition channels. Of course refine your list selection for the phone and makesure you are managing the key performance indicators in your face to face recruitment(age, value and location).

But put a LOT of focus into understanding how you can reducethe attrition rates of these dialogue recruited donors.

It’s a line I maybe trot out a little too often – but youreally need to match the passion of the initial acquisition moment in yoursubsequent communications with these donors or they will tune out quickly andlapse.

They just will. So, herecome the sweeping generalisations...

They are not long copy, print based, detail people.

Or at least they are not at the very beginning of theirrelationship with you. They will get involved in the detail once you get them past the first month or two.

They are visual, high impact, short copy, demonstrate theneed to me now type of people. Thinkvideo, infographic, real life stories, SMS and welcome call. Think mobile stewardship.

Like I say, probably drenched in generalisation. But thesedonors are different and we need to think differently, quickly to keep them.

Online Giving statistics

2011-09-13T23:05:00.000+01:00

Some great statistics on online giving from the lovely people at Reason Digital via Howard Lake

UK Smartphone users

2011-09-02T21:50:00.000+01:00

Some great insights from Google.

Smartphone addiction

2011-08-31T20:04:00.000+01:00

I've stopped reading books this year. I used to be a book a fortnight type of person on my short commute to work. Instead, I stare at my phone. And I'm not alone, all around me, people are staring at their phones as well.

So I was pleased to find this video. It's full of people in South Korea talking about their relationships with their smartphones.

It seems that this addiction is universal.

In Q2 2010 UK smartphone penetration was 26.5%.

This trend isn't going to reverse.

56% of smartphone users access the internet on their phone according to 22% of all phones users, (according to Ipos). This is another trend that isn't going to reverse.

So, more people are getting smartphones and those people with smartphones use their phone to access the internet more than those with standard phones. You can see where this is going right.

I'm currently working on a really interesting project for a client where we plan to fuse mobile internet and SMS messages together to reduce attrition rates. A key objective is to claim a space on the supporter's phone and stay there.

If you're not already it's probably time to start thinking about how your supporters are using mobile and how you can use mobile to keep them engaged with the work you are doing.

The video comes from Google, there are lots of great videos to be found on their YouTube channel.

Every 45 seconds a child dies from Malaria.

2011-08-19T14:41:00.000+01:00

This is just brilliant. Brilliant, brilliant brilliant.

Made for the Christian Aid Nets Now campaign.

45 seconds long.

Made for sharing, by the good people at Provokateur.

QR Codes & NYC: two of my favourite things

2011-08-15T09:13:00.000+01:00

Of course they will never catch on. But this is brilliant.

The video is very inspiring, QR Code being used as the way to deliver a fabulous idea rather than being the idea. And of course all backed up with fabulous content, optimised and delivered to a mobile phone. Just how we like it.

But of course they won't catch on!

Massive hat tip to Zoe Amar who shared the link via twitter. If you're on Twitter you should follow her. Zoe's link takes you to Tom Fishburne's blog, which is a treat in itself.

A Jedi Knight and an account manager walk into a bar....

2011-08-14T19:21:00.002+01:00

In the excitement caused by getting a thank you from UNICEF delivered by Obi-Wan Kenobi. I didn't communicate the closing date for my account manager role!

So here is the ad again. And right down the bottom is the closing date. I've had some brilliant applications, but if you're reading this and wondering whether or not to apply. Do it. Go on, apply. What's the worst that could happen? I can promise you that you will get to work on projects that generate thank you videos from film stars. Well you might. Anyway, that ad...

Want to come and work on some ground breaking mobile projects for an incredible set of clients?

The mobile team at Open Fundraising is very new but we’ve already worked on some really exciting projects and there is a huge appetite from charities for us to do much more.

In the last month we’ve created mobile-based welcome programmes for donors, been heavily involved in charity SMS activity in response to the crisis in East Africa and talked to lots of charities on how they can fuse SMS and mobile internet with more traditional channels to find new supporters. It’s been a bit busy.

The clients we’re working with include UNICEF, WWF, Christian Aid, NSPCC and CRUK. And we’re talking to a whole lot more.

We need someone who is happy to get stuck into anything that needs doing, but principally the role is to prove account management support and project manage the production of mobile web sites and SMS campaigns.

You’ll need to tick most of the boxes in the following areas:

Understand the fundamentals of fundraising.
Be passionate about new technology, the web and mobile.
Be able to manage multiple projects whilst remaining calm.
Have experience of project managing marketing/fundraising projects in a creative environment as well as with external partners.
Have excellent client servicing skills.
Have experience working on digital projects (experience with mobile would be brilliant but isn’t essential).
Thrive when working in a fast paced environment.
Happy to turn their hand to anything in order to make sure that the project gets done.
Have an opinion and be comfortable expressing it on how mobile can be used to help the charities we work with, recruit, keep, engage and inspire their supporters.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of something exciting from the very beginning and help shape the direction of a team that is at the leading edge of using mobile to inspire people to take action to change the world.

If this sounds like you, send an email introducing yourself, explaining why you are perfect for the job, with your CV and current salary details. If you'd rather speak to me before applying you can find me on Twitter and Linkedin so feel free to make contact that way.

CLOSING DATE: Please send me your application by 10am on Monday 22 August.

It's time to share...

2011-08-11T21:14:00.003+01:00

I'm exceptionally proud of my colleagues at UNICEF and Open Fundraising.

A meeting two weeks ago and a lot of hard work since then, has delivered one of the best campaigns I have ever been a part of. It's amazing what can be done when the power of a great team is harnessed.

But now the important bit.

