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#61 This might lose me a few readers

#61 This might lose me a few readers

What does a restaurant menu with a two-hundred dishes, and a company that offers both energy sales AND charity fundraising have in common? The answer is simple, it is almost guaranteed that they do not do all that they offer very well. I once had the displeasure of working under a manager who said “sales is sales” when referring to the difference between door to door and street fundraising, and whilst I agree that sales is indeed sales, I disagree with him on two other points

#60 Donors say the darndest things

#60 Donors say the darndest things

Whether it’s hearing “I can’t give to you because if I give to you, I’ll have to give to everyone” or “OK, I’ll help, but only because my dog likes you”, our donors and prospects say the darndest things. The painful truth is when we stop listening we stop learning, so do we always need to hear what our donors are saying? What mechanisms do we have in place to receive this feedback? And what filters do we use to act on good advice and reject the rest? An experienced door-to-do

#59 Hello gorgeous, fancy a chat about poverty?

#59 Hello gorgeous, fancy a chat about poverty?

This week’s blog was inspired by a particularly poorly researched opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald authored by a ‘journalist’ more interested in the Kardashians and Beyoncé than actual news. Sadly, the author has stumbled upon a very important area that directly impacts the well-being of our potential donors, the image of our charity clients and the public opinion of our fundraising channel. Most face-to-face fundraisers are taught that it takes seven seconds to mak

#58 The Perfect Donor

#58 The Perfect Donor

As a young fundraiser, I was raised to believe that the perfect donors are middle-class women in their forties and fifties whose children have left home. They are their family’s charitable decision maker and will often donate through their joint credit card. I’m not saying that this is still true, or ever true for that matter. I’m not even saying that there is such a thing as the perfect donor. The perfect donor is a fluid concept. There are different perfect donors for each