In the Influential Fundraiser training, =mc uses its powerful five stages of influence model and teaches you the 15 tools you need to learn to apply systematically and sensitively for success. These techniques have been used to secure at least six £1M+ gifts in the last five years, as well as countless smaller ones. You […]
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Age Exchange was formed in 1983 as a specialist reminiscence charity, and over the years has developed new ways of working to reduce loneliness and isolation. For the past 15 years, due to a growing older population, the charity has expanded its work with people who have found themselves as carers for older relatives and […]
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Guest blog: Caroline Notman, Director of Development & Alumni Relations, St. Aloysius’ College The National Arts Fundraising School will be in it’s 30th year come 2018, having trained over 1,300 fundraisers helping them to raise £300M+ for their organisations. One of the most rewarding parts of running the School is hearing from past Alumni, how […]
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In this guest blog, Meg Abdy, Director at Legacy Foresight shares insights on legacy fundraising for arts organisations. Legacy Foresight and Arts Quarter LLP recently teamed up to research legacy fundraising in the UK arts community, building on previous surveys in 2010 and 2012. We looked to explore current levels of investment in legacy fundraising – both […]
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As fundraisers we often think we’re very clever – using sophisticated techniques from marketing, from neuroscience and from psychology to share and organise our powerful and engaging messages. When we’re feeling down about our low response rates – clearly the failing of our unsophisticated audience – we can always go into our spam folders to […]
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=mc Director Bernard Ross blogs on which charities are deserving all the love, and which are pushing donors away this Valentine’s Day. I hate Valentine’s Day. I mean I can live with the schmaltzy overpriced commercial nonsense: genetically modified, scentless roses at £5 a stem, cards that range from diabetes-causing sweetness to jaw-dropping crudeness, and opportunities to […]
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This article on pitching your idea is adapted from the Strategy Workout book by Clare Segal and Bernard Ross (Pearson 2016). Action 1: Pitching – selling a radical idea Having an idea is only the start of your communications journey. You need to know who can make the decision to back your idea, and then […]
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With funding and fundraising coming under increasing pressure, organisations are looking to raise money in new ways, and for many this means generating income through commercial activities. It’s an attractive proposition – additional money with ‘no strings’ – but what should you be considering before taking the plunge? And how might going down this route […]
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This guest blog is written by National Arts Fundraising School Alumna Deborah Parker, Chief Executive Officer at Cinema For All. We caught up with Deborah at a recent Alumni event and asked her to share her story since attending the School seven years ago: In 2009 I was working for one of the old Regional Screen Agencies in Manchester […]
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Bernard is an internationally regarded expert in strategic thinking, organisational change and personal effectiveness. He works in Europe, USA, Africa and South America.
His assignments have involved a wide range of not-for-profit organisations over 25 years. Those in the UK include British Red Cross, NSPCC, Macmillan Cancer, and the Science Museum. He has also consulted for a number of universities including Oxford and the Sorbonne. International agencies on his assignment roster include ICRC, IFRC, Amnesty International, Greenpeace International, UNICEF, and MSF.
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This download is adapted from the book The Influential Fundraiser by =mc Directors Clare Segal and Bernard Ross. (Wiley, 2008) The ideas below are designed to help you shape your fundraising proposition – often expressed as a case for support – and make sure it is organised for maximum impact on the prospect or donor. […]
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When Paul Amadi took up the reins as Executive Director of Fundraising at the MS Society, it was an exciting time of change. There was an ambitious, new organisation strategy. A 10 year, £100M research appeal had started. A new marketing strategy was in development… and a fundraising improvement programme was building on the outcomes of […]
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Fundraisers are worried about donors saying ‘no!’ This article explores the idea developed by =mc directors Clare Segal and Bernard Ross in their book The Influential Fundraiser (Wiley 2010) that there are 9 different ways in which donors say ‘No’ and how to respond. The starting point is that No normally means “ask me a better […]
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Last month 29 arts and culture fundraisers came together for the intensive, immersive – and hugely enjoyable – experience that is the National Arts Fundraising School. Three days into the 6-day programme, we asked them to reflect on three clusters of action: things they wanted to start doing things they wanted to stop doing things they wanted to consider further We’ve […]
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Behavioural Economics is changing our understanding of how people make decisions. While we like to think we are rationale, considered beings, the majority of our daily decisions are made quickly and often irrationally. This has huge implications for us as fundraisers, not least in the way we engage with donors making ‘impulse’ or ‘spur of the […]
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Is your organisation competing in a Red Ocean or Blue Ocean? Put simply, Red Ocean & Blue Ocean are two different ways of comparing the strategy of an organisation in relation to the territory they are competing in. Red Ocean Strategy sees an organisation fighting for a share of the demand in a market which […]
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In this blog, we look at Battersea Arts Centre’s Phoenix Fund campaign (born after the devastating fire in the Grand Hall) and discuss what worked well and how other organisations can learn from it. 5 Lessons from the Battersea Arts Centre Phoenix Fund The fire that devastated the Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre and […]
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In this post, guest blogger John Godfrey shares his thoughts on fundraising in India. John is a fundraising consultant and trainer in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India. As well he is a PhD candidate at Swinburne University, Melbourne researching HNWI philanthropists in India. He blogs and writes articles for fundraising publications including NPQuarterly Newswires. He […]
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In this blog, Angela Cluff gives a personal perspective on fundraising appeals, and the impact of statistics versus individual stories on giving. It’s been a busy few days, so good to relax on the sofa, glass of wine in one hand, football on in the background and catching up on Twitter. This caught my eye. […]
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In this blog, =mc Senior Consultant Philly Graham writes about the recent reunion event held for 20 arts fundraising professionals who have been on the National Arts Fundraising School (a week long residential programme run by The Management Centre). There was a great gathering of minds last week, while some of the National Arts Fundraising School alumni […]