Children are hungry. We’re not. They have no food. We do. We can help.

Text SHARE to 78866 to donate £5 and feed a child for a week

And then please share on Facebook, Twitter and all your other social networks.

I'm recruiting at Open Mobile... want to come and work with me?

2011-08-08T11:56:00.003+01:00

Account Manager with awesome project management skills needed.

Want to come and work on some ground breaking mobile projects for an incredible set of clients?

The mobile team at Open Fundraising is very new but we’ve already worked on some really exciting projects and there is a huge appetite from charities for us to do much more.

In the last month we’ve created mobile-based welcome programmes for donors, been heavily involved in charity SMS activity in response to the crisis in East Africa and talked to lots of charities on how they can fuse SMS and mobile internet with more traditional channels to find new supporters. It’s been a bit busy.

The clients we’re working with include UNICEF, WWF, Christian Aid, NSPCC and CRUK. And we’re talking to a whole lot more.

We need someone who is happy to get stuck into anything that needs doing, but principally the role is to prove account management support and project manage the production of mobile web sites and SMS campaigns.

You’ll need to tick most of the boxes in the following areas:

Understand the fundamentals of fundraising.
Be passionate about new technology, the web and mobile.
Be able to manage multiple projects whilst remaining calm.
Have experience of project managing marketing/fundraising projects in a creative environment as well as with external partners.
Have excellent client servicing skills.
Have experience working on digital projects (experience with mobile would be brilliant but isn’t essential).
Thrive when working in a fast paced environment.
Happy to turn their hand to anything in order to make sure that the project gets done.
Have an opinion and be comfortable expressing it on how mobile can be used to help the charities we work with, recruit, keep, engage and inspire their supporters.

And you might get a thank you video from Ewan McGregor!

If this sounds like you, send an email introducing yourself, explaining why you are perfect for the job, with your CV and current salary details. If you'd rather speak to me before applying you can find me on Twitter and Linkedin so feel free to make contact that way.

CLOSING DATE: Please send me your application by 10am on Monday 22 August.

Mobile Website Optimisation tips

2011-08-02T22:15:00.003+01:00

I'm starting to get over obsessed (if that's possible) by mobile site design. It's a small screen, people are on the move, we need to think in a different way to get the most out of the opportunity.

I found some great tips from Google on mobile website optimisation. From buttons, to content to white space.

Long and detailed but really good stuff.

Part 1: Mobile Website Optimisation - 5 Considerations when Prioritising Content http://bit.ly/nVA7a7

Part 2: Mobile Website Optimisation - How Effective Use of White Space Can Improve the Mobile Website Experience http://bit.ly/q7HFZR

Part 3: Mobile website optimisation - 7 considerations when designing buttons on mobile websites - Google Mobile Ads Blog http://bit.ly/oVkK96

And a picture of the owl I keep in the living room.

Bite sized acts of solidarity

2011-08-01T08:56:00.001+01:00

Another superb example of video. This has a very compelling call to action.

I've very recently been exposed to the concept of 'bite sized acts of solidarity' a much better term than 'slacktivism'.

Bite sized acts of solidarity are the actions we should be looking to inspire our supporters to take as often as we can.

An action however small requires some level of thought, we need to get people thinking about the things that are wrong more often.

I found this video on the Osocio web site. Which is one of the best resources on the web.

Small budget? Amazing execution...

2011-07-27T17:53:00.004+01:00

So I regularly talk about how brilliant I think video is for communicating complex messages simply.

I usually say that a short video delivered to a supporters mobile phone is a fantastic way of welcoming or updating them...

This video is one of the best I've seen in a long time. Have a watch.

Shelter Scotland on Foursquare from Shelter Scotland on Vimeo.

The Foursquare partnership is worth a blog post in itself, as it's very clever and I hope very successful.

Explaining how to use Foursquare to donors and promoting the offer sit together really well.

But the thing I LOVE about this video is the way it's been put together.

Every time I blog about video I worry about the cost of producing them. This doesn't look like it needed to be that expensive to make.

It's brilliant because it gets the message across simply and the lo-fi production really works.

I think I want to make one.

Children's famine in Somalia

2011-07-20T18:07:00.000+01:00

UNICEF UK have released this video on their Facebook page.

Of course it's brilliant that they have done it so quickly and that they have included a text to donate call to action at the end of the short video.

And of course they should be applauded for using video in such a great way across their social media presence.

But it's probably more important that you just do what it asks and text the word FAMINE to 70007.

And then it would be great if you shared the video across your social media presence.

Usability rocks

2011-07-19T11:15:00.005+01:00

Today I'm reading this fabulous presentation from this years IOF conference.

Creative totally rocks, but usability seems to rock harder.

I was taught to look at fundraising performance from every angle until you’re clear on the variables that have the biggest impact on money raised.

Then focus on improving in those areas and don’t get distracted.

Logical really.

Iof 2011 best donation form session

View more presentations from Jason Potts

From the lovely people at Think Consulting.

My Mum can send an SMS message, just don't ask her to scan a QR code

2011-07-12T21:09:00.001+01:00

I have a reputation for excessively promoting and being obsessed by QR Codes. I’m not into them just because they are new, cool, beautiful or quirky, though I might have said that in the past. I’m into them because they have the potential to refresh traditional channels and give better experiences to supporters.

As a fundraiser I like uses of technology that make it easy for people to take action once they’ve been inspired. I really don’t care if it’s a QR Code, short url or whatever else the future holds.

However, what I am evangelical about and don’t spend enough talking about is the simple SMS message.

I like SMS messages more than I like QR Codes.

