Aggregated External News

I'm currently doing some work on fundraising propositions and offers and received a timely reminder from the Wizard of Ads in his Monday Morning Memo about the importance of offering the public what you already know they want.

It is really tempting when your charity does lots of good work to try and fundraise off every service. Yet the likelihood is that only one or two of the things that you do are going to appeal to the general public.

It takes a lot of internal discipline to do this and the temptation is always there to try and promote your latest new service.

However, your job as a fundraiser is to maximise funds for the cause, not 'educate' the general public.

It's for this reason that many WWF recruitment ads feature tigers. Why Marie Curie always talk about their nurses and the reason child sponsorship is so important - these are the things that most donors want to give to.

Once the bait has been taken you can then (when the time is right) talk about the other great things that donors can help you achieve.

This is what Roy had to say about the subject in his newsletter when talking about products. Much of his advice equally applies to fundraising:

    "Your copy, indeed, was fabulous. You employed an excellent angle of approach, held the     listeners' attention and made your point in a clever way. Well done! But your fundamental     strategy was flawed; your ad answered a question that no one was asking.

    "You walked into the trap when you failed to question why the client was overstocked on the item     he wanted you to advertise. The real problem is that no one wants the item. It's a loser, a dog, a     mistake. Your client assumed - and you assumed with him - that if people "only knew and     understood," then they'd rush in to buy the product. So you told the people, you made them     understand. And they still didn't want the product.

    "Advertising will only accelerate what was going to happen anyway.

    "Convince your client to let you offer the public what the public already wants. This is what     drives traffic into a store. And many of those people will find other things to buy from your     client. In other words, fish with bait that you know the fish love. Don't try to convince the fish to     swallow bait they don't really like."

Military support charity inundated with calls and web traffic over soldier killed while wearing Help for Heroes top

Help for Heroes has been swamped with donations, leading to its website crashing, after Drummer Lee Rigby was murdered while wearing one of the charity's tops.

Supporters of the military charity took to social networks in an attempt to boost its coffers after the 25-year-old was killed in Woolwich, south-east London, on Wednesday.

The former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan was among the sports stars, actors, broadcasters and politicians who spoke out in support of the charity, urging the public to give money.

David Cameron tweeted his support and a photograph of him wearing a Help for Heroes wristband. He wrote: "Proud to support @HelpforHeroes in tmrw's @TheSunNewspaper in memory of Drummer Lee Rigby £H4H".

The Oscar-winning actor Dame Helen Mirren donned a Help for Heroes polo shirt. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, and London's mayor, Boris Johnson, also gave their backing.

Help for Heroes offered its thanks for the "extraordinary demonstration of support", which it said had taken it by surprise.

In a statement on its website, the charity said: "Since the sad news emerged that a serving soldier had been murdered in Woolwich, Help for Heroes has been overwhelmed with people spontaneously showing their support for the armed forces.

"Our website is struggling to cope with this overwhelming reaction from the British public, some of whom are choosing to buy T-shirts and hoodies."

It added: "This sudden surge of interest in the work we're doing to help the wounded and their families has taken us completely by surprise. We just want to help, and all funds we receive will be used to provide direct, practical support to those affected by their service to our country.

"We ask all our volunteers, fundraisers and donors to remember Lee Rigby's family, colleagues and friends."

The charity said: "Thousands of people have visited our website wishing to donate or to buy H4H T-shirts in an extraordinary demonstration of support and defiance of terrorism. We are working hard to respond to this level of activity."

• Woolwich attack
• Charities
• Military
• London
• Voluntary sector
• Charitable giving

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Military support charity inundated with calls and web traffic over soldier killed while wearing Help for Heroes top

Help for Heroes has been swamped with donations, leading to its website crashing, after Drummer Lee Rigby was murdered while wearing one of the charity's tops.

Supporters of the military charity took to social networks in an attempt to boost its coffers after the 25-year-old was killed in Woolwich, south-east London, on Wednesday.

The former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan was among the sports stars, actors, broadcasters and politicians who spoke out in support of the charity, urging the public to give money.

