Giles Pegram explains why fundraisers should never under-estimate their potential

How did the NSPCC Full-Stop appeal come to be?

We went on an away day in 1995 to think about what we should do for the millennium. Jim Harding, the chief executive, said that if we really believed that our job was to prevent cruelty to children then our ultimate aspiration would be to end cruelty to children.

How did you put a figure on the appeal’s target?

Jim turned to me and said “ok, we’re going to need to have a lot of money to do the things we want to do – how much can you raise?” I thought for a moment, and it occurred to me that if £100m was what they were raising for the opera house, you couldn’t raise less for ending cruelty for children. Then I thought £500m – which didn’t seem to be plausible, not in 1995. After about ten seconds, I said “£250m”.

Did you foresee it having the impact that it did?

We had to spend a year persuading the trustees that the public wouldn’t react completely against it and say that ending cruelty to children was an impossible aspiration. We did a lot of research, and people told us that actually, you couldn’t have any smaller aspiration if you were the NSPCC. Of course you’re not going to succeed, not in anybodies lifetime, but it is the right aspiration. We definitely foresaw the impact it would have.

Could the same thing be done now?

We discovered a new generation of philanthropists – the baby boomers. They had been brought up in the sixties and believed you could change the world. They’re self-made millionaires and only just beginning to experience the joy of philanthropy and how satisfying it is to give money away. We tapped into that in the second half of the Full-Stop appeal, but we’ve only scratched the surface.

How should charities be tapping into the baby boomers as donors?

One of the first things I’ll do when I see a charity about an appeal is ask them whether they’re being aspirational enough and whether they should increase the size of their appeal. The baby boomers are used to it – they have been aspirational and that’s how they’ve made their money. They’re looking for causes that are aspirational in what they are trying to achieve

What are the common mistakes?

People waffle rather than just say: ‘you’ve heard about our work, you’ve seen our work, I’m now going to ask you to do something extraordinary, and that is to consider making a gift for a million pounds’.

At what point in your career have you been most pleased with your achievements?

Knowing that I was helping to end cruelty to children was enormously rewarding. But if you had to ask me honestly, it was when I was awarded the CBE. I know that sounds very selfish, but it just felt like an acknowledgement from the establishment of what I’d done and of what fundraising was doing. No fundraiser had ever received a CBE before, so that was the point where I felt really satisfied.

You’re known for aiming higher than others dare to, are there others like you?

We’re finding them now. Since I left the NSPCC, three of my immediate management team have gone on to be appeals directors at other charities. I find that enormously rewarding because it means the things that I initiated at the NSPCC are now becoming more widespread in the sector.

Do you think that the spread of ideas like that is affected by competition in the sector?

The idea that charities are in competition with each other for a larger slice of a cake isn’t the way most people think about fundraising anymore.

Particularly at appeals director level, there’s a real belief that we should be together increasing the size of the cake. We should be sharing our best ideas with each other openly and deliberately in order that we have more money to go to the causes.

What is your philosophy of fundraising?

There is a right way and a wrong way. The wrong way is to see the organisation as the starting point. The right approach is to see that there is a need, and an organisation that can provide a solution. The job of the fundraiser is to connect the donor with the beneficiary and try to keep the organisation out of the way. I don’t think people give to the NSPCC, they give to help abused children.

So smaller, local charities shouldn’t feel threatened by their larger counterparts?

You used the word local there – if I was running a local charity I would concentrate on the fact that the money that is being given was going to be given to local beneficiaries. That will tap into people’s values. Some people don’t like large charities because they think that they are rich and inefficient. Smaller and local charities should play to their strengths of being small and being local.

What do you do in your spare time?

Burgundy. I read about it, I taste it, I buy it, I monitor how well it’s progressing and eventually I drink it. My aim is to die with my last bottle of Montrachet in my hand.

Have you had any inspired moments under the influence?

Absolutely.

What’s the next project that you’re looking forward to getting involved in?

A couple of multi-national NGOS are considering doing world-wide appeals for a global need, which will have a global solution.

There would have to be an appeal in each country, with an appeal board and a chairman, and their own way of doing things according to their culture. This is early thinking, but it’s very exciting and very aspirational.