Over the last couple of months a lot of charities have been reporting difficult starts to the year - no surprises there when you couple the current economic climate with the empty wallet delivered without fail by January each year...

But our first big Donor cash appeal of the year for the RSPCA has bucked this trend completely, sailing past the targets and giving us the best possible start to the year. Gross income is almost 50% above target and still rising!

In many ways the creative approach went back to basics; talking to donors about the issues that we know they care about. We told it as it is and our donors responded - have faith and ye shall be rewarded!

Richard Halliday

Posted by Whitewater Team at 10:38 AM | Permalink

How many times have I heard "I don't like that colour?" or "can you try it in a different font?" or "I think that line would look better reversed out of orange"? Or even "I don't like that pic". Countless times. I may have even uttered those words myself!

Design can be such a personal thing. An external manifestation of your thoughts, feelings, aesthetic sensibilities and what makes you tick. Even when you have a set of brand guidelines, they are still subject to your own interpretation. So when I hear these kind of remarks - it kinda bums me out. But am I being too sensitive? Am I taking things too personally? Do I need to take a step back and be more objective? I came across this site which gives you the chance to read "opinions on corporate and brand identity work". It makes for some interesting reading.

I typed "What is good design?" into Google and this caught my eye: Taste For Makers

I've no idea who this guy is, but he makes some good points and raises some interesting questions. He writes:

Saying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it's not true. You feel this when you start to design things.

Whatever job people do, they naturally want to do better. Football players like to win games. CEOs like to increase earnings. It's a matter of pride, and a real pleasure, to get better at your job. But if your job is to design things, and there is no such thing as beauty, then there is no way to get better at your job. If taste is just personal preference, then everyone's is already perfect: you like whatever you like, and that's it.

I'll get me coat then. Seriously though, what do other people think? Is design subjective or is there only ever one true way?

Steve Tse

Posted by Whitewater Team at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I just shut down my Facebook account.

Yesterday I received the following Facebook message by email:

Jody sent you a message.

--------------------

Subject: People, check this out!

You guys gotta to check this out, this nifty little website tells you exactly your secret crush:
http://best-love-finder.info

Input your info like I did, you will be VERY surprised with the results!
Peace!

As marketers, you should immediately understand how significant it is that Jody is a trusted, long-time friend. As such, he has a lot of influence in my life. Last week, he recommended the book I am currently reading. From a marketing point of view, that kind of influence is unparalleled.

And that's exactly what Facebook is selling. Facebook can deliver a trusted network of friends and relatives to advertisers, along with intricately detailed demographic profiles which include hobbies, personal interests, geographical location, sex, age, race, religion, political beliefs, favourite movies, music, and more.

If that weren't enough, Facebook partnerships with leading retailers like Amazon, mean that instead of Jody recommending a book in the course of an email conversation, Jody can now use Amazon Grapevine to tell Facebook to automatically alert all his friends when he buys a book, as a form of not-so-subtle social network marketing.

In the face of a phishing scam however, the value of Facebook plummets. It suddenly becomes obvious that Facebook's value is entirely dependent on the trust implicit in friend and family relationships. Cleverly - and devastatingly - the scam above exploits the trusted nature of friends, family and the Facebook network to trick users into providing all the profile information they supply Facebook with to a 3rd party. Not only does the phishing scam exploit people's trust to 'steal' Facebook's demographic profiles, it undermines the trust in the Facebook network, and worse - it undermines the trust of messages from friends and family. Suddenly, friends and family are not the trusted influences we took them to be.

While I appreciate the value of a trusted network with spam-free messaging amongst my friends, as soon as Facebook is compromised, it loses all value. In fact, it has a negative value. It's a liability. Like anyone else, about 9 out of every 10 email messages I get are spam or phishing messages. However, I do not get phishing messages sent from my friends, and I don't want to have to start carefully evaluating messages from my friends now. I need to be able to have some degree of trust that messages from my friends are actually from my friends.

Fortunately, there's a simple solution. I emailed Jody to ask whether I really ought to check out best-love-finder.

Jody writes:
Spam bot. I got some from someone else and it went through my account. I just shut down my facebook account because of it.

Me too - as you know, my friends are very influential.

Brad Bell

Posted by Brad Bell at 11:04 AM | Permalink

It's not often we're inspired by the stuff we find on the web. But this is one website that really is worth exploring. It's the TED site, and it contains videos of presentations made at the annual Ideas Worth Spreading conference, by some of the world's greatest thinkers.

