We aim to share resources, insights and wisdom to help you seek change more effectively. Below is a range of research, toolkits, practical guides and other resources to help you. We regularly add materials to this section, so bookmark it and come back to see what’s new. If you are in need of some guidance or advice on an issue and you can’t find it below, please get in touch and we will try to help you, or at least point you in the right direction!

Seeking change

Book – Change for Good – authored by Bernard Ross, director of the Management Centre, this book provides a great introduction to how behavioural science can be used to seek a better world. It provides case studies and practical examples on how to increase the impact of communications, campaigns and fundraising by understanding people better.

Book – Humanise: how knowing ourselves could change the world  – this book by ChangeStar director Richard Docwra explores how the latest insights about human thinking and behaviour could help us address some of our biggest challenges, including misinformation, violence and climate change, and build a better future. It argues that the context and structures around people are fundamental influences on their behaviour, and we must therefore humanise the societies around us if we are to flourish and survive as a species. Click here for 5 key points from ‘Humanise’.

Report – How to build a Net Zero society – developed by the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), this report uses behavioural insights to set out how we can make the changes needed in our personal lives and the wider world to achieve a Net Zero society. It provides detailed, practical recommendations for five sectors – communications and public engagement; domestic heat and power; transport; food; and material consumption and waste.

Report – UN Behavioural Science report – this report explores the practical ways in which our knowledge of behavioural science can be used to help us drive the behavioural changes needed to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Fundraising

Guide – How to write a strong fundraising appeal – an article giving some clear and practical ideas of how to put together a strong fundraising pack – with particular reference to copywriting.

Video – Finding the best channels for supporter recruitment – our Director, Richard Docwra, is joined by Maddie Bernsten – Director of Just Charity Media – to discuss how to find the best channels for supporter recruitment.

Video – How to transform your income from legacies – our Director, Richard Docwra, is joined by senior fundraiser James Huitson – ex Sightsavers, Care International and many others – to discuss how you can transform your income from legacies.

Video – how to recruit new supporters cheaply and effectively – our Director, Richard Docwra, is joined by Mark Barkaway, Head of Marketing & Income Generation at Albion in the Community – the charity arm of Brighton and Hove Albion football club – to explore how to recruit new supporters cheaply and effectively.

Article – How to build a successful Individual Giving programme at a hospital charity – hospitals have massive potential for income from individual giving. This article explores how hospitals can start to build IG programmes that reach their full potential.

Guide – How to raise funds for difficult causes – expert fundraising tactics for complex, niche, political or controversial causes. Richard Docwra’s presentation at the Institute Of Fundraising Conference.

Article – how to convert supporters to regular gifts – some of our key insights from years of helping clients to produce successful regular giving conversion appeals.

Article – How to annoy your supporters – this guide helps you to avoid some of the common ways of annoying your supporters with your fundraising communications.

Article – 10 ways to screw up a fundraising appeal – there are many ways in which you can screw up a fundraising appeal. Here are 10 examples, with some guidance from ChangeStar on how to avoid each mistake.

Guide – Getting it right online Part 1 – Basic online mistakes – some of the most common mistakes made by organisations that are campaigning online.

Guide – Getting it right online Part 2 – Landing pages – why landing pages are so important to the success of your campaigns, and how to get them right.

Guide – Christmas appeals – unwrapped – Christmas appeals are the lifeblood of many charities’ income streams. This article examines an award-winning Christmas appeal by ChangeStar to show how you can get some of the most important details right.

Communications

Guide – The Common Cause Handbook – this influential booklet provides an introduction to the importance of working with people’s values when seeking to influence them to change the world, especially in social and environmental issues. It contains some practical ideas you can put into place now to make your work more effective. Also check out Common Cause Foundation for more resources on the importance of values in gaining social change.

Guide – A new approach to supporter engagement – how organisations campaigning for environmental and social justice can gain greater influence and behaviour change by understanding and engaging their audiences.

Guide – members or supporters? – should you be seeking to recruit members or supporters? Should your approach and communications be different to each group? Should you be fundraising from members? This guide answers all these questions – and more!

Report – Why is it so hard to change people’s behaviour? – a ChangeStar report examining why we seem to be failing to convince most people to change their attitudes and behaviour on key global issues. The paper identifies a couple of key obstacles to change that have not yet been addressed by those seeking it, and puts forward some suggestions as to how we might achieve greater success.

Strategy and planning

Article – The strategic imperative – why strategic planning – and a planning culture – is essential to the success of your activity, department, and organisation.

Video – How to build a successful Individual Giving programme – our Director, Richard Docwra, is joined by the hugely experienced charity fundraiser and Chief Executive Karen Gallagher to discuss ‘How to build a successful Individual Giving programme’.

Guide – How to tame your board – a guide for frustrated fundraisers on how to engage with a board that is unwilling to trust or invest in fundraising, and how to get them on your side.

Article – Why should we use an agency? – the benefits of using an external consultancy and agency, and when to use them to add the most value.

Self development

Video – Improving the mental health of fundraisers – our Director, Richard Docwra, is joined by the charity fundraiser and Chief Executive David Murray to discuss his personal experience of mental health challenges and how we can address them better, both in our own lives and in the sector as a whole.

Book – Life – and how to think about it – this book by ChangeStar director Richard Docwra is your no-nonsense guide to a thoughtful life – showing how you can make the most of your time on this planet by approaching life in a thoughtful and well-informed way.

Guide – Life Squared – founded by ChangeStar director Richard Docwra, this not-for-profit website aims to help people navigate the complexity of life so they can live in a happier, wiser and more meaningful way. It has loads of free resources for perspective, well-being and mental health – including topics such as ‘How to find meaning’, ‘How to explore your inner life’ and ‘How to achieve less’.