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mark phillips
The person who manages Bluefrog, an agency that makes good charities even better.
Interests: Africa, anthropology, sharks, hi-life and afro-beat, bush craft, being in the wilderness, weird tv shows.
Recent Activity
Thanks for the comment Adrian. The full research will be published shortly. But I agree with your point about trust. It's a very broad term. Perhaps asking donors whether they trusted charities to treat them with respect might be a better question?
Sadly because of the aggressive behaviour of (comparatively few) charities, donors are growing wary of giving to new organisations. In our research on mobile giving for example, we found donors initially loved the idea of giving via their mobile phone as it appeared to offer a means to control the relationship by allowing them to remain semi-anonymous. Sadly the heavy use of follow up calls proved them wrong. It significantly damaged both the technique along with general attitudes to giving.
More recently, I've heard charities are now promising new donors – at the point of recruitment – that they will not call them to upgrade for a number of years as a means to counter this ill-feeling.
Donors may well broadly trust charities, but if we extend that to trust us to raise money with respect, then we may well be disappointed by what we find.
The approach of an individual charity justifying behaviour by pointing to a bottom line can't really be defended any longer. We are too interconnected now to continue acting without thought for other charities in the sector. The more I think about what's happened, the more I am reminded of what happened in the recent sub-prime disaster.
I'm not sure if you've read the work of Gillian Tett who is US managing Editor of the FT, but initially trained as a Social Anthropogist. In her review of the crash she put it quite simply...
“One of the reasons we got into the mess we are in is because they were all so busy looking at their own little bit that they totally failed to understand how it interacted with the rest of society.”
That seems to sum up what happened to us.
Keep up the great work.
Five things I learned from the Ask Direct Summer School
Last week I had the privilege of being part of one of the most exciting fundraising conferences I’ve ever attended – The Ask Direct Fundraising Summer School. A group of highly talented people shared, inspired and challenged us to do better. Not just as fundraisers but as people too. I took a hu...
Five things I learned from the Ask Direct Summer School
Posted Sep 11, 2016 at queer ideas
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Change the future of fundraising by sharing your best practice
I’m currently working with Ken Burnett who has asked me to identify the best global fundraising practice to be featured in the final report of the Commission on the Donor Experience. Our goal is to demonstrate what can be achieved... Continue reading
Posted Aug 10, 2016 at queer ideas
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What can we learn from Lord Grade?
Last week, I shared a few thoughts in Third Sector, about Lord Grade's views on fundraising. You probably read about his interview in The Sunday Times and may well have heard his speech at the IoF gala dinner. What follows... Continue reading
Posted Jul 17, 2016 at queer ideas
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Three things you need to get right in mid-value fundraising
Posted Jun 14, 2016 at queer ideas
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Thoughts on the roots of the fundraising crisis and what might happen next
Posted Jun 13, 2016 at queer ideas
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Time to change tactics - the view from Australia
Last year, I spoke at the Australasian Fundraising Forum in Sydney. I shared my thoughts on the fundraising crisis in the UK and how we ended up in such a mess. I also looked at what was happening in Australia... Continue reading
Posted Jun 8, 2016 at queer ideas
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Hi Simone. It was perhaps one of my best ever days as a fundraiser. It's a shame that we'll never know what Tony would have topped it with (which he would).
Who should influence the future of fundraising?
With the most influential fundraiser/popularity contest up and running, I thought it presented a rather interesting opportunity. I’ve always been of the view than rather an opportunity to vote for mates, colleagues and famous faces, it should be presented as a means to introduce some of the most...
Who should influence the future of fundraising?
With the most influential fundraiser/popularity contest up and running, I thought it presented a rather interesting opportunity. I’ve always been of the view than rather an opportunity to vote for mates, colleagues and famous faces, it should be presented as... Continue reading
Posted May 4, 2016 at queer ideas
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What do donors actually read when you write to them?
Posted Apr 27, 2016 at queer ideas
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Free consultancy for a little of your help
Posted Apr 10, 2016 at queer ideas
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What is wrong with trojan horse fundraising?
Posted Mar 23, 2016 at queer ideas
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How do we change the public perception of fundraising?
Posted Feb 22, 2016 at queer ideas
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Avoid stone age fundraising techniques
Posted Feb 11, 2016 at queer ideas
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What makes a Super Fundraiser?
Posted Jan 29, 2016 at queer ideas
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The truth about giving compiled from 250 million lines of data
Posted Dec 18, 2015 at queer ideas
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Thanks for your comment Ian. As funders of Rogare, you know I agree with much of what you say. However, there is great use of the phone and appalling use of the phone. I'm currently engaged in trying to find out why I received a call on behalf of charities that fits neatly in to the absolutely appalling category and I'm struggling to get any information to help me. As a result I am about to embark on a formal process to get a recording of the call and associated details). There's also great face-to-face and there is appalling face-to-face. It's the same for direct mail, use of data and any other area of fundraising you might care to mention.
As a sector, rather than saying that the regulators or newspaper are out to get us, I think we need to recognise that some fundraising has fallen below standards that we should expect of ourselves. However much I agree with the need for a formal foundation for a set of professional ethics, I think there are some practices that can and should be stopped now.
If we, as fundraisers, had questioned these practices when we saw them (which we failed to do) we would not have faced this review. But it has happened and we have to live with it.
I am hopeful that in planning for the future, more charities will think of the needs of donors as well as beneficiaries - which is no bad thing (at least to my mind).
And we should also remember that this is still self-regulation where we have the ability to influence what happens next. That should be our focus now. We have a chance to create a charitable sector that is the envy of the world. I find that very exciting.
If it's about protecting the donor, I'm not that worried
On Friday, we had the chance to see how the plans for regulating the sector were shaping up. I watched online (it's here if you'd like to see it) and was pleased with what I saw. It was a pretty positive session where the concerns voiced over the last few weeks were addressed. You can take y...
If it's about protecting the donor, I'm not that worried
Posted Dec 7, 2015 at queer ideas
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The return of how fundraising works
Posted Nov 12, 2015 at queer ideas
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Your grandmother is a better fundraiser than you are
Posted Nov 11, 2015 at queer ideas
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How fundraising works
Posted Nov 9, 2015 at queer ideas
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Why do donors stop giving?
Posted Nov 3, 2015 at queer ideas
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Who will the Fundraising Preference Service protect and who will actually use it?
Posted Nov 2, 2015 at queer ideas
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The fundraising paradox
Posted Oct 30, 2015 at queer ideas
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Give the hat back!
Following my last post, I've had a few discussions with fundraisers about professionalism and what it actually means. As a result, I thought it might be of interest to expand a little on my thinking. As I understand it, professionalism... Continue reading
Posted Oct 19, 2015 at queer ideas
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