I like SMS messages because everyone uses them. Even my mum. Don’t ask her to scan a QR code.

Everyone knows how to send an SMS message and you don’t need a smart phone to send one.

I like SMS messages because donors don’t have to give all their information to the charity they support...

WHAT!

Yup, I like them because the donor doesn’t have to give their name and address unless they want to and we ask nicely.

Think about it, the most personal data anyone could give us is his or her name and address. That’s potentially a barrier to response right there. While we don’t get a name or address with an SMS donation, we get something that it could be argued is far more useful. We get a clear signal of what motivates or inspires that person to get involved and make a donation.

Last week several charities I work with used SMS to ask people who had donated previously by SMS to give again in response to the unfolding crisis in East Africa. Results have been brilliant across the board.

So without knowing any individual supporter’s name we managed to do the best thing a fundraiser can, we inspired them to give again.

Image from JakeBrewer's Flickr page.

I am not the story

2011-07-10T17:50:00.005+01:00

The tabloid press are (were?) a well read and loved aspect of British life. They are the oxygen for celebrities who need publicity to fuel their careers. Their readership numbers make them a great place for charities to place adverts to generate stacks of cash as we've seen this week as the DEC launched its latest appeal.

Sure, I've never been the biggest fan of the Murdoch empire, (far from it!), never ever bought the Daily Mail and would quite happily see both media groups and their views disappear. But my opinions are driven by my political beliefs and an acknowledgement of how powerful they both were while Labour were in opposition before 1997. And, to be honest, I used to be in the 'if you don't like it, you it don't have to buy it' camp. That all changed last February.

I naively didn't realise quite how low the tabloid press could go until the News of the World put an undercover journalist into a training session at the telephone fundraising agency I used to work for. I'm not going to link to the story and I hope in days it's removed from the internet. But just so you can gauge the tone of the piece, here's the opening sentence, 'THEY are the coldest of callers who prey on the financially vulnerable for cash.' The article then went on to trash an individual.

Forget the agency but think of the individual employee that they vilified in that story. He was a fundraiser. He loved being a fundraiser. He was doing his job, he was very very good at his job. He did nothing wrong. He went to work one day, was recorded doing his job and had his words twisted to create a sensationalist and negative view of the work he was doing. Nobody came forward to defend him and he was soon forgotten. I wonder if he has forgotten the experience, somehow I doubt it.

You probably don't remember the journalist's name. But, I do, and it looks like he might be just about to become the story. Which I think is referred to as Karma.

BILLY BRAGG - NEVER BUY THE SUN from Billy Bragg on Vimeo.

I know most of you don't like QR Codes - but this is cool.

2011-07-07T18:34:00.000+01:00

No it really is.

Found on the QR Code shrine that is 2d Code.

Why most creative agencies suck!

2011-07-06T23:37:00.000+01:00

I love this presentation! Found on the fabulous Conor Byrne blog. You should bookmark it, it's very very good...

We have to be prepared for and not frightened of interaction and conversation with the people we want to inspire to take action. Being stuck on broadcast just doesn't wash any more.

View more presentations from Graham Brown (mobileYouth)

Feel the force

2011-07-03T16:46:00.000+01:00

Went away for a week and look what happens. Greenpeace Stormtroopers take over my favourite roundabout.

Brilliant as ever, you can join the rebellion here.

Foursquare danger!

2011-06-26T11:21:00.001+01:00

Probably a good idea to think about where and when you check in!

From Mashable

Glastonbury

2011-06-25T17:14:00.003+01:00

In the days before I blogged and tweeted about fundraising I used to sit in a field near me mum's house this weekend every year.

But it was in the days before, mobile telephones, digital cameras and big fences around the field.

I'm in this picture.

Careless tweets cost lives..

2011-06-14T20:19:00.002+01:00

During the war the British government produced posters like this to encourage the public to be discrete when discussing information that may be useful to an enemy.

It seems we need something similar for the social media age. Here's the modern day equivalent.

It's fundamentally the same message but in an incredibly different context.

First seen on Mashable

Get it together

2011-06-10T21:16:00.001+01:00

Not true, quite the opposite in fact. Everything feels very good at the moment. But I do like the image.

And if you like it, you will probably like this one as well.

Found it on Flowing Data. They don't know where it's from either.

Name your hero...

2011-06-08T00:38:00.006+01:00

I was asked recently who my hero is. To name the person that inspires me and has had a big impact on my life.

There were rules, I couldn’t name a family member and there needed to be a decent picture available on the internet.

I found it very difficult and was going to choose Marco Tardelli but eventually decided to do it properly and chose Keir Hardie. One of the founding members of the Labour Party.

Biggest impact?

Well, it was my political beliefs that brought me to fundraising.

I didn’t have a clue what Pell & Bales did when I turned up for an admin job in 1996, just knew within 5 minutes of entering the building that we had the Labour Party in common. So was pretty much instantly sold. Getting that job introduced me to fundraising and quickly made me realise I didn't want to do anything else. A massive impact on my life and who I am.

But I must say Marco Tardelli comes a close second!

Farmed fish and your computer... think about it

2011-05-29T19:16:00.001+01:00

Two really good videos from Nigel Upchurch.

1. Farmed Fish: It takes 5 fish from the sea to put 1 farmed fish on your plate. Think about it.

Eating Fish from Nigel Upchurch on Vimeo.

2. Turn your computer off: Think of the planet.

Turn it Off from Nigel Upchurch on Vimeo.

You can find out more about him here.

