Whatever thoughts have been on my mind will probably end up here. Updated weekly, but perhaps more initially as I throw in some older things.
Why is this limited to Edinburgh based companies, rather than being used to promote Scotland-wide creative firms?
posted by Mikemuses @ 2:15 PM
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How do I know that my money is actually helping?
Well, to be honest, that’s something that a lot of charities need to improve.
Letting you know what you’ve done.
The good news is that there are a lot of dedicated fundraisers who are pushing and striving to do just that. Charities will continue to get better at showing how you’ve helped. (this can’t be done for free, though)
In most cases, when we donate it has a ripple effect we’ll never see.
This film gives an example of the effect of one small action.
Don’t you want to carry out a small act like that right now?
posted by Mikemuses @ 11:23 AM
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An interesting article taken from one of the seminars at the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands.
Elmer Sotto, head of growth for Facebook Canada, has said that facebook is not an effective tool for fundraising.
He’s wrong of course.
And I’d say the same holds true for business.
Is facebook is an effective tool to get people to buy your product?
I should qualify this, and say that getting someone to ‘like’ you on facebook is not and will never be the same as getting them to buy your product or service, or donate to your charity.
What it IS, is an effective tool to build relationships, help nurture communities, and keep people ‘engaged’ and interested in what your business (or charity) does.
As Seth Godin might put it, it’s a way to build your tribe.
I have to agree with Elmer when he says that charities should make “building up a popular page as the number one task”.
Again, it’s a way to keep people talking to you, for you to be able to listen to them, which ultimately is what fundraising is.
Yes, the aim of fundraising is to get donations, but the way to do it is to converse with people who are interested in you. To keep them interested in you, and to keep interested in them. Show them how what their donation has done, how it’s changed lives, and that will mean that they want to donate again.
Fundraising isn’t just about getting a donation, it’s about engaging supporters, donors and looking after your tribe.
Facebook isn’t an effective way to get a first donation, it’s a tool to keep donors, supporters and members of your tribe engaged.
posted by Mikemuses @ 3:16 PM
1 comments
I'm not a big fan of adverts. Typically because they're untargeted, or poorly targeted, and they are an interruption.
Who likes unwanted interruptions? Sometimes, though, they can be powerful. I follow Jeff Brooks' blog which regularly covers 'stupid non-profit ads', like this one.
It makes me wonder why some charities get distracted by the fancy things, forgetting they have the strongest possible thing in front of them. A story. A story about a person that has been given, or needs help, and what that help could do. You might have seen this WaterAid ad on TV recently.
Tell me what you think of that one compared to this, which is for an everyday product.
Which has more impact and why?
posted by Mikemuses @ 2:40 PM
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Art - not something that often attracts 'community' fundraising. This might be because it's not seen as being as important to as many people as, say, health charities, such as Cancer Research. Or it might be because it's seen as something that only the wealthy support - are "The Arts" deserving of my small contribution, and would it actually achieve anything?
I think that the groundswell of support for Peacock Visual Arts showed that it can be relevant to a wide range of people, and that the right idea, right motivations can capture people's imaginations and engage them, where the relevance is understood. I suspect Peacock would have been doing a lot more of this kind of fundraising as their project developed, Ironically, now that their amazing project has been binned, they'll likely be working to keep people engaged in supporting them in this way (if they can afford to).
This post isn't about them though, it's about the National Galleries of Scotland, who've just launched a fantastic campaign. I'm not involved with it, but it is essentially an idea I had in mind for PVA - or someone else - to use. The initial concept was sparked for me by my experience in Kanazawa as part of Araki’s* "Faces of Ishikawa" project, exhibited at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (or Marubi, as it's known).
Even though I'm not involved in this campaign, I think that if they capitalise on it properly, it will be a huge success. To me, success will depend on how well they promote the concept. I'm also wondering how well it will travel. While it aims to be a portrait of the nation, and reflect the many faces of the whole of Scotland, I do wonder if this, like so many things, will end up being too Central belt focussed.
*Oh yes, Araki photographed me years before Lady Gaga
posted by Mikemuses @ 2:02 PM
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“It’s amazing what you learn in the company of positive people.” Not my words, but those of Charan Gill (aka the Curry King)
On Tuesday I spent the day at JCI Scotland’s InspireChange event at Gleneagles. Charan was the opening speaker, with the second session of the morning taken by the Performance Tree, covering Franklin Covey’s ‘Principle Centred Leadership’.
After the quality of buffet lunch you’d expect from Gleneagles - I couldn’t resist 4(four!) courses - the afternoon featured Creative Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Gill Eastgate of NKD clothing, (although not Nicola Mimnagh, 'face of NKD'.
The day rounded off with Mike Southon, FT columnist, and ‘beermat entrepreneur’.
The day lived up to its name –providing me with inspiration, both as a business owner and an individual.
There was far too much covered to go into much detail in a blog, but a few points to mull over:
“If you commit to something, everything else will fall into place” Charan Gill
“Maybe when things are free, we don’t value them enough” Charan Gill (On creating a more entrepreneurial Scotland.)
“Do you get change if you only change the process, but not the perception?” Mel Harris of The Performance Tree
“Our customers boast about our awards far more than we do” Gill Eastgate {sound like being remarkable?}
“[I think that there’s] a critical moment [people face, and that] separates entrepreneurs from civilians” Mike Southon
Mike also suggested three steps to follow for anyone setting out on the journey to entrepreneurship.
Step 1. Find a foil
Step 2. Find a first customer
Step 3. Find a mentor.
All in all, the day was excellent. As a JCI Aberdeen member, the full-day whole shebang cost me only £65, non-members could have been there for £85.
Which left me with only one question – why did I meet so few budding and existing entrepreneurs from Aberdeen on the day?
posted by Mikemuses @ 5:38 PM
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Whatever thoughts have been on my mind will probably end up here. Updated weekly, but perhaps more initially as I throw in some older things.
My name is Mike (obviously enough), I live somewhere in Scotland and I work for a charity, and will post about giving to charities, as well as the state of music, and other important things in the UK today. In fact, just whatever happens to pop into my head at the time. Disclaimer: These views are not those of any people or organisations that may or may not be affiliated or in any other way connected with me. Or not. It's simply a collection of things that have come into my head and asked to be put into print. If you are looking for the opinion of any of the organisations I am involved with (or any I'm not involved with, for that matter), then I suggest you speak to them.
