The pioneers of face to face fundraising
Established in 1968 Wesser has grown to become one of Europe’s leading fundraising organisations, with offices in France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the UK. We represent over 25 esteemed charities ranging from relief organisations to ecology groups who rely on our support to deliver their vital services.
Founded by Helmut Wesser in Germany, Wesser came to the UK in 1997 to raise funds for St John Ambulance. Over 25 years later, Wesser continues to represent St John Ambulance as well as 3 other incredible organisations: Shelter, St John Ambulance Cymru and Oxfam.
Since 1997 Wesser fundraisers have recruited over half a million new donors for our UK charity partners. That’s enough amazing donors to fill Wembley Stadium 6 times.
At the heart of everything we do…
Our values are the principles that underpin our company mission: Ethical Fundraising – Outstanding Service.
Honesty in our approach
Honesty is demonstrated by what we say and what we do. We always carry out our work with integrity and do what is right in all situations.
Mutual Respect for one another
Wesser brings together an eclectic mix of people from all backgrounds and our diversity is one of our key strengths as a business. Mutual respect is the foundation for honesty, trust, and meaningful communication. It’s about understanding that we don’t all share the same beliefs and ideas but we must respect the values, ideas and beliefs of everyone and ensure we do not impose our views on others.
Ambition to excel
We hope that everyone who joins us is inspired to work hard and develop, always looking for ways to improve and accomplish both common and personal goals. We look for people who are inspired to continuously progress and strive for excellence.
Passion for our charity partners
Our charity partners undertake essential work that benefits members of society when they are at their most vulnerable. The funds that we raise help charities provide these essential services to the public. We hope that everyone who joins us is inspired by the work of our charity partners and shows genuine passion for the causes they represent.
Pride in what we do
We know that the work we do is important, and we take pride in doing it well. We value energy and enthusiasm, skill and effort. We want our fundraisers to contribute as individuals and as part of a team to the success of every fundraising campaign.
Ethical Fundraising – Outstanding Service since 1968
Wesser offers an all-in-one fundraising programme consisting of face-to-face supporter recruitment, telephone fundraising and supporter administration. We are also experts in supporter relationship management, data validation and data processing, utilising our in-house BACS bureau.
With a personal approach and over 50 years of experience we offer our charity partners a bespoke fundraising service that consistently exceeds the expectations of both the organisations we represent and the donors we engage with every day.
We are proud of the partnerships we have forged, having recruited over 9 million new supporters for amazing charities throughout Europe; all of whom currently benefit from a combined income in excess of £250,000,000 every year.
For more information about Wesser’s fundraising services, email us today: enquiries@wesser.co.uk
Shelter
Shelter was Formed in 1966 by Bruce Kenrick (founder chairman) who worked with Des Wilson, a political activist who became Shelter’s first Director, in response to the country’s massive housing crisis.
Their vision – along with co-founders Edwin Barker, David Reid, Rev. Eammon Casey and Lewis Waddilove – was to establish one organisation to speak for the millions of ‘hidden homeless’ living in overcrowded slums. This organisation was Shelter.
That same year the BBC screened Cathy Come Home; a Ken Loach directed film, about a young family pulled apart by worsening housing conditions. Watched by over 12 million people, its impact ensured public empathy and support for Shelter from the very beginning.
They have achieved a lot since 1966, including landmark changes in law, such as England’s introduction of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and the ground-breaking commitment in Scotland that, from 2012, everyone will have the right to a home.
But they don’t intend to rest on these achievements, so until there’s a home for everyone, they promise to keep fighting.
Guide Dogs
Guide Dogs is a charity, almost entirely funded by donations, and are the world’s largest assistance dog organisation. As world leaders in puppy socialisation and dog training, they are the only organisation to breed and train guide dogs in the UK. They are also the largest employer of specialists dedicated to helping children and young people overcome the challenges of sight loss.
Over the years Guide Dogs have developed a wide range of services with and without dogs to support people living with a vision impairment. Children and adults. Friends and family. Whoever you are, their expert staff, dedicated volunteers and life-changing dogs are there to help you live actively, independently, and well.
St John Ambulance
St John Ambulance can trace its history back as far as 1540 during the reign of Henry VIII, however, it was not until 1877 the organisations started teaching first aid and providing medical support in local communities.
Today, St John Ambulance is best known for providing life-saving medical services alongside the NHS, supporting a network of over 30,000 first aid volunteers and training millions of people how to deliver emergency first aid.
In 2020 St John Ambulance mobilised the largest number of volunteers since the second world war to assist the NHS in vaccinating the UK population from the COVID19 virus.
St Andrews First Aid
Founded in 1882, the St Andrews Ambulance Association was Scotland first ambulance service. From 1967 the St. Andrew’s Scottish Ambulance Service was the sole contractor for the provision of the ambulance service, until 1974 when the National Health Service was reorganised, and St Andrew’s ambulance role was absorbed into the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The St Andrew’s association continued as a provider of first aid services and training under the name St Andrews First aid and to this day continue to provide support to the NHS through their network of volunteers while also training thousands of adults and children in emergency first aid.
Oxfam
Founded in 1942 Oxfam GB is part of a confederation of 21 Oxfams all over the world, working in partnership and collaboration with activists, change makers and communities. Throughout history they have combined practical action with bold campaigning, looking for ways to make sure that marginalised groups have their voices heard and acted on. Because an equal future is possible. And because there is no them, just us.
Oxfams mission is to create a more equal future, free from poverty.
Starlight
Starlight uses the power of play to make the experience of illness and treatment better for children and their families. Their passion takes them to the bedsides of some of the most poorly children in the UK. In hospital, often without hope of leaving. They create moments of escape from the difficult reality which seriously ill children find themselves. To delight and distract. To entertain and enlighten. But, most of all, to restore a smile to their faces. Making moments of light when the day is at its darkest.
In 2019/20, they reached 1.5 million children in the UK with a range of services in and out of hospital and distributed over 3,300 Distraction Boxes and Boost Boxes. Almost 1,625 children, young people and families joined them at Starlight Escapes. Their storytellers put on 178 shows for seriously ill children and made 442 wishes come true. But their impact goes well beyond these numbers. They use the power of play to improve children’s experience of treatment in hospital.
Providing direct fundraising solutions since 1968
Wesser pioneered face-to-face fundraising together with the German Red Cross in 1968. Thirty years later we commenced our face-to-face fundraising services in the UK working with the first aid charity St John Ambulance. Today we continue to work with St John Ambulance and small number of core charity partners.
Since 1997 our UK face-to-face campaigns have recruited in excess of 500,000 supporters and have generated over £20 million in charitable income. We are now recruiting in excess of 20,000 new supporters every year for our charity partners in the UK.
1) Campaigns
Our campaigns team consists of fundraisers, team leaders and a campaign management team responsible for the training, coaching, performance and the welfare of each and every fundraiser.
The Wesser campaign team raise funds for our charity partners by utilising the following three mediums:
- Door to Door – Fundraisers commute to a pre-determined fundraising location on a daily basis from their home address. Residential fundraising teams range in size from 5 to 10 including a team leader and coordinator to manage the effective coverage of the fundraising area and provide training and support on a daily basis.
- Private Site/Event – Fundraisers operate from fixed locations at either event’s where a presence has been pre-agreed by Wesser and our charity partners or sites where Wesser have