David Cameron tweeted his support and a photograph of him wearing a Help for Heroes wristband. He wrote: "Proud to support @HelpforHeroes in tmrw's @TheSunNewspaper in memory of Drummer Lee Rigby £H4H".

The Oscar-winning actor Dame Helen Mirren donned a Help for Heroes polo shirt. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, and London's mayor, Boris Johnson, also gave their backing.

Help for Heroes offered its thanks for the "extraordinary demonstration of support", which it said had taken it by surprise.

In a statement on its website, the charity said: "Since the sad news emerged that a serving soldier had been murdered in Woolwich, Help for Heroes has been overwhelmed with people spontaneously showing their support for the armed forces.

"Our website is struggling to cope with this overwhelming reaction from the British public, some of whom are choosing to buy T-shirts and hoodies."

It added: "This sudden surge of interest in the work we're doing to help the wounded and their families has taken us completely by surprise. We just want to help, and all funds we receive will be used to provide direct, practical support to those affected by their service to our country.

"We ask all our volunteers, fundraisers and donors to remember Lee Rigby's family, colleagues and friends."

The charity said: "Thousands of people have visited our website wishing to donate or to buy H4H T-shirts in an extraordinary demonstration of support and defiance of terrorism. We are working hard to respond to this level of activity."

• Woolwich attack
• Charities
• Military
• London
• Voluntary sector
• Charitable giving

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Hi folks We have a vacancy for a Legacy Marketing Officer here in Cambridge. I can't work out how to add a document on here, and it's not on our website yet,

Voted for your garden - good luck Sarah Sandon Head of Fundraising Direct line: +44 020 7326 2024 www.progressio.org.uk

Done - what a lovely idea, I hope you get a great response from visitors. Kate Mayhew Animal Home Kate Ferrie Major Gifts, Partnerships and Trusts Officer Tel:

Dear all, I hope you don't mind my cheeky request but this is to help us, as a sector, promote Legacy Giving! We have a Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Persuading trustees and key supporters that a charity needs to rebrand may be a challenge, but it is perfectly achievable

Charities have got to respond to increased competition and fast-paced developments in the way people consume information, while remaining buoyant enough to flourish in straightened times. However, instigating and managing strategic change, particularly in well established charities that have a strong history and a longstanding and loyal supporter base, can be extremely difficult.

I became chief executive of The Lullaby Trust, formerly the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), in April 2011. I was recruited following the retirement of the charity's former director, who had been in post for 20 years.

I have just spent the last two years persuading trustees, bereaved parents and key supporters that we needed to relaunch, change our name and set a goal for reducing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

When I arrived, FSID was in good shape financially and was hugely respected in the healthcare world. In the early 90s, we had been in the forefront of spectacularly successful public health campaigns to persuade parents to place babies on their backs to sleep. This led to a 70% reduction in SIDS. However, the impact of our campaigning and the dramatic decline in the numbers of newly bereaved parents also meant a decrease in the charity's profile. Yet, 20 years on, SIDS is still claiming the lives of five babies every week.

Before I took the job on, I asked medical colleagues whether it was possible to reduce SIDS and how we compared with other developed countries. I was told that our SIDS rate was one of the highest in the world and that it was possible to halve the number of deaths if all parents practiced safe sleep.

On being appointed, my questions to the trustees were: if it was possible to reduce deaths still further, where is the plan to make this happen, and why aren't we doing it? No commercial business would carry on for 40 years without a review, but this was not something FSID had ever seriously attempted before.

The charity had started life as a body to raise funds for medical research, with a network of local support groups run solely by bereaved parent volunteers, often from their own homes. These parents had put their hearts and souls into FSID and had helped the charity to achieve great things. However, past success convinced some influential trustees that nothing needed fixing. I was lucky to have the support of the chair of the board, but it was clear from the outset that if I we were to effectively manage the change process we needed to:

• Adopt a sensitive approach, acknowledging the emotional attachment trustees had to the old identity and FSID's historical achievements.

• Put a strong business case for change.