50 years of Amnesty International

2011-05-28T23:24:00.000+01:00

NFPtweetup: Amnesty integrating fundraising & campaigning for Burma

2011-05-28T17:10:00.012+01:00

I’m a massive advocate of NFPtweetup and can’t thank Rachel enough for suggesting that I come along to NFPtweetup 8 last September. I'm not a social media expert by any stretch, but I am a fundraiser obsessed about the power and potential of new technologies to connect people with causes.

What I really like about NFPtweetup is the sense of community that builds up around the event. I blogged about it last year “The deal is that if you go with a friendly, co-operative and sharing attitude you can leave with lots of new ideas, a lot of inspiration and some new friends (real actual ones to supplement your online ones!).” And still feel the same about the event today.

I was really looking forward to February’s event as Amnesty were due to talk about their Burma campaign, however events in Egypt in January took over so the focus of the Amnesty presentation in February was their social media activity around that issue. So I was really pleased to see Amnesty’s Burma campaign on the agenda for Wednesday night’s event.

The campaign was a really simple one to explain to the public.

Providing radios to the Burmese people would give them access to independent media not controlled by the state and show the strength of international solidarity for the protection of their human rights. That’s it.

And radios are cheap. Really cheap. £12.50 would buy a radio that would help a family or community learn more about their rights.

Run in two phases and supported across a huge range of marketing channels including paid search, Facebook advertising, outdoor, Amnesty’s blogs and social media presence, the campaign was a runaway success:

The initial target of 4,000 radios was smashed with 14,000 being purchased and distributed.
82% of donations came via social media.
Over 2,000 people took an extra campaigning action after donating.

What I particularly loved about the campaign was the use of SMS as a method for supporters to buy their radio. This campaign was perfect for SMS response.

You see the ask, make the emotional or rational connection, reach for your phone and get involved. Simple.

What was great was the way Amnesty communicated with donors after their SMS donation. Obviously the downside to SMS response is that all you have is a supporter’s phone number, you don’t know their name! But in a way this is perfect, because it enabled the Amnesty in-house call centre (staffed by volunteers) to call donors, thank them for their donation and expand on the work of Amnesty. I didn’t ask the question on Wednesday, but I imagine these people were asked to join Amnesty and I’m sure it was a great success.

It’s a great example of how fusing campaigning and fundraising together can really work across multiple channels with social media at the core. The idea was simple, it was conceived by Amnesty staff who connected what was needed on the ground with a clear and compelling creative approach. And it was brilliantly executed.

This post originally appeared on the NFPtweetup site, you can find out more about NFPtweetup here.

And this is just brilliant!

2011-05-21T16:45:00.003+01:00

A brilliantly simple idea!

Immigrants for Sale

2011-05-21T16:23:00.001+01:00

Another brilliant infographic style video. This time from Immigrants for Sale.

It's short and explains just how lucrative the provision of detention services for immigrants is for US corporations. $5 billion a year if you're interested. Makes you wonder why these laws get introduced!

The video invites you to join the movement, I'm sure it's working very well.

Save the Children & YouTube annotations ...

2011-05-17T21:36:00.002+01:00

Another great use of video, specifically the annotations feature on YouTube.

I've often wondered why charity films don't make more use of that feature, so was pleased to find this example. I think it's quite neat. It was made for Save the Children as part of the YouTube Cannes Young Lions Ad Contest. Follow the link and there are lot more Save the Children videos made by young film makers.

How to work better

2011-05-11T00:37:00.001+01:00

I don't think I've got a huge amount to add!

Flickr tells me I took this picture in 2006.

I remember being struck by the simplicity of the message.

I often come back to this image as a point of reference when I think I'm making things just a bit too complicated, re-reading it usually forces me to take a different approach.

And most of the time a different perspective on a problem will help find a quicker, more effective way of dealing with it.

QR Codes, newspapers & non profits

2011-04-26T23:48:00.002+01:00

I blogged earlier in the year about a growing obsession I have with QR Codes. I’m really interested in how they can be used to dramatically enhance charity and non profit organisations print appeals and advertising, by creating easy links to content that will bring appeals alive with images, sound and video.

So I was really impressed with the use of QR Codes by Reporters Without Borders to support a recent press campaign. A great concept, a link to the website and thankfully a donation ask!

This short video shows how simple and effective the campaign was.

There is a lot of cynicism surrounding QR Codes, probably quite rightly because no-one really knows if consumers are going to accept them at the volume required to drive mass use by fundraisers. But this example shows the significant potential of fusing smartphones, video and print together to create really powerful fundraising messages that are more relevant for the potential supporters of today and tomorrow.

As I said in my previous post, there is much more to QR Codes than supporting print, but it seems a great place to start.

Again found on the Osocio website.

Social media ain't just for the 'good' guys

2011-04-25T19:25:00.000+01:00

Another one of those RSA videos that I keep banging on about.

This one explores the negative side of social media. I'm not sure I agree with all of the thinking, but the key message that technology is used just as effectively by the 'bad' guys is well made.

Brilliant use of iPad by Amnesty International (and then like buses...)

2011-04-11T09:17:00.002+01:00

I'm really impressed with this ad for Amnesty International.

Then I saw this one that uses a similar idea.

This type of interaction with the messaging and issue is brilliant. Perfect for tablets and mobiles.

Saw both on Osocio a brilliant resource for creative from all other the world.

The leader of the opposition

2011-04-01T22:26:00.005+01:00

Found another photo from Tony Blair's visit to P&B in 1996.

Left to Right:

Jessica
Stuart
Tony B (Leader of the Opposition)
Mick
Jane

Like I said before, I was downstairs clearing a path.

