Jerry Huntsinger’s 18th tutorial – more magic from the Dean of Direct Mail This time it’s all about focusing on the flow and not worrying much about structure.

Article 34 How to lose £9,000, by not asking
Timing is everything, as we all know. And so is asking, in the right way, at the right time.

Article 35 NSPCC on legacy training.
How one of Britain’s most innovative causes developed a new approach to training for legacy fundraising.

NSPCC’s legacy training brochure.
Sixteen pages, page-by-page, including the donor’s legacy charter.

Tutorial 17 – more gems from Jerry Huntsinger
If you want to understand the inner workings of your donors' minds, don’t miss these magic words.

DD278 Greenpeace USA origami whales
If you want to engage your donors give them something interesting and fun to do. Greenpeace again, showing that it really knows how to get donors queuing up to become more involved.

EF 266 Dream a Dream theatre nights. How to ‘win, win, win’.
An inspirational guide to nights out at the theatre, courtesy of Dream a Dream, Bangalore.

Homage to the anonymous donor.
SOFII gives back, for the catalysts who keep quietly in the shadows, while making what you are reading available to all.

Why you should have a swipe file close to hand, at all times
The indispensibility of a good source for creative plagiarism.

Plus a message to think about for the coming year, see opposite.

And evidence that simple straight language is best:
BI 272 McPherson Associates/WPBT2’s ‘Surprise us’ tick box.
‘Like a lot of so-called best practices, many of our gift strategies date back to a day when the hot new technology was faxing and ‘my space’ was where you parked’. What happened when McPherson Associates changed the paradigm and let the donors choose.

Jerry’s Tutorials just get better and better.
Two more gems have just been added: How to write in a warm and personal style, and Ten suggestions for how to write better. If you want to communicate effectively with your donors, this is for you.

EF 263 Pakistan’s first rally for peace and the environment.
You may imagine that there’s not much of a non profit sector in troubled Pakistan but you would be wrong. And against the odds, non profit organisations in the country are doing some surprising things...

SC 267 Akshaya Patra’s mission to feed the world
A prize-winning initiative from India is undertaking the world's largest feeding programme, providing more than one million school meals every day.

The power of story-telling
Why should God have all the best ideas?
A feature that powerfully illustrates what a single idea borrowed from SOFII can do. Plus, there’s a linked two-part exhibit describing a successful monthly giving scheme that really is worth borrowing. Or even stealing. Follow the links in the article.

TW 269 Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s brilliant welcome process
Think objectively about the experience a new donor has within the first few months of joining your organisation. Lessons learned from one of the world’s most successful international fundraisers.

TW 75 Greenpeace UK’s early welcome pack from 1992

EI 256 CARE USA chaperoned emails
CARE USA explains a highly profitable way to piggy-backing on emailings to other people’s customers.

Newly reorganised editorial section
Quick links to all of SOFII’s best features and book reviews.

LEGGE HEADS ARMS BODY – Ten tips for headlines that pull.
Plus, 21 of the 100 best headlines ever. And some headlines to make you smile (or even laugh).

Huntsinger Tutorials No 14
How to turn your direct mail into an explosive chemical reaction. Watch the fireworks when everything works well together.

If you think education is expensive, try fundraising for it.
Ten top tips on how on how students can fundraise to pay for their own education (with thanks to The Sunday Telegraph).

CT268 Youthreach India If I were rain
This book poignantly captures how children retain their intelligence and innocence despite the most trying circumstances. This book transforms lives. And raises money too.

E182 Nelson Mandela’s emergency fundraising for South Africa’s first free election
The ANC campaign that pioneered professional political fundraising in the UK and offered the British public the chance to play an active role in getting rid of apartheid forever.

DMI121 Help the Aged’s classic involvement pack
Breakthrough discovery! New material is unearthed, adding new insight to one of SOFII’s ‘Best of the Best’ campaigns ‘The idea for the pack came when he was taking the opaque plastic lid off a takeaway cup of coffee on the train.’

TW265 ActionAid’s welcome pack for new sponsors
SOFII has more than 50 ‘pending’ exhibits that are incomplete, waiting to go on the site. Have a look at one of these, to give you just the tiniest idea of some of the treats in store for you.

CC264 Longstowe Church capital appeal
‘Recession? What recession? It all goes to show that good fundraising still works, recession or not.’ How a tiny congregation in rural England raised the huge sum needed to restore their splendid church.

