Special blog for ChangeStar Legacies Week: 11-15 July 2016 Legacies are a potentially massive source of funding, but many charities are not doing anywhere near enough to promote them to their supporters properly.  Consequently, your charity could be missing out on millions of pounds of potential income. Our experience at ChangeStar from talking to and … Continued

We’re excited to be running a new event this year – ChangeStar Legacy Week – from 11th – 15th July 2016. During this week, we’ll be sharing our years of experience and knowledge about legacy fundraising with the charity sector. Richard Docwra and the ChangeStar agency team will be: Publishing special legacy-focussed blogs here at www.changestar.co.uk/news Sharing tips for charities … Continued

I was at a meeting recently with a client who is in the initial stages of developing an individual giving programme. During our meeting I reflected on what a positive attitude they had to starting work on this activity, and how it puts them in so much of a better position to succeed than other … Continued

A living legacy A year ago, we published the blog post below about the potential for ‘living legacies’.  We think there are some useful ideas in there, so here it is again…. The Government has made a number of important changes to how people can access their pensions.  Under the new rules, anyone aged over … Continued

We often refer to fundraising as a discipline but many fundraisers don’t seem to realise the importance of this word in their profession. The fact is, good fundraisers need to be disciplined. For example, being prepared to roll out the same pack for years to the same media – just because it’s working. Sticking with … Continued

When I visit charities to discuss their fundraising programmes, I am often surprised at the lack of attention that’s paid (even at some larger organisations) to their legacy activity. Often it’s either non-existent or limited to a couple of modest mentions in the half-yearly newsletter. This may be due to organisations being too focussed on … Continued

Could charities benefit from recent changes to pensions? In April 2015 the Government made a number of important changes to how people can access their pensions.  Under the new rules, anyone aged over 55 now has total freedom over how and when they access their pension – including taking 25% as tax-free cash. There has … Continued

We’re delighted to welcome Kate Wright to ChangeStar, who starts this week as our new Account Director. Kate has tons of communications experience – including direct mail, social media, branding, digital media, advertising, media buying and print production – and loads of charity experience, including Whizz-Kidz, RNID, ChildLine, The Terence Higgins Trust, the British Red … Continued

Delicious cakes, meetings held in the countryside, consultancy sessions in the pub – oh, and some of the most useful and practical fundraising training you can get your hands on. We’re delighted to offer our new brochure of training, coaching and services to help individuals and organisations (large and small) improve their effectiveness.   As you’ll … Continued