Posts in category: Insights

Last week we were delighted to publish Ireland’s first ever research into charity advertising.

Over the past two years, we and Havas Media have forged a partnership designed to develop a high-quality advertising service looking to add real value and insight to help you maximise the impact of your campaigns.

A dedicated team from both agencies has worked together on devising innovative successful strategies for both big and small campaigns in a marketplace dominated by large commercial advertisers.

Here’s a link to the report and to a presentation on it that we delivered at the Cii Heads of Fundraising Huddle.

We hope that this initial piece of research will generate enthusiasm for a more comprehensive survey in 2022, and with that in mind, we are very keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in supporting it.

Here’s some questions we are asking the research participants and other interested parties to send send us their thoughts on:

• What charity advertising information would you like to get that would be helpful in your work next year? Would an update on the 2021 report/presentation with similar information suffice? If not, what other advertising information would be helpful and why?
• Would you be open to participating in supplying some advertising information from you organisation, e.g. actual ad spends on various projects?
• Apart from research is there anything else that would be helpful with your advertising work? One idea suggested was some training on digital campaigning, would that be helpful?

It would be great if you could take a few minutes and email your answers directly to John Sutton: john@persuasionrepublic.ie by COB Friday 10th December.

Our (socially-distanced) High Five Highlights

So, here’s the top 5 Inspirational COVID-combating antibodies we encountered this week.

1. Awake at the Wheel

First up is the extraordinary success in winning government support for a €40m Stability Fund – no mean feat. Congrats to The Wheel, Cii and all their sector partners who drove this campaign. You can get all the details here. The supportive government response to our sector seems to be in direct contrast with the situation in the UK where their charity support package has been described as, amongst other things, a farce, according to the Directory for Social Change.

2. An infectious response 

The evidence is in – there has been a great response to Covid 19 appeals – donors are now really engaged with supporting charities’ work on the impacts of the pandemic. Persuasion Republic’s client appeals currently in the field are performing extraordinarily well. Evidence of strong donor support is also coming from the latest survey from NfpSynergy in the UK which states “After a slow start, the majority of the public now agree that charities are responding well to the pandemic. Perhaps most encouragingly, the overwhelming majority (68%) believe that charities should keep fundraising. Donors are happy to continue hearing from charities and few think it would be inappropriate for them to continue asking for money at this stage.” 

3. Virtually always learning

As an agency, we all took time out to attend the IFC online fundraising event on April 29 and 30, which hosted almost 30 sessions covering a whole host of topics. The three stand-outs for us were Nick Burne – How to get people fundraising for you on Facebook, Adapting regular giving recruitment for the digital world with Kathryn Holloway and Alex Agiddis from Friends of the Earth UK, and Chris Steeves –  Embracing Data-Driven Fundraising. Well done to IFC for staging the event and we are already looking forward to the next one. You can check out all the sessions here.

4. Caption Marvel

Tom Ahern’s quick tutorial but very long title:  How To Write a Donor-Centered 3.0 Caption Using ideas learned from Identity-Based Fundraising Research. As always terrific practical advice from Tom.
And finally – 

5. The Magnificent Seven

A really strong and useful guide from Tom Woods  – ‘Power through the Pandemic’ – seven ways to raise funds with major donors, corporates and trusts, even now.

If we can help you navigate your way through this crisis with fundraising or communications advice and expertise, our team is ready and well initiated in COVID-related campaigns. Or if you’re gearing up for post-Covid communications, we’re here. Chat with John on 0872663168 or email him on john@persuasionrepublic.ie 

Looks like one of the main legacies of Covid-19 is…well…Legacies

The Will of the people

So, in this edition of our Book of Covidence we thought we would focus on legacy fundraising as there have been several great pieces of advice and research published in recent weeks. 

First up, according to media reports in the UK, there’s been a surge in Will making – up 300% in some cases – since the onset of the crisis. Twice as many people are visiting Remember A Charity’s ‘Making A Will’ page. In our view, given the existential times we’re living through, it doesn’t really come as any surprise that donors who want to make a difference are doing so with legacy gifts and pledges.

Be prepared 

One impact of this development is that supporters will make enquiries to their favourite charities, so the advice is to make sure you are prepared and know how you plan to handle queries about Will-writing and what you can do to help supporters. This might include putting them in touch with reputable Will-writing partners and encouraging them to discuss their intentions with their family and friends.

More or less?

New research from Legacy Foresight talks about the potential impact of the Covid 19 crisis delaying the processing of Wills so in the immediate short term it is quite likely we will see a drop in legacy income this year which they currently estimate at 10% or less. However, over the next 5 years they are still projecting possible growth of 14%-19% which is less than they had projected before the crisis due to the far more pessimistic outlook for house prices and share prices over the period.

