Ask for what you need next

This is a simple diagram I’ve created recently to explain how you can identify what to ask for money to fund.

If you don’t know exactly what is wrong with the world, or what needs to change… you should ask for money for research.

If you don’t know exactly what the solution should be… you should ask for money to develop a concept.

If you have an idea for a service but have never trialled it… you should ask for money to trial it.

if you have a solution that works, and want to use it to reach more beneficiaries… you should ask for money to rollout or expand the service.

I recently used this to identify that many of the activities which internally are represented as “business as usual” can in fact be represented as new things that won’t happen unless we have funding.

I care deeply rather than not at all

I just read this blog and thought I’d share it here.

It reminded me of the trials and tribulations I faced when helping manage face-to-face campaigns for the likes of Christian Aid and NSPCC. We used to get complaints. Some were about the street fundraisers allegedly drinking from beer cans, which were pretty straightforward to address. Others were more subjective affairs. It helped me to realise that:

– Some people will feel bad when they are presented with a need in the world and asked to donate.
– Some people will feel bad when they are presented with a wonderful solution and asked to donate.

I believe these people feel bad because they believe they are being judged as a person. They could donate but they chose not to, and so they are left wondering whether the fundraiser thinks they are a bad person. In extremes, they realise that actually they rarely donate. They always sneer at The Big Issue seller. And they let other parents handle the after school clubs. It’s these people who get pretty riled by their lunch break being interrupted by some “pushy backpacker”.

It’s fair enough really. Turning down another American Express credit card doesn’t really change how we see ourselves. Turning down a social invite from a friend in need can cause our impression of ourselves to drop. Turning down a stranger asking us to help find a cure for cancer…. well that apparently may take us a little closer to being brutal concentration camp Commandants, and frankly few of us like that self-image do we?

It is good to acknowledge all these tangled emotions and perceptions. After all it is because of them, not despite them, that people donate.

Pitching, losing and learning from it

I just lost a pitch.

Phew.

The more I say it, the more acceptable it is. Because of course I did not walk into the pitch with a plan for “when I lose”.

I just lost a live pitch in front of around 200 people at a conference of people who work in charities. I pitched a poster idea for a made-up charity and so did some dudes from The Works. On paper a terrible loss of face. But of course, already the main feeling I have is… “I had to try”.

The thing about pitching is that you have to be prepared to give up all your power. You transfer all your power onto your audience. They determine whether you succeed or fail. The temptation to avoid pitching is therefore huge.

Furthermore pitching isn’t just about whether an idea is good or not. You have to work hard to get the audience to pass the power back. You have to convince the audience that they should yield to your idea and that by going for you and your idea – they will feel good.

In my case I failed to persuade the audience that they should feel good saying “yes” to me. Well except those who knew me already. Since I broke a few of my own fundamental rules… I figure I should share them here.

1. Never let your idea be shown until you have set the scene. It is important to get heads nodding before you get to the idea.

2. Read out your work. Do not assume that the audience have seen everything. Even if the point of your pitch is to produce a poster. Yes it is true that in real life no one will be there to stop cars and explain what they should be reading. But in the pitch you are there. And you should read it. Every word.

3. Don’t fail to seek feedback. It is important that before the audience are asked to decide which idea they like… they actually talk about your idea. This provides an opportunity to further discuss the merit of your work further.

There we go.

Better skill next time!

When’s a good time for a press advert?

This wonderful ad was spotted in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.

There beneath the inevitable article about Obama… was an advert for the hair removal product ‘Veet’, and the simple line “Goodbye Bush”.

I share this because it reminded me that sometimes it pays to think about when your audience will be zoned into your cause, and so it often pays to have a “quick-fire” strategy already mapped out for taking advantages of these moments of high interest.

This doesn’t need to be limited to charities delaing with crises or disasters.

A health charity may feel it appropriate to advertise when a celebrity dies – it doesn’t have to be done without sympathy. A doggie rescue charity may keep an eye out for a famous celebrity losing his or her dog. An environmental charity may use a newspaper heading to spark a new campaign.

Think about your potential spikes in interest, and then develop a strategy for ensuring you can respond quickly and creatively.

You can look more closely here at this inspiring reminder of the importance of timing here…

Ambient support

Simple combination of message and channel results in this great anti-censorship ad for Amnesty International.

Call to action should have been to go to website.

Should you give your ‘regular givers’ a name?

I’m often asked whether charities should spend time developing product or campaign names. I believe that the answer is often to consider whether it is a trick question or not!

The question above is of course, a trick question.

If you are going to remember, recognise, and value the support of ‘regular givers’ you are going to need to acknowledge their act of regular giving, and probably their status as a ‘regular giver’.

So… rather than use a piece of unfriendly, generic jargon such as ‘regular giver’ to personalize your communication.. why not spend a little time developing a unique name for them.

