This innovative fundraising campaign from the United Nations World Food Programme shows how cutting edge Near Field Communication (NFC) can be used to deliver real donor engagement.

How NFC outdoor ads help end hunger

The campaign places two adverts at a bus stop, one depicting a beautiful selection of food, the other a starving child. Using a smartphone and NFC  [ ] you can pick up an item of food and give it to the child. By doing this you also make a donation to the value of the food item you select.

What’s good about this NFC fundraising campaign?

We love the way this campaign marries the look of a familiar consumer advert (think supermarket fresh!) with a well-recognised visual call-to-action to end poverty in a child’s life.

However, the campaign’s real genius is how it it enables an instant engagement with the donor (in their own time). Donors are invited to do (virtually) what the charity does (for real) on their behalf – giving food to a hungry child – while at the same time making a financial donation to the charity, funding that very work.

Plus, by using the smartphone in the physical world, the physical action is combined with the virtual action and the donor’s engagement much higher than that of taking a virtual action totally within the virtual environment (e.g. on a website).

Better still! You receive a video from the child you’ve helped, thanking you and you can share your good deed on Facebook.

The future of street fundraising?

Interactive, rewarding, involving, even fun and entertaining. Simple..?

Well, simple, perhaps not. Clearly there’s a lot of work and investment behind the scenes to bring all this together and it relies on users a) having a smartphone with NFC built in and b) knowing how to use it.

But roll-over QR codes, NFC is a far simpler way to connect a smart, mobile device with other media and the technology is being incorporated into our devices and lives more and more each day. Perhaps the future of street fundraising is with us already?

Looking for innovative fundraising ideas?

OK, as much as we’d love to, we can’t claim this one (the kudos goes to agency Grabarz & Partner) but we can help you develop effective ways to fundraise for your charity.

Just ask Phil how.

Recognising that its user audience exhibits certain behaviours, such as commentating and conversing about TV shows, major sports events and the like all in real time, the social media giant has finally made it easier for people to follow the trending topics.

Following in the steps of (read, ‘keeping up with’?) the competition, Facebook’s members can now use clickable hashtags to see the larger view of what’s going on and what people are talking about.

You can add a hashtag to add context to a post or show that it’s part of a wider conversation, when clicked on, you’ll be taken to a feed of what people and pages are saying about it.

What you can do with Facebook hashtags

• search for a specific hashtag from your search bar
• click on hashtags from other services e.g. Twitter, Instagram or PIinterest
• compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results

You still control who can see your posts, including those with hashtags.

More Facebook functionality to come…

Facebook say that this is just the first of a series of new features which will enable users to find out what others are saying about particular topics and join in public conversations.

#watchthisspace

If eligible, you could claim top-up payments on up to £5,000 of small cash donations in a tax year, earning up to £1,250 extra income.

Why has GASDS been introduced?

To enable charities to claim top-up payments on small cash donations where it is difficult to obtain a Gift Aid declaration. You do not need to know the identity of the donor; payments under the Gift Aid Small Donations scheme are not a tax relief and there is no audit trail back to the original donor’s tax records.

What are the benefits of GASDS?

• Charities won’t miss out on valuable Gift Aid from small, cash donations from activities such as street collections, religious offerings or collection boxes.
• No need to collect donor ID.

What counts as a Small Donation?

Under GASDS, a Small Donation is: “A cash donation from an individual to a charity or a community amateur sports club.”  The donation must be in banknotes or coins.

Full details of Small Donations

How much money will I get using GASDS?

The maximum limit on the amount of donations claimed against is £5,000.

You calculate the amount of your top-up payment by dividing the amount of your claim by 4. e.g. Claim = £5,000. Top-up payment= £1,250.

How much you can claim

Rules for claiming GASDS

Does my charity qualify?

For your charity to qualify for the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) you need to:

• be recognised by HMRC as a charity for tax purposes
• makes claims under Gift Aid
• have existed for at least the last two full tax years

Full conditions of GASDS here

Don’t miss out! Find out more about GASDS

If your charity has any number of cash donations under £20, then the Gift Aid Small Donations scheme is a simple route to extra income. Find out if you qualify, brief your team – and put in your financial calendar to make a claim – don’t miss out!

