There's been plenty in the trade press lately about how the public trust blogs more than corporate marketing. I guess it's because blogs come from real people, not Communications Departments.

Charities wanting to really inspire their donors (and prospective donors) should take them very seriously. And if you want an insight into why, check out how our newest client, Médecins sans Frontières, is using them.

Canadian doctor, James Maskalyk, is working for MSF in Abyei, Sudan. He is writing a blog about his experiences. It's truly inspirational stuff; particularly because it comes directly from him in real time, not in a sanitised quarterly charity newsletter. He shares his doubts, his fears, his hopes and his triumphs. He happens to write beautifully, but it doesn't matter when he leaves uncorrected typos or uses poor grammar. Because it's real.

Read this entry and you’ll see what I mean.

And then read the public's comments. They brought tears to my eyes.

Here's what one donor wrote: "I have been a monthly donor to MSF for some time. On Tuesday, I will ramp up by contribution, because I have a house, a job, a healthy beautiful sometimes-maddening daughter, a garden, rain, food --- and hope. I wish I could give those things to the mother whose baby you tried to save. I cannot, so I will do what I can."

Blogs are not a 'latest fad'. They’re one of the most powerful fundraising tools I have ever seen.

In previous posts, I've talked about the need for charities to offer something tangible to donors. This is a different kind of tangibility - one which puts donors directly in touch with the work they're supporting.

Steve Andrews

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:58 AM | Permalink

I'm a BIT of a movie geek, and often wonder why some sequels are given the go ahead - as if they could possibly improve upon the original. Are they trying to beat the banker?

Take Aliens, sequel to the classic Alien. More action, more guns, bigger explosions, bigger aliens, faster, more intense – bigger is better! But not always.

Look at the Bond films. Regarded as having gone downhill for a while, last year's Casino Royale – which went 'back to the basics' of Bond – seems to have injected new life into the tired franchise and put it back on track to greatness. Less style, more substance.

So where am I going with this?

It's often hard to beat a banker. You sometimes wonder why you bother. But creative, like creative people, gets tired sometimes, and response rates start to drop. You can run out of cold lists - and it never hurts to see if a new creative approach can uplift response, or the ROI.

Go the Aliens route, or the Bond route. Try bigger and better, or a stripped back, spare approach. Either can work, as long you have the heart of the charity in mind and the authenticity and transparency to match. Don't fear the banker. Sequels can sometimes be even better.

Steve Tse

Posted by Whitewater Team at 11:03 AM | Permalink

I picked up Third Sector in the Whitewater kitchen the other day and came across an article about its State of the Sector Survey 2007 – carried out in collaboration with thinktank nfpSynergy – into the clash in attitudes between the charity sector and the public.

Basically, staff in the charity sector and members of the public were asked for the ten words that would describe their ideal charity.

The outcome? Charities want to be seen as 'challenging', 'inclusive' and 'visionary'. Oh dear. Imagine going to a party and the host saying, 'Oh you must talk to Saskia, she works for charity and is very challenging.' Oh really, is that the time? Bye!

Even worse, charities want to be seen as 'passionate'. Anyone who has ever worked in a charity will tell you that the ones who forever protest their passion are the ones who never bother to do the filing, learn how to use the database or even answer the telephone.

The public, on the other hand, just want charities to be 'trustworthy', 'honest', 'determined', 'effective', 'helpful' and 'friendly'. How very unsophisticated.

It says a lot that people in the charitable sector, who are entirely dependent on the public's goodwill for their livelihoods, would rather be seen as 'inclusive' than 'helpful' (which didn't even feature in their top ten.) This is a sector dangerously in love with its own cheesy charity jargon, and with a population that's sick to death of spin, this is a massive own goal.

Notice to sector copywriters: when copy comes back, rewritten by the communications department and sounding like a diktat from some ghastly New Labour policy droid - all 'passionate about challenging poverty' and 'meeting targets' - resist.

Charities! Stop yammering on about how dynamic, innovative and super-sexy you are and just talk like a human being. You'll be amazed how far it'll get you.

Chris Nield

Posted by Whitewater Team at 10:40 AM | Permalink

Medical relief charity Médecins sans Frontières have appointed charity direct marketing specialist, Whitewater, to handle the creative execution of an ambitious recruitment drive with a budget of £1.4m.

