Obtaining legacies ‘face-to-face’

This paper is a general overview on how to obtain legacies. It must be remembered that the element of legacy fundraising which involves face-to-face techniques is the culmination of a properly organised and researched campaign, and cannot in any circumstances be done without a great deal of other essential preparatory work. Legacies account for nearly a half of all voluntary income in the UK, yet even now very few charities have developed a really effective all round legacy campaign integrated into their overall fundraising strategy. This paper is an attempt to give some insight into this potentially important income stream and is designed to give every fundraiser some helpful ideas, whether working for a large established national charity or a very small, local, recently formed voluntary group.     

Fundraising as women's work? Examining the profession with a gender lens

Fundraising is a mission-critical area for nonprofit organizations and has emerged as a professional field in the past 50 years. This paper explores the gendered nature of fundraising work and its feminization as a profession over time, while simultaneously documenting the persistence of a gender pay gap and male overrepresentation in senior-level positions in both North America and in the UK. The application of gender theory reveals that fundraising roles and responsibilities rely on key relationship-building and organizational tasks, which are commonly associated with stereotypical women's work and are, thus, valued less in a patriarchal society. As a result, the devaluing of fundraising as mission-critical work, and a career suitable for both women and men, may limit the credibility and power of the nonprofit sector to represent diverse voices and enhance democratic values in society. The article concludes with recommendations for research and practice.     

Philanthropy,social capital or strategic alliance? The involvement of senior UK business executives with the voluntary sector and implications for corporate fundraising

Although corporate fundraising is popular there has been very little discussion in the voluntary sector literature of its context. Using questionnaire data from senior executives representing one‐third of the FTSE350 companies, and in‐depth interviews with a number of top level business men, this paper reports the first UK survey of the personal involvement of senior executives with charities, voluntary and community organisations,[Walker, C. and Pharoah, C. (2000) ‘Making time for charity: A survey of top business leaders' involvement with voluntary organisations’, Charities Aid Foundation, Kent.] and pinpoints messages about corporate involvement which may help fundraisers develop corporate fundraising strategies. The data give the first indications of how many of the UK's top business executives give time to charity, how much time they give and what they do. It also addresses what there is to gain for and from the charity, the senior executive and their company. The results present a picture of widespread and enthusiastic involvement of senior executives with the voluntary sector; a picture of both a deep personal commitment and of a strong sense of corporate benefit. The survey also raises several important issues and implications for corporate fundraising: should charities be doing more to attract top executives into an active relationship with them? How can they do this? What are the pros and cons of an alliance between corporate figureheads and charitable organisations; how might this relationship be viewed by the public; and how might it best be managed? This paper draws on the results of the survey to illustrate and discuss these issues. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications     

Pareto's law of income distribution,or the 80/20 rule

Pareto's Law of Income Distribution forms the basis of the well-known, but often overlooked, ‘eighty-twenty’ rule. The implication is that a small proportion of customers (or donors) are accountable for a very large share of sales turnover or income. This paper examines the impact on fundraising of the pioneering work of Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) concerning the distribution of wealth between groups in society, which was first published exactly one hundred years ago, in 1895. It discusses the relevance of Pareto's Law to contemporary fundraising, using case data from UK charities who have put Pareto's assertions to the test. The recognition of the Pareto principle is wholly dependent on data analysis and software tools to perform the calculations and then display Pareto-style reports. Such tools are beginning to be seen in UK and some overseas software packages and general tools, available in the UK nonprofit marketplace. Illustrations of software systems supporting Pareto-style diagnostic analysis are given. At its most basic, Pareto's principle compels fundraisers to look into their databases of supporters to identify the small but potent élite donating segments who always seem to exist among the general mass. The implications for fundraising that flow from such analyses are important and can be far-reaching. They allow fundamental supporter segmentation patterns based on historic donating history to be understood, and, if understood, managed productively. Finally, Pareto compels the decision to alter either fundraising management and allocation of resources, or to manage supporters, rather than appeals, which in the UK continues to be the most common management style.     

The impact of brand orientation on managerial practice: a quantitative study of the UK's top 500 fundraising managers

This paper explores the impact of brand orientation on the managerial practices of fundraising managers in the top 500 UK charities and, in particular, on their ability to attract voluntary income. A series of hypotheses was tested including whether level of brand orientation is associated with different patterns of influence within charities, with the range and type of brand communicators used and with the extent to which organisational objectives are fulfilled. A key finding of the research was that high brand‐oriented fundraising managers attract significantly more voluntary income than low brand‐oriented fundraisers, but that level of brand orientation was not related to statutory income. Such findings are consistent with current theory and practice of branding in which a brand is perceived as a product or organisation plus, where the plus indicates a unique set of values which allows differentiation and hence, donor choice, within competitive environments. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications     

Finding a Bowling Partner: The Role of Stakeholders in Activating Civil Society in Germany,Spain and the United Kingdom

An 'activism index', combining data on membership of civil associations and societies and the level of activism suggests that, notwithstanding cultural differences, civil activism in European countries could be a great deal higher than its current level. If higher civic participation is to be achieved, each stakeholder group within local governance can play an 'activation' role in relation to citizens, both as individuals and in relation to the voluntary organizations which represent citizens in their collective activities. In practice, different stakeholder groups play this role in widely differing ways in the contexts of Germany, Spain and the UK. In the future, we can expect the lead role in activating civil society in each country to be taken by different stakeholders, depending on the trust currently placed in them by other stakeholders in the community and by the resources which they command.     

