The
second oldest profession
Fundraising has been around ever since people started to help
each other. So examples of inspirational, instructive and innovative
fundraising inevitably go back many centuries.
But our records and record-keeping have not been all they should
be (that’s something of an understatement).
In this section SOFII aspires to display and describe the history
of fundraising. You can help by submitting your own entries, by
correcting our errors or false assumptions and by alerting SOFII
to wherever examples of early fundraising might be found.
Fundraising
from long ago
Here you’ll find illustrated examples of fundraising from
the past. You’ll be amazed how often you’ll find yourself
nodding quietly to yourself and saying, ‘They don’t
make them this good, these days…’
The collecting box collection
So pretty, but functional too, these are the boxes that have adorned
mantelpieces and hall tables in the homes of our donors, shop
counters and doorways since fundraising began. Kitchen collectors
and bedside boxes, they look good but are functional too, proving
that small change can lead to big changes.
Inspirational
fundraising
– the top ten exhibits for the ‘Hall of Fame’
Great fundraising photographs
Pictures are surely worth a thousand words each and these are
some of the best images from around the world that have been shown
to be absolutely brilliant at parting donors from their hard-earned
cash. Great photos can make great fundraising and here you’ll
find the best, most moving and most bizarre.
The Hall of Fame top ten exhibits
Vote here for your favourite, your all time best and most inspirational
fundraising exhibit from all that SOFII has to show.
The ‘great ideas that you can borrow’ board
Fifty ideas in fifty minutes – you can add your own too.
Story bank — the best fundraising stories from around
the world
However much we elevate it in our seminars and halls of academic
excellence, at its heart fundraising is all about telling stories.
You’ll find some of the best here and can add your great
stories too.
The best of low budget
The cheap and cheerful section shows fundraising at its best –
when it costs little but raises lots.
Exhibits in
this section
FA 281 Bruce Barton’s 1925 letter that achieved 100 per cent response.
He sounds like the racy detective hero from a 1930s crime thriller. But Bruce Barton is something else, for sure – a great copywriter and communicator.
FA 241 Britain’s first ever street collection
An appalling loss of life in 1886 leads to the invention of a fundraising classic that's still raising millions today.
FA246 The Foot of Pennies, from the 1930s
A small yet colourful part of England’s fundraising heritage had been discovered in a Methodist chapel about to be demolished.
FP212 THE PLAN: how child sponsorship helped save children in Spain’s civil war.
This is the remarkable, moving story of how the best fundraising proposition in the world was launched, more than 70 years ago, by a group of young adventurers caught up in a terrifying conflict.
PO82 RCSB Bhopal emergency appeal advertisement
Created in less than two hours, this ad went on to raise more than 20 times its total costs in just a few days, to become a classic example of disaster appeal advertising.
PO192 RNLI’s press advertisement from 1939
A little piece of history from the eve of the Second World War shows that off-the-page fundraising was active even then.
SC85 RSPCA’s controversial ‘pile of dead dogs’ advert, late 1980s or early 1990s.
This high impact poster from Britain’s leading animal welfare charity stopped a nation of dog lovers in their tracks.
FA152 St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, AD56
Is this the world’s earliest ever recorded mention of fundraising? Or do you know different?
FA14 Eihei
Dogen’s fundraising letter from 1235
Is this really the world’s oldest direct mail fundraising letter? Maybe or maybe not but it certainly repays study because though it is nearly 800 years old it still shows better practice in targeting and thanking donors than many contemporary examples.
FA15 The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave
Trade, 1788
How funds were raised to help fight one of the greatest social evils of all time.
FA157 Great Ormond Street Hospital, legacy marketing from 1856
Why is it that the giving and receipt of legacies figured strongly in Victorian literature, yet is largely absent today?
FA156 A Dismal Swamp: Charles Dickens’ perceptive view of fundraising from Our Mutual Friend, 1864.
Download this entertaining and instructive insight into fundraising from 150 years ago.
FA16 Dr Barnardo’s four historic exhibits from the
1880s and 1930s
Brilliant direct mail from when Jack the Ripper was around. Sadly few modern direct mail appeals are this personal or anywhere near so passionate and sincere.
PO80 Oxfam’s press ads from the 1950s
These press advertisements really did change the course of fundraising in Britain. They helped Oxfam to grow into a substantial international charity and introduced thousands of ordinary people to the idea that they could make a real difference to the lives of poor people overseas.
C126 UNICEF’s first ever Christmas card, 1946
This is the product that launched fundraising in UNICEF more than six decades ago. Times have changed and international fundraising organisations such as UNICEF have learned much as they've grown and developed and have raised $millions to help people in need.
IB58 The ActionAid insert with built in reply mechanism
See and hear the story of this ground breaking innovation from the 1980s, in SOFII’s first video exhibit.
DMI121 Help The Aged ‘you have this gift’ mailing
An intriguing cover line works every time. Add in a great involvement device and you have a classic on your hands, possibly even, one of the best control packs of all time. from the 1980s.
