Top Tips from the Australasian Fundraising Forum 2014

After a fantastic couple of days soaking up so much great content from so many talented fundraisers we thought we would just pick out 13 very practical suggestions from some of the speakers. The generosity of everyone who spoke and shared their stories and, more importantly, their facts was extraordinary. It really is a great privilege to work in a sector where everyone is genuinely committed to everyone else doing better. Thank you to all the speakers and to F+P Magazine for creating such a valuable opportunity to share, learn and connect.

1. Edm’s sent on a Tuesday at 10am were 3 times more effective than the same time on a Thursday
2. Popups on the website during tax appeal increased online donations by 30%
3. Put Donate Now buttons in the middle of edm text
4. Link your auction items to outcome specific price points with an ask from a beneficiary
5. Always send your “banker pack” as the second ask (increased 2^nd gift rate from 3% to 43%)
6. Use crowdfunding to pay for your TV coverage of campaigns (then convert to RG)
7. Understand if your Twitter and Facebook audiences are different and send different messages
8. People have recruited RG donors from Facebook at $46/donor and 2.18 roi but the volumes are small
9. Always, always promote residuary bequests, they are 10 times the value
10. Make purely commercial decisions on contested estates – they can be up to 30% of your annual value.
11. Reactivation starts at the point of cancellation – make it as pleasant as possible to increase the likelihood of subsequent reactivation
12. Use values based conversations and listen to the donor
13. Use powerful visuals and stories as this brilliant example does (and never underestimate the importance of the music!):  Greenpeace New Zealand People Like You