"How," asked Nancy, "do you engage with audiences who are overloaded with marketing messages and images?"

Well that's quite a question - one we grapple with every working day, on every job. Where a prior relationship exists between charity and donor 'cut through' is easier but by no means inevitable. Recruitment of new supporters is an even greater challenge.

Our pool of prospective donors is more knowledgable than ever about marketing techniques, and quite possibly fatigued by the glut of choices presented to them. So we try to reach out to them with honesty and authenticity - with an integrity that some corporates might find difficult to muster. Our most successful recruitment materials ask for more than just donations. They ask for action, and promise the donor that they too can make a difference.

Our insert for Amnesty International UK asked the reader to send a message to the governor in whose Chinese prison languished Rebiya Kadeer – a mother jailed after speaking out about her community's needs. At the same time, they were offered the opportunity to join Amnesty. Thousands returned postcards to the prison official: most signed up to a monthly donation to Amnesty at the same time.

By returning to its original mission – asking supporters to write those holding prisoners of conscience, demanding their release – Amnesty presented readers with a genuine, and proven, way they could affect positive change. And they did: Rebiya Kadeer is free, and said that the postcard campaign probably played a part in her liberation.

The journey of the Animal Welfare Bill through British Parliament provided a similar opportunity to the RSPCA. 170 years ago, the Society backed the passing of an Act of Parliament prohibiting cruelty to domestic animals. With a mailpack based on the case of Barney, a dog who died from neglect due to legal constraints on RSPCA Inspectors, readers were asked to 'help change the law', by giving their support to to the RSPCA and their campaign.

The Bill has now passed into law and will be in force in just a couple of months. I hope we'll be writing back to everyone who supported the campaign with a simple note of thanks.

The messages are simple and compelling. The aims are real and achievable. Any ideas too complex to be made digestible and comprehensible by a good brief and a competent copywriter have no place in donor communications. The results of packs like this make me sure that, by relative spend, non-profit fundraisers are at least as creative and persuasive as our for-profit counterparts. Last financial year Whitewater raised over £9million in revenue for our clients - without a 'must-have' product in sight.

Anna Crofton

PS: This post was included in the Carnival of Non-Profit Consultants, this month hosted by Nancy Schwartz at Getting Attention. Head over to this month's round-up for links to incisive and insightful comment on the topic of 'Cutting Through'. You won't be sorry.

Posted by Whitewater Team at 02:18 PM | Permalink

I am aware that there are rumours in our sector that Whitewater is up for sale.

Such gossip can be unsettling for a business so I'd like to use this months' Whitewater advert to set the record straight.

It is true that we are in the advanced stages of negotiating to join an existing direct marketing services group.

I am to become a shareholder in the new group and will continue to lead Whitewater for many years to come, aided by our existing management team who, incidentally, are fab and have been a part of the negotiating process.

I have genuinely never been more excited about Whitewater's future than I am today. We have completely reinvented ourselves in the last few months; having breathed new energy, new professionalism and new ideas into every corner of our work. (You should come and give us a try!)

The proposed partnership with the new group only adds to my excitement about the future. They have strengths and skills which will substantially improve our (already excellent) customer offering in many respects. And they're justifiably excited about how much the Whitewater brand will add to their own business.

Whitewater will continue to operate as an independent entity, in our own office, with the same staff team - to whom I have a fierce loyalty.

For legal reasons, I cannot reveal the name of our suitor for a short while but, in the meantime, I hope this puts the record straight.

This will end a process which began when my wife Claire and I agreed that she should exit the business - a decision we took together about a year ago. We have three (gorgeous!) kids and the pressure of running a business, and being good parents, has been too much for us.

This strategic move is right for our children, and opens up all sorts of exciting possibilities for Whitewater.

Steve Andrews

Originally published in Professional Fundraising magazine: to see this statement as it appeared there, download the pdf.

Posted by Whitewater Team at 08:30 AM | Permalink

Anna gave a lot of virtual gifts for Christmas this year, and I was really impressed with how well she matched gifts to people. People received gifts that closely matched their personalities and interests, which made them seem much more personal than one might expect from a virtual gift.

For example, from the shopping list:
The fashion-mad sister got three pairs of sturdy leather shoes for african children
The sister who works with horses got post-natal care for a mare and foal in the developing world, through the Brooke
The sportsmad twins got footballs for african schools
Mum and stepdad, keen apiculturalists, got a hive of bees
The stepmother, mother to three teens, got 'a moment's peace' (conflict negotiations)
The psychologist brother sponsored a brain cell (research into degenerative brain diseases)

This kind of personalisation made virtual gifts appealing for giver and receiver. I know I wouldn't want to get the same virtual gift as someone else. With a virtual gift, it seems more true than ever that it's the thought that counts - going to the trouble to get a gift that is appropriate and relevant to the recipient, as opposed to ordering 12 goats for 12 family members.