Short term In-Memory loss

In regards to In-Memory fundraising, the fact that funeral services are being restricted suggests that funeral giving to charities will be severely diminished, at least in the short-term. However, they think there may be a ‘delay effect’ – where people who have been unable to give their loved ones the send-off they’d have wanted at the time of their death, will wait until restrictions have lifted to organise the memorial event of their choice.

With the best Will in the world

Just before the lockdown, Remember a Charity published the results of their latest consumer tracker survey they commissioned from nfpSynergy that shows that record levels of charity donors say they have written a gift to charity into their Wills or are preparing to do so. The study reveals that 17% of charity supporters aged 40 and over have included a charity in their Will and a further 10% are preparing to do so. Annual tracking indicates a steady increase over the past decade, with 21% of donors in this age group saying that they have left, or intend to leave, a gift in their Will in 2010 rising to 27% in 2019. Only 9% of donors actively reject the concept of leaving a legacy, down from 12% in 2010. The number of people unaware of legacy giving has fallen from 20% in 2010 to 11% in 2019.

Be top of mind 

Whether or not you should continue to campaign for legacies at this time is something that every legacy fundraiser is grappling with over recent weeks. The overwhelming anecdotal evidence is that most charities are pausing their legacy campaigns. Moceanic has published a great blog that summarises a new ‘White Paper’ by Russell James and Michael Rosen called Legacy Fundraising: The Best of Times or the Worst of Times? It proposes a strategy to charities that now is the time to be top of mind with your donors and suggests numerous tactics for achieving this. It’s free and can be downloaded here.

Be seen, sensible and sensitive 

Institute of Fundraising UK is recommending that charities consider the timing of any pledger recruitment mailings scheduled over the next few weeks, as these could be deemed insensitive at the current time. However, they’re also recommending that charities should think about how any pledger stewardship communications and activity can be reimagined, so you can offer some contact to any pledgers who are self-isolating and would welcome the interaction, without it being obviously linked to their pledge.

Download our survey 

Finally, a reminder that Persuasion Republic produced a legacy survey last year, in association with My Legacy, that tracks legacy giving in Ireland. You can get a free copy here.

We hope you are all staying somewhat sane and physically healthy.
Be safe.
From John, Susan, Charlie and Alan and all the team at Persuasion Republic.

This week’s best tips, advice and insights

Hi Everyone. We hope you’re all coping, adapting, connecting and most of all – staying well.

Thanks for all your messages and reactions to our recent EDMs. And it’s really uplifting to see so many smart charities reacting quickly, being lithe, being strategic, and getting their appeals out. And most of all, being more connected to their donors than ever. It shows once again, what a bright, developed and responsive sector we are.

Continuing our series on sources of helpful advice to fortify ourselves as we navigate this unchartered storm, here is our next instalment.

Could this be fundraising’s finest hour?

SOFII has launched a new series: Fundraising in a time of crisis. Over the coming weeks they will share insightful new content, links to great assets and more to help you maximise your potential to do good in this trying time. Well worth monitoring.

5 Steps to Keep Your Fundraising Strong Through the Crisis.

Sean Triner presented with Moceanic a new webinar live on Facebook called COVID-19: 5 Steps to Keep Your Fundraising Strong Through the Crisis, to help you survive the crisis, how to avoid a fundraising catastrophe, key strategies for crisis and emergency campaigns – and how to recover lost events’ income. Moceanic have also put together a Cheatsheet for Navigating the Crisis.

Bluefrog’s Mark Philips in interview with Amber Nathan

The first feedback on a Bluefrog research study aimed at finding out what UK donors need from charities during the time of the Coronavirus crisis is out. It is still early days and they expect donor attitudes to further evolve over the coming weeks and will update us more.

Havas Media Guide to Navigating Covid

Our media partners and Adam Taylor and his team have produced a terrific guide to understanding the changing media landscape here in Ireland with their Guide to Navigating Covid. 

ZOOM to improve. Our tips for maximising Zoom 

What we have learned in generation Zoom. The world has now come to love and rely on video conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Hangouts. But as some people may be recent arrivals to Planet Zoom, we’ve compiled the best  tips just for you. Find them here.

While video conferencing is a great and essential asset at this time, please do be careful. As reported in the Irish Times, there is, as with all online activity, a constant need for vigilance when it comes to your data and privacy.

That’s all from us for now. Stay safe and be kind. 
From John, Susan, Charlie and Alan and all the team at Persuasion Republic.