Last week was our second annual Fundraising Live conference. We look at what lessons we learned on the day.

Judge Judy earns 35 times more than charity chief executives

Fundraising guru Dan Pallotta (pictured), who appeared on live video link from the United States, put the controversy around chief executive salaries into perspective. He told delegates that, in America, television stars earn 35 times more than that of charity chief executives – with Judge Judy earning £47m a year. He also told delegates that those working in the insurance sector earn 25 times as much as charity executives.

Pallotta also told the room of fundraisers that the Charity Defense (sic) Council – which is “standing up for people who stand up for people” – is running a campaign to humanise overheads. He told fundraisers to remember that “no one wants their headstone to read ‘I kept overheads low’”.

The future's made of virtual reality, for a bit

Innovation and face-to-face fundraising have been uneasy bedfellows in recent times, but Amnesty International's pioneering work with virtual-reality goggles has caused a stir, and boosted income.

However, the charity's innovations manager Reuben Steains, while extolling the virtues of virtual, added that the bandwagon was likely to get pretty crowded in coming months. "Although the use of virtual reality has proven highly successful for us so far, the more charities that use it with their face-to-face fundraising, the less impact it will have," Steains said during his session in the Large Charity Insight stream. "We have to constantly think of new ways to add value and bring something more to the donor experience."

Make 'em die laughing

At first, death might not seem the most comical of subjects, but when it comes to asking for legacies a dash of humour goes a long way, according to Rob Cope, director of Remember a Charity.

"Humour can be a great way to engage donors and build positive relationships, overcome taboos and change perceptions around the subject of wills," he said during his Fundraising Live session. To raise awareness of the organisation, stuntman Rocky Taylor, who, given the nature of his work is acutely aware of the importance of writing a will, preformed entertaining, yet highly dangerous activities such as smashing through glass and jumping off a burning building. "It was fun," said Cope, who most probably stood at a safe distance. "It got a lot of attention for legacy giving."

Donors more likely to “opt-in” to a strong brand

Andrew Jones, director of fundraising and communications at Blind Veterans UK, spoke about the difference between brand awareness and brand positioning. He said that the Poppy Appeal had got it right in terms of brand strength, as throughout the whole controversy surrounding Olive Cooke’s death, the Poppy Appeal had managed to avoid receiving any negative criticism. This is despite her being known for selling poppies for so many years.

He also said that a strong brand is particularly important as the sector moves to opt-in, because no-one is going to opt in to a charity they either do not know or do not respect.

People assume awareness is free, but that is not the case

Kristin Hallenga, founder of breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel, told fundraisers that people often think that awareness charities don’t need a lot of money. She said that her charity is often contacted by other organisations and campaigns asking them to send along some of the CoppaFeel merchandise, as well as some “boob ambassadors” to their events. But Hallenga pointed out that awareness costs them money – to produce the merchandise and pay for travel costs.

She also said that CoppaFeel hadn’t set out to be a charity, it had started as a campaign to help raise awareness of breast cancer in young people, before realising that a charity was the most appropriate format to do so. However, she said that the challenges that will face the charity in the future is how it can remain relevant and how it can retain regular donors.

People aren’t just donors or activists

People cannot be classified as “donors” or “activists”, Karen Rothwell, director of fundraising and marketing at Greenpeace told delegates. They support causes that matter to them in the way that makes sense for them at the time. She also told fundraisers that it is possible for them to run campaigns that deliver mission and fundraising objectives, and these supporters stay with them and help them grow.

However, she added that there is an undercurrent in environmental sector that asking for money is distasteful. And that is something that needs to go.