Médecins sans Frontières needed new creative input to develop powerful campaigns that are true to MSF's mission, values and spirit.

MSF Head of Fundraising James Kliffen commented:

"The generation of 'baby boomers' are increasingly important to charities like Médecins sans Frontières. Whitewater's understanding of this audience and of the work MSF volunteers do will prove invaluable in our drive to recruit new people to support us."

Whitewater MD Steve Andrews added:

"Médecins sans Frontières are a fantastic organisation and I know I speak for everyone at Whitewater when I say that we are proud to be working for them."

Whitewater will be producing media inserts, cold mail, doordrops, press advertisements and online creative executions.

Posted by Whitewater Team at 10:23 AM | Permalink

Last week, I left a comment on the Intelligent Giving blog. If you're not reading Intelligent Giving, you need to start. Here's what I wrote in response to their reporting of a Third Sector survey:

For 30 years, charities have built much of their fundraising off the back of elderly donors; what the Americans call the 'Civics' and British fundraisers sometimes call 'Dorothy Donor'. What these donors wanted was 'care' and maybe a little bit of 'passion'. But essentially they trusted charities in much the same way that they trusted the police, the government, the press, their GP, etc.

This generation is now passing on and we're moving to the era of the Baby Boomers. Savvy, demanding, questionning... and not assuming for one moment that just because you're a charity you are honest and trustworthy.

That is what your survey is showing. Many fundraisers are stuck in the 'Dorothy Donor' mindset and are still coming to terms with the enormous changes that are taking place in their future supporterbase.

Intelligent Giving is a classic example of this. Set up by Baby Boomers (or post Boomers very much in the same mindset) to empower donors. Blimey. Dorothy Donor didn't need that! She 'cared' and she 'trusted'.

Some charities (indeed the Institute of Fundraising) reacted with alarm when IG first launched. Further evidence, I feel, that fundraisers are yet to grasp the changes taking place.

The existence of IG is, in itself, evidence of the trend being shown in this research!

Charities need to embrace IG – and urgently try to understand the implications of this research. If they don't, they're toast.

Steve Andrews

Posted by Whitewater Team at 10:37 AM | Permalink

The MS Society has announced the appointment of two key strategic partners who will enable the charity to execute a radical five year investment plan.

Spencer du Bois have been appointed to build the MS Society's brand awareness and salience by developing the brand position and identity.

Whitewater have been appointed to drive dramatic growth in individual donor income.

Sherine Krause, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at the MS Society, has issued the following statement:

"The MS Society is at an exciting stage of its development, with the appointment of a new directorate and an immediate commitment to increasing expenditure towards finding a cure for MS and symptom relief research for MS sufferers.

"The MS Society has appointed these agencies to support the needs of people with MS and to raise awareness of the charity's work.

"Whitewater and Spencer du Bois share an unrivalled expertise in producing results driven fundraising and building sustainable awareness campaigns for charity clients.

"We have set ourselves some ambitious plans for raising awareness of MS and the MS Society's work. We are dedicated to alleviating the symptoms of MS for the 85,000 people in the UK affected by this devastating condition."

Max du Bois, Executive Director of Spencer du Bois, said, "Having designed the logo some six years ago we are thrilled at the chance of working with the MS Society to help them build an effective brand and drive the organisation forward."

Steve Andrews, Managing Director of Whitewater, said, "This pitch meant an awful lot to the Whitewater team. The cause and the vision of the MS Society team were an inspiration to us. We feel honoured to be given this enormous opportunity."

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:45 AM | Permalink

Homelessness charity, Emmaus UK, have appointed charity direct marketing specialist, Whitewater, to drive rapid growth in their direct marketing programme.

Kieran Kettleton has issued the following statement:

"We're very happy to announce Whitewater as our new direct marketing agency.

"Having undergone a thorough pitch process, at the end of which we were able to shortlist two very impressive candidates, we decided to go ahead with Whitewater, an agency well known for achieving excellent results for a range of clients in the not-for-profit sector; and well respected in the sector not only for its creativity and innovative approach, but also for its outstanding strength with regards to strategic planning and high-quality account management.

