by Philip Rojc for Inside Philanthropy It was the billionaire news of July. Space-racing tycoons: a drama of vaunting ambitions and phallic symbolism culminating in a back-on-Earth press conference by the biggest billionaire of them all, clad in a jumpsuit and a cowboy hat. Jeff Bezos' 10-minute space flight coincided with the release of $400 … Continue reading For Many, There’s No Such Thing as a Good Billionaire. What Does That Mean for Philanthropy?
It’s Time to Speak Up About the Positive Role and Contribution of Philanthropy
Dr. Beth Breeze, director of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, recently wrote a rousing piece in defence of philanthropy. Beth writes: "those currently shouting the loudest about the ills of philanthropy often associate themselves with – and gain social media kudos from those occupying – the more radical end of the … Continue reading It’s Time to Speak Up About the Positive Role and Contribution of Philanthropy
Does your thank you letter really matter?
Most donors don’t care much about how they’re thanked. That’s not because it doesn’t matter, but because most donors are kind and generous people who just want to be helpful. Let’s take a small step back and consider how donors think about charities. Suppose you just received a gift from a new donor. You might … Continue reading Does your thank you letter really matter?
60% of charities now have a digital strategy
Now in its fifth year, the Charity Digital Skills Report is an annual barometer of digital skills, attitudes and support needs across the sector. The report tracks how these have changed year on year and analyses how other key building blocks for digital change are progressing, including understanding user needs, leadership, strategy and governance. The … Continue reading 60% of charities now have a digital strategy
7 Steps to Ensure and Sustain Data Quality
Before data science became mainstream, data quality was mostly mentioned for the reports delivered to internal or external clients. Nowadays, because machine learning requires a large amount of training data, the internal datasets within an organization are in high demand. In addition, the analytics are always hungry for data and constantly search for data assets … Continue reading 7 Steps to Ensure and Sustain Data Quality
15 Most Valuable Emotional Intelligence TED Talks on Youtube
Emotional intelligence gets a lot of attention in the field of leadership research, and it is drawing increasing attention from many other fields as well. By increasing empathy and compassion through accurate awareness and acceptance of emotions, real widespread change can be ignited. Daniel Goleman wrote the book Emotional Intelligence and his personal “awakening” into … Continue reading 15 Most Valuable Emotional Intelligence TED Talks on Youtube
4 tips for launching a successful data strategy
Becoming a data-driven fundraising organisation isn't as simple as amassing loads of data. If it were, more charities would already be reaping the rewards. A bald allusion to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner comes to mind, “Data, data everywhere, but not a drop to use.” Which data should we collect? Which department “owns” the … Continue reading 4 tips for launching a successful data strategy
Educational fundraising: how to structure your Regular Giving year
Whether you are working for a school, university, college or are outside the world of education: when creating a Regular Giving programme, there tend to be a number of pillars. Telephone campaigns, mass mail appeals and more bespoke approaches usually end up being core parts of your programme. Of course this depends on the data … Continue reading Educational fundraising: how to structure your Regular Giving year
How to design kick-ass pages and products by simply asking some questions
Every organisation wants to design digital solutions with a rich user experience. To do this, they need a thorough understanding of how people interact with technology and experience these solutions. As humans we are hardwired to spot certain patterns and responses in our surroundings. We use these responses and patterns when we are solving problems … Continue reading How to design kick-ass pages and products by simply asking some questions
Most public sector messages are not direct marketing
The ICO says public sector organisations can send ‘promotional’ messages which would not be classed as direct marketing, if they are necessary for a public task or function. This is significant. ‘Promotional’ messages have always been considered as ‘direct marketing’ before, regardless of whether they are sent by commercial companies, not-for-profits or the public sector. It … Continue reading Most public sector messages are not direct marketing
Propper Fundraising 