The blogger video

2011-03-20T11:21:00.000Z

It's fairly obvious from some of my other posts that I have an obsession for video. It's just that I think video is such a great way of capturing attention and showing impact clearly.

Which is why I love this one from Blogger. Doesn't need sound, very clear and tells a story brilliantly.

Charities and campaigning organisations should use this style of video to update their supporters on impact of support and future plans. As I've mentioned before creating this instantly shareable content has to be a priority for organisations who want to fully utilise social media to spread their message and engage new supporters.

If you have great nonprofit examples - I'd love to see them.

Voice of the Party

2011-03-10T14:06:00.000Z

I recently found some old pictures from P&B past. I’m not in this picture. I was probably downstairs clearing a path for Mr Blair to tour the building.

Tony Blair visited the P&B Farringdon Road call centre in November 1996 as the campaigning in advance of the 1997 general election was building at a rapid pace.

I was lucky enough to work on the last three election campaigns that Labour won and even luckier to lead the agency response in 2001 and 2005. I learnt an enormous amount about fundraising when running these campaigns, lessons that I still refer back to now. But maybe more of that in a future post.

What sticks in the memory the most today, is the experience of working with such a committed bunch of fundraisers. It really was one of those occasions where the pride of being part of such a great team drove you through the very long hours and sleep deprivation that comes with a long election campaign.

The teams of fundraisers I worked with in 2001 and 2005 were some of the most committed and passionate people I’ve ever come across. All were committed to the party and all were socially aware people who wanted to be part of real change. I’d like to mention them all but wouldn’t do them justice. Instead I will mention Abigail Frost who sadly passed away in 2009.

Abigail was a part of P&B’s DNA, she was Labour through and through and as well as being a key member of the fundraising team was very active in her local party. She even worked in the telephone team at Millbank for a few years, sharing her shifts between head office and P&B.

Abigail worked on far more general election campaigns than me.

Abigail was awkward and difficult to manage.

Abigail refused to stick to the script I had written for her.

Abigail never knew that I was trying to capture her voice in all the scripts I wrote.

Abigail once told me in front of 30 fundraisers that ‘this (the script) is one of the worst things you have ever written’.

Abigail was one of the best fundraisers I have ever heard on the phones for Labour. Ever.

I used to ask Abigail not to get side tracked by debating with the members she was speaking to, she never listened. Some of those debates were quite long and the tone of some of them not exactly what you would think would be conducive to fundraising!

But she never generated a single complaint.

The reason for that was that she was an authentic voice of the party, she was a member, she understood the membership and they understood her.

I once heard her say this after 'debating' an area of policy in the manifesto with a fellow member.

“I think of the Labour Party as a beautiful red mosaic Mr Smith, there are many shades of red in that mosaic, but it wouldn’t be as beautiful as it is, unless your particular shade of red was present”

I can remember the call vividly but have changed the name! Re-reading it now, it sounds a little corny unless you ever heard Abigail fundraise, she said it with conviction, it sounded real and it was successful. Mr Smith and his money were soon parted.

It’s people like Abigail who make fundraising campaigns successful, I think we should celebrate them a little more often.

For those of you that know Abigail, there are some photographs here that brilliantly capture her personality.

How long left for monthly giving?

2011-03-07T18:37:00.002Z

I've heard lots of talk about the death of various fundraising channels recently, but not much discussion about monthly giving, the fundraising product that the sector couldn’t do without.

Now, I’m sure giving to charity via a monthly gift isn’t dead. But you could argue that we should be starting to worry about its health.

A very brief history lesson.

Since the mid 90’s the overwhelming focus of the UK fundraising sector has been the recruitment and upgrade of monthly givers. It’s become the key individual giving fundraising product for almost all charities, in many cases to the detriment of maintaining active cash files.

In the mid 90’s monthly givers were converted from the warm cash file. Then there was a step towards massive levels of cold acquisition using direct mail, door drop and latterly television. Finally, along came face to face, door to door and the telephone as volume sources.

Over time cold recruitment has become much much tougher. The less direct channels like traditional print and television have become less effective than they once were and we are now in the place where volume recruitment is pretty much reliant on the direct dialogue channels, face to face, door to door and telephone fundraising. Many charities I work with will recruit over 50% of their new monthly givers from direct dialogue channels in this financial year.

So what’s the problem with that?

Well nothing really, these direct dialogue channels will I’m sure, continue to deliver significant volumes of new monthly givers for a long time yet.

But you could argue that none of these sources are going to grow over the next few years. And if monthly giving is going to remain a key fundraising product, this will become a big problem for charities.

In the last couple of weeks both Manchester and Liverpool councils have reduced to three the number of days they will permit face to face fundraising on the streets of their cities. If this were to be repeated in other cities there is likely to be a reduction in the number of supporters recruited this way.

The telephone is only successful if there is enough high quality lifestyle, sponsored or profiled data to support charity demand. This is a real issue, volumes are reducing along with response rates at the same time data costs are increasing. Not a recipe for growth!

So if the key volume channels are likely to shrink, what comes next?

Well if the sector remains focussed on monthly giving, which it must in the short term as there are few viable alternatives, other sources must be found.

This really is the time to remove the notion of ‘data/supporter ownership’ from fundraising teams and encourage collaborative working across all of fundraising and campaigning. Cross selling to existing supporter groups is a method in the short to medium term to grow or maintain the monthly giver file.

The basic premise being that a group of supporters who have interacted with your organisation in any way, are more likely to be receptive to the offer than someone who you approach on the high street or who is called because they have completed a lifestyle survey in order to win a holiday.

