Still dying to give?

Been on my travels to Cornwall, Worcester, Norwich and Scotland in the last few weeks, hence no blogs so sorry about that. However in conducting my research, I've been asking people (regular charity supporters) about their charitable intentions, if they've made a charitable will and if so, who is mentioned and why.

As you can imagine I've been getting some very interesting answers and, whisper it very quietly,Richard Radcliffe might just have a point when he says people lie! I don't think they knowingly lie about charitable bequests but I get the feeling that they don't tell the whole truth and unless a charity can maintain a close relationship they will never know or understand changed circumstances and feelings.

In my last post I mentioned that two charities, both in my wife's will had not responded well to my requests for changed status etc. One of them, The National Trust cocked up big time and certainly will not be mentioned in my updated will. The other? Well let's wait and see how they respond in the medium term!

What I'm finding is people do write new wills changing bequests but they never tell the charities, who generally, never find an appropriate way to ask anyway.

I'm doing a talk for the DSC fundraising fair on Friday about, "Marketing Strategy for Effective Fundraising" and have been revising my notes. One of the definitions I cite is worth repeating here for anybody thinking about their communications strategy. It's from Tom Peters and talking about relationship marketing says it needs to be about, "The relentless pursuit of an almost familial bond between customer and product." That's where we need to be at.

The fundraising outlook for 2013

So you survived the apocalypse. Now what the hell do you do? I liked the Shamen on the beach in Lima warding off the impending EoTW* that's the bet to take. I have a colleague, Professor Bruce Lloyd, a very erudite fellow at LSBU who does a lecture to my students every year on "Forecasting the Future" so if you want to know what's going to happen, just ask Bruce. In reality, of course, he reminds us that nothing is certain but some things are more certain than others. So it's a question of balancing risks and asking the right questions. Let me know if you'd like a copy of his last session it is worth thinking about.

So 2013 is upon us what is the outlook for fundraising in the UK? Double or triple dip resession looks horribly likely. The government's retreat from the Big Society continues. A lot of the cuts have not yet hit the proverbial fan. From April onwards I predict a steady stream of charities and groups going out of business or, at best, merging with others who are struggling. Some larger charities will be able to help out (National Trust to bail out the English Heritage Blue plaques for example?) but they themselves are at risk of beign squeezed by the bigger commercial providers of contract services.

What's more whilst there are some individual winners the predicted rises in legacies is yet to happen as the baby boomers really do try and live forever (or at least til beyond 2020). So there is still time to get a legacy strategy sorted. And I mean a real strategy with a vision that will appeal to the baby boomers and not more of the same old,same old.

Doing a session at the Institute of Fundraising Consultants Group in the afternoon of the 30th January at the DSC so come along if you'd like to hear more of my Cassandra and EoTW* predictions plus a couple of nuggets that I think could be gems in 2013.

Meanwhile may 2013 bring you everything that you've worked your fundraising socks off for. What's more, if you don't believe we've got to work even harder have a look at what NfP Synergy is saying about trust and confidence and be very afraid!


*End of the World