Our favourite webinar so far! SOFII’s I Wish I’d Thought of That 2020

With over 700 attendees and £16,000 raised, the virtual I Wish I’d Thought of That event, hosted by charity SOFII (The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration), was a roaring success, showcasing the most creative and innovative fundraising ideas from all over the world.

Attendees and speakers tuned in on 21 April from as far as America, Canada and even Australia. From hiring a goat to appear in your Zoom Call, to a Samaritans suicide prevention campaign, we laughed, and we cried. The challenge of the event being hosted virtually did not stop the speakers from offering their IWITOT entries and inspiring us with their fundraising ideas.

What is IWITOT?

Every year, a selection of charity sector workers present a fundraising idea that they wish they’d thought of and in normal circumstances they present to a live audience in London. The speakers each get 7 minutes to deliver a punchy, concise overview of their chosen charity’s campaign and the audience then vote for their favourite who is then crowned the IWITOT winner. Not only does the event demonstrate the resilient and diverse world of fundraising, it also inspires us all to go away and be more creative.

Who won?

The 2020 winner, Megan Townshend from Marie Curie presented her IWITOT presentation which was the Choose Love campaign by Help Refugees UK. The concept of the campaign was to drive people into a Choose Love pop-up shop to pick up and purchase a variety of clothes and food. The catch was that the items were then given to refugees and the customer left the shop with nothing but a good feeling from paying it forward. The idea behind it was that the shopper can touch and feel exactly what they were donating, rather than just clicking something on a computer. The results were amazing and in 2018, this campaign raised £1.5m which was double the previous year. It drove a huge online presence amongst Instagram influencers, celebrities and shops like ASOS donated ‘Choose Love’ t-shirts to help donations.

We came away from the event not only feeling motivated by the thoughtful and moving presentations, but also full of great ideas and strategies. We are already looking forward to next year! If you’d like to hear more about our learning's from the event then we’d love to chat to you. You can drop us a line here