Preview the new look SOFII. It’s here, now.
Neater, mores searchable, easier to use, easier to find what’s most useful to you. But what do you think? Email your reactions to Carolina.

A new showcase arrives on SOFII – the fundraiser’s toolkit.
And the first free tool for your toolkit is; the creative brief.

The sad truth about unattractive people, plus a stack of other useful things in this four-part addition to The Huntsinger Tutorials, on how to use photographs in direct mail.

MM 259 Goonj... clothing collections
Dignity through recycled clothing, on a massive scale, Before the Goonj.. project, women in rural India were obliged to use sand, wood ash, old rags, newspapers and even plastic bags due to non-availability of sanitary protection.

The Great and the Good showcase
A profile of the UK’s master wordsmith, George Smith – the man who has shown us how to ask properly

Another recent addition to SOFII’s Hall of Fame
Fundraising’s doyenne of board excellence and mission development, the legendary Kay Sprinkel Grace.

More brilliance from the Dean of Direct Mail
15 tips on how to make the most of the PS.
Jerry tells us how to lay out direct mail letters

Plus, inspirational additions to SOFII classics:
How a single tweet raised £7,000+ and revitalised a big fundraising idea.
Additional information comes to light on ‘the press ads that shook a nation’

Recently added exhibits:
CT 255 The Pizza Grannies
Who says fundraising is just about little old ladies selling things? Get ready for fundraising with bite.

DMI 247 Defenders of Wildlife coordinated communications
Here, now, what’s predicted to be the next big thing – truly integrated, multi-channel, multi-level fundraising.

EF 252 The Beautiful Foundation Lego block banks from Korea
How to raise awareness, smiles, money and philanthropic aspirations.

EF 254 The Immortality Auction
How to live forever in literature and help a favourite cause too – the Medical Foundation for the Care of the Victims of Torture. An event well worth copying.

Classic book review: Hank Rosso’s Achieving Excellence in Fund Raising

There’s still time to vote (just)
The Big Debate – Newsletters
Is your newsletter working as hard for your cause as it might? Or is there a simpler, better way? Have your say, here.

DMI 240 Story-telling from Children’s Wish Foundation
A great letter and a powerful, moving story combine to produce a very effective and engaging direct mail appeal for CWF.

PS 253 Bhopal Medical Appeal’s publicity stunt for safe water
Don’t go near the water: 25 years after the world’s worst ever man-made disaster, B’EauPal shows that effective political campaigning takes bottle.

LM 250 Oxford University’s legacies brochure
The dream inspires. A classic legacy promotion brochure with multiple enclosures shows you how it’s done – in three parts.

LM 239 Greenpeace Sweden’s legacies commercials
Colourful cartoon characters present the threats to their environment and set up a conversation about legacies for Greenpeace in Scandinavia.

EF 248 Give India’s Joy of Giving Week
New life for a tried and tested good idea that will help causes everywhere.

CR 251 ITIHAS (I think I have a solution) leadership programme
More practical good ideas for capacity building from India, this time in CSR.

CC 111 Great Ormond Street Hospital Wishing Well appeal
The classic capital campaign from the 1980s may be 20 years old but it’s still got a string of lessons for today’s fundraisers.

EF 242 Movember’s moustache-growing campaign for men’s health
Like the famous London bus, for months there’s been no mention of moustaches on SOFII, now suddenly two moustache-based exhibits come along together.

EF 243 Covenant House Alaska’s Moustache March
Another easy-to-copy idea for exploiting upper lip furniture, from Alaska, where keeping your face warm can pay, big time.

Two more multi-part Huntsinger Tutorials just added.
What can you learn from Pavlov’s dog? Plus Jerry on design.

Four feature articles to make you think and think again
• Letter from Myanmar: a plea from inside a tough fundraising environment.
• Three little words lost: do campaigners inevitably lose their fizz?
• Five tests show the secrets of direct mail acquisition.
• The revealing science of benchmarking.

DMI 73 Greenpeace’s optimistic tick box for £250,000
An extraordinarily cheeky ask that raised a lot of money. But also a textbook example of building donors’ trust and respect by being honest. So, a new addition to SOFII’s hall of fame, ‘The Best of the Best’.

The second instalment of the Huntsinger tutorials. It’s here, now.

PB 245 Missing People’s on-line annual review
How to use the Internet brilliantly to present your stellar flagship publication.

DMI 237 Longwood Gardens direct mail member acquisition pack
A complex and colourful package delivers extraordinary results.

