As the IoF annual convention draws to a close, Fundraising Magazine looks at what else it has learned in the past couple of days.

Doesn't time fly when you're having fun... draising.

So we've come to the end of the convention for another year and what a year it has been. The vibrant and artistic spaces within the Barbican Centre venue seemed to really lend themselves to an overall feeling of creativity amongst the gathered fundraisers. Although, the less said about the venue for some of the exhibitors, perhaps the better.

The last year is already being thought of by the sector as a kind of low-water mark. When the tide of public and political sentiment about the sector and the people who work in it reached its lowest ever ebb. While there isn't one fundraiser who would wish to go through something like that again, it seems the experience has hardened the resolved of many. Yes, times were bad, but if the sector can get through that then it can likely get through anything.

The dark days might not yet be over, but the overriding sentiment at this year's convention compared to last, is one of cautious optimism about the future. In the long-term, anyway.

Here are just a few things that we have taken away from the IoF Fundraising Convention 2016. 

Out with the old

New voices in the sector are hard to come by, which is surprising considering the demographic. So nine, yes nine, rising stars of fundraising took to the Barbican main stage during the IoF convention to inject fresh insight into an industry strewn with established gurus and weary ideas. So what did they have to say? Here's some nuggets of wisdom from the mouths of babes:

"Tell stories through all the channels available - if pictures tell a thousand words, then videos say a million. Our beneficiaries are the authentic experts so let’s get them heard."

Russell Benson, community and events manager, MS Society

"Find photogenic participants for photographs for press releases. Especially when auctioning swimsuits."
Sali Gray, volunteer fundraiser, creator of the Pink Car Rally 

"Donors are real people, with real emotions and real motivations and we need to treat them like that. We need to genuinely love our donors. If you don't make that connection with them, they may well go somewhere else and find someone who does want to get to know them."
Laura Hewitt, fundraiser, Stroke Association 

"No matter what the size of your organisation is, data is the key to your fundraising strategy."
Rachael Tyler, fundraising and data assistant, Rose Road Association

"Most charity boards are just full of old white men. Young people should be seen, heard and recruited. Diversity will bring enormous benefits to the organisation."
Michael Winehouse, major donor manager, Children's Society

"As fundraisers we are eternally optimistic people and we will bounce back."
Lizzi Hollis, fundraising officer, Independent Age

"Generation Z is looking for integrity and something really to connect with, a genuine experience. The question shouldn't be how do we engage young people with fundraising but how do we engage with young people. Generation Z want to co-create experiences."
Darren Maylam

"My daughter took her first steps trying to get a Liquorice Allsort. We have to work out what the donor's Liquorice Allsort is and then not offer them a Fruit Pastel."

Suzanne Treherne, head of giving and engagement, LCVS

"There is no hope in fundraising. You have to make it happen. We are fundraisers... why weren't we doing what fundraisers are really good at - asking for money?"

Beth Swarbrigg, fundraising director, Hospice in the Weald
Leading by example

A very distinguished panel - exceedingly distinguished in fact. Development director at Meningitis Now Amanda Oxford, director of fundraising at Tree Aid Marian Rose among others. And if that wasn't enough the granddaddy of all influencers BRC director of fundraising Mark Astarita. And it's all about leadership. You've got to want it bad if you're still here at the last session of a three-day convention. So, how does a fundraising leader motivate their team in this difficult time? "When it's pretty crap out there, you have to be the one who is still up and trying to see the positive, without appearing too bonkers," says Kath Abrahams, director of engagement & fundraising at Diabetes UK.

"Fancy dress is out," says Astarita (understandably, given his brush with the redtop media). "By and large fundraisers are so positive that it is not really such a hard job to get them motivated. I believe culture does trump strategy every time and that is where you get your strength."

But what is it really like being a fundraising director? Come on, tell us. "A lot of my time now is trying to keep trustees calm," says Oxford.
"Boards generally are very nervous and you spend a lot of time reassuring them at the moment."

"You have to maintain a work life balance. You have to find time for me because otherwise you are not very good at doing any of your roles," says Abrahams.

"There have been such great moments and crazy moments," says Astarita. "I would do this job no matter what."
And the biggest mistakes as directors, fancy dress aside? "Getting the wrong person in the wrong job takes ages to put right," says Rose. "Take your time and find the right person, look for the person who has what it takes." Is that you, fundraisers?!

Fundraising trickery

How can you get that bit extra out of your donor? And what small changes can make all the difference? Simon Scriver, head of fundraising at One in Four Ireland, gave his best tips in his session on “fundraising trickery”.

Talk to "Mary in finance": Scriver said that fundraisers need to think about when donors’ direct debits are made, as people are increasingly more likely to cancel a direct debit the further away it is taken to pay day. He said that for most charities, the date that the direct debits come out is chosen by, and most convenient to, “Mary in finance”. So there is often no strategic reason for the day the direct debit goes out. He said fundraisers need to chat to “Mary” as these decisions need to be more donor-centred.

Scriver also told fundraisers that they need to use the phone a lot more in their fundraising, and recommended welcome calls as a technique. He said that when it comes to phone calls, a study showed that a quarter of people would increase their donation after a call.

It also turns out that Apple users are more likely to donate to charity than Windows users – 7 per cent more likely than Windows users in fact, according to a study by Razoo. And if your charity has a big enough budget, it can take advantage of that fact. Apparently Apple Mac users are big spenders, as Scriver also revealed that they spend on average 30 per cent more than their Window users on hotels.

If anyone wants to know Scriver’s credit card details, just ask a member of the audience. Scriver bravely read his out as he gave a donation over the phone to a charity of a fundraiser who attended his session, who was confident that her charity – Cumbria Wildlife Trust – would be able to take the donation over the phone.

Scriver’s own research had found that about 50 per cent of charities are unable to take a donation in this way, often asking the donor on the phone to do an online donation, or just not being able to find the right number to pass them on to.
Fortunately for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, the interactive session was a success. And hopefully the test revealed something else: that fundraisers are honest