What are ‘unpopular causes’ and how can they achieve fundraising success?

• Recent efforts to grow and strengthen the culture of philanthropy in the UK have largely focused on two dimensions: the total amount of money donated and the effectiveness of philanthropic spending. This paper explores a third dimension: the destination and distribution of donations. A defining characteristic of charitable giving is that it is voluntary rather than coerced, and the resulting respect for donor autonomy makes people wary of promoting one cause above another or implying that any beneficiary group is more or less ‘worthy’ of support. However, the absence of much comment on, or significant research into, the destination of donations does not alter the fact that some groups succeed in attracting significant philanthropic funds whilst others struggle to secure many—or any—donations. This paper explores the concept of ‘unpopularity’ in the charity sector, especially in relation to its impact on fundraising. We unpack what this loaded phrase means, identify good practice by those seeking support and present case studies of charities that have overcome perceived unpopularity to achieve success in raising voluntary income. We suggest that by investing organisational resources and effort in fundraising, by framing the cause to maximise the arousal of sympathy and minimise concerns about beneficiary culpability and by avoiding the unintended negative consequences of self‐labelling as ‘unpopular’ no charity need assume it is their destiny to languish at the bottom of the fundraising league tables.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The five stages of fundraising: a framework for the development of fundraising

Little research has been undertaken on the development of fundraising in charities, as distinct from fundraising activities and methods. This paper arose out of a wider study of the impact of environmental factors on charity fundraising in the early 1990s. By looking at the development of fundraising in charities of all sizes, it became clear that there was a framework for fundraising. Specifically, the principal characteristics of the framework were based on the need for voluntary income and the influence of staff or volunteers in the fundraising process. This paper outlines the stages in the development of fundraising and their principal characteristics within the context of market orientation and organisation culture theory. It concludes with some implications for fundraising practitioners. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Brochure fundraising

A fundraising brochure is regarded by many charities as a major source of income. This is associated usually with the charity's major fundraising event in its annual calendar. What many charities do not do is plan their brochure campaign to eliminate wasted effort and costs while maximising revenue received. This paper examines brochure fundraising techniques, drawing on personal and anecdotal experiences of fundraisers working in the nonprofit and voluntary sector.     

Donor commitment: An investigation of fundraising strategies in churches and mainstream charities

One of the central questions in relationship fundraising is how to convert someone who makes a small yearly donation into someone who is a major donor covenanting a substantial part of his/her income. Drawing on research among 200 major UK fundraising charities, this paper explores how far the issue, of donor commitment is used in mainstream fundraising strategies, and finds that only a minority of charities place emphasis on this. This finding is compared with an analysis of models of giving in churches. It is argued that while churches may lack sophisticated approaches to fundraising, they may have important experiences in the area of committed giving which are relevant to fundraising strategies in other organisations.     

Electronic mail as a fundraising tool

The World Wide Web has attracted considerable attention and investment in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds, but electronic mail (e-mail) alone can be one of the most effective online fundraising and marketing tools. Its use in fundraising appeals is considered and its relationship to traditional direct mail fundraising discussed. Other more innovative methods of incorporating e-mail into a fundraising mix are explored, including the basic applications of an e-mail signature to the more advanced uses of automated e-mail response systems. This paper is based on research carried out by the author at City University during 1994 and 1995 as part of an MSc course in Information Science and published as ‘Electronic sources of fundraising information for UK nonprofit fundraisers’.     

Donor lifetime value: An empirical analysis

The successful quantification in monetary terms of the value of a donor to a voluntary organisation is absolutely essential to the subsequent development of fundraising strategy. The question most voluntary organisations have failed to address, however, is how best to calculate this value. Many fundraisers continue to examine value historically, looking at the total amounts given to date. Such an approach fundamentally ignores the future or lifetime potential of a given charity donor and can lead to the development of contact strategies that are wholly inappropriate given the worth of that individual. It is the purpose of this paper to calculate the lifetime value (LTV) of various categories of donor and to explain how charities might use such information to inform the development of their fundraising strategy.     

Whatever happened to the pub crawl? — a change in attitude to charitable fundraising

This paper argues that there needs to he greater clarity in the role of today's charities and calls for structured research and evaluation of modern fundraising techniques and strategies, particularly to help smaller charities. It also blames the many councils of voluntary organisations and umbrella associations supporting the smaller charities for failing to provide adequate information and training in fundraising.     