Read full details about the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme on the HMRC website here

Speaking at PFSK Conference 2013 , Abigail Posner, Head of Strategic Planning for Agency Development at Google  explains how the 380 billion photographs we took last year and the 400 billion daily Youtube views are a marketers dream come true…

Bored during your lunch hour, taking a break from endless spreadsheets… do you login to Facebook or Youtube and spend a few mindless minutes being entertained by seemingly random recordings? Far from being mindless distractions, Abigail describes how these things are inspiring creativity among consumers and are an exciting opportunity for marketers to take advantage of and build fun, engaging relationships with people.

Abigail Posner explained that…

There are 4 billion Youtube views a day and 500 years of Youtube videos are watched on Facebook each day! But why are we so engaged with what looks on the surface to be boring, mundane and everyday ?

We have an innate appetite for wonder, to discover meaning in the everyday, to see if there’s more to life. “The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust. The visual web gives us new eyes, the ability to see the everyday in new and interesting ways – the wondrous, the beautiful – the visual web gives the mundane new meaning. It makes the familiar, fascinating; showing that the ‘everyday’ in our world does matter.

We have an innate desire to leave our own marks on the world; to create – the visual web enables us to do this. And it taps the mind of the child within us. Children’s brains create synaptic pathways at a far greater rate than adults – and create things that are not restricted by logic, or experience, forming novel, innovative outcomes to everyday experiences.

So it is with our creative use of the visual web, it allows us to see the world as children do and frees us to go adventuring… mixing and matching content. “Synaptic amazingness” it’s called, freed from social norms, rules and linearity. It makes us happy and feel fulfilled, being able to create and leave our marks on the world. But it doesn’t stop there – we love to celebrate this creativity and share it, effectively saying, “I like the way you synapse.”

We want others to share in this experience with us. It’s hard-wired into us to know that when we give happiness, it amplifies our own, by being more connected to the person we’ve shared it with. And we love the rush of pleasure we feel when we do so. By sharing in this creativity, we become a provider of happiness and we want to feel that rush of pleasure more and more – becoming increasingly connected to those we’re sharing with.

We’re no longer just consumers of creativity, but also providers. We no longer simply want to share creativity, but share IN creativity.

The more we ‘play’ with the visual web, the more creative, happy and fulfilled we are, finding more and more meaning in our everyday.

How can this help brands?

Marketers can share their brand with their consumers, taking the messages and promises of the organisation and:

• Create.
• Create experiences. Make life wondrous. Mix and match.
• Help others do the same, creating shared experiences; ultimately -
• Be a source of happiness, which can…

…result in deep, lasting connections with the people (your customers) that your sharing with.

Just watch Pepsi Max & Jeff Gordon presents to see what she means.

 Watch Abigail Posner’s full presentation

So, are screaming goats helping your marketing?

Is your marketing spreading happiness, making the mundane meaningful?

It’s time to get mixing and matching – then your customers will like the way you synapse and share in your brand with you.

HMRC have introduced this new, online system, in an effort to make repayment claims faster and easier for charities; not only that, but HMRC are phasing out the old Gift Aid claim system… so read on for more information and the future of Gift Aid claims.

Who is Charities Online for?

All charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs.

Charities Online – the benefits

• Faster and more accurate claims
• Instant acknowledgement
• Easier Gift Aid records for sponsored events
• Higher limit for aggregated donations
• Easier to understand

How long will Gift Aid repayment take using Charities online?

HMRC state they’ll return online (or own database) claims in 15 days or less.

3 new ways to claim Gift Aid

The current R68(i) print and post repayment form will be replaced by three options for making claims.

1. Claim Gift Aid using the new Charities Online form
2. Claim Gift Aid using your new database,
3. Claim Gift Aid using a paper form

Find out more here

How do I use the new Charities Online system to claim Gift Aid?

You can see a demonstration of the Charities Online system here and enrol into Charities Online here.

