SOFII’s ‘Don’t be LEFT BEHIND’ campaign: ‘share your brilliance’ special appeal

You may think this a bit of a cheek...
but we at SOFII don’t want you to be LEFT BEHIND. If your brain (left brain or right brain) has contributed in even a small way to the creation of some distinctive fundraising, we think you should prepare and present it as an exhibit on SOFII, so that it will inspire and uplift other fundraisers around the world. And so you won’t be LEFT BEHIND.

We don’t wish to be rude, but...
this is not so much a left brain decision, or a right brain decision. It’s more of a no-brainer. Who in their right mind wants to be LEFT BEHIND?

SOFII's view

Even at our most charitable, we feel this campaign really shouldn’t be necessary. But, undeniably, there’s an urgent need in our communities now and it’s not being adequately met. Are you a part of the problem, or a part of the solution?

Being LEFT BEHIND is a serious condition, particularly when it afflicts a leading national or international nonprofit, or a marketing, advertising and communications agency of international repute. Or, Heaven forfend, when it strikes a fundraising guru! In these cost-conscious, competitive, challenging times, no one wants to be LEFT BEHIND.

But should we feel sorry for these people? Obviously they deserve our pity. So – no butts – we must also exhort them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Being LEFT BEHIND is not necessarily a permanent affliction. The solution to being LEFT BEHIND is in their own hands.

Type of charity:

Public/society benefit, special interests.

Target audience:

Awareness.

Country of origin:

UK.

Creator/originator:

Name of exhibitor:

Maxine Delahunty (backed now by nearly 20,000 SOFII visitors, growing by hundreds each week).

Date of first appearance:

January, 2009.

Summary/objectives:

To encourage fundraisers everywhere to follow the brave examples of those individuals and organisations who have already selflessly put their work forward for sharing on SOFII, the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and inspiration.

Background:

A quick glance at SOFII’s 285+ illustrated exhibits of fundraising achievement, as well as 224 articles on a wide range of fundraising topics will tell you who’s missing. It's not Greenpeace, Amnesty, UNICEF, the NSPCC, or the RNLI. It's not courageous individuals like young Hannah, Jan Uekermann, or Ben Franklin. It's not the University of South Carolina, the Giving Scotland Campaign, CSDF Hungary, NARAL, or WWF Canada. Nor is it one of a small band of generously sharing agencies and communications companies, such as Mal Warwick Associates, Bluefrog, Pareto, John Grain Associates, Open Fundaising and R Fundraising.

But it may well be you.

It is, evidently, still many of the world’s pre-eminent fundraisers. Their absence, of course, is being noticed.

People, naturally, are asking why? Could it be that they have no great fundraising to share? Or are they mean and selfish? Or, perhaps more likely, are they themselves victims of the fundraiser’s most dreaded enemy – INERTIA!

Whatever the reason, too many great fundraisers are being LEFT BEHIND.

Will you help? Anything you can give will dramatically and instantly reverse this insidious condition, and you will be LEFT BEHIND no longer.

Please share generously.

Email your contribution, today or as soon as you are able, to Carolina at SOFII.

Or submit your exhibit online here. It's easy, quick and very satisfying.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Special Characteristics:

Not too much – just a willingness to send in some basic details of something instructive and worth sharing, and let the SOFII team do the rest.

Influence/Impact:

Possibly, huge. You really could change the world, for someone. You could advance philanthropy and help improve the great profession of fundraising, worldwide.

Costs:

Only a few minutes of your time.

Results:

You'’ll make Carolina, Ken and Marie very happy. Then there's the respect of your peers, the gratitude of fundraisers less experienced than you, fame, the accolades of your profession...

And you won’t be LEFT BEHIND any more.

Merits:

Because it just has to be said.

Other relevant information:

JDI. (Just do it).

Everyone is welcome to showcase something on SOFII.

SOFII is a level playing field with no agency, organisation, or individual given prominence in any way. If you happen to see some names represented more on SOFII than others, it's simply because, when it comes to sharing ideas, inspirations and experiences, they have decided not to be LEFT BEHIND.

Follow-up of the project:

Submit your exhibit online here. It's easy, quick and very satisfying. And before you know it, you’ll be a guru too!