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Hall 4: The hall of the individual donor

 In this hall SOFII celebrates the power of the individual. Around 85 per cent of all voluntary giving comes from individuals, which makes one wonder why fundraisers spend so much effort chasing corporate donors, does it not? So, fundraising from individuals is perhaps inevitably the biggest single area of fundraising excellence, innovation and inspiration. Individual giving itself divides into many specific areas, each of them important, some of them massively so – direct mail, telephone, major donors, inserts, committed giving, face-to-face, electronic/new media, off-the-page, television and door-drops.

Direct mail showcase

iconDespite greatly exaggerated claims of its impending demise, direct mail remains by a long way the fundraiser’s preferred method of getting and keeping in touch with supporters, perhaps less than in the past for acquisition, but increasingly for donor relationship building and development. Tour this showcase now.


The Jerry Huntsinger tutorials

iconThis special showcase within the direct mail section of SOFII comprises a complete series of tutorials from the dean of direct mail fundraising, the USA’s legendary Jerry Huntsinger. In 86 parts this insightful, practical series is building, over time, into the complete step-by-step guide to direct mail fundraising. Tour this showcase now.

 

 

 


Major donor fundraising


iconAs fundraisers increasingly come to realise the potential of individual major donor fundraising, this is one of SOFII’s most visited showcases. There are some great ideas and examples here, now, and the section is growing constantly. Tour this showcase now.



Electronic fundraising


iconAs fundraisers increasingly come to realise the potential of individual major donor fundraising, this is one of SOFII’s most visited showcases. There are some great ideas and examples here, now, and the section is growing constantly. Tour this showcase now.



Telephone fundraising


iconInformation for this section is currently being prepared and will be added to the site soon. But you can still have a look at the partially completed section. Tour this showcase now.



Face-to-face fundraising showcase

iconFor many organisations face-to-face or street fundraising has proved to be the most cost-effective way of recruiting large numbers of new monthly donors. But there are problems and challenges too. Many lessons have been learned around the world since face-to-face fundraising first became popular, and this showcase seeks to capture these and share them with you. Editorial for this section is currently being prepared and updated. But why not click the link and have a look anyway? Tour this showcase now.


Door-drops/household deliveries


iconAs fundraisers increasingly come to realise the potential of individual major donor fundraising, this is one of SOFII’s most visited showcases. There are some great ideas and examples here, now, and the section is growing constantly. Tour this showcase now.


Press advertising ‘off the page’


iconThough it has declined in importance for fundraisers in recent years there are many markets where there’s impressive potential for press advertising to make a significant comeback. This section features some of the most effective press advertising of all time, from the great Amnesty and Oxfam ads of yesteryear to today’s stunning ads for Bhopal. Tour this showcase now.


Inserts and bounce-backs


iconInserts fall between press and direct mail. Loose or bound in, they will always be significantly more expensive thanoff-the-page advertising so they have to work much harder. As they can't be precisely targeted they are less flexible than direct mail but they’re very much less expensive too. This showcase shows why inserts work, and what you have to do to make them work for you. Tour this showcase now.


Broadcast media


iconIn this section, you will currently find some examples of DRTV fundraising (direct response television). As soon as we can, we’ll be adding more examples showing a wide range of media. Tour this showcase now.



Web-based fundraising


iconAs fundraisers increasingly come to realise the potential of individual major donor fundraising, this is one of SOFII’s most visited showcases. There are some great ideas and examples here, now, and the section is growing constantly. Tour this showcase now.


Regular, or committed, giving


iconGiving a small, affordable amount regularly, preferably each month, is easy, cheap and so is good for the donor and for the cause as it’s much better than single gifts for donor development and retention. One-off cash donors will always need to be renewed which is expensive and inefficient. Regular committed donors stay with your cause and give and give again, thanks often to ‘the blessing of inertia’. This important showcase tells you how and shows you who is particularly good at it. Tour this showcase now.


Last chance to change the world: the legacies (bequests) showcase

Please treat this section with respect. For if within these pages you can find out how to increase your share of the massive legacy (more commonly referred to as bequests in North America) income that seems to fall each year from heaven above into fundraisers’ laps, you’ll have done well indeed. So, this is the place where you’ll find some of the best ideas worth borrowing, truly the all-time greats of legacy marketing. Tour this showcase now.


Thank you

SOFII gratefully acknowledges the generous and catalytic support of the Joffe Foundation, UK, which has made possible SOFII's growth and development to date.

'My Trust is delighted with its investment in SOFII. We are very pleased that we have been able to be of assistance in the launch of this important initiative.'
Lord Joel Joffe.

About SOFII

SOFII is supervised by The SOFII Foundation, a registered charity in the UK, No 1124743.

SOFII’s development director is Sue Kershaw. She can be reached at sue@sofii.org

'We love SOFII. Next year we hope to help again.' 
Lynne, HMA, Vancouver.

© The SOFII Foundation 2010. http://www.sofii.org.

 

 

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