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In this guest blog we’re delighted to introduce Beth Bate, a 2014/15 Clore Leadership Fellow and Director of Great North Run Culture in Newcastle upon Tyne. She’s also an Alumna of the National Arts Fundraising School run by =mc. Find out what she thought of the School in this NAFS video blog. 5 Things I learnt from my […]
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=mc director Bernard Ross and Omar Mahmoud Chief of Market Intelligence, UNICEF International presented a session at the National Fundraising Convention on behavioural economics. Below Omar Mahmoud suggests some of the issues they talked about. Based around their forthcoming book Change for Good, Using Behavioural Economics for a Better World. Behavioural economics – why it’s time for […]
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In this blog, =mc Fundraising expert Angela Cluff discusses the impact of the recent Olive Cooke story on charities and non-profits. Discover (or remind yourself) what works, what doesn’t, and what’s best for your donors… Whatever the truth of the circumstances behind the sad death of Olive Cooke it raises serious issues for leaders in fundraising […]
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This blog follows on from a masterclass Bernard Ross and Angela Cluff led at the International Fundraising Congress (IFC) in Holland where they were working with participants to explore a range of new approaches to strategy development. As part of this they were exploring whether a radical ‘blue ocean’ approach could help fundraisers transform their ability […]
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Fundraising is about Influence – winning people over to your point of view. The starting point for influence in a not-for-profit setting should be a personal drive to achieve some wider social good. In part 1 of this this blog we concentrated on the importance of framing and organising your passion or personal motivation to help […]
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Fundraising is about Influence – winning people over to your point of view. The starting point for influence in a not-for-profit setting should be a personal drive to achieve some wider social good. To be an outstandingly successful influencer and fundraiser you need to have a real desire – a passion – for that change. […]
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We take a look at the 7 ways =mc can help you improve your fundraising through the Arts Council’s Catalyst Programme. If you’re looking to improve your fundraising through the Arts Council’s Catalyst Programme we can help. (And we can help even if you can’t benefit from Catalyst but want to transform your sustainability.) 1. […]
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This article relates to an =mc session delivered by Angela Cluff at the IoF National Convention, 11 July 2007: Development boards – how to make the pain worth more than the gain! It describes 15 simple strategies to improve development boards. 15 strategies to make the gain worth more than the pain This article relates […]
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This article is based on a ‘big picture’ session delivered at the Institute of Fundraising Convention 2008, by Angela Cluff =mc Director. The aims of the session were to challenge some conventional thinking on how to succeed with major donors and provide tips and practical strategies on how to succeed in this important area. Angela […]
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If you want to fund a big idea you need a BIG donor… Globally, major donor work is the fastest growing source of charitable income. Put simply, more people are richer than ever before, and the good news for fundraisers is that many of these people are becoming generous donors. However, major donors don’t have […]
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In the first of our series of interviews with thought leaders in the sector, Dr Caroline Harper, CEO, Sightsavers gives us insight into her experiences of leadership, the good and the bad. Dr Caroline Harper has worked successfully in leadership roles in both the private and not-for profit sectors, including Managing Director of Amerada Hess […]
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Some of the most interesting psychological work carried out in the last five to ten years has focused on the issue of so-called multiple intelligences. The basic idea, developed by Harvard-based psychologist Howard Gardner, is simple. We all have access to a number of different ways of processing information, which Gardner has called intelligences. This […]
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How do you measure and compare philanthropy in different countries, given their different economies, GDPs, cultures and attitudes to charitable giving? The Management Centre has done with the help of 40 colleagues and associates throughout the world. We’ve done this by pegging some standard donation values against the local price of a Big Mac® in […]
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In this article, Angela Cluff, Principal Partner Consultant of The Management Centre, a London based consultancy that works to transform the performance of ethical organisations explores why private donors are vital to your success and how you can boost your fundraising from them. Angela has been a fundraiser for over 20 years and currently works with […]
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The Boston Matrix is one of a series of analysis tools that help you decide the effectiveness of your current fundraising portfolio. It is normally used to assess the relative contribution of various fundraising activities or donor clusters at a particular point in time. But the matrix is enormously flexible and can be used to […]
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Influence… it’s what donors want The world of fundraising is changing. More and more supporters are being turned off by clichéd direct mail packages, their in-boxes are filled to bursting with bland e-newsletters, and they can’t bear to listen to another dull speech over a bad chicken meal at a crowded fundraising gala. Instead supporters […]
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Five Key Principles There’s an extensive body of academic research which suggests there are a number of universal cross-cultural principles underpinning influence. There’s some debate about how many principles there are- with numbers ranging from 3 to as many as 10. Many of these were developed by Robert Cialdini in his book Principles of Influence. […]
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In this article, =mc’s Senior Fundraising Consultant Kate Hogg gives her tips on how to find the right person to be your organisation’s Volunteer Chair. Introduction Finding an effective Chair of a top level Fundraising Board is vital to the overall success of an Appeal. It is not easy to find a person of the […]
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This article introduces the =mc readiness model and the key questions you need to ask to help decide whether your organisation is ready to run a capital appeal. We often get asked to help charities get themselves ready ahead of an Appeal. The most organised charities, like CRUK, might approach us years ahead of a […]
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Michael Porter is currently the hottest (and most expensive!) management consultant in the world. He has produced a number of ‘big ideas’. But perhaps his most famous is the Five Forces model. This article will explain it. The Big Idea Michael Porter has produced a number of ‘big ideas’. But perhaps his most famous is […]
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