"Emmaus UK is currently at a particularly exciting time, embarking on a new phase of growth with the aim of opening seven new Emmaus Communities by 2010, bringing the total to 20. Our direct marketing programme is integral to this growth strategy, and we're confident that Whitewater is the right agency to help us deliver our ambitious objectives."

Steve Andrews, Whitewater's Managing Director, said, "Emmaus have a powerful model to help homeless people rebuild their confidence, self-esteem and skills. Donors will love it. We're delighted to be given this chance to play our part in taking the Emmaus message to a wider audience."

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:40 AM | Permalink

Do charities have a right to lottery cash?

Flicking through this week's Third Sector I noticed several articles about charities' rights regarding lottery cash.

The front-page headline has the Conservative party's charities spokesman accusing the sector of not standing up for itself - accusing it of passivity in the face of the Olympics lottery 'raid'.

Inside, Nick Cater's opinion piece, ‘A bloody funny way to finance charities', on how Camelot has failed to live up to its fundraising promises and general slowness in distributing funds, refers to using National Lottery cash for the Olympics as 'looting' and describes operating the lottery as 'riding on the backs of charities'.

On to the letters page and the ‘Letter of the week’ complains that due to the Olympics funding ‘many charities will not receive money they have a right to expect’.

In all this discussion there's no mention of where the public or the people who actually play the lottery might want the money to go. Not on mismanaging the Olympic games you might think - but is there a groundswell of popular opinion that taxes should be raised (or services cut) to pay for the Olympics so that heritage and arts charities don't miss out on a couple of years funding?

Many charities have done pretty well 'riding on the backs' of Britain's lottery gamblers, but they don't have a right to lottery cash. People are entitled (via the government) to divert lottery funds to whichever good causes they feel like – including the Olympics – and if charities think that their cause should take precedence they'll have to persuade the public, just as they do for individual donations.

James Lane

Posted by Whitewater Team at 12:48 PM | Permalink

It's a well-known fact that I am a huge football fan. I've supported Tottenham Hotspur for over 20 years, through all the highs and lows (and, sad to say, there have been a lot of lows).

Now call me naïve, but I honestly believe that if there was a bit more 'love for your fellow man' in the world there would be fewer wars and we wouldn't need as many charities. So I was very pleased to hear the news that the entire Spurs team have donated a day of their wages to the ‘Mayday for Nurses’ campaign.

The money, being donated by footballers on 13 May, will go into a nurses' hardship fund. With inadequate pay, stressful jobs, and often large student loans, this fund could make the difference between a nurse being able to continue in her vocation, or being forced to quit. Footballers are being asked to lead the way in the hope that their high profile will mobilise public support.

Visit the website to find out more about the campaign and show your support – you can put your support behind a particular team too, if you're a fan. You'll be added to a league showing how many fans have signed up from each team.

Spurs are number 1 in the table at the time of writing (a significant improvement on their current 6th place in the league) – is your team's fan base making you proud?

Fatima Talidi

Posted by Whitewater Team at 01:44 PM | Permalink

Charities that can be bothered to say 'thank you' to new donors(!) often talk in terms of a 'new donor welcome process' or 'donor welcome pack'.

I've got a problem with this. It seems presumptuous.

From a donor's perspective, it's akin to expecting a night of passion when all I did was buy you a drink.

From a fundraiser's perspective, saying 'welcome' could well suggest genuine complacency on your part. You've bagged me. I'm yours. You can rely on my help.

But all I did was give you a cash gift! Take it for granted that I'm going to keep on giving and you could end up taking the easy route when you craft your next warm appeal (a weaker proposition that's easier to get passed the comms department). And I might not respond. Ever again.

If you treat me as nothing more than a person who once gave you a cash gift and quite possibly will not give you another, maybe you'll work harder to thank me properly, to make me feel great about my decision to give, and to ask properly for my second, third and fourth gifts. I've talked about the importance of a good 'thank you' before. (Katya goes as far as to say we should thank our donors three times as often as we ask them for money.)

OK, so maybe 'welcome' is the right word if I have joined your membership scheme. Or signed up to a regular gift. But even then, I still need convincing. Be sure it's not a symptom of complacency.

Steve Andrews

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)