We’ve been putting together an idea over the last few months that we hope will transform the idea of meetings and work – both in the charity sector and beyond. The idea is called ‘Away’. It helps people and organisations to work better, by taking them away from the monotony of the office and the … Continued

Just like our charity clients, we’re getting our house in order in preparation for GDPR in May 2018, and need to write to all our contacts to make sure they want to continue hearing from us. But we want to offer some value to fundraisers, in exchange for allowing us to contact you. We’ve therefore … Continued

There are many social issues in the world that need attention, and that can affect the lives of certain people in significant ways. Some of these problems might lie beyond the remit of existing charities and institutions, whereas other problems might have solutions that simply haven’t yet been dreamt up yet. In #socialhacks, this new … Continued

Protests can be made much more powerful by strong slogans and memorable banners. Here are a few of the best – and funniest – we’ve seen in recent years. Some contain a bit of fruity language – but that’s kind of the point! Send us some of your own favourites – at info@changestar.co.uk – and … Continued

Over our lives, we’ve been inspired, shocked and motivated to seek change by a range of experiences and pieces of learning. Many of these have come from books. So, at ChangeStar we wanted to celebrate and share some of the books that have inspired us to change the world. Here are 10 of them: What … Continued

No charity wants to annoy its supporters – in fact most live in perpetual fear of doing so. Yet some still communicate with their supporters in ways that are likely to lead to them feeling alienated and antagonised. This quick guide helps you to avoid some of the common ways of annoying your supporters with … Continued

You don’t see many blog posts these days from the great and the good in the fundraising sector on how to convert cash donors to Direct Debit, and there’s a reason for this – it’s not easy to do. The days are gone where you could send out a Direct Debit conversion mail pack and … Continued

It’s always satisfying when a test proves your instinct to be right. It’s even more of a relief when a test proves something you’ve held to be fundamental to good practice in fundraising to be right. So the lovely folks at Blue Cross have kindly allowed me to share the results of an email test … Continued

It’s not easy for charities to raise funds and recruit new donors using press advertising, but at ChangeStar we’ve achieved consistently excellent press results for a range of clients over many years (examples here), and continue to do so now. So, we thought we’d share seven of the key insights we’ve learnt over the years: A … Continued