The awards recognise excellence, innovation and impact, celebrating the achievements, talent, and dedication of legacy giving professionals, and spotlighting the valuable income that gifts in wills provide.

Smee & Ford says they aim to “inspire charities and their partners to think bigger and aim higher and to raise the profile of the valuable work of professionals within their own charities, whilst also providing a platform to benchmark the progress made through collaboration and innovation across the sector.”

The awards are also free to enter, and people can nominate themselves, their team or a colleague.

This year, there are 24 categories available under three key areas: partnerships, achievements, and people. There are also five new awards including: Outstanding Collaboration on a Contested Legacy, Legacy Volunteer of the Year, and Director’s Award for Outstanding Legacy Manager.

Following November’s deadline, the shortlist will be announced in January, with an awards ceremony, where the winners will be revealed, taking place in April.

Picture by Pixabay on Pexels

The award is a sign of recognition for fundraisers from the industry and their peers. The three nominees – Allez, Chantez, Welzijnszorg and UZA Foundation – each pitched their case, with the Fundraiser Day audience voting for the winner.

Allez, Chantez was recognised for its annual campaign to encourage the spirit of giving among song lovers and raise funds so it can continue offering free singing sessions. Every year, the fundraising campaign runs around Allez, Chantez’s anniversary, with the aim of raising enough for another ten sessions.

The expert jury, which selected the nominees, praised the campaign concept and timeline, how it focuses on and communicates an annual goal, the transparency of the story behind it and its sense of urgency. They noted that few socio-cultural organisations are currently fully committed to fundraising in Belgium and that the case of Allez, Chantez therefore serves as an inspiration. The campaign collects cash and digital donations, which also enable it to capture data.

Welzijnszorg came second with fundraiser Chris De Cock responsible for delivering a turnaround at the organisation, through creating internal support for using telemarketing for conversion and donor upgrades. This has seen Welzijnszorg grow from around 10 monthly donors in 2021 to more than 320 monthly donors now, providing a monthly income of approximately 4,500 euros. Internally, confidence has grown that asking a giving question in the right way strengthens the relationship between Welzijnszorg and its supporters.

UZA Foundation and their fundraising team was the third nominee. Their successful mountain bike race in Wolvenbos took place for the fourth time this year to benefit cancer research. UZA Foundation motivates companies to put together a team of five riders who brave a challenging course, and despite a limited network, manages to mobilise a large community. They focus on fun with an element of competition: FUNraising. In 2023, the event raised €243,000.

The day brought 120 fundraisers and fundraising service providers together to learn and inspire in the field of fundraising. In the morning, Marc Michils (chairman of Kom op tegen Kanker) spoke with a plea: ‘For solidarity. Against hostility’. After the award ceremony, participants were able to choose from afternoon sessions on event fundraising, scientific research on ethics in street fundraising, middle donors, bequests, and more. There were also networking opportunities, and the day ended with a debate on ‘creating impact with fundraising’.

Back for their second year, the awards are split into three category groups: partnerships, achievements and people, and celebrate the successes and achievements of legacy administration and fundraising professionals who are going the extra mile.

Categories are designed to recognise the skill involved in raising and securing legacy income, key projects and programmes that have brought progress and innovation to nonprofits, and the value of partnerships and collaboration.

They include: Digital Innovation in Legacy Giving, and Best Start-up Legacy Programme under Achievements; Internal Collaboration Champion, and Outstanding Partner to the Legacy Sector under Partnerships; and Legacy Fundraising Professional of the Year, and the Director’s Award: Charity Legacy Heroes under People.

The awards are free to enter, and people can nominate themselves, their team or a colleague.

There is an Entry Guide available with tips, entry examples from last year, and helpful advice.

The winners will be announced on April 18 in London.

The Chapel & York International Fundraising Awards have a number of categories, including education, arts & culture, charities with international remit/support, organizations new to international fundraising, and organizations who have undertaken a specific international programme. There is also a founder’s award recognising an individual who has made a significant contribution to international fundraising.

Entries are open until 1 October. An independent panel will judge each category, with three finalists chosen to compete in each by 1 December. The winners will be announced on 1 February next year.

Category finalists will receive a Finalist logo for use on their media, while category winners will receive a physical award to exhibit, a digital Winner logo for display, and a video from the judges describing why they were chosen, which they can highlight and share on their media channels. Chapel & York will also feature finalists and winners in each category on its social media, including LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Nancy Bikson, Chapel & York Managing Director said:

“We want to acknowledge top-performing fundraisers in the international fundraising world, who often face financial and time constraints. Our awards will celebrate the hard work and dedication of organizations who go above and beyond to achieve success.”

The awards recognise and celebrate the significance and contribution of legacy income for nonprofits and their beneficiaries. They are free to enter for nonprofits of all sizes, and are also an opportunity to secure recognition internally for legacy giving’s contribution, exchange ideas, demonstrate skills and experience, and benchmark achievements with others.

