# Curly Wurlies, Marketing and Fundraising resolutions 2012

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/01/04/curly-wurlies-marketing-and-fundraising-resolutions-2012/
- Published: 2012-01-04T18:22:54+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

By this time each year I’m usually on the verge of blowing one minor resolution (
this year’s was to do with avoiding Curly Wurlies, but that’s a different blog).
This minor failure on my part has made me determined to achieve the more important
professional resolutions that I believe will help [charities](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charitable_organization),
civil sector organisations and [social enterprises](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_enterprise)
get more value from their activities in 2012.

Here’s my top six. Let me know what you think and what’s made it into your [marketing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing)
and [fundraising](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundraising) resolutions:

 1. Engage more organisations with the approach that their [brand](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand)
    should be an asset which needs to be leveraged wherever possible to meet objectives
    and UNDERPIN activities.  Does your brand support what you do day to day?  If not,
    it’s not working as an asset should and is likely occupying too much time and effort
    for little return.
 2. Inspire teams, audiences and readers to look at the chocolate, not the holes!  
    Every opportunity has risks and every idea has potential downsides but we really
    need to stop looking at them from the perspective of what’s not there and look 
    at what lovely chocolaty benefits await if we think more openly about ideas.
 3. Try to convince the right decision-makers that marketing and communications are
    sets of tools and skills that need to be used to achieve core objectives like fundraising
    and building brand credibility.  They are not by default departments in their own
    right and should never be perceived as an end in themselves… in fact, they are 
    at their most powerful when applied in a coordinated way.
 4. Make sure some APPROPRIATE and targeted aspect of thanks and recognition is included
    in every fundraising campaign I’m involved with.
 5. Treat volunteers like precious gems and encourage others to do the same!  This 
    means nurturing, developing, offering stimulating roles and opportunities for them
    to support you and yes, recognising their contributions regularly (but I already
    said thanking).
 6. Encourage more charity communicators and fundraisers to empower their supporters
    and volunteers to use [social media](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media)
    to engage even wider audiences with their causes.  Let go of the brand controls
    and encourage conversations – their value will be much greater than the risk of
    a few individuals saying something bad about you!

Actually there is one more but it’s quite ambitious…

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> Share as many examples as I can from as many sources as possible of marketing,
> fundraising and communications teams choosing to break down internal silos and
> work together to make the outcomes of their activities so much more powerful than
> they ever could be alone.

What are your fundraising and marketing resolutions?

 * **[Does your charity brand really need a refresh?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/06/21/does-your-charity-brand-really-need-refresh/)**(
   21 June 2012)
 * **[No-one's shouting about Cancer Research UK's new brand](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/08/23/noone039s-shouting-about-cancer-research-uk039s-new-brand/)**(
   23 August 2012)
 * **[DEC rebrands to help strengthen fundraising](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/10/12/dec-rebrands-help-strengthen-fundraising/)**(
   12 October 2012)