Three more categories
Howard Lake | 17 June 2010 | Blogs
Best use of face-to-face
For the campaign that demonstrates innovation linked to success with face-to-face activity at any level. Applications that show creativity and development of the technique(s) are sought.
Action for Children – Street text micro-donation prospecting
CARE International UK – mycarezone street recruitment campaign
Send a Cow
Action for Children
This campaign set out to address challenges presented by two-stage prospecting on the street. It used ‘premium text’ SMS donations to ensure a live phone number, secure prospects that have already made a gift and generate income at the point of recruitment (offsetting the prospecting cost). The charity asked prospects to text to give a gift to a neglected child in one of Action for Children’s projects. They were told they would be contacted and asked for more support. Prospects were then emailed to thank them and finally were called and asked for a regular gift. This approach was also tested in the national press, but F2F was a medium that allowed engagement with members of the public about Action for Children’s work. Targets were to achieve a contact rate of 40%, a conversion rate of 14%, an average monthly gift of £6.67. The actual results were contact rate of 44%, conversion rate of 18.3%, average monthly gift of £6.06. A Gift Aid sign-up rate of 74% was also achieved.
CARE International
CARE wanted to significantly reduce the attrition of its regular gift street recruitment by building an integrated campaign, so the proposition, creative, materials and development programme needed to be tailored to the street audience and based around meeting donor needs and providing donor choice. Success was measured primarily by improved attrition against the previous year’s campaign, and the campaign had further targets of an average gift of £84 and Gift Aid capture of 82%. Actual results were £97.88 and 90%. Fundraisers received ongoing training and the campaign’s feedback loop allowed tighter and more detailed performance management, which reinforced fundraisers focus and motivation throughout the campaign. Every interaction with a donor was part of the overarching story-telling and proposition as well as being ultra-personalised, making it a fully-integrated campaign.
Send a Cow
In early 2009 Send a Cow started to explore the viability of using F2F to recruit committed givers. It was wary about attrition rates and the level of investment required for a small charity. Through Home Fundraising, a campaign was designed to test door-to-door as a recruitment medium and to test response to a fixed £10 per month ask level. The target was to recruit 650 donors with an average year 1 gift of £120. Actual results were 767 recruited with an average gift of £120. The approach at the doorstep enabled fundraisers to talk about how Send a Cow works with African farmers. The campaign was carried out with a split test in three regions. Feedback and weekly results from each of the regions were closely monitored to allow the proposition to be developed and improved. Frequent training updates were arranged to help build a strong bond between Send a Cow and the fundraisers representing the organisation.
Best fundraising charity to work for
This award recognises charities whose working practices, ethos, and respect for its staff, volunteers, donors and those it serves have so inspired its staff that they wish to nominate it for this award. The shortlisted entries are:
Broadway Homelessness and Support
Meningitis Trust
National Trust
Broadway Homelessness and Support
Broadway is a London based homelessness charity with a team of four fundraisers and an inclusive fundraising approach. The people who use Broadway’s services give the organisation direction. Frontline workers share their own stories, attending a bi-monthly staff fundraising group to ensure the ‘asks’ match their needs. The fundraising team includes three staff new to fundraising in 2009, two of whom have moved from working in Broadway’s frontline services. Central Services keep the fundraising on track and the information team provides essential empirical evidence to prove the work delivered. The HR team ensure training and development is second to none, the IT team keeps the supporter database running smoothly and the finance team works to match pledged income to actual. Managers and trustees lead by example; taking part in fun runs, sharing their address books, attending events and meeting supporters. Ninety four per cent of Broadway staff agree that they are encouraged to make decisions by their manager against a 76% average in the homelessness and housing association sector. Last year saw just a 2% staff turnover due to a high number of secondments, transfers and management progression: 2009 also saw Broadway appear in the CRF Britain’s Top Employers list, and this year it also appears in the Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to Work For.
Meningitis Trust
The community development team think the Meningitis Trust is without doubt the best fundraising charity to work for. Everyone at the Trust is passionate about its work and the whole Trust meets up quarterly to update everyone on various projects, targets and to share new ideas and initiatives. The SMT encourages staff to question everything they do and assess whether it could be done in a better or more efficient way. Communication within departments is constant and those not based at Head Office always feel part of the team. Successes are shared throughout the organisation and there is a total lack of ‘blame culture’. The Trust understands that less conventional hours are often called upon and is very flexible. Sue Davie, the ceo, has always said that if someone’s successful future lies outside the Trust, the Trust should not hinder that. The hard work and innovations that people bring to the organisation as they strive to progress their careers is far more beneficial than having someone feel stagnant within their job.
National Trust
The fundraising department plays a special role in making sure the unique places in the NT’s care are looked after forever and give joy and refreshment to everyone. It consists of a small team of highly motivated, ambitious and talented fundraising professionals. But fundraising is part of everyone’s role, from volunteers welcoming visitors to curators engaging supporters in how to care for previous collections. A transparent, inclusive and objective fundraising strategy means that individuals are clear about their contribution to the team, financial targets and the needs of the charity. It also provides a framework to test new ideas, develop established techniques and measure success. NT invests in its fundraising staff, providing opportunities that are the envy of others. There are plenty of development opportunities as demonstrated by the number of internal appointments and secondments. Strong leadership and regular communication means individuals feel part of ‘something good’.