Here are some examples… if you would like more details of why I have grouped them the way I have, ask me for my opinionaid!

Group 1: Futuremakers, Full Stop supporter
Group 2: Field Partners, Discovery Partners, Frontline Member, Friend of PAWS, Golden Hearts supporter
Group 3: Human Rights Defenders, Frontline Member, Child Sponsor, Heart Saver, Kennel Sponsor

Good ideas aren’t always unique

Above is a picture of a stencil I created in December 2007. It was uploaded onto flickr around February 2008.
Below is picture of campaign developed for Road Safety in NSW, in May 2008.

Whereas I was angling for an imitation iPod ad, they have cleverly focused on replicating the chalk outlines of dead bodies using the headphone cable. I may get around to trying this out on a street pavement one of these days, as I am sure that the right placement will make the stencil image work strongly too. But really have to take my hat off to this simple, visually strong campaign.

A role for brands

It is the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock this year.

I came across this clever copy on a piece of merchandise being sold to commemorate the event.

Setting aside my amusement at the idea of selling merchandise for Woodstock, I felt that the copy was really well written. But more than that I realized it sums up eloquently the role of a charity brand.

A charity brand should support the accomplishment of the charity’s aims.

This means that it shouldn’t interfere. Nor should it consume too much resource. But I believe that if a brand helps achieve anything positive for the organisation – even a more motivated and effective workforce…. then the brand has helped support the accomplishment of the charity’s goals.

This is hard to measure of course… which is why I believe charity branding exercises get such a bashing… but that doesn’t mean that branding shouldn’t be considered an important part of the mix.

A beautiful example of good charity branding I believe is Macmillan in the UK. The branding work they undertook remained true to the brand values the nurses themselves had already created.

Ever since, they’ve stepped out of the shadows of cancer and received the recognition they deserve.

A lesson from bears

I am attempting to read several books at the same time. I get over excited when I get books for Christmas, try and start them all, and then find myself wrangling over which deserves gets my full attention.

It always gets me thinking about the direct mail letters that charities send out. People like to read… so how do we ensure that they feel compelled to give the letter more of their attention than the cereal packet, paper or blog?

I had only moved maybe twenty feet when she saw me, let out a most electrifying vocalization that I could only call a ‘roar’, and she bolted after me. I can still see her clearing the log in as much detail as if it were yesterday. I began to run for the heavy timber but after a few steps, realized it was futile. The choice was then to get knocked down or lie down myself and play dead.

Do I have your attention?

Using first-hand testimonials is a great way to capture attention. And better still by italicizing it, you draw the reader’s eye to it.

‘Bear Attacks… their causes and avoidance’ by Stephen Herrero grabbed me that way.

James Bond movies should be fundraising appeals.

I finally got round to watching Casino Royale over Christmas.

Yes… so that I can go and see the Quantum of Solice at the outdoor cinema, but also partly because a good Bond movie is as Christmas-y as, well The Great Escape.

Every fundraiser could learn a few tricks from a Bond Movie.

Pretty early on in the movie, I know what the bad stuff is. Of course, there has been some reminding of how cool Bond is at the start, just to make sure I’m paying attention… but nevertheless its usually pretty obvious that Bond is needed after about twenty minutes or so.

We like to know what the problem is. Its natural. Most people only get impressed with a solution if they know what the problem was.

Same for appeals. A good appeal should ensure that nice and early people know how cool the charity they support thinks THEY are, and they should know what the bad stuff is.

A Bond movie usually then takes a few twists and turns. Bouncing from achievements and discoveries that offer hope the bad stuff will be overcome. Presenting urgent pressing deadlines, and of course all the time providing more and more evidence that Bond is cool.

A good appeal should do all those things. The story we choose to tell can take supporter’s on such an emotional roller coaster it can be a real page turner. If we make it so.

And best of all a Bond movie always provides the satisfaction that something can be beaten… without making it seem like there will no longer be any other problems.

A good appeal should do that too. Too much bad stuff, and well the appeal would seem incredulous and over the top. More so than a Bond movie would because we deal in facts. (And I still believe that a large man with metal teeth could cut a cable car wire if he wanted).

But not enough of a sense of what can be achieved, and well the supporter will just feel quite helpless and switch off.

And best of all.. a good Bond movie doesn’t mess with that core stuff. And neither should a fundraising appeal. We don’t tire of Bond movies. So we shouldn’t tire of producing good fundraising appeals either.

If you’re looking for new stuff, then again take a leaf out of the James Bond movie book. I’m sure there’s more but here’s a few pointers…

1. Consider whether your solution is new or different this time? (What is the latest gadget James Bond will use?)

2. Consider whether you can present something familiar but with a slight visual twist? (Daniel Craig’s body stepping out the water rather than Halle Berry’s.)

3. Consider whether you can use one of your cause expert’s to explain the bad stuff or whether your beneficiary case study will? (M or the baddie’s girlfriend.)