Fundraisers days are numbered?

Another day, another “business professional” telling us that the days of “fundraising professionals” are numbered.

This time, it’s Philippe Beaudette, of the Wikimedia Foundation.  Philippe is overseeing Wikipedia’s annual fundraising campaign.

Did you know they have an annual fundraising campaign?

This year’s campaign is being created by a collaboration of 900 people. 900!

Philippe tells us “Group collaboration is the future of fund raising. Organizations are going to have to work harder for donor dollars, and the ones that will be successful will be the ones that do not involve professional fund raisers. Professional fund raisers are sometimes limited by history and afraid to think outside the box. It is going to take new creative ideas, and the best way to get that is to have a huge number of people thinking.”

So there you have it just get a bundle of people together and bash out something you can all agree on and you won’t need me or any of my ilk. 

Or will you?

Let’s look at the evidence.  The Wikipedia fundraising campaign is actually a really strong one.  This year they’re raising funds faster than before – in the first 4 days, it raised close to $2-million, a total that took 29 days to achieve last year.

This suggests they’re doing something right.  But what?

Well, they’re testing.  And due to the nature of Wikipedia, they can test A LOT. And quickly.  You can find details here.  But they’ve been testing since August, every Thursday afternoon for an hour.  And they’ve been tweaking their banner ads to try to come up with the best one.  Genius.

DOH! Why has no fundraiser ever thought of testing before? 

Well, of course we have.

In fact, testing is a crucial part of any cold or warm appeal.  Whether a TV ad, a mailing or an email message, professional fundraisers will almost always test their message when they can.  If it’s an online appeal we’ll test the landing page too – yup, that’s what Wikipedia are doing.

What Wikipedia have though, through their very existence and reason for being is the ability to run one of the biggest and best tests ever done.  They have 400 million monthly readers, people are already on their site to see these banner ads so they can get instant feedback and monitoring – did people click it, did they donate, how much - this is not something that most charities have the luxury of.

Most charities embarking on an appeal will be doing an email or a print one, usually alongside their website.  They’ll have limited funds to set up monitoring, and their volunteers, numbering less than 900, may not have the tech-know to be setting up such testing.

Are they doomed to fail?  No, because from previous tests, from previous fundraising appeals and campaigns, and from research good fundraisers know what works best.  They know what to include, how to lay it out, and the type of pictures to use. 

A picture of a boy vs a picture of a girl?  Include a PS or no PS in your letter? How should you lay out your landing page? Your donation page?

Sure, they should still test, and consider this for the future, tweaking and adjusting the ‘control’, but you need that starting point.

I’m still impressed by the Wikipedia campaign.  It’s working well, but interestingly, it’s the ‘control’ message that’s been working.  So what exactly have those 900 collaborators been creating?

Michael Hodgson
Cause4Effect Ltd

Posted via email from mikemuses's posterous

New draft on Scottish tradition warms kilt wearers Metronews - Article

|[ \t])+(((http)+(s?)\://){1}\S+)( |[ \t])+((http(s?)\://){1}(\w|\.)+) -->

EDINBURGH, United Kingdom - A true Scotsman is said to never wear anything under his kilt. But now Scots are being warned that the sartorial tradition could be both indecent and unhygienic.

The organization charged with maintaining standards in Highland dress has backed kilt-rental firms who say the age-old custom of "going commando" has got to go.

"We are saying please use common sense and decency as it can be unhygienic and it can be offensive," Brian Wilton of the Scottish Tartans Authority said Tuesday. "If you are out and about in a kilt then remember to show some decorum.

"If you are hiring a kilt, then wear underwear because some of them are left in a horrible state."

The tradition comes from the clansmen warriors of the Highlands who wore little but long kilts that wrapped around the shoulder. The Scottish military took up the idea, and Scots regiments still parade sans underwear to this day.

"My father was a sergeant major in the army and used to clip a car mirror on the end of his pace stick and held it under the kilts of his men to check they were suitably undressed for parades," Wilton said.

Wilton also offered etiquette advice for anyone meeting a man in a kilt: Don't ask too many questions.

"Really you shouldn't ask a Scotsman what he wears under his kilt." he said. "Imagine the offence you would cause if you were to ask the same of a woman."

To bare or not to bare, divides opinion.

Ian Chisholm of the Scottish Kilt Makers' Association said "it's traditional to go without and there is nothing wrong with it."

Howie Nicholsby, of innovative tailoring firm 21st Century Kilts in Edinburgh, has worn only kilts for the last 14 years and does not own trousers. He agrees that underwear is often an asset.

"In my line of work I am very active and the capacity for wardrobe malfunction is endless," he said.

"Men feel pressured not to wear underpants because of this macho culture we have around the kilt. It is silly as you really should wear underpants if you're hiring a kilt.

"But the best thing to do is buy your own — then you are free to do what you want."

via metronews.ca

Go commando, just as soon as you buy your own kilt

Posted via email from mikemuses's posterous

A thousand Words

Original found this for me.  Thoughts?

Posted via email from mikemuses's posterous

Mini Caddy

I quite like the look of this, the Cadillac Ultimate Luxury Concept.  It’s “compact and manoeuvrable”, but with the space and luxury of a larger Cadillac. I should say that although I like the shape, and some of the detailing – particularly the lines from behind the front wheel and under the window to the rear lights, I’m not sure about the interior (and American cars are often let down by the quality here anyway), nor do I like the front grille.

So essentially, I want a European or Japanese maker to take the shape, and do it themselves.

I’m not convinced that it’s really a rival to the Aston Martin Cygnet either.  The original plan behind the Cygnet was to sell it only to Aston Martin owners who didn’t want to take their DBS (insert gratuitous DBS pic here) into the city centre.  The Cygnet is rather obviously based on Toyota’s iQ, and is under 3m in length (2985mm), with a wheelbase of 2000mm.  The Caddy is 3835mm long, which is closer in length to the original Honda Jazz (3845mm).  Come to think of it, Nissan and Toyota are quite adept at selling rebodied versions of their more unexciting cars in the home market, like Toyota’s 2002 (2002!) Will Cypha, the 1998 Will Vi, and the bB, and the now well-known in the UK Nissan Figaro. 

Maybe all I want is for Honda to Jazz up this Caddy.

Posted via email from mikemuses's posterous

Power of branding

This is awful.  It’ll probably do modestly well, which is all Nissan are aiming for.  Stick a Porsche badge on it, though, and they’d probably sell as many as they could make in Aberdeen..

Posted via email from mikemuses's posterous

Business events

There are a huge range of business events out there.  Let’s be honest, here in Aberdeen you could probably attend a breakfast, lunch and dinner event every day of the week.

Sure, some are specifically for networking, others provide the opportunity to learn more about a specific business, or industry, while also providing the chance to meet with other professionals.  Some are relaxed, others formal.

Given that time and money are limited, how do you decide which of these events are worthwhile?  And how do you define “worthwhile” anyway?

Michael Hodgson
Cause4Effect Ltd

Posted via email from mikemuses's posterous

Being true to your values

At a time when even Porsche are entering the mini-SUV market, bringing out a car based on an Audi, and the latest models by Land Rover will be available without four wheel drive, it’s good to see some companies are still staying true to their roots and values.

Morgan, I applaud you.

Posted via email from mikemuses's posterous