There are 22 awards, judged against 3 core criteria: Excellence, Innovation and Impact. They include dedicated categories for legacy fundraising teams (open to charities anywhere) and legacy administration teams (UK only), as well as others recognising outstanding examples of leadership, strategic vision and collaboration across the legacy giving sector. The full list of categories can be viewed here.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London next April. The morning of the event will see a forum sharing thought-leadership and insights from the judges on stand-out examples of best practice and excellence from the entries, with the awards celebration taking place in the afternoon.

Commenting on the awards, Polly Avgherinos, managing director, Smee & Ford said:

“After a period of turbulence where the resilience of legacy income streams proved to be invaluable, we believe that there is no better time than now to celebrate the talent, commitment and passion of people working in legacies.”

This is the second outing for Reimagining Fundraising, which first took place in 2020. This year, the organisations taking part are: UNICEF, WWF, UNHCR, SOS Children’s Villages, Médecins Sans Frontières, World Vision, Amnesty International, ICRC, Four Paws, OXFAM, Care and Plan International.

The NGOs are seeking submissions for concepts or technology that will dramatically improve the way fundraising is done and meet the challenges they face. The deadline for submissions is 17 August.

Juan Mones, head of Global Fundraising Innovation at UNICEF and one of the project’s co-initiators said:

“We’re counting on support from changemakers around the globe to make Reimagining Fundraising 2022 an unprecedented festival of innovation to activate our world for social and environmental causes.”

The challenges

Reimagining Fundraising will identify, test, and take to market new fundraising concepts and products that can help NGOs around the world with the following challenges:

– Recruiting new fundraising talent. How can NGOs recruit and retain more great fundraisers (especially for face-to-face)? What can they learn from business and other sectors?

– Going beyond the traditional charity paradigms and business models. NGOs need new products/value propositions for donors who identify with a cause rather than a specific organisation.

– Developing a more personalised, more engaging, supporter experience, even during emergencies. How can NGOs offer a consistently high-quality supporter experience in a volatile emergency setting?

– Meeting the donation style of young people 18-30. How might NGOs link Millenials/Gen Z directly to the cause/beneficiary? Current donation flows are not targeted to these young audiences. How can this be solved?

– Crypto. As NGOs launch web3-based fundraising platforms, NGOs need solutions for addressing reputational and financial risks, and reaching unbanked people with new payment methods, such as e-wallets and other fintech solutions?

– Changing the classic top-down charity tone in fundraising. How can NGOs rethink the roles and business models in fundraising and offer a more direct and empowered approach to fundraising projects? How can NGOs enable beneficiaries to act as direct advocates for their causes?

How to apply

NGOs, fundraisers, startups, agencies, academics, and others are all invited to submit their proposed fundraising solutions, products, and technologies. There are five stages to the challenge, with 17 August the deadline for stage one. Co-Directors of Reimagining Fundraising, Nick Allen and Marcelo Inarra, can be contacted with any questions: marcelo@marceloiniarra.com and nick@reimaginingfundraising.com.

[Fundraising Europe] The coronavirus has impacted so many people across the world this year. But what was it that inspired you to take action?

Kilian Sonnentrücker, Refill The Shelf

[Kilian] Back in March 2020, I found myself standing in a nearly empty supermarket for the first time in my life – a situation that had seemed unimaginable in the otherwise so well-organised and prosperous Switzerland.

The mood was almost a bit dystopian and people were irritated that they couldn’t get what they needed. Those who could, stocked up on absurd quantities of toilet paper, handwash, cleaning fluids and food, without any consideration for others. I was shocked by so much selfishness.

At the same time, the media were reporting more and more about the effects of the pandemic. They highlighted the fact that people were losing their livelihoods as a result of the crisis and were therefore no longer able to buy, while others were emptying the shelves.

That got me thinking. I asked myself how people could be sensitised to the problem of panic buying, how solidarity could be strengthened, and how people in need as a result of the crisis could be helped.

What did you decide to do about it?

As a designer & developer, I had already been inspired by several Covid Hackathons (such as WirVsVirus in Germany) to develop something to address this problem.

So I sat down and started to sketch various ideas. I wanted to create something that would tell a strong story, be easily and quickly understood and not be perceived as too educational. At the same time, it had to be quick to realise, should not cost anything (except my time) and needed to provide added value for users and affected people.

About 60 working hours later, I was able to launch Refill the Shelf – a collaborative, virtual supermarket shelf to raise funds for all those in need due to the Corona crisis.

How did people respond to the concept of a virtual supermarket?

To date, about 3,500 people have visited the website and over EUR 6,500 CHF has been donated, all of which went to Caritas Switzerland, supporting the national response to the corona crisis.

At first glance, this is not an insane amount. In a broader context, however, the figures are far above the international average. The conversion rate at Refill the Shelf was 7.5% and the average amount per visitor was EUR 22, which compares to the average conversion rate for online donors on charities’ websites at around 0.17%, according to M+R Benchmark 2020. And, apart from transaction fees, no costs were incurred, so it has turned out to be a really effective platform. And I was absolutely delighted recently when the project won the award for the most creative campaign at the Swissfundraising Awards 2020.