• Develop a three-year plan.

• Set a target, to halve SIDS deaths by 2020.

• Undertake a communications audit.

Over the last decade, the landscape has changed and 74% of infant deaths happen in the poorest communities. SIDS has become a health inequality issue. Mothers under 20 are now five times more likely to experience the tragedy of SIDS than those over 30. Research also shows that people are increasingly looking online for medical advice, with the under 25's primarily using smartphones to get information.

Online content has to be constantly refreshed and responded to, which requires full-time staff. The communications audit demonstrated that our lifesaving messages needed to be packaged appropriately for an organisation manned by 21 volunteers. Relying on printed information was no longer sustainable and we needed to persuade key internal doubters that this was the case.

After the audit, we commissioned market research to encourage those most resistant to change to view the charity through other people's eyes, especially those of our target audiences: young and first-time parents. We were able to conduct this research relatively cheaply, which greatly reassured trustees focused on costs. Feedback from these sessions revealed that, rather than conveying a supportive, reassuring image, parents found our name clinical and offputting. Although the findings were only one factor influencing the trustees' final decision, this research was crucial to persuading them that we needed to find a new name and visual identity.

FSID successfully relaunched as The Lullaby Trust in April. The rebrand has been enthusiastically received by parents, professionals and community fundraisers, who have described our new name as "calm and accessible", "poignant and persuasive". We have also had a 57% increase in visitors to our new website and our Twitter following has grown by 48%.

Some bereaved parents, who were supported by the charity in the early days, have found modernisation difficult. This might be because we helped them through their darkest times as FSID and the name change has brought back painful memories. Our response to those parents was to reassure them that the organisation's ethos had not changed. Our core purpose is the same but we have set our ambition higher – we want the UK to become a country with one of the lowest SIDS rates in the world.

Saving babies' lives and preventing heartbreak for families motivates our trustees, staff, volunteers and supporters. Ensuring we were always mindful of deep emotional attachments, emphasising the vital need for change, through insights from market research and by focusing on a target that everyone would support – halving deaths by 2020 – were the keys to success.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

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Thousands visit the charity's site after the fatal attack on Drummer Lee Rigby, who was wearing one of the charity's T-shirts when he was killed

The website calls on people to move their in-memory fundraising online so charities can benefit from Gift Aid

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is gearing up for its annual event, “A Time For Heroes”.

A Time for Heroes in Los Angeles

The event will be held on June 2nd from 12-4pm Century Park in LA. Honorary Co-Chair and UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Naomi Watts will be on hand to support the foundation, along with Cat Cora, Olivia Culpo, Melanie Fiona, Nolan Funk, Savannah Jayde, Vanessa Lengies, Peyton List, Mario Lopez, Joe Manganiello, Laura Marano, Reiley McClendon, Katherine McNamara, Olivia Munn, Holly Robinson-Peete, Janel Parrish, Madison Pettis, Ashley Rickards, Jamar Rogers, Ty Simpkin, Jessica Szohr, Michelle Stafford, Travis Van Winkle, Daphne Wayans, Shailene Woodley and many more.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10223-hollywood-stars-to-celebrate-a-time-for-heroes-in-los-angeles

The Safeway Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), have teamed up to develop a print, radio and digital public service announcement featuring actress and SU2C Ambassador Marcia Cross.

The PSA is designed to increase awareness for the fight against prostate cancer.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10222-marcia-cross-releases-prostate-cancer-psa

Dame Judi Dench has agreed to become a Patron of the ‘Bomber Command Upkeep Club’, in order to help honour the bravery of the Bomber Command and the sacrifice of the 55,573 men who gave their lives for the freedom of others.

Launched by the RAF Benevolent Fund, the club is named after Barnes Wallis’ famous bouncing bomb, “Upkeep”, used in the great Dambuster Raid of May 1943.

