A letter from Roger Craver

I got this letter from Roger Craver of the Agitator today. I'm one of his closest professional friends. How cool is that!


Roger wrote:

Dear Kimberley,

Today you’re one of my 7, 499 closest professional friends.

That’s right. We’re part of a special circle of 7,500 fundraisers around the world who each month spend time with SOFII—The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration. And individually and collectively we benefit from SOFII’s rich offerings of case studies, tips, and techniques.

And today, SOFII, run by volunteer fundraisers for fundraisers, needs and deserves our help and support. Let me explain.

So far SOFII has raised 50% of the funds it needs now, thanks in part to the Big Give that doubles the contributions of friends like you.

BUT…we have only 48 more hours left to cash in on the Big Give matching money before their time limit expires. That’s why I need you to do your part – and to do it today if at all possible. (Please scroll down for Important Note* first.)

Let me tell you why I just made my own contribution and why I think every fundraiser who cares about our craft and wants to do their best work possible should give too:


* There’s nothing like it. “A smogasbord of fundraising innovation, creativity and excellence…a place where people can share and get concepts that are indeed worth copying…and she’s free.” — Greg Fox of Donor Power Blog.

* The world’s greatest swipe file. “And SOFII is yours to access online, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week – for free. All because you belong to the SOFII family of fundraisers. How cool is that?”—Lisa Sargent, Editor, The Loyalty Letter.



* Life is really nice when someone else holds the football. “A one hour tour through the pages of SOFII will harvest more great ideas than three days of attending conventions.”—Jerry Hunstinger, Copywriter and SOFII Contributor.


Here’s the deal. Even though SOFII is run by volunteers they’re not asking you or me to give up our vacations or weekends to help.

Rather they need us to make contributions – contributions that will be doubled in the next 48 hours –to raise the funds necessary in 2010. Funds given by fundraisers, for fundraising – to help build a new, improved, more user friendly website…to build bigger more diverse collections of amazing content, and to reach out and involve fundraisers from around the world.

You, more than most, know the value of not only giving but of giving back to your profession. So please do your part today.


Thank you.


Roger M. Craver

P.S. Today, I’m giving an extra contribution as a holiday gift in honour of Tom Belford, my Co-Editor at The Agitator. We both love SOFII and we write often about its value. Time to put some money where our mouth is.

PPS. If you have already given to SOFII’s appeal in the last few days, THANK YOU! (and please ignore this second email request. Ken will write to thank you properly soon)

Thanks Roger! Your one of my closest professional friends too!

Thank you for spending time here,

Raise more money for ALL charities - Donate to SOFII today!

If you’re like me, every time you receive a SOFII update from Carolina, you know it comes with just the boost you need to raise more money for your charity.

You know, too, that every great resource on SOFII is always free... for all fundraisers around the world. We won’t be changing that.

But SOFII, like any organization, isn’t free to operate. So in order to keep serving charities like yours and mine, we need to start doing what we do best. To ask for money.

For a very limited time – ONLY 96 hours and it’s all over – when you donate to SOFII your gift will be doubled at no extra cost to you, through the Big Give.

That’s right. Any donation you give starting at 10.00 am UK time (5.00 am EST) on the 7th Dec will be matched dollar for dollar, pound for pound, by The Big Give, a UK philanthropic foundation. But only if you can get in quick...

Your donation can be matched only until their limit of funds runs out.

SOFII is competing for the doubling money against other, staffed, larger charities all lining up to secure limited Big Give funding. But because we are run by volunteers we don’t have the infrastructure in place to compete. Our only competitive edge is YOU. Please make your donation now, here:

If you’ve seen the video or slide show, you know that SOFII is at a turning point.

Next year we’ll be re-launching the website to make it easier to use, to offer more opportunities for you to get involved, to add more exhibits to help you promote your cause and to reach more fundraisers. But to take this next giant leap, we need your support now.

Our goal is to raise $80,000 before the end of the year. And in the past few months many organizations and individuals close to SOFII have already come forward to help. In fact, we now only have $30,000 left to raise by December 31st.

With your help, we can get there... especially if you can donate through the Big Give Campaign soon, because all donations received in the next few days will be doubled.

And if you can, forward this email to your friends, write a blog post and tweet incessantly. Whatever we can raise in the next few days – up to a total of $20,000 – will be doubled by the Big Give!

Remember, any gift you can give to SOFII now will double in value... but only until their limit of funds runs out. So please make your donation at 10.00 am UK time (5.00 am EST) on Monday 7th December or as soon after as possible, to double your money.

For the past two years the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration has been helping us all be better at our jobs. With more than 750 pages, SOFII is driven by content, and fundraisers write in every day to tell us that it’s truly useful. Just imagine SOFII next year when we take all that great content and place it inside a website that’s truly user-friendly. (The fundraising world will never be the same!)

Won’t you come forward with your donation today? You’ll be making a huge difference for SOFII, and for the advancement of your own good work, too.
Thank you so much – for believing in what SOFII is and can be. With your support, SOFII will get even better. For you, for me, and for all fundraisers, everywhere.

Thank you for spending time here and for donating to SOFII!

Kimberley MacKenzie
Honorary head of fundraising
SOFII, The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration
kimberley@sofii.org

PS To affirm for you and your colleagues why SOFII is so vital and valuable to fundraisers around the world, please read Julia’s story, In praise of a good swipe file.