Well, no-one expected that. In a few short weeks, coronavirus has turned lives upside down and fundraising strategies inside out. With NCVO forecasting £4 billion lost in just 12 weeks, legacies devalued, trust and corporate investments hit, it’s enough to make you want to pack up and go home. But wait. You already are home (or maybe you’ve just gone back to work?). So much of everything that has happened is out of our control. But now the initial shock is over, we can control the way we choose to respond. You could sit and mourn what was. Lament over the unfairness of it all. Or you could pick yourself up and start thinking forward. After all, your charity has a world to change, and that means:
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Hands up if you’ve attended a virtual conference over the last few weeks? I thought so. In a world gone digital, virtual conferences are popping up left, right and centre. Maybe you’re even planning your own. Gone are the days of standing a camera at the back of the room and pressing record. No. With so much competition out there (and so much technology at your disposal) it’s important to make sure your conference goes with a swing. If you’re feeling a bit lost, virtual event specialists, Fundraising Everywhere have some great tips on planning, platforms, and event management. Here are our key takeaways to help your event stand out:
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Last month I shared my ‘Five top tips for great charity copy’. There’s a lot to take in – after all, writing is a complex process. One you can only start when you’re clear about your audience, channel and content. That’s why I’d like to use this blog to delve a little deeper into Step 4. Sculpting the words that will make your copy sing. Here goes:
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On 30th April 2020 Captain Tom Moore celebrated his 100th birthday. With fly-bys, 150,000 birthday cards, a new single and now an honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College, I suspect the day was more elaborate than originally planned. Indeed, Captain Tom has captured the hearts of a nation. Setting out to raise £1,000, his JustGiving page closed with a monumental £32.7M pounds from 1.5 million donors. Take a moment to let that sink in. Captain Tom raised almost £33 million pounds by walking round his garden.
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Remember the days when you could chat to a colleague as you walked past their desk? Or corner them by the coffee machine?
Good times.
Today, of course it all works a little differently. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, homeworking is now remote working – and there’s no shortage of tools to help you stay connected with your colleagues. A few weeks ago, we’d paid homage to some others, and this week we want to shine a spotlight on our own. Access Charity CRM (thankQ). The perfect accessory for any remote fundraising team. Why?
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In our last blog we talked about the timing of your ask. An act of inspiration rather than persuasion, the key to good timing lies more in the quality of your donor relationships than it does any cut and dry fundraising formulae. We see that term a lot. Relationships. And for good reason. But in the current climate - surrounded by angst, uncertainty, and funding shortfalls – it can be easy to forget them. To send out a barrage of emergency messages and funding appeals without taking the time to check in on the people that receive them.
When was the last time you asked your donors if everything was okay?
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As fundraisers, there can be a lot of pressure to make ‘the ask’ and bring the money in. People think it’s easy. It isn’t. More art than science, when and how you pop the question is going to depend on a number of factors. Not least, who you’re asking. Sometimes there’s a map. Trusts. Foundations. Corporate's. They often have a grant cycle, application process and deadlines. Individual giving is less clear cut. So when is the best time to make that ask?
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How long have you worked for Access?
I have been at the Access Group since Sept 2016, working in New Business sales, and then as Head of Product.
But I was one of the founders of the thankQ company (in 1992) which was acquired by Access in 2012.
Having left Access in 2012, I was working in the charity sector until 2016, ending by being CEO at a children’s hospice. But I am a techy at heart and wanted to get back into IT, so re-joined Access.
As a CEO of a charity you can really “make a difference”, but with one charity.
Now back working for Access we can make a difference to hundreds of charities and help so many more people, while doing the techy stuff we’re best at.
So, with a 4-year gap, I have been working with the Access Charity CRM software for about 24 years.
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With more donors choosing to give online, the donor journey exists on two plains: the physical and the digital. Magnified by the events of recent months, the world has shut its doors and gone virtual - a reality that makes the digital donor experience more important than ever before. No doubt your charity has a handle on the digital world of its donors, but are you really making the most of this virtual experience?
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As the world takes to remote working, virtual offices are popping up in every household. Maybe yours is on the kitchen table, or perhaps you got lucky and snagged the spare room… wherever you’re based, your world has just got really, really small. Now more than ever, it is important to stay connected. Fortunately, this isn’t the 1940s. The wonders of modern technology are at your fingertips and we’re here to help you make the most of your virtual workspace.
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