innovation

Any regular readers will know how I often lament the lack of great marketing and fundraising ideas making it to fruition.  All too often, decisions are made to bin new ideas because there is no proven track record of success or because it’s simply ‘different to the way things are always done around here...’

This week, I’ve had my faith restored by two approaches to fundraising that in one case is working and in the other, I hope works.  But both are trying something different to stand out from the plethora of charity messages we all receive at this time of the year.

This week I’ve seen several blogs and tweets from people whose thinking I respect touching on the subject of putting your audience at the centre of your actions.  Some have suggested that the audience should always be the driving force and others have posited that true innovation might not be possible if you do.

For the second time in a year, we've seen the Institute of Fundraising's Innovation panel report that an idea borne out of the financial services sector might be a go'er, but perhaps not. A score of three out of five for an initiative that helps fund good causes via activity that investors are undertaking anyway, and that costs the charity a small amount (£250) relative to the donations potential, seems strange.

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about some of the most useful things I'd learnt from attending the NFPTweetup meetings held in London. The eighth event was held on 15th September and, having had a couple of days to reflect on what we saw and discussed, I'd like to add the following three things to that list of useful learnings.

We all remember the old adage that if something appears too good to be true then it probably is. But, every once in a while an initiative surfaces which seems, at face value, to buck the trend.