bluefrog news

Third Sector Excellence Award win for Bluefrog

Bluefrog are delighted to have won first place for the most innovative use of digital media at the recent Third Sector Excellence Awards event in London.

Working with Care International UK, Bluefrog developed an online donor focussed site to stem attrition and build donor engagement.

The site www.mycarezone.org shows donors what their gifts have actually made possible. Through regular updates, donors get to see ‘their’ projects unfold and are encouraged to share why they support Care International. They can flag up what work they want to find out more about and can easily change their level of giving.  The result – a massive 50% fall in cancellations from existing donors.

Tracey Horner, Head of Direct Marketing at Care International UK says:

“Engagement is up and attrition is down. We are now offering USPACE to all supporters and plan to expand its use to reactivation of lapsed donors. Supporters feedback shows they really appreciate seeing how they actually make a difference.

“We have done lots of brilliant work with Bluefrog over the years and needless to say we are delighted with MyCareZone and the ongoing impact it will have.”

mycarezone.org was built using Uspace, Bluefrog's online attrition busting web application.

Uspace in now being used by a growing number of UK and international charities to build donor engagement. To read more about Uspace and how it works click here. You can also read about the award entry here.

If you'd like to see exactly how Uspace works and how it could help your charity reduce lapse rates and increase income, email mark@bluefroglondon.com.

Bluefrog is looking for a writer - do you fit the bill?

 

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Thanks for the applications for the role of writer at Bluefrog. The closing date has now passed. We received many strong applications and were very impressed with the time and effort candidates put into their responses to the brief. We will hold onto all applications received.

If you would like to be considered for any future vacancy, please send your details to writer@bluefroglondon.com.

 

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We're looking for a writer to join our creative team. Previous experience either agency or charity-side is preferred, but we are also willing to train someone who shows they have the intelligence, drive and ability (however raw) to do the job. Salary dependent on experience £20-30k.

 

Got experience?
If you've worked in a charity or for an agency, great. Please send us a letter telling us why you're suitable for the job with relevant work samples. Alternatively, we would like to see what you can do with the dummy brief below.

If you haven't done anything like this before, we definitely need to see what you can do with the dummy brief below.

 

Skills
Great with words. Eager to learn. Full of ideas. Attention to detail. Work fast. Team player. Not precious. Motivated by working with good causes.

 

How to apply

1. Download the brief using the link below.
2. Come up with an idea/ideas for a mailing pack. We don't expect you to be able to draw but get a cross your idea with a rough sketch or by describing formats/images.
3. Write a letter to go with your pack, which motivates the target audience to give £30.
4. Send back your ideas and sample copy with a covering letter explaining why you should have the job.

 

IMPORTANT
This is our busiest time as we prepare Christmas campaigns for the charities we work for. We have no dedicated HR function. This means we can't answer any phone calls or emails from you. One advert can generate so many applications that we cannot respond individually, but that we do hold onto them should a suitable opportunity come up in the future.

Good luck - we look forward to seeing what you can do.

Please get back to us by Monday 11th October 9am.

Click here to download the brief.

 

Contact details
writer@bluefroglondon.com

Writer's job, Bluefrog, 2-4 Rufus Street, London, N1 6PE

Bluefrog secure more Bhopal work

Following on from the success of Bluefrog’s first campaign for The Bhopal Medical Appeal, developing a regular monthly giving product, we have now secured more work. This includes another regular giving upgrade campaign and legacy acquisition activity on the back of a data audit we undertook which identified that the BMA had a really strong legacy prospects base.

 Colin Toogood from Bhopal says:

“This is the first time we are trialling legacy fundraising and I am totally confident moving forward. I’ve been really impressed with Hugh Stockhill, Bluefrog’s legacy specialist - his years of experience and understanding of donor needs and motivations will help deliver great results."

 

3 new senior staff appointments at Bluefrog

Bluefrog is delighted to announce the appointment of 3 new senior staff to our client services and planning teams.

Gary Shearin joins us later this month and has a wealth of experience, charity side and as a fundraising consultant. Gary is currently at YMCA England where he is responsible for Direct Marketing, Legacies and Supporter Services.  Previous experience includes Senior DM Manager at RNIB, Head of DM at NDCS, Shelter UK and Head of Individual Giving at The National Autistic Society.

Rejoining us as Account Director is Kate Moyster. Kate had been with us for four years and left to re-immerse herself in a fundraising role, as International Acquisition Manager at WSPA International. Prior to Bluefrog, Kate also worked in fundraising at ChildLine.

Rachael Harris is also returning to us, as an Account Planner. Rachael’s most recent experience is at Save the Children working on supporter development and innovation.  Once again Rachael’s experiences client side will provide an invaluable insight into and understanding of fundraising from a charity perspective.

We are thrilled to have Gary, Kate and Rachael on board.

Bluefrog win IOF award

Working with ActionAid, the charity's middle value Cambodia feedback pack was recognised as the best campaign for building longer-term donor relationships in the Best Donor Development category at the IOF awards on Monday night.

The objective of the mailing was to give donors really uplifting feedback on a health project they had helped get off the ground in Cambodia and was supported by a soft ask for more donations.

An incredible 24% of people were compelled to help again and letters and emails from donors thanking ActionAid for the great feedback, proved just how engaging our approach was.

Amanda Santer, Head of Retention & Development at ActionAid says:

"I am really delighted that we have won this award. ActionAid has a brilliant fundraising programme and our longstanding partnership  with Bluefrog helps us to consistently deliver great results".

 

We need an account manager and a senior account manager

We are looking for brilliant, well-experienced account handlers to join our busy client services team.

Working across a range of great charities you will help make a real difference to some of the UK’s biggest charity campaigns.

If you’ve got solid practical experience in account handling, direct marketing and fundraising we’d love to hear from you.

For the  account manager role, you will be a brilliant project manager responsible for the day to day management of a number of exciting charity clients. 

For the senior account manager role, you will be well used to delivering high quality direct marketing communications and services to clients. Working with some of the best loved charities in the UK you will help grow and maintain high levels of client satisfaction at all times.

Competitive salary, great working environment, nice people to work with and loads of extra benefits. Please send your CV to imelda.mcguigan@bluefroglondon.com and we'll hopefully be seeing you very soon.

Please indicate which role you are interested in. If you'd like to know more about Bluefrog you can visit our main site here.

Four IOF award nominations for Bluefrog

 
Bluefrog are delighted to announce that our work has been short listed for four IOF awards.

Our middle donor feedback piece for ActionAid is through to the final stages in the best donor development category.

For best use of legacy fundraising, a lead generation press ad for Barnardo’s and our telephone work as part of an integrated pledge campaign for ex-services charity, St Dunstan’s have won through.

Our final nomination is in the best use of face-to-face category. For Care International UK, we developed a highly successful approach to stem attrition.

The winners will be announced on 5th July at the IOF National Awards ceremony in London.

We need a data person

We've got a great data department at Bluefrog and we need a Data Planning Executive to join us.

If you've got solid practical experience of Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL server 2005, you could be just the person we are looking for.

We work almost entirely for charities, so we'd like someone who has worked in fundraising for a year or two. Running queries, importing and exporting data, and working with non-technical people will be a key part of the job. 

Initially the role will focus on preparing, manipulating and analysising data for appeals. After you've proven yourself at that, you'll be able to help shape the fundraising strategies of some of the best loved charities in the UK.

Good salary, great working environment (you'll be right next to the roof terrace), nice people to work with and loads of extra-benefits.

Please send your CV to imelda.mcguigan@bluefroglondon.com and we'll hopefully be seeing you very soon.

If you'd like to know more about Bluefrog you can visit our main site here.

Bluefrog helps save the Staffordshire Hoard

Bluefrog’s DM campaign to save the Staffordshire Hoard has exceeded income target by almost 50%.

Working with the Art Fund, we developed direct mail shots, door drops, press ads, take ones, posters, banners, and digital materials for the appeal. Response and income beat target across all elements. A significant number of new donors have also been brought on board, two of whom gave £10,000 each!

This is the second emergency we have worked on for the Art Fund. Three years ago our hugely successful Blue Rigi appeal helped save this great work of art for everyone to enjoy.

 Carolyn Young, Director of Marketing & Membership at the Art Fund says:

“We had a very limited period of time to raise the money to save this amazing collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and Bluefrog did a great job. As always, they were passionate about the cause and worked incredibly hard to deliver such a successful campaign.”

 
 

Charity newsletter income goes through the roof!

Working with Spana, the overseas animal welfare charity, Bluefrog developed a new supporter newsletter with amazing results. To date, income is double the original target and three times higher than achieved last year.

This phenomenal success is due to a change in emphasis, turning the newsletter into a fundraising communication rather than an information piece. The content was truly donor-centric, demonstrated ongoing need and ease of response. Twice as many supporters made a donation compared to last year, alongside a significant increase in average gift.

Philippa Ireland, Director of Fundraising at Spana says:

“Needless to say, the results are fantastic.  Bluefrog had promised that they could do so much more with our supporter magazine and I’m delighted we went ahead with their proposal. Our supporters clearly loved their new magazine.”