I don't know if Anna had to go through five different catalogues to get appropriate gifts, or if she's just clever enough to see the connections between gifts and individuals, but the end result was that the recipients seemed genuinely happy, even moved, by their presents. Opening the envelopes gave everyone a minute to reflect on how very fortunate we all are, and how lucky we are to be in a position to give something, however small, to someone else - it was really a refreshing moment to slightly redress the balance of all 'stuff' acquired that day.

A 'physical' gift is never designed specifically to appeal to a particular personality. They aren't even designed to be gifts - they're just things that are treated like gifts. Virtual gifts are virtually always gifts

Brad Bell

Posted by Whitewater Team at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

BLISS, the premature baby charity, is delighted with the progress of its Precious Star Fund programme. They established the scheme less than a year ago and already one of the Funds has reached the £5,000 level, at which point a star in the sky is named after the baby remembered by the Fund.

Rachel Beckett, Individual Giving Manager, told us: "This programme has been so well received by our donors. They really love the idea, and many of those fundraising for their Precious Stars seem to be finding it a very positive experience. One of our Funds has even had a website built specially to help the family raise more money" (Joshua Star Fund).

Interestingly, not all the Precious Star Funds have been established in memory of premature babies, as you might expect, reflecting the broad appeal of this idea to BLISS donors. This is one of the reasons that the Funds are given a nice prominent spot on the BLISS homepage and this is the source of many of their enquiries.

Rachel concluded, "I feel that the Precious Star Fund scheme gives something back to our donors that they really value. I'm confident that by this time next year there will be a whole constellation of our Precious Stars in the sky!"

Clare Hallsworth

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:19 AM | Permalink

Nancy Schwarz, our friend at Getting Attention, is kicking off 2007 with a survey on the goals and challenges faced by nonprofit communicators (if you're reading this, that probably means you).

Seven questions, seven minutes - fill in the survey here.

Nancy's report back on responses will highlight trends and models, so our communications can be more effective than ever.

Anna Crofton

Posted by Whitewater Team at 10:00 AM | Permalink

The Motor Neurone Disease Association has achieved the extraordinary landmark of being the first charity to achieve £1million of income (excluding Gift Aid) through their Tribute Fund programme.

Here's their official press release.

What it doesn't tell you is how much of their success is down to the vision and hard work of their fundraising team. They have made it work, for which we at OLT offer our warmest thanks and congratulations!

I'd also like to mark the occasion by adding my thanks and congratulations to the many people who have worked at OLT and helped make this happen; the current team of Clare and Sarah; but also those who have moved on but are not forgotten: Charlotte, Matt, Rupert, Claire and John.

Steve Andrews

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whitewater's research will put more flesh on the bones of what we know about the Boomer generation's charitable giving motivations, but the 'big picture' is already being quantified.

Jeff Brooks, on his most excellent Donor Power Blog (really a must-read for anyone in our industry - add your bookmark now) points us to this article in The Vancouver Sun.

The takeaway message:
"72 per cent of baby boomers (in B.C) want to know exactly where their charitable dollars are going before they hand over their cash."

(Emphasis ours)

Brad Bell

Posted by Whitewater Team at 11:28 AM | Permalink

Whitewater is launching an unprecedented programme of primary research into those they believe to be the most important generation for charity marketers to get to grips with - the Baby Boomers. And because Whitewater believes that understanding this group is so crucial, they are offering UK charities the opportunity to come and view some of the groups, for free!

If predictions are borne out, in 20 years' time Boomers (people aged 45-65 years now) will control around 90% of the UK's disposable income. But many charities are failing to connect with them; Boomers are often glaringly under-represented on fundraising databases. Quantitative industry research has shown that supporters in this age group are cancelling their regular gifts and disengaging from charity support more than any other age group - a worrying trend. So understanding them and engaging with them is an urgent priority for charities hoping to improve on, or even maintain, their fundraising income over the coming years.

Whitewater has commissioned a series of 36 focus groups in a state-of-the-art viewing facility in central London, to test industry assumptions and build new insight into these powerful consumers. The groups will be divided by charity sub-sector to allow us to delve into the differing motivations between the key cause areas. So if charities would like to hear for themselves what Baby Boomers think about supporting their cause (and possibly their charity) they must let Whitewater know as soon as possible to secure their seat behind the viewing mirror!

There will be about five places per session available. Places will be given on a first come, first served basis. And yes, it really is free.

Posted by Whitewater Team at 03:57 PM | Permalink

Hopefully that got your attention. But here's the best bit; it's true!

Whitewater is launching an unprecedented programme of primary research into those we believe to be the most important generation for charity marketers to get to grips with - the Baby Boomers. And you are invited.

Originally published in Professional Fundraising magazine: to read this ad in full download the pdf.

Posted by Whitewater Team at 01:14 PM | Permalink