A global leader in fundraising talks about fundraising post-tsunami

Posted by Michael Johnston on August 23rd, 2005 at 08:57pm

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to listen to Per Stenbeck, International fundraising director for UNICEF, talk about his perpsective on fundraising post-tsunami. And considering this follows the Greenpeace’s own Marcelo Inniara, it’s important to know that Per comes from the Greenpeace fundraising family too. They are real innovators!

I think you’ll see some connections to what this blog talks about with Per’s speech, but it was still a stimulating lecture. He outlined 10 key tsunami fundraising observations:

1. The tsunami triggered a first gift from at least 10 million people who had never given.
2. The tsunami motivated younger people to give, many for the first time — I’d add men to this!
3. The tsunami lifted corporate philanthropy to a new level.
4. The tsunami meant a breakthrough for new electronic media - Internet and SMS
5. The tsunami motivated people in every country on earth to give
6. The tsunami generated average gifts almost double what is usually given
7. The tsunami triggered major gifts on a breakthrough level ($12 million from Michael Schumacher)
8. The tsunami triggered an unprecedented amount of unsolicited gifts
9. The Red Cross is the global leader in emergency fundraising receiving a record $1.5 billion for the tsunami. UNICEF is in second place raising half a millon dollars.
10. In the UK, Holland and other countries coaltions of NGOs raised huge amounts of money by joining forces instead of competing

Per also came up with a list of Tsunami-inspired opportunities for future fundraising:

1. Meet the exploding demand for new media as a vehicle for giving, communicating, and campaigning. Work with new media owners such as Ebay, Google, etc.
2. Be opportunistic and ready to ride a wave coming your way.
3. Target younger audiences. The tsunami and Live 8 concerts have made young people aware and willing to help.
4. Convert one-off emergency donors to regular supporters of your cause. It works also for first time tsunami donors.
5. Offer involvement. Young donors are less happy if not offered other means of support than giving money.
6. Go for corporate partnerships. Companies have never been more aware of the need to become good corporate citizens by behaving responsibily.
7. Approach government for statutory funding matching the generosity of private sources. A Canadian idea, eh!
8. Fundraising remains a warm-hearted affair. Go for high emotional impact.
9. Actgive media support - and TV more than anything - will add tremendous boost to your fundraising campaign. Give them full access. Get them onboard as partners.
10. Consider joining existing consortia or coalitions raising funds together or initiate the creation of new ones.
11. Reporting back is more essential than ever. Young donors are more demanding and less trusting than old ones.
12. The tsunami proves the truth in my three gold rules for fundraising: Be ready! Be bold! Be passionate!

And let’s add one more — Be innovative!

Under fundraising