Event participants, especially those that didn't return any sponsorship money.
Raffle ticket sellers, who sold the most tickets.
Online campaigners, those who take action the most frequently.
Catalogue buyers, that add a top up donation.

Are all examples of supporter types that have been successfully approached for a monthly gift and there are lots and lots of other examples.

A common concern is that approaching supporters for a monthly gift will mean they will become less responsive to their initial product. If you’re worried, test it. In the majority of cases you will find that the overall financial value of a supporter will increase with the number of relationships that they have, not decrease.

Oh, and when you’re asking them, make sure you acknowledge and thank the supporter for everything else they do for you. There’s nothing quite as rude as being told that the way you’ve been supporting for years is rubbish!

In the longer term it is likely that successful individual giving charities will invest budget in a much wider range of entry level products with the explicit aim of creating their own prospect pools for cross selling higher value products. With this will come innovation in the mechanisms for financial support and with that, probably the death of monthly giving!

But that’s a long way away right?

Made for sharing

2011-02-25T09:39:00.000Z

Another great example of how to use video to make your point. This one from Clothes Aid.

These things are made for sharing.

More than a pretty picture

2011-02-21T16:24:00.005Z

I'm a sucker for infographics.

Greenpeace have just published this to promote their campaign against destructive tuna fishing.

Click on the image for a bigger version.

Presenting information in this way draws the viewer in, making the content more accessible than long copy and detailed case studies, (which of course have a role to play).

Creating images like this makes the job of spreading the word much easier. As they are a brilliant resource for campaigners and activists to share in their social networks, which in turn will bring potential supporters and activists into contact with you. Much more than a pretty picture!

Source: Greenpeace

RSA Animate - Crises of Capitalism

2011-02-20T17:28:00.001Z

Another one of those fab RSA animations. I'm such a fan. Loads more here.

Bluefin Tuna with added Mobile and QR Code

2011-02-18T09:05:00.000Z

Another brilliant example of video put together in an infographic style, that very clearly articulates the scale of a problem. In this case the scandal of over fishing Bluefin Tuna. I love it because the 4 minute video gives a huge amount of information in a very accessible format. There isn't much of a solution offered in the video, but a website is promoted at the end.

To bang the drum about mobile again, I really look forward to the point at which videos like this are used in supporter welcome and retention communication plans and delivered to supporters and prospects via their mobile phones. Maybe by scanning a QR Code! (Go on! Download the software and scan this one!)

I found this example on Osocio, which is a great site pulling together social advertising and charity campaigns from around the world.

QR Code was of my own making! Well it was made here.

I love QR Codes, so should you

2011-02-03T19:33:00.006Z

The world seems to have gone QR Code mad in the last week or so.

I first heard of them via Bryan Miller a few years ago, and to be honest I’ve become a bit obsessed with them, (as anyone who follows me on Twitter will testify). And I’m delighted that they are finally starting to be used by charities. Oxfam this week and I’m sure many others to come soon.

I love them because they are a bit geeky, they look beautiful and if harnessed properly could prove to be a really powerful tool for fundraisers.

Combining smartphones, text messaging and mobile optimised websites will give a shot in the arm to press advertising, inserts, direct mail and all the other print based fundraising channels that exist.

Print can be used to grab attention. But once the code has been scanned by the potential donor or activist the phone will take over. Mobile optimised websites will enable video, pictures, detailed information to be delivered with ease in a much more accessible, engaging and interactive way than print. Most importantly the process of responding to that piece of print will be much much easier.

But of course there is much more to QR Codes than supporting print, but it seems a great place to start.

I'm currently trying to convince a charity to paint a massive one on the outside of their building, if that happens I'm sure you will hear about it!

Take up is still relatively low, but the graph below, showing Google search results from January 2010 until last week, indicates that lots and lots of people are starting to get interested in what these funny codes are for.

More reading and information:

Lots of great examples here on Flickr.

A great blog from Ashely at Beautiful World.

Some more reading and articles from my Diggo.

Photo from Scott Blake

Get the video out quickly

2011-01-27T20:06:00.004Z

I think this is brilliant and more of it please.

Video provides a fantastic way for charities and campaigning organisations to respond quickly to news stories and get their point of view out in an accessible format. In this instance a couple men who should know better behaving like cavemen.

I think it's great how quickly Kick it Out have produced and released this video, they're clearly an organisation structured to respond quickly with no lengthy and bureaucratic sign off process to be followed!

The video itself is short and very simple, but it makes the case perfectly. I've already tweeted it and posted it to my Facebook page. I encourage you all to do the same.

If there’s a loser nobody wins

2011-01-19T12:04:00.002Z

A former boss shared a fabulous presentation when I first became an Account Manager, called ‘20 top tips for fantastic client servicing’ it was full of really useful tips on how to be a great account handler.

Some of the tips were really obvious, some not so obvious, but it was great to have a vast amount of previous experience distilled into a four page word document. It was something I kept on my desk and referred to for years.

I was delighted to rediscover them recently and I updated them for the account team I was managing. They feel as appropriate today as they did 14 years ago!

One of the many that have stuck with me ever since is ‘If there’s a loser nobody wins!’ It follows.

When you have an argument or difference of opinion with someone, what are you trying to do?

Most of us concentrate on proving that we are right, on using logic, anecdote, example, anything we can to build an ‘unassailable case’.
But just as winning a battle doesn't mean you win the war, winning an argument doesn't mean you win people’s hearts and minds.
If you steamroller your view you will rarely win hearts and minds and will leave colleagues and clients feeling verbally bullied and bruised.
There is no positive outcome in this scenario as your view won’t be carried forward or those around you won’t support you when times are tough.
So when you are having a debate with colleagues or clients about what is the right thing to do, remember that winning the argument on the day is not enough, and ask yourself if you have really got them on side.
If you haven’t, keep looking at it from their point of view, not yours, until you find a way to bring both of you together.