Best up and coming fundraiser
This award aims to encourage those who are still relatively new to fundraising and who have shown aptitude, ability and success beyond their experience. The shortlisted entries are:
Esther Gillham
David Milton
Tamara Nelson
Esther Gillham
Esther has worked for St Luke’s Hospice since September 2008, starting as a community fundraiser. During 2009 Esther managed the hospice Midnight Walk, increasing income from £88k to £168k. She also managed a number of other initiatives including the schools engagement programme. She has shown enormous leadership potential but is also a supportive team member, establishing a good reputation for professionalism and team working throughout the hospice. She now manages a team of three and in Decembe
r 2009 recruited a relatively inexperienced team member and has managed her induction. She has made a significant contribution to the hospice’s strategic aim to extend beyond our traditional supporter base. This has been predominantly white and over 50 and Esther’s work to establish links with a range of community and faith groups including local Hindu and Jain temples, schools colleges and business has shown significant results.
David Milton
David joined Childreach International (CRI) as a graduate from Leeds College of Music two years ago, after volunteering for the organisation for two years before that. In his first financial year he raised more than £1,388,000, through the management of 34 team leaders across eight UK universities and more than 600 fundraisers. His fundraising model is based around traditional challenge events and he has developed an innovative volunteer management vertical that works to generate the maximum amount of revenue from small staff expenditure, and also puts a huge emphasis on personal development and training for all participants. Potential leaders are identified from students recruited initially as participants in events. They are then trained in volunteer management and best practice in fundraising and recruitment techniques before setting off to recruit their own groups. Each leader is mentored through their experiences. David has already increased event participation that will see his income figure double from last year. He has had massive financial success and demonstrated strong leadership. He has also shown a mature level of experience with a natural strategic insight that has delivered immediate returns plus longer term success. He has developed new streams of income and promoted learning and training with fundraisers from the beginning.
Tamara Nelson
Tamara joined Gemin-I in October 2007 and increased income from statutory, corporate, trusts and events from £114,794 to £806,825. She secured the organisation’s first EC grant, brought in core funding from the UK Dept for International Development, renewed the Dept of Children, Schools and Families grant for two years and secured the first corporate sponsor. She has managed a number of interns to make recognisable contributions to projects. As fundraising director she holds team meetings to make decisions collectively and as development director she always strives towards making the organisation more inclusive. She has shown great leadership skills and formulates the long-term business development strategy, budgets and growth plans. She has proved her capability to manage well and is also trustee of another charity and co-ordinates the Institute of Fundraising Trusts and Statutory Special Interest Group.
Best donor development campaign
For the best campaign to persuade current supporters to renew and upgrade their giving, using any or many fundraising techniques The shortlisted entries are:
ActionAid, Cambodia Middle Donor Feedback
The Brooke, Deeply Lapsed Reactivation
Camphill Village Trust, Christmas Appeal
ActionAid Cambodia Middle Donor Feedback
The overall objective was to give donors feedback on the project-specific achievements funded by their donations to the previous spring appeal, with a very soft ask at the end. This was instead of just an out and out ask. This shouldn’t feel like a cash appeal. The feedback had to be so uplifting that donors felt wonderful for what they’d helped begin, yet compelled to help again. The mailing was sent to supporters who responded to the appeal where they were introduced to the original health project, including cash and committed mid-value donors. These were further segmented depending on different types of previous contact. Copy was deeply personalised for each segment and references made to the recent appeals they had responded to. There were no projections because this was a brand new approach. From the 392 donors who received a donation form and an open ask, there was a 24% response rate with average gifts of £172.76, raising £15,722. Donors also wrote or emailed to thank ActionAid for the feedback. Although this was asking for a one-off gift, it was also about the longer term and building the donor relationship.
The Brooke, Deeply Lapsed Reactivation
The aim was to contact past regular donors of the Brooke to encourage them to resume their support. This was done via the telephone. The audience were considered ‘deeply lapsed’ as their regular donations had been actively cancelled a long time previously with no response to subsequent mail communications. Supporter records were divided into 13 categories, and success was measured by the percentage of supporters that agreed to a regular gift by direct debit immediately over the phone and the average value achieved across the campaign. The target was 7% direct debit conversion and an average value of £5 a month or £60 annually. The campaign achieved nearly 300% of target with 20.3% of supporters spoken to agreeing to give a regular gift with an average annual value of £69.85. The audience reacted well to the individual and interactive approach. In future campaigns a pre-written and selectable list of reasons for cancellation, motivations for support and responsive theme can be included. This would provide comparable statistical feedback which should ensure more effective future communications.
The Camphill Village Trust, Christmas Appeal
This appeal aimed to raise money to build a brand new Phoenix Community Centre for people with special needs at the Camphill Community. The mail pack also updated supporters on the Camphill Family’s news and achievements, wished them a happy Christmas and asked for a cash gift. A high proportion of Camphill supporters have chosen to only receive the Christmas appeal. There are no formal targets, although benchmarks are set by how appeals have performed in previous years. This appeal was mailed to 68,800 people and has so far raised nearly £1m from a response rate of 26.84%. It focused on the positive and motivated people by giving people a warm glow when they give, a feeling of positivity and optimism. This stands out more during a time of recession than charities asking for emergency funds.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.