Dame Judi Dench visits the Bomber Command Memorial in London

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10227-dame-judi-dench-supports-the-upkeep-club

Hollywood starlets including Taylor Ann Thompson (“Liz & Dick”), Peyton List (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”), Bailee Madison (“Bridge to Terabithia”), Rowan Blanchard (“Spy Kids 4-D”), and Rachel Crow (“Big Time Rush”), walked the Pink Carpet at Beverly Hills retailer Un Deux Trois last week in support of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Young Hollywood raises money for Boston Marathon victims at girls fashion retailer Un Deux Trois in Beverly Hills, May 15, 2013.
Credit/Copyright: PRNewsFoto/Taylor Ann Thompson

Beverly and Colin Shorkend, owners of the popular girl’s fashion clothing store, opened their doors for a Girls’ Night shopping spree with a percentage of all proceeds going to One Fund Boston.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10221-young-hollywood-gets-together-for-one-fund-boston

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and partner, Justin Mikita, have created an exclusive special edition bow tie by “Tie The Knot” for the 2013 Tony Awards.

This stylish black textured silk necktie with subtle silver and royal blue stripes is formal enough for black tie affairs such as the Tonys, or for just hanging out on a Saturday in Central Park.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson Dresses Up Marriage Equality With Special Edition Tony Award Bow Tie

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10217-jesse-tyler-ferguson-helps-tie-the-knot-for-marriage-equality

Many, many years ago I ran the 4 X 400 relay on my track team.  I was no star, but I loved the race.  It’s a long, tough sprint that leaves you completely spent yet strangely exhilarated.  The coach used to tell me to leave nothing behind on the track.  The trick at the end was to finish with only enough strength to raise an arm and pass the baton. 

I started this blog nearly seven years ago.  For the first few years, I posted several times a week.  Then I got serious on January 1, 2011, when I started posting every single weekday.  Go big or go home, I figured.  If I was going to blog, I should throw my full self into it and truly sprint.  I didn’t miss a day for nearly two and a half years, and that’s when this blog really took off.  I think the daily posting forced me to be a more disciplined thinker and writer, and as the quality of my posts grew, so did the community around the blog.  It’s been a good lesson to me in the power of concentrated commitment in the face of discomfort (which daily posting can be!).

But now it’s time for me to pass the proverbial baton, for several reasons.  First, I am striking out on a new adventure. After eight wonderful years at Network for Good, I’m moving on to take a job as CEO at ePals, an education media company that connects learners around the world.  That will be my new sprint.  Second, I’m more than a little winded.  After nearly 1,500 posts, I’ve said nearly all I could ever imagine saying.  And so I am passing the blog baton to the Network for Good team.  Network for Good will host the blog and all the archives and add posts content regularly, starting now. 

This is the perfect handoff, because Network for Good’s mission is the same as mine has been with this blog: to give you, the amazing person doing good in the world, a little information, insight or inspiration to help you along the way.  The Network for Good team will be lucky to have you, and they know it and will serve you well. 

I said in my book that writing advice for others is an act both vain and humbling.  Vain, because to sit down and write you must believe yourself an expert.  Humbling, because in writing you discover there is so much you don’t know.  I’m grateful to you for being with me as I learned along the way.  Thanks for reading this blog over the years - and for continuing to read it in the future.  And even more important, thank you for the incredible work you do, day in and day out, to make a difference for someone or something that matters.  The world needs you and your concentrated commitment in the face of discomfort.  How fortunate we all are that you chose to be a sprinter for good.

Millions of celebrities have joined Matt Damon's “Toilet Strike” protesting the lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation for billions. Just today, innovative entrepreneur Richard Branson, rockstar-philanthropist Bono, and actress Olivia Wilde have made their own support public.

Support the strike: http://strikewithme.org/

Visit Water.org for more information.

Click here to view the video.

Bristish fashion designer and activist, Dame Vivienne Westwood and YOUYOU Mentoring, have joined forces to launch an exciting new project for aspiring young poets.

The partnership will give young people the opportunity to create the first-ever collection of Climate Revolution poems to help raise of climate change and the environment.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10220-designer-vivienne-westwood-launches-young-poetry-competition

Loss of council money has severely affected the organisation, but members have promised to "put up a fight" as they seek urgent income