Charity Technology Trust: a case study

Charity Technology Trust (CTT) is one of a new breed of philanthropic initiatives aimed at helping UK charities become more efficient by better use of technology. Its founder believes that charities are ideally placed to benefit from the reduced costs and shared benefits of jointly developed strategies and fundraising, communications and data management tools. CTT was formed to catalyse a move in this direction from the major UK fundraising charities and is supported by the personal philanthropic contributions of its trustees—a group of successful businessmen. The challenge for such a new organisation with a new idea is considerable, but after 18 months CTT is working with 27 of the top 100 UK charities on projects from online raffles through e‐mail communications to IT strategy. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications     

Changes in UK tax‐effective giving: implications for donor fundraising strategies

Strategies for fundraising from committed donors in the UK have long placed considerable emphasis on tax‐efficient giving, in particular the use of deeds of covenant and gift aid which enables charities to recover tax paid by the donor and thus increase the value of a donor's gift. However, recent developments and proposed developments in UK legislation and Inland Revenue procedures are about to make radical changes to this regime. Although in general the changes are beneficial to charities, the precise implications will, in many cases, require a significant change in fundraising strategies to make effective use of the new giving environment. This paper seeks to analyse the nature of those changes and the consequence for fundraising strategies. In relation to three main strategies some approaches to further research are proposed, which a charity may wish to apply in order to assess whether and to what extent new approaches to committed donor fundraising are required. A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers Convention (Academic Stream) in July 1999, but it has been substantially changed to take account of further government announcements made in November, 1999. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications     

Reinventing the rattling tin: How UK charities use Facebook in fundraising

Using a multicase study approach, this paper explores how the three biggest UK cancer charities by donations use Facebook in their fundraising campaigns, in order to facilitate understanding of the dynamics of philanthropic asking in a social networking site‐mediated environment. The analysis reveals that Facebook is primarily used to strengthen relationships with supporters, mainly via humanising the brand, fostering obligations, and encouraging social interaction. The mobilization of these relationships in fundraising is facilitated by persuasive strategies, including public recognition, authority, and the fostering of a sense of efficacy among fans, and the most common outcome of this mobilization is public endorsement of charities' fundraising campaigns via sharing. At a time when harsh public spending cuts have left gaps in charity funding that need to be filled by philanthropy, this study aims to make a practical contribution to knowledge by examining what works and how in Facebook fundraising.     

Market segmentation - are UK charities making the most of the potential?

This paper discusses the findings of research carried out into the application of market segmentation in the charity sector. Four hundred and ten of the top performing charities (as ranked by income from voluntary donations) were surveyed to determine what techniques of segmentation they apply to their database. They were also asked to indicate how this information is used to inform and determine appropriate fundraising strategies. The findings show that with the exception of a few large organisations, the concept of market segmentation is as yet not utilised to its full potential in the development of successful fundraising strategy.     

Advantage,meaning, and pleasure: Reframing the interaction between major-gift fundraisers and philanthropists

The purpose of this paper is to bridge the widening gap between the rapidly growing academic literature on fundraising and the need that practising, reflective fundraisers have for a useable explanatory framework for understanding what are the main forces and motivations shaping the interaction between major-gift fundraisers and philanthropists (major donors and potential donors), particularly in the so-called cultivation and solicitation (or Ask) meetings. The author's perspective is that of a fundraising practitioner. The paper sets out the essential characteristics needed in such a framework, contends that we do not yet have such a framework, and concludes by setting out a preliminary, simplifying framework for making sense of the interaction between fundraisers and donors. The purpose is to stimulate practitioners and researchers to rethink and reframe this interaction. It is proposed that the interaction is grounded on the reality that funders (and to some extent, fund-seekers), like individuals in almost every social interaction, are seeking to maximise advantage, meaning, and pleasure (AMP). This paper argues that the more these three overlap, the stronger their effect.     

Understanding social influence in Facebook fundraising: Relationship strength,immediacy of needs,and number of donations

Crowdfunding through social media has presented challenges and opportunities for nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations. To better understand how organizations can harness the power of social media in fundraising, the current research examined the effects of different types of Facebook fundraising posts on donor engagement. Based on Social Impact Theory, three factors of social influence were investigated, including relationship strength with the fundraiser creator, immediacy or urgency of the fundraising need, and number of donations. An online experiment was conducted using samples recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. A repeated measures test was performed to explore the effects of three social influence factors on perceived source credibility, feeling of social presence, attitude toward the post, and intention to click, share, and donate. Strongest main effects were found for immediacy of needs. Facebook fundraising posts for an urgent need generated much more positive responses than posts for a nonurgent need. Interaction effects were also found among three variables in perceived credibility and intention to click. Personal relevance and perceived risk moderated the effects of number of donations on intention to donate. Implications for nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations were discussed.     

Benchmarking the fundraising performance of UK charities

• The cost of fundraising and its effectiveness are issues of increasing importance in the UK nonprofit sector. Measuring fundraising effectiveness properly is critical to organisations on two fronts. From a financial stewardship perspective, charities need to ensure that their fundraising is as efficient as possible. From a public relations perspective they need to be able to demonstrate this to donors and our other stakeholders. There are many problems to be overcome in objectively judging a charity's performance relative to other nonprofit organisations. There are significant methodological barriers to be overcome to produce valid and meaningful comparisons. The well established Fundratios study shows that it is feasible to construct a methodology for robust benchmarking underpinned by good quality data which charities can use as a tool to inform the management of their fundraising activities.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.