It’s a great principle to follow when dealing with people both inside and outside the agency, clients and suppliers alike.

Bye bye 2010, hello 2011

2011-01-02T12:16:00.000Z

I'm not one for looking back, but I found this review of 2010 and thought it was really good. Have a look it's only a minute long. It strangely made me feel very lucky to do what I do for a living.

Anyway, hello 2011, I just know you are going to be fabulous.

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

2010-12-24T13:08:00.002Z

This is brilliant!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

If you keep on doing the same things, the same things will keep on happening

2010-12-15T11:37:00.002Z

When I talk about supporters below, I’m talking about supporters who give by direct debit, I realise of course that not all supporters give in this way!

Supporter retention seems to be a very popular topic at the moment. So it should be as there is massive change happening in this area which needs urgent attention.

Recruiting supporters who give by direct debit is tough and getting tougher. But critically the sources of new supporters are changing. Direct mail, DRTV, inserts and door drop no longer dominate in terms of volume. Charities I’ve been working with over the last few years recruit well over 50% of their new supporters from more recently developed techniques such as face to face, door to door or telephone fundraising.

This swing towards these newer recruitment sources is accompanied by an increase in annual attrition rates, hardly surprising when year one attrition from some of these sources can be as high as 70%! Annual attrition rates for the whole file that were 10% a few years ago are now 12% and projected to become 14%. You can see where this is going of course.

We need to rapidly review our welcome and retention programmes to ensure they are fit for purpose and working for the new audiences these new sources generate.

Supporters from these new (mainly younger) sources want more from their relationships with charities than their parents and grandparents did. Committed giver doesn’t seem to be a term that fits their behaviour. They don’t view themselves as committed at all – it feels like they view the first couple of months of giving as a trial period.

I was involved in some research which demonstrated this to be the case. Telephone recruited donors were asked “when you first started giving how long did you expect to give for?”

12% said less than a year.

28% said about a year.

So at the point of recruitment 40% of these new supporters weren’t expecting a long term relationship! This sums up the challenge we face.

The same research showed that the post acquisition experience wasn’t making them feel appreciated. The feeling of appreciation dropped by over 20% compared to recruitment after they had been giving for just three months.

So what was so good about the acquisition experience? Well, they spoke face to face or on the phone to a passionate fundraiser who had a very compelling case as to why they should support that charity. The fundraiser smiled, encouraged, waved their hands around, thanked and made the potential supporter believe that they were doing the best thing ever by joining the cause. But, after they signed up, they received static, broadcast style communications that didn’t enable conversation or engagement.

So what should we do?

Change our mentality. The winback process shouldn’t start after the supporter has lapsed, it needs to start the moment the supporter engages with us. Every communication should have a retention focus.

Match the passion of the acquisition moment in the subsequent welcome process and initial supporter journey, no point exciting them at recruitment and then boring them afterwards.

Talk to people in the media that they consume. Yes, that means the telephone, online, email and SMS.

Bring content alive with video, images and audio to remind them of what they wanted to be a part of.

Introduce a face and voice to their gift. If they think about cancelling we want to make it a personal not impersonal act.

Ask them to do other things, small things to begin with like signing a petition or passing on a message to their friends and family. We want them to feel like they are part of a wider community and are doing something good.

And finally, take an interest in them. Ask them about themselves, make the content you share with them relevant to what they’ve told you and act on their feedback.

Let me know what other things you think are important in keeping hold of supporters from these newer recruitment sources.

Oh and some great thoughts on the subject on Mark Phillips’s blog.

I can see the future in my pocket

2010-12-05T16:36:00.008Z

I went to a fundraising conference recently and a very clever man proclaimed that 2011 would be the year of the mobile telephone.

I think he might have been a couple of years late. Supporters and the public already engage with us via their mobile devices. If you’re sending your supporters emails, have a Twitter or Facebook presence or just a web site, it’s likely that a large and growing proportion of people are accessing your content through their mobile device.

While the fundraising potential of mobile internet and smart phone applications is very exciting. You could argue that we haven’t yet fully harnessed the opportunities presented by the simplest form of mobile communication, SMS or texting.

Sure, we have generated massive volumes of text responses from print and other channels, and yes, there are great text to donate case studies to aspire to. But the potential of SMS is far more than a response tool for hand raisers or donors.

Recruiting a 1,000 hand raisers and just selecting them for a direct debit conversion telemarketing call is a wasted opportunity.

You will speak to 60% of them. 600.

About 10% will take out a direct debit. 60.

The ROI will be great and the attrition quite low. But while you get a donation from 6%, 94% will do nothing else after showing interest in you unless you have a plan.

It would be great to talk to them via SMS before and after any conversion request and attempt to engage them in conversation. It’s got to be better than making a conversion ask and then doing nothing!

We could….

say thank you.
ask them what areas of our work they are interested in and react to their responses.
encourage them to take other actions; maybe they could get their friends and family involved.
tell them about our Twitter stream or Facebook page.
even ask them what their name is!

Those that respond will be more likely to take out a direct debit, so engagement in this way will improve fundraising performance.

Keeping the conversation going long after the initial response is really important. If you gain a space on their mobile phone now, the chances are you will be still there at the end of 2011 ‘the year of the mobile’!

