Aussies rally after destruction of fires

Make no mistake. The fires that are ravaging Victoria in southern Australia constitute the worst disaster in peacetime history in our country.

The death toll is nearing 200, with many expecting it could reach up to 300. The tragic consequences will be more severe than even the fateful Bali Bombings in 2002. For an account of what it was like for those living and breathing this nightmare, read an account here from Gary Hughes, a senior writer in The Australian newspaper.

The enormity of what’s happening back in my homeland only really sunk in on Sunday night for me when the coverage was given airtime right upfront of both CNN and NBC’s news coverage.

Wow I thought. This must be big.

It’s easy to become somewhat removed from things when you live 20,000 miles from home. And despite regular updates by text and email from family and friends, the penny hadn’t really dropped for me. Until I saw it competing with Obama’s stimulus package updates on major US networks. That’s when I realized how catastrophic this situation was.

Us Aussies are a pretty resilient bunch. And what’s been heartening and interesting to monitor over the last day in particular is the rallying of support to help those whose lives have been completely uprooted by the fires.

I’ve had emails and requests for help from sporting bodies, charitable organizations and even friends who are doing what they can to help their fellow Australians.

I even have a mate who literally (on the weekend) got back from his honeymoon dig in and do his bit. He owns a chain of cafes in Geelong, Victoria, and has already organized an event this Friday which is donating the entire proceeds (staff are volunteering their efforts) to the victims and families whose lives have been turned upside down. Within days he has several sponsors on board, including the local newspaper and knowing that he doesnt do things in halves is set to raise a few needed dollars. Great stuff.

There isn’t really a fundraising angle to my blog today. No learning’s. No cryptic messages.

Just an acknowledgement that this event has changed the lives of many forever.
If you’d like to chip and made a donation, I’d suggest you do what I did and make a gift to the Australian Red Cross. There are many who need your support right now.

Jonathon

Keeping it singularly focused for best results

This goes against many fundraisers intuition, but when we ask someone to make some sort of commitment, we should keep it as singularly focused as possible.

And we know, that when we intuitively sense something, we should test it to either prove or disprove our own personal bias.

This is top of mind for me at the moment, after having delivered a Pareto Fundraising workshop yesterday here in Toronto. Invariably when I make a statement like, “you should only ask someone to do one thing, like ask for a cash donation or a monthly gift” I invariably get startled looks and there are murmurings amongst the group (probably suggesting I am just some bongkers Aussie!)

As was the case yesterday.

Again, this may seem counter intuitive. Surely if you give someone more than option that will increase the chance they will respond to at least one of them?

Wrong.

All of the testing we have done at Pareto Fundraising (with the very odd exception) has shown quite the opposite.

Think about it. You ask someone 2, 3 or 6 times throughout a letter to give you a cash donation. You back it up with great copy, really strong messaging and a moving case for support.

Right down the bottom of the donation form you make a meek request for the individual to give you $10 a month?

Huh? Why should they believe you? On what basis have you convinced them to support this way?

You haven’t.

And why do we do it? Because that’s what we have always done. Refer my posting on tradition becoming destructive. And usually because you pick up 3, maybe 4 new monthly givers this way. What you don’t know is how many people you have suppressed from responding at all because guess what – you have downright confused them! And let’s face it, we as humans like to be told what to do. Hand held all the way.

Of course, with anything like this there are exceptions.

In this case the two biggest exceptions are asking someone to complete a survey and/or asking someone to take get involved in some way. In fundraising speak, an involvement device. A petition, letter to your local MP, sending back a message of hope to someone suffering from cancer.

These things work, and if done properly you can get someone to make a financial contribution and do one of the things mentioned above.

But like anything, test, test and keep testing. Oh, and don’t always believe the crazy Aussie!

Jonathon

A Canadian exclusive event to help you manage fundraising in tough times...

It's less than 2 weeks till the Canadian exclusive event being held in Toronto, Surviving and Thriving in Challenging times.

I'm excited to hear that we are closing on 100 registrations. But we're not stopping there and want upwards of 100, 150 people to come along.

As well as a fantastic line up of panelists, there are some fabulous delegates coming on the day who will be able to share with you what's happening in the trenches, and what this means for you and your organization.

So get on board and register for this exclusive event.

Jonathon

Just remember, people are good..

Let’s face it, we’ve seen loads of evidence lately of why we should continue to crack on with things as per normal. Keep cultivating donors, continue to recruit (smartly), look after our precious supporters. All really sensible and pragmatic advice, based on real and hard evidence.

But don’t forget – in addition to what the data tells you, people fundamentally are good. And most people who care about your cause will continue to dig deep when they can.

It’s really easy to forget this sometimes. I guess I always draw back to what an old mate of mine David Hegarty once told me when he said ‘don’t judge people by the worst thing they did to you, but all the good things they have done’.

Good advice if you ask me.

I was reminded of this on Tuesday when I was at the airport about to fly to Washington. As I was cursing myself for again booking an early morning flight I trundled through the crowds to grab a coffee. I’m no caffeine junkie but one cup in the morning really gets me going. And yes Canadians out there, I was in the Tim Horton’s queue! It would seem rude to start the day with anything else!

After waiting for what seemed an eternity in the line for my daily fix, I was told that this store took only cash. Murphy’s law, as I reached into my wallet, I had nothing! I was gutted, not even my Tim Horton’s card was accepted here. Outrageous I thought!

And then, a small but sharp reminder that there are some wonderful people out there. This lovely lady who was in front of me offered, in fact insisted to pay the $1.48 for my large ‘double double’ (that’s coffee, milk, two sugar for the uneducated).

Of course my first reaction was ‘thank you but you don’t have to do that’. But this wonderful warm hearted lady insisted. And so keen not to be rude, keen to get my fix and conscious not to hold up the line I gratefully accepted.

Here I was at 7am in busy Pearson Airport in Toronto, thousands of people milling about, and this ‘caffeine angel’ steps in out of the goodness of her heart and makes my day.

There might be a lot of crap going on I the world right now. But when you wrestle with your boss, your colleagues and maybe your board as to why you should continue doing what you know is the right thing to do, show them the data. Show them what will happen if you ‘shut up shop’ and stop doing your job.

But don’t forget also to remind them that people really are good. And if they can, they will help.

Jonathon

PS – I really I hope I come across my ‘caffeine angel’ again sometime to repay the favor!