We're rapidly moving towards one of the highlights in any fundraiser's calendar - the Institute of Fundraising’s (IOF), National Convention. Which brings with it the annual celebration of the great and good of fundraising: the National Awards.
Last week saw the unveiling of the full shortlist - and what a list it
was! The IOF tell us that this was a year with a record number of
entries, and there is some fantastic fundraising on display. I chatted
with a handful of fundraisers who had had campaigns shortlisted to get some
insight from them on what the shortlist tells us about the state of the sector,
what it takes to be shortlisted, and their feelings about making the cut.
Contributions
from:
Adrian
Salmon
- Footsteps Fund Manager, University of Leeds
Danielle
Atkinson
- Head of Digital & Individual Giving, Merlin
Katia de Gregorio – Head of Donor Marketing, Breakthrough Breast
Cancer
I
was struck by the diversity on offer in this year's shortlist. There are
representatives from large and small organisations; household names to brand
new charities; shiny new ideas and well-executed old-faithfuls.
Adrian
was delighted to see representation from organisations that many wouldn’t
realise are charities – two in academic fundraising, but also cultural and
heritage organisations, like the Natural History Museum. He points out
that these organisations have a lot to offer back to the sector, particularly
in the realms of major donor fundraising, and it’s fantastic seeing them
recognised alongside the names that everyone identifies as charities.
Katia
agrees: “It shows how competitive and diverse the sector is…(and) the range of
causes shortlisted is broader than ever”.
It’s
also a great reminder that top-class fundraising doesn’t have to be
expensive. Danielle points out: “there are smaller
charities, who don't have the budgets of the big boys, thinking creatively and
effectively to deliver the best fundraising possible”. Certainly no-one
could say that this is a list comprised of the “usual suspects”!
Katia was interested to note the innovation that
the shortlist demonstrates – not purely within the “most innovative” category,
but across the board; she says, “charities are embracing new ways to engage
supporters – or using existing channels with new offers”. This is one of the fantastic things about awards like this: “It’s great and
inspiring to see how charities are adapting and using channels – or
combinations of channels – in new ways”.
I
wondered what it takes, aside from meeting the category criteria, to be
shortlisted. Both Katia and Danielle impress the importance of writing
the entry itself well – with judges reading so very many entries, you need to
make it simple for them to see at a glance why the campaign was so amazing and
is worthy of shortlisting (and hopefully winning!). Danielle suggests bullet
points for clarity and to save words (a nifty tip which makes a huge difference
in this situation!).
Katia
believes that, in this competitive world, “Good results don’t cut it anymore,
they need to be exceptional” – and I think it’s worth remembering that
exceptional results don’t necessarily have to mean raising hundreds of
thousands of pounds. Crucial, says Danielle, is showing clear success against
targets with your results on your entry form – and to make the financial
objective clear from the very outset.
And ensuring that there’s a clear
focus on demonstrating why this appeal is different. It doesn’t
need to represent something brand new to the sector but you must be able to
show that it’s different for you – and that it’s made a
difference. It’s also really important to be able to identify what others
can learn for it – as surely a key point to awards like this is to allow
fundraisers to learn from each other and develop their own work? So make
sure your entry shows transferability.
Adrian
believes that the campaigns that do make the grade are usually ones which have
not only achieved great results, but have used great creative to do so.
At the heart of good fundraising, he explains, is an understanding of who
donors are and what they want to see – and recognition that we are not the
target audience! He also talked about the importance of knowing when to
engage external partners, to understand that while we may be experts at
fundraising, there are added dimensions that the right partner agency can bring
to help us see outside of our own understanding of “our donors”.
Some
people are suspicious of awards, seeing them as an exercise in, in Adrian’s
words, “mutual backslapping”. But for Adrian, even the act of entering is
a valuable exercise – to spend time, reflecting, to communicate succinctly to
external people exactly what the challenges were and why the campaign was so
successful, and to crystallise months’ worth of work into a few hundred words
is a valuable discipline. And, he says, it’s “great to be recognised” for
the good work that you are doing.
Danielle
agrees. She enters awards in part to recognise the hard work of her team,
to demonstrate to them that their managers and the organisation they work for
values them and the effort they put in to running their appeals. It means
a lot to her and her team to be shortlisted: “the rush to
see who you're up against - but also to see what esteemed company you are
keeping! But the pride that knowing your work is worthy of being shortlisted is
great”.
Katia echoes Danielle on this point, talking about
the enormous efforts across a whole organisation that goes into running a
successful campaign
– and often huge input from multiple agency partners too – she says “it’s
brilliant for so much effort (and such great results) to be recognised”.
Whatever
your views on the merits of awards, I hope you have found something on the
shortlist to inspire you in your fundraising. I’m looking forward to
being there on the night and celebrating all that’s great about our sector –
and hoping against hope for a win!
Lisa Clavering