First as Tragedy, Then as Farce

2010-12-03T21:06:00.003Z

I love these videos. Such a good idea. You can find more of them here.

NFPtweetup is where it's at...

2010-11-25T10:09:00.012Z

Last night I went to my second NFPtweetup and like the first one it was brilliant. I walked away with a real buzz of excitement for social media and how it can be used for campaigning and fundraising and to be totally honest, a feeling of pride that I’m a member of such a great community of people, (albeit a newbie!).

NFPtweetup is the idea of Rachel Beer, who with her fundraising agency Beautiful World organise this quarterly get together of like minded people. It’s a community of people who share a passion for the potential of digital and social media to change and update the way we campaign and fundraise.

The deal is that if you go with a friendly, co-operative and sharing attitude you can leave with lots of new ideas, a lot of inspiration and some new friends (real actual ones to supplement your online ones!).

It has to be the most important get together of non-profit sector people in the UK. This isn’t a place for the regurgitation of past success, the case studies presented are all very recent and in some cases still active. Crucially the whole emphasis of the discussion is what we can do next, not look at what we did ages ago.

The star of the show is the work, the ideas and the community. So it’s a format and ethos that really challenges the traditional fundraising conferences and seminars that we go to. This is an exciting step forward and for me mirrors the impact of social media in society by giving everyone in the room a voice, no sit down, turn off your mobile and listen to the person on stage go through 60 slides in 90 minutes at NFPtweetup!

Last night slides are here and if you want to review what was being discussed search for #nfptweetup on Twitter.

The next one is on the 16th February 2011. If you get the chance to go, make sure you do. I can promise that you will walk away with a big smile on your face and lots of ideas and enthusiasm for the day job.

Some links that you might find useful:

Twitter
NFPtweetup
Beautiful World
Rachel Beer

Websites & Blogs
NFPtweetup
Rachel Beer
Steve Bridger
Rob Dyson

PDG has left the building

2010-11-01T22:43:00.003Z

So my final day on the Pell & Bales payroll came and went, leaving speeches were made and to be honest the goodbye drinks are a bit of a hazy memory.

It’s Monday 1st November and after handing in my notice back in June I’m no longer a P&B employee. Which to be honest feels a little strange.

Getting a job there in September 1996 (without wanting to be overly melodramatic…) changed my life! It’s where I met my wife (we started on the same day) and had an incredible fundraising education. We always had it drummed into us that P&B was a bit of a ‘hot house’ for fundraising talent. So I started making a list of all the people who were in the account team when I first joined the company, where they’ve been and where they are now …

Charlotte Thrower (Amnesty)
Harpreet Kondel (British Red Cross, Burnett Works, Barnardo’s)
Katia de Gregorio (Burnett Associates, ICRF and Breakthrough Breast Cancer)
Jane Potentier (University of Alberta, Canada)
Lorna Robertson Reed (Samaritans)
Mick Aldridge (Push!, PFRA)
Pete Aldridge (NACRO, Victim Support)
Rachel Hudson (DMS, National Trust, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)
Stuart Case (Push!, Donor Direct, Canada)
Vicky Haywood (WWAV, RNID)

Just before my time was Tim Hunter (Shelter, NSPCC & UNICEF) and Jeremy Hughes (Leonard Cheshire, British Red Cross, Breakthrough Breast Cancer) and not forgetting in recent years fantastic fundraisers like Jonathon Grapsas at Pareto, Joe Jenkins at FOE and Nicola Lapsley at The Good Agency. A pretty impressive list and a very high standard to aspire to! (and believe me there are some very impressive fundraisers still there).

Telephone fundraising being what it is gave me a phenomenal induction into fundraising. The instant nature of results means you work out very quickly if your instincts, ideas and recommendations were the right ones – thankfully you can make changes just as quickly if you got it wrong. And working at P&B was great place to perfect fundraising skills. Because it was a growing company with a flat structure it meant that from day one I was exposed to data selections, segmentation, creative, research, review meetings, testing and strategy. But most importantly from the outset I was listening to donors, members and supporters and their response to the campaigns I had designed. There is no greater judge on your work than the people who are giving you their support and after listening to literally thousands of fundraising conversations I think I’ve got a pretty good idea what supporters want from their interactions with charities and NFP organisations.

So what next for me? Well, fundraising is my passion and it’s all I want to do. P&B has enabled me to have worked on some truly unique projects, engaged with some amazing organisations and met some incredibly talented people at both the clients I’ve had the pleasure of working with and the people at their partner agencies.

All of which has created some great opportunities for me to take a few steps away from the world of telephone fundraising and work with charities and fundraisers across many disciplines and projects. I’m still going to be doing some freelancing with P&B, but I’m really looking forward to what happens next and I’m very excited about it.

Creating a social movement

2010-10-23T18:50:00.013+01:00

I'm seeing this clip in lots of presentations at the moment. Notably at the 30th IFC in a session by Bill Toliver entitled 'From Google to Gandhi' If you ever get the chance to hear Bill speak, do it, he's great.

The video is very good in it's own right, very funny and always makes me smile.

But what on earth is the point trying to be made. Well the basic idea is that every movement needs a leader. The first follower is as important as the leader and it takes guts to get involved at the beginning.

It's explained much much better over here . Best line - the first ‘follower’ is what transforms a lone ‘nut’ into a leader…

And while I'm at it. Read Steve Bridger's blog. It's brilliant.

This is what we all want

2010-05-23T16:45:00.005+01:00

If you are a manager this will change the way you think for the better! Worked for me.

work hard and be nice to people

2010-01-25T21:01:00.003Z

A very simple philosophy.