Personal favourites include Hans Rosling, whose energy turns data on world poverty into real theatre. And William Kamkwamba: How I built my family a windmill. Check it out when you have a chance. It's an inspirational reminder that the solutions to Africa's problems are in the hands of their own people.

Steve Andrews

Posted by Whitewater Team at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Just got a call from a charity I donate to on a regular basis. I've been giving to them each month for over a year. It was a call from a nice enough chap in a call centre, who thanked me for my regular donations and asked me what had made me start giving this regular gift. I said it was because I liked the animal I was giving money to (elephants) and wanted to help them. He was a nice man and he said that that was a good straightforward reason.

So then he started to tell me a little about the work the charity are doing with elephants, and it was ok, although quite long, and it was obviously coming off a script as it wasn't really up to much interrogation, and it had that feeling.. that feeling where you know you are going to be asked for something... it was all building up to it...

So he told me a little story about what the charity are doing with elephants, which was slightly confusing - it was about people protecting their crops from elephants by planting chillies around the fields, I wasn't immediately clear on who this was helping - it didn't instantly seem to be helping my elephants but he explained that they needed to come up with ways that people and elephants can live alongside each other... which I agreed was a good thing...

Then he told me about another scheme, with tame elephants policing crops and stopping wild elephants from getting to them... again, I'm not sure... what about the poor hungry wild elephants? It was hard to take it all in on the phone in the middle of the office, but it didn't sound quite what I'd imagined was happening.

Anyway, then he thanked me again for the money I gave, and clarified the amount (it is only £2.50 a month) and asked if I was able to help a bit more by increasing that to £5 a month. Now this is double what I currently give, and although the update on the elephants / chillies / policing stories had been quite nice, they hadn't made me feel massively enthusiastic. It was a bit more like I was making it hard for the elephants to get food.

So I said no, I didn't think I will increase at this point, and he sounded disappointed, and said 'oh, ok, well you see there is so much more for us to do to protect the elephants...how about £4?'. But it wasn't about the money, more about what they were doing with it. And it was kind of annoying of him to be disappointed I was not wanting to give more. I still give. So I asked if the man knew if my money was going directly to elephant projects, and he didn't know (he referred me to the web site), thanked me again for my contribution and was gone pretty fast.

It had all started so well. A nice thank you call. But the information I got has raised more questions than I had 10 minutes ago.. does anyone have a good experience of an upgrade call?

Dawn Howarth

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In memoriam remains one of the most under-developed areas of charity fundraising. Trustees, in particular, often find its effectiveness difficult to grasp. This valuable fundraising tool is habitually neglected and under-resourced within fundraising departments and frequently dismissed as 'too intrusive'.

Yet when charities get it right it proves incredibly powerful, delivering important income for the charity and a valued focus for grieving supporters.

Our Lasting Tribute is the consultancy division of Whitewater specialising in helping charities to develop inspirational in memoriam and tribute giving programmes. Since 2002 we have worked with over 75 charities and non-profit organisations around the world – of all types and sizes – developing successful, integrated in memoriam strategies that have delivered a high return on investment.

A successful in memoriam programme has the potential to
> increase net revenue and supporter numbers
> inspire greater donor loyalty and affinity
> recruit new donors
> reach out to and engage younger donors
> support and drive major donor relationships and
> generate legacy pledges

Although ultimately, in memoriam and tribute giving is not about your organisation. It's about people and the things that really matter to them. And that's why, working in this incredibly sensitive area of fundraising, exceptional donor care is key.

Our Lasting Tribute know how to talk to bereaved donors. We know which communications channels work best for them. We know how, when and what to ask them. We can advise you on how you should be stewarding and communicating with these donors and we can help you to develop your communication materials – both online and offline. We can help you to write your strategy and we can offer training and ongoing support to the team delivering it.

And if you think you're doing pretty well already, but your programme might benefit from a quick health check, we can even provide that too!

We would be delighted to come and visit you, at no obligation, to evaluate your current activity, assess your organisation’s in memoriam potential and identify your specific needs. To set-up an initial meeting contact Mark Roper by email (mark.roper@whitewater.biz) or call 020 7336 9700.