Here’s what you need to do to get started …

The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme

Your charity may also be able to benefit from this new scheme that provides top-up payments on small cash donations where it’s difficult to collect a Git Aid declaration. Find out more

5 common social media mistakes

1. You don’t know what you want from it. (No measurable goals.)
2. You don’t know how to measure success. (Again, no measurable goals and possibly no monitoring and / or measurements in place.)
3. You’re broadcasting, not engaging. (You’re not building relationships.)
4. You’re not investing. (You reap what you sow.)
5. You don’t know your audience.
   • You don’t know what social media they’re using.
   • You don’t know why they’re using social media.
   • You don’t know how to add value to their social media experience.
   • You don’t know when they’re using social media.

OK, so the last point is really 4 separate issues, but they’re all valid. You have to treat social media like any other marketing activity. Set objectives, know your audience, learn what they want and interact with them. Create content and test it. Monitor and refine, to improve. Discover what works for you. Be community with your social audiences and share in your dreams together.

Have fun and if you need any more tips, ask Phil

It’s because we’ve developed a society that has an absurdly skewed perspective about how charities should be funded.

Dan Pallotta, fundraising innovator and author of Uncharitable – How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential , delivered a TED talk in 2013 that we all need to pay attention to.

Too often we look at the microcosmic elements of fundraising – such as how much money our next appeal will raise if we tweak the ‘ask’ and the copy – yet how much more money could we raise, how much more of a difference could we make if we could change perception about how charities are funded?

Dan’s talk, ‘The way we think about charity is dead wrong,’ details the perspective our society has on charity funding and offers up the challenge to change it…

A summary of Dan Pallota’s TED talk

What is it about the culture that is holding the nonprofit sector back?

Charitable giving remains at a plateau. Medical charities haven’t found the cures they seek. Poverty still exists. Why?

Because nonprofits are discriminated against for profit organisations in five crucial ways.

1. They’re not compensated in the same way (as business). We don’t want to pay top dollar for people who want to change the world and save lives.
2. Advertising and Marketing. Whereas businesses market, advertise and sell, sell, sell… we don’t want to spend donations on promoting causes.
3. We don’t take risks on new fundraising ideas, whereas business constantly take risks with new products and services to secure ongoing sales.
4. Time. We don’t allow nonprofits the same time to deliver returns. Imagine if they could have seven (or more) years (like Amazon) before they need to show a return?
5. Nonprofits can’t generate profit to attract risk capital. Which in turn holds back investment that could be used for growth.

So, nonprofits are held back because they: Can’t afford the best talent, advertise the cause, take risks, be patient and build long-term growth or secure capital for investment.

All this disadvantages the sector…

Why do we think this way? [In the US] It’s Puritan thinking. Pious people who are aggressive capitalists and believe that self-interest is their route to eternal damnation. Charity was established as an economic sanctuary. Charitable giving was penance for making money. This is the same today.

Inbred in our giving culture is this question? What % of our donations go to the cause vs overhead?

This question causes two problems:

1. It makes us think that overhead isn’t part of the cause.
2. Charities are forced to forego what they need to grow.

If we invest in fundraising in the same way we invest in income generation for businesses, we could see income growth in just the same way. But we don’t. We believe it’s good to keep overhead down – fundamentally limiting our fundraising opportunities.

Our social dilemma is: Keep overhead low vs charity grow.

We must no longer confuse morality with frugality but keep the dreams high – and invest in the dreams (curing cancer, ending poverty). We must change the perspective on charity funding and we’ll see those dreams fulfilled.

Watch the whole talk – it’s worth it.

Our challenge?

Dan has thrown down a gauntlet not just to society but firmly at our feet. Surely the responsibility of changing society’s perspective lies with EVERYONE connected with the charity sector. We all have the opportunity to make a difference, on a much grander scale.

Fundraisers and charity marketers especially have the opportunity, as well as the means to communicate this and educate society. We’re always seeking new ways to fundraise, new ways to be more efficient, productive and effective… surely if we work towards this we’ll achieve all those goals?