So, how did you spread the word?

The promotion was one of the biggest challenges. Initially, I simply reached out to my own network of people through messaging and mail. From friends and family members to my peers and other professionals, contacts in schools and institutions, people in agencies and technology companies and so on. Then I advertised it on my personal social media accounts. Caritas shared these posts on their channels and gave me some additional contacts. Plus, they promoted it on their website and in their newsletter. And finally, I made contact with newspapers, magazines and influencers. Honestly, I found that quite disillusioning. Most of them wrote me back that they were receiving tons of requests and stories related to Covid projects, so they couldn’t take mine into account. Nevertheless, the project received some media coverage and a lot of positive feedback. As an example, the German PAGE magazine is calling the project a benchmark for digital fundraising.

It’s fantastic to see Refill the Shelf continuing to raise funds for the coronavirus response in Switzerland. Do you have any ideas for further developing the project?

It was great fun to realise Refill the Shelf and to have been able to help people in need. I was really pleased to hear all the positive feedback from the fundraising industry and hope to have inspired other fundraisers with my project. As a next step, I’m hoping to launch the shelf in other countries as well. So, it remains a very exciting project to be involved with.

About Kilian Sonnentrücker

Kilian Sonnentrücker is a Swiss designer, developer, lecturer and entrepreneur who has been working in the web industry for almost 10 years. Most recently he worked for the renowned digital agency HinderlingVolkart and since September 2020 he is co-founder of a new company called mutoco. The mutoco team designs and develops outstanding digital experiences. Kilian is also founder of several side projects such as Swissbeatbox, the world’s largest beatbox community and many more. He is always curious and strives to do valuable, impactful work. And he likes to venture into new areas and fields, such as fundraising.

The award has two categories, each year celebrating both a fundraiser and a donor, and is presented during the annual Fundraising Festival.

This year, the pandemic forced a postponement of the Fundraising Festival from its usual mid-May date to last month when it took place online, along with the announcement of the award winners.

Italian fundraising association ASSIF took the decision to give the awards to every fundraiser and donor in tribute for their response to the crisis and the challenges it has presented, which has seen them help not only the Italian healthcare sector, but the entire nonprofit sector, and consequently, the whole Italian community.

ASSIF President Nicola Bedogni commented:

“If there is one thing that the pandemic has taught us, it is that collaboration, empathy and solidarity increasingly represent a winning and essential vehicle for dealing with even the most exceptional and unthinkable situations. And this year IFA has chosen to enhance this message in which the gift emerges as contagious itself and capable of spreading like a virus, positively contaminating the souls of those, donors and fundraisers, who have reacted to the emergency by making a common front with their heart and their creativity.”

The charities received their awards during this year’s annual Swissfundraising conference SwissFundraisingDay.

Sozialwerke Sieber received Swissfundraising’s Action of the Year Award for the outstanding return (1.5 million CHF or €1.29 million) of its cross media campaign ‘Living at the best residential address’.

The NGO cares for the homeless and the title referred to the fact that in one of the world’s richest cities, homeless people are sleeping on benches by the lake or in the doorways of the financial district. The campaign combined a mail package, Facebook posts and street action with cardboard, which the homeless often use to cover themselves. It was also the campaign that received the highest number of votes from SwissFundraisingDay delegates.

Meanwhile, the Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society won the Innovation of the Year Award for its campaign that saw people affected by the illness gather together in seven Swiss cities and form letters of the alphabet, spelling out the word ‘Signal’. The campaign demonstrated how multiple sclerosis can be so disruptive to the body’s nervous system and its ability to communicate, generating awareness through social media.

The one-day conference in the Swiss capital Bern started with a keynote by speaker Alan Clayton, and featured approximately a dozen speakers as well as workshops and case studies, with Clayton following his keynote speech with a masterclass on Great Fundraising on day two for a selected audience.

Swissfundraising’s next event is a French language conference, Journées romandes de formation, which will take place on 9 October in Lausanne, with a hundred delegates expected to attend. As with SwissFundraisingDay, the conference is open to everybody in the sector. The day after the conference, delegates will be able to subscribe to seminars, known as cours intensifs. One is about using crowdsourcing and coworking spaces, one an introduction in legacy fundraising.

Roger Bergonzoli (pictured) was named Professional Fundraiser 2017, for his work in bringing a centuries’ old monastery into the 21^st century with its fundraising. Bergonzoli introduced the nuns of the Monastery of Saint Rita of Cascia to new methodologies and fundraising techniques to ensure its future sustainability, and also oversaw the development of the St. Rita of Cascia Onlus Foundation.

This year’s Donor of the Year Award went to the Ravisio family, for their work in the community and with Syrian refugees in their support of the Fondazione Giovanni Paolo II in the Famiglia Cristiana campaign: Christians in Syria.

A special award also went to Massimo Coen Cagli, who has spent more than 30 years in the fundraising sector in Italy. Coen Cagli is the author of the first fundraising handbook written in Italy, which was published in 1998, and founder of the Scuola di Roma fundraising.it.