Part 2 of Lisa Sargent’s thank-you letter clinic:
Featuring five more ‘before and after’ examples from The Hospital for Sick Children, YWCA UK, Maine League of Conservation Voters, Toronto People with Aids Foundation and Hirsto Botev Orphanage.

To ask or not to ask: the Big Debate
The question is, when we thank donors, should we ask for a second gift at the same time?. Sean Triner and Lisa Sargent put their different views here.

13-year-old Skye MacKenzie reviews Making Change by 12 year-old Bilaal Rajan, and concludes that we would be well advised to listen more closely to our younger prophets.

FA 246 The foot of pennies, from the 1930s
A cunning coin collecting device shed light on our colourful past.

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.

Meet the advertising wizard ‘more sought after than Gandalf’.

CC236 Los Angeles County Museum of Art Capital Campaign
How direct mail and the phone together can secure massive support from lower dollar donors.

DMI66 Greenpeace UK’s reactivation series, from 1991, part 1
Reactivation may seem old hat nowadays but you've got to be impressed by how determinedly, resourcefully and successfully these guys hung on to their donors.

DMI67 part 2and DMI68 part 3, continue the series, with three more packs from this carefully planned and highly instructive renewal initiative.

New three part feature – supporter surveys, why they are great and how to do them properly and profitably. With FREE BONUS for SOFII users!

SOFII’s reviews of two classic fundraising texts, Mal Warwick’s Revolution in the Mailbox and Ken Burnett’s Relationship Fundraising,
The best stories in the world meet fundraising’s reigning big idea.

New addition to The Legacies Showcase
LM 205 The University of Michegan newsletter.

How to improve your thank-you letters (and why it matters)
EXCLUSIVE to SOFII is Lisa Sargent’s thank-you letter clinic.

First exhibits in SOFII’s newest, most respectful, most austere showcase, designed to recognise fundraising’s notable achievers.
• Harold Sumption, Guy Stringer and Sir Leslie Kirkley
• Mal Warwick

VG213 I CAN adopt a word campaign
How smart is this? An easy-to-understand, on-mission proposition allows children’s speech charity I CAN to create a low-risk, low-cost way to acquire new donors online.

DMI235 Seeing Eye Dogs Australia ‘Sponsor a guide dog’ mailing
A creative adaptation of a tradional theme that excels in its use of simple, plain English to talk to readers in language they’ll readily understand and relate to.

SOFII’s review of Tiny Essentials of Major Gift Fundraising,
A ‘magic porridge pot’ that will surprise you with how much good stuff it contains.

Jonathon Grapsas outlines six lessons from the hugely successful ‘Obama for America’ fundraising campaign.

Additions to The Legacies Showcase
Southern Poverty Law Center, Alabama
Union of Concerned Scientists
NSPCC soft sell approach
Human Rights Watch

Plus SOFII’s strategy and What people say about SOFII.

Oh, and the Greenpeace legacies beermat exhibit has been updated.

SOFII’s review of The Influential Fundraiser,
Could this be one of the most important new books on fundraising in years?

Are you twittering? And if not, should you be?
Read Marc Pitman's views, on SOFII now.

MM231 Helvetas’ integrated fundraising and awareness campaign
How to tackle a sensitive social issue succesfully and raise money while raising awareness of a major social concern.

WF228 The Big Give online fundraising
Find out how donors can find out about charities, causes and projects that need and deserve support, but don’t have the resources to carry out huge campaigns.

DMI221 Lawrence Park Community Church
When the preacher at LPCC wanted a sign he didn't turn to God, instead he made a pitch to his already very generous parishioners. But he did ask very nicely.

DMI229 RSPCA New South Wales Guardian Angels
Brilliant fundraising from some creative Australians ensured that dogs like Milo, opposite, found a safe home over one of their most dangerous periods.

EF230 RSPCA New South Wales Cup Cake Day
What could be better than getting supporters to organise events, then while they work and have fun, you get lots of money? A success story from down under.

Sean Triner: How to increase your appeal income by 40 per cent in 2009
‘There is a barrier though, and a difficult one for many fundraisers. You need to talk to some donors.’ Read and listen here to find how it should be done.

URGENT – CAMPAIGN RELAUNCHED!
Is this the most important campaign for fundraisers in 2009?
Now’s your chance to start the New Year right! Sensitive souls be warned: this campaign contains limited nudity and quite a lot of bare-faced cheek.

New on SOFII 2008
New on SOFII 2007