Communicating the idea is simple

We simply have to tell people. It starts with our friends, our families, our donors… It doesn’t need a big campaign, but all of us, communicating at grass-roots level to permeate this message through all levels of society – this message – invest in charities as if they were businesses and they’d create true social change.

If we raise the level of the water, all the boats will rise.

The office rumour mill (as if there were such a thing?) had it that he’d simply pre-programmed Hootsuite with 6 months of social media activity, covered his desk in a mountain of paperwork and disappeared to some sunny shore – that was until a white flag appeared above the paper mountain!

Back in September Andy began studying for the Institute of Fundraising’s Certificate in Fundraising. Taking advantage of the flexibility of its new online format, Andy wanted to affirm his knowledge and experience of today’s fundraising best practice.

Now with a cleared desk and head filled with IoF Codes of Conduct, fundraising strategy, market research and much more, Andy says he’s excited about how he can use what he’s learned to help make more of a difference to Yeomans clients.

The course blends the academic side of fundraising with practical application. Consisting of four modules covering: a fundraising audit; research; fundraising strategy; community, event and volunteer fundraising, students have to apply course frameworks and information to a charity they’re working with. Each module culminates in an assessed, written assignment – each one a practical proposal that relates to the organisation’s fundraising activities.

Andy is a volunteer with Brighton charity, Off the Fence which he chose as the focus of his coursework. Not only has it helped him understand in more detail it’s fundraising activities but has delivered a fundraising strategy that Off the Fence is planning to implement later this year.

We want to give Andy a big Yeomans-style round of applause (which is way better than a golf clap!) for all his hard work and commitment (all in his own time, we add). Yeomans believes in investing in its team to build its knowledge base and maintaining best practice, so we’ve no doubt that he’s already thinking about what to study next… (In the meantime we’ll need to remind him to update his LinkedIn profile!)

We’re hoping it will be a great wee, where we’ll spend time talking with friends old and new; discovering how we can help them achieve their fundraising and marketing goals.

Yeomans in the Web and Media Zone

You’ll find our stand (G10 / G11) in the Web & Media Zone, part of Surrey Hall. Come and have a chat with the various members of our team who will be there throughout the week.

We really love our work, supporting charities in theirs. We’re sure that there will be lots of conversations about the tough economy and how it’s impacting fundraising. We’re really positive about those conversations as we know that there are supporters out there looking to help people – they just need to know how your charity can help them!

The Yeomans Exhibitors’ Lounge

Once again, we’re sponsoring the Exhibitors’ Lounge, where we’ll be providing free tea and coffee for exhibitors. If you’re exhibiting and are in need of some refreshment, grab a drink and take the weight off your feet!

 To Print or Not to Print?

Still printing that same old magazine (or church newsletter)? Not sure who really reads it? Want to save money? Think that there might be a better way to get your message across?

Find out in our daily seminar – 2pm in the Web & Media Zone.

Want a FREE ticket?

Just email James

This summer, Yeomans MD and fundraising consultant, Phil Broad is travelling to Africa to discover firsthand the frontline work of Wycliffe Bible Translators. He explains why.

We’ve been working with Wycliffe for several years and were recently appointed to consult on their fundraising programme. Wycliffe’s mission is to make the story of God’s love for his people (the Bible) accessible to people in the language that they understand the best, their ‘heart language’. Finding out that there are over 200 million people who still don’t have access to God’s Word has made me look at my bookshelf differently. It’s too easy to take for granted the ease with which I can pick up a Bible and read about the love God has for me – everyone should have that.

That’s why I love what Wycliffe is doing and as a fundraiser, it’s my job to communicate that to their supporters. My role is to bring them closer to the people who benefit from their kindness and generosity while always remembering that, for Christians, giving is an act of worship. The charity is the conduit for God’s plan and the supporter’s heart to change someone else’s life for the better.

Connecting  supporters with the people whose lives they help change, makes me part translator and storyteller too, so to do the best I can, I need to see Wycliffe’s work in person. I’m really excited to meet the people who’ve been impacted by reading God’s Word in the language they understand best, their ‘heart language’, and learn firsthand what they’ve found in translation.