SOFII - A background to fundraising innovation

Through articles and video excerpts in this section fundraisers will be able to get easy access to the latest thinking on the art and science of innovation and the fundamental principles that underpin effective creativity and innovation. All articles in this section are being updated or will soon be complete. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions please email Maxine here.

What underpins fundraising innovation?
Perhaps Per Stenbeck, opposite right, has the answer. Having headed Greenpeace Nordic and the Resource Alliance, Per is now the International Fundraising Director of UNICEF, raising over one billion US dollars from private sources in 2005. Per, who comes originally from Sweden, is a frequent speaker on fundraising platforms around the world. In this moving personal account Per explains and introduces why passion underpins innovation for him. In the accompanying PDF he then goes on to outline his three golden rules of fundraising.

‘Passionate people are the only advocates which always persuade.
The simplest man with passion will be more persuasive
than the most eloquent without’
François de La Rochefoucauld

Can innovation be learned?
SOFII thinks it can, though it’s not easy and it’s not for everyone. If you have the application to be an innovator you’ll find all the background, information and materials that you’ll need, right here. Check out the links opposite to find easy to understand accessible articles, perceptive analysis, parallels from other industries. NB this article is currently in preparation. Please bear with us while we build this section of the SOFII website.

• How IBM views innovation.
• Guy Kawasaki’s ten golden rules.
• Ten different definitions of innovation.

Meet the innovation managers
Mandy Newbury is innovations manager at the International Trust for Climate Change, based in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Ron Bleasdale is head of innovations at the Biotech Foundation in Reno, Nevada, USA.

Sean Triner heads the international Pareto Fundraising group of companies headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

The fish tank analogy and why fundraisers should work at it
Listen to this live recording of Australian fundraising leader Sean Triner explaining his controversial views on the fish tank method and the extraordinary results he and his colleagues achieved when they implemented it. Running time seven minutes.

The early duck may get the fly…

…but the second mouse…

… also gets the cheese.

What will our world be like in 30 years time?
Fundraising is changing fast. How can we anticipate, far less prepare for, our future? What are the signs, trends and omens for fundraisers? What issues do leading fundraisers expect will shape our profession in the coming decades?

The Gibbs-Schofield model and its applications for fundraising
In the late 1980s Elron Gibbs and Hamish Schofield devised their now famous method of measuring innate innovation capacities in school children. Fundraisers are now revisiting this long disused system in the belief that they might find clues there to what donors will be doing and reading in the next two decades.

Alan Clayton, founder of the Cascaid group of companies, is an internationally recognised fundraising leader and inspirational motivational speaker.

Spotlight on – the four ‘Is’. How motivation leads to innovation
Hear UK fundraising leader Alan Clayton explain his controversial views on the teaching not just of innovation but of inspiration and intuition.