A Minute With Rosemary Oliver, Fundraising Director, Amnesty International Canada

“Our annual operating budget is $12 million Canadian. We have about 3 million supporters around the world and more than 60,000 from English-speaking Canada. These numbers have remained flat for a number of years, but we are once again beginning to see growth.”

“In order to remain independent we don’t accept any government funding, and it is really difficult to accept corporate dollars. So our mission is funded primarily by individuals. Our fundraising portfolio consists of traditional direct mail, telemarketing, online fundraising, canvassing, major gifts, planned giving and small community events. A full two-thirds of our revenue comes from monthly giving. Currently the majority of our new monthly donors are acquired through face-to-face fundraising, although we have used a variety of conversion techniques in the past.”

“As an activist organization, there are so many ways to involve donors in our work — in their local community and as part of an online community. They can do school talks. They can lobby government officials. Amnesty, in general, relies heavily on volunteers to help us achieve our mission.”