Your charity needn't have an obvious 'cause of death' link in order to develop in memoriam and tribute income either. After working with us, Guide Dogs, for example, saw their in memoriam income increase by 330% in only four years. And that programme is driving big legacy pledges too. We worked with a botanical charity to develop a commemorative giving programme and they doubled their income from in memoriam fundraising in one year. The potential is huge. Get in touch to find out how Our Lasting Tribute could make a difference at your organisation too.

Posted by Whitewater Team at 04:59 PM | Permalink

RSPCA reminds public of emergency number

The RSPCA is launching a new campaign today to publicise the work and contact telephone number of their 24-hour Cruelty and Advice Line.

Developed in conjunction with charity direct marketing and fundraising specialists Whitewater, the new doordrop pack promotes the hotline number 0300 1234 999, which has been in use since October 2007. To provide a lasting reminder for when the number is most needed, the pack contains a useful fridge magnet with the telephone number printed on it. To enhance retention, the magnet has also been die-cut to provide a attractive heart-shaped frame for photos of the recipient’s own pets or beloved.

The creative for the doordrop employs a teasing ‘Call me’ message handwritten on a plain red outer envelope with no outward branding to uplift the number of packs that are opened. The signatory of the letter is a Cruelty and Advice Line Operator, who implores the recipient to use the fridge magnet and to use it to call her and her colleagues, should they ever become aware of an animal in distress.

The RSPCA Cruelty and Advice service operates 24 hours a day and 365 days a year and receives almost 100,000 calls every month. The pack also contains a request for cash or direct debit donations to help support this critical emergency service for animals in England and Wales

Louise Richmond, RSPCA Donor Recruitment Manager says “It is important to make the wider public beyond our immediate supporter base aware of the emergency service for animals in distress. It is also important that we make them aware of some of the costs involved in running this essential service, since we receive no public funding for any of our core work”.

Whitewater Creative Director, Nick Couldry added “Engaging the public in a fun and friendly way is most likely to capture their attention and ensure that the pack’s important message gets across. Including a fridge magnet here isn’t a gimmick. It’s a really great way to ensure the RSPCA number is front of mind at all times”.

Jonathan Jacques

Posted by Whitewater Team at 02:33 PM | Permalink

The NSPCC is breaking with fundraising tradition by moving away from asking for legacy pledges from donors. The move will see a shift towards measuring what donors say through conversation, rather than the drive to get people to reveal their gift, as a first move towards a more donor friendly legacy strategy.

The change in direction follows extensive research with the agency Whitewater, as part of a review of legacy strategy based on donor insights. The move is the first in a range of initiatives designed to recognise what donors are saying.

Development Director for Legacy Fundraising, Stephen George said: “Whilst many donors are happy to let us know they have left a gift, the vast majority don’t like it, understand it or want to do it. We believe it’s time for a new approach, where we are free from the tyranny of the pledge.”

The NSPCC’s new approach will no longer measure success by the number of legacy pledges but by the number and quality of legacy conversations across all media – both face to face and direct marketing. Future DM strategy will be developed with this new approach in place. The legacy plan builds on the NSPCC’s Donor + strategy.

Chairman of Whitewater, Steve Andrews said: “The tail has been wagging the dog. Our need to measure has driven the whole sector’s obsession with pledging. But donors told us that our desire for a pledge put them off. We have come up with a new approach and way forward.”

To find out more, contact me on 020 7336 9700 or michelle.dennis@whitewater.biz

Michelle Dennis

Posted by Whitewater Team at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last night, I was door knocked by a development charity. I didn't know much about them, having never written for them, but after giving the guy a good grilling, I was impressed.

They ticked all the right boxes for me, so I offered to sign up for £2 a month.

I don't know what I expected - maybe a 'thank you, that's great. Here's the form - you won't regret it.'
But instead, I was told that my £2 a month wasn't good enough and that they could only accept £5 a month minimum. And really that was pretty cheap - they usually only take £10.

I'm sorry, but WHAT? You're a charity and you DON'T WANT MY MONEY?

I understand that there is a cost associated with coming to my door, administering a Direct Debit, giving me feedback, etc. I made the point that I didn't know them and that if they continued to impress me, I would happily upgrade my gift.

He walked away without my money and I went to bed feeling like a nasty cheapskate who doesn't care enough.

I don't want to feel like that. I want to do my bit and I want to feel great about it.

No wonder so many people are left with a bad impression of charities. Has anyone else had this experience?

Francesca Boardman

Posted by Whitewater Team at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)