Appeals and Fundraising
Charity fundraising in the 1970s was a lot less sophisticated than it is today. For conservation organisations, activity was still largely run locally and consisted of film nights and grass roots fundraising events. Often local groups were set up, and the Woodland Trust had considered this, but as the newly recruited National Development Officer I felt that advertising and promotion was required in order to recruit supporters in large numbers.
In my short marketing career I had gained some knowledge of direct mail advertising but the resources and expertise were largely confined to large mail order companies selling catalogue items on credit. With the advent of microcomputers direct mail became key to the Trust’s rapid success. Even quite large mailing lists were still stored on “Addressograph” plates, or at best on large, inflexible mainframe computers. As luck would have it a small company started up locally offering computer services and as the mailing list grew it became possible to target specific areas and high response rates meant that even quite small mailshots produced outstanding results. We could usually double public support with grants from the Countryside Commission and added to the urgency of the appeal it all created a strong proposition. A nationally distributed Newsletter kept supporters informed of progress and woods acquired and it also became a vital fundraising tool in itself. The Trust was pioneering this type of fundraising – certainly in the field of conservation. In 1980 Richard Mabey described the Trust’s fundraising as “aggressive” and I took it as a compliment!
Being registered as a charity brought tax benefits and opened the door to a number of avenues including radio and TV appeals. Brian Redhead, the well-known BBC “Today” programme presenter, made two record breaking radio appeals and became a long-term supporter of the Trust. Many charitable trusts supported environmental projects and as a result of a mention on “Today” the Monument Trust (a Sainsbury family trust) offered funding to establish a community wood. As the Trust’s work became better known commercial companies were keen to be associated with its work. We had got off to a good start with a PG Tips picture card series featuring the Trust and soon other promotions followed.
The Countryside Commission was the main government funder but support for acquisitions also came from the Nature Conservancy Council and for woodland management from the Forestry Commission. The World Wildlife Fund had a special role in supporting land acquisition for nature conservation.