DM Fundraising Across the Pond An American consultant goes one on one with British colleague John Watson

By Jim Hussey

JH: So instead of relying on direct mail to recruit donors, what other mediums are used? I know that U.K. charities rely a great deal on person-to-person fundraising on the street. During my trips to London I’ve noticed many fundraisers for various charities working on the sidewalks.
JW: In terms of importance, face-to-face fundraising is actually the biggest single method of recruiting new committed donors in the U.K. If you want to get a lot of committed givers, then face-to-face is by far the most cost-effective way of doing it. But it has run into huge political problems because if you walk down Oxford Street on a sunny day you’ll probably have 20 different charities all coming up to you asking for your support. So it has a bad name, although it still works very well.