The tail is wagging the dog..its time to stop..

Howard Lake | 2 April 2008 | Blogs

The tail – the legacy pledge – is wagging the dog – the fundraisers. Its time to stop.
The research we (the NSPCC) have undertaken with Whitewater was clear. Donors dont like, understand or want to tell us if they have left a gift (in general) – but we keep on nagging them. They feel its private. They see telling a charity as a barrier. They are scared they will be pestered. They are scared they will have to change their mind. Sure, there are exceptions but in general this is what they think. Somehow, we all know this. And we, as a sector have pretty well stopped listening. This quest for the pledge is controlling our conversation, our materials, our campaigns, our creative, our voice. So its no more for us. There….its done – time to move on.

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.