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Pareto Talk
Why you should register now,
for SOFII
By Ken
Burnett
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SOFII’s view
This is one of a handful of fundraising communications that really
broke the mould. It’s famous because it was the first ever pen pack
but it is much more than that. It’s a moving, intelligent and
beautifully put together case to support one of the world’s great
causes. The beauty of it is that everything is relevant and
sincere. Nothing is gratuitous. This mailing is the standard to
which all direct mail writers and designers should
aspire.
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 The opinion above is taken from an
exhibit on the new SOFII website that describes, in detail, one of
the great donor recruitment mailings of all time. The featured
direct mail package, from Amnesty International, is just one of a
growing range of examples of excellent fundraising described in
detail on SOFII, a new, free, web-based resource for fundraisers
that’s just been launched. SOFII stands for the Showcase of
Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration. Late in 2007 it was
previewed with some fanfare at the opening plenary presentations of
both the International Fundraising Congress in Noordwijkerhout,
Holland and at the Institute of Fundraising Scotland's Annual
Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
At these events fundraisers from around the world saw some dazzling
examples of innovative fundraising, collected together for the
first time as SOFII, the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and
Inspiration.
SOFII's premise is simple. If you aspire to be a great fundraiser
you'll be more likely to succeed if you have a good understanding
of fundraising history, best practice, what worked elsewhere – and
what didn't. SOFII currently contains detailed descriptions of
individual examples of fundraising creative excellence and best
practice, plus seven other sections providing reviews of
fundraising books, top tips for fundraising and a discussion board.
More content is to follow and fundraisers are encouraged to submit
their own entries for inclusion.
Here’s just a small selection of what’s on SOFII now;
- Brilliant, classic
advertising campaigns from Amnesty, the Bhopal Medical Appeal and
others.
- The
first ever ‘pen pack’ mailing and a mailing that can be recycled as
seed pots.
- ‘Sponsor
a dog’, the carbon calculator, NSPCC Facebook and the Reverse Book
Club.
- On-line
donor portals and innovative email marketing.
- What
happened when Greenpeace asked its supporters for campaign
ideas.
- Ethiopia’s first ever
direct mail fundraising appeal.
- Fundraising events from
Bosnia and the Ukraine.
- The
first fundraising beer mat.
- Classic
direct mail from the USA, face-to-face techniques from India,
bequest marketing and monthly donor upgrading from
Australia…
- Great
fundraising products and spectacularly effective events from
various countries.
- Transparency,
readability, what may be the world’s best donor
newsletter...
- The
press ad where, to respond, readers needed a pen that writes in
white ink.
- The
Christmas card that started fundraising in UNICEF.
- What may
be the world’s oldest fundraising letter. Or is it?
- ...and
lots, lots more. Plus fundraising from 2000 years ago, also
for the archives, Our Mutual Friend – what Charles Dickens
thought of begging letters and watch out for the ‘Giving Welly’
campaign – coming soon.
The editorial sections feature Jo Habib’s ten key things to
remember when writing to trusts and foundations, Gordon Michie’s
opinion piece on stewardship, the new fashion term in fundraising,
John Rodd’s eight steps to establishing donor-by-donor
profitability,Per Stenbeck’s stirring video presentation on the
power of passion, Frances Hurst on how to keep fundraisers (and
keep them happy), fundraising guru George Smith’s top tips to
help you write more effectively and Ken Burnett’s 11 pillars
of fundraising wisdom.
Think of SOFII as freeware for fundraisers. But remember that the
site that you can search through now (once you have registered) is
a prototype only. You have to imagine what it will be like when
there are 370 exhibits or even 3,700, covering all areas of
fundraising endeavour rather than the mere 37 that we can show you
today.
The site is free to use. Simply send an email with your name,
address and the name of your organisation to maxine@sofii.org asking to be
registered. To visit, and for more information, go to www.sofii.org
The
future for SOFII
So far SOFII has been conceived and built by just a few
volunteers working very part-time. Now, thanks to a generous
grant from a private trust, the project has enough resources to
recruit someone to work on the SOFII project full-time. So, we
expect that SOFII will move much more quickly from now on. And, as
our intention is to keep refining and improving SOFII, it should
get better and better and more and more useful to fundraisers
everywhere as the year progresses.
If any reader of this newsletter wishes to volunteer time and
talent to help SOFII, please contact maxine@sofii.org.
www.sofii.org
Expertise | Integrity
| Passion |
