Hashtag Nonprofit - Jill Ritchie

Jill Ritchie

Papillon Press

Jill Ritchie has over three decades of fundraising experience and has written 30 books, 21 on fundraising. She specialises in advising on the raising of money from the UK for organisations outside of Britain. Jill has worked with well over 1 000 non-profits and, in particular, universities, in southern and South Africa.

She chairs the UK Fund for Charities that enables UK donations worldwide and is the founder and chair of the SA-UK Trust Network (SA-UKTN), supporting UK fundraising for non-profits throughout sub-Saharan Africa . She is a founding board member of iZinga Assist and an ambassador of the Tutu Foundation UK. Jill is also a former council member of Tshwane University of Technology, the South African National Museum and the New York based Global Sourcing Council. She is a Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Fundraising (SAIF) and is also a member of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Fundraising.

http://www.papillonpress.biz

Funding Planning

As the year begins, thoughts inevitably focus on planning – on all levels. But few project or other plans can come to fruition without the necessary funding. At this time of the year, NPO team members focus much of their time on all aspects of pla…

Demystifying UK fundraising for South African organisations

The UK remains a strong source of support for non-for-profit organisations in southern and South Africa. However, many myths and misunderstandings about raising funds from British donors abound. Having raised many millions from the UK, I hope that t…

Using external support: how nonprofits can work effectively with consultants

Despite consultants to government having a bad reputation due to excessive costs, external advisers/service providers to the non-profit sector play a vital role and don’t (or should not) charge exorbitant rates. One ongoing confusion in the…

iZinga Assist Awards

There is still time – just – for South African NPOs to register for verification and rating by this game changing and world-first initiative and thereby qualify to enter any (or all) of the iZinga Assist Award categories – entries close on 26th Se…

Maintaining the Momentum of a Crowdfunding Campaign

Aside from how critically important it is to thoroughly plan a crowdfunding campaign; two issues stand out as the most challenging – and they should be considered as integral to early planning – publicising the initiative and maintaining interest…

Volunteers and Crowdfunding

When considering embarking on crowdfunding, many people are inclined to focus on those within an organisation creating a one-off campaign (with a start and end date). A different approach to raising money using crowdfunding is with the help of exter…

Fundraising: Understanding individual donors' giving decisions

Behavioural science is used to predict human behaviour across a multitude of scenarios – from how people will respond to governmental interventions, to how society may behave on Mars. It is a fascinating field bringing together insights from psychol…

What to crowdfund for (and how much to target)

Several early adopters of crowdfunding globally, who generously shared their experiences as part of the research for the new book, Crowdfunding for Non-profits, that Erica Schofield, CEO of rewards-based crowdfunding platform, Thandafund, and…

Please pay it forward!

In the nonprofit world, knowledge and experience are some of the most valuable assets we can share. The concept of “paying it forward”—freely passing on what we know to others—strengthens the sector, especially as many organizations grapple with lim…

Standing Out in a Crowded Space: How Nonprofits Can Compete for Attention and Funding

Marketing is Vital. With over 300,000 registered non-profits in South Africa competing for funding with tertiary institutions, schools, clubs and faith-based entities, for funding, marketing is imperative. The majority of NPO staff and volunteers a…

Is your proposal overlooking this key element? The importance of defining the problem

I am often asked to review or assess organisations’ funding proposals, application forms and concept notes, and provide feedback. Having looked at over 50 proposals in the last six months, I find that I have flagged one point in almost every proposa…

Fundraising from Individual Donors

The Charity Aid Foundation (CAF) produces the comprehensive annual World Giving Index showing their analysis of donations of money, volunteer time and assistance to strangers around the world. Almost 150 000 people in 142 countries we…

The Wrong Reasons to Start a Non-profit Organisation

While most NPOs are established for the right, sound and moral reasons (such as a person or a group of people being so moved, so outraged or so hurt about people or animals suffering or environmental degradation, that they ‘do something about it’)…

Mastering funding applications: Essential tips for nonprofits

Love them or hate them, if potential donors (or even existing donors for re-applying) have forms and require them to be completed, this must be adhered to. Application forms can be tedious. However, some donors take the trouble to draw them up, as t…

Two Little Words

Two of the most neglected and, in the fundraising context, misunderstood words are: ‘thank you’. Whether donors are individuals, the family members of someone who left a bequest, companies or trusts, expressing gratitude is often overlooked. And, as…

UK volunteers for South African NPOs

The 21st century has seen an unprecedented boom in the popularity of school leavers travelling before starting university or working – AKA the gap year. A large percentage of British youngsters, generally aged about 18, delay starting careers or ter…

Fundraising Events in the UK

Don’t even consider arranging a fundraising event in the UK if you don’t have a drawcard to guarantee that it is sold out, or at least a large, active and dedicated UK-based volunteer events committee. I was alarmed when I contacted several UK event…

UK Gift Aid: A great benefit of fundraising from the UK

Gift Aid is one of the greatest benefits of fundraising from individuals in the UK. It is also hard to wrap one’s head around as it’s unique to the UK and those who don’t pay British tax struggle to understand the concept. Simply put, Gift Aid mean…

Is your organisation ready for UK fundraising?

Although UK donor trusts support charitable, developmental, educational and faith-based initiatives worldwide, raising money from these lucrative sources is not as simplistic as writing a proposal or completing…

What you should know before planning a UK fundraising trip

The 18 UK donor trust representatives (ranging from a CEO of a multi-million pound entity to medium-sized trusts and small family trusts) consulted for the book I wrote, Fundraising from UK Donors, were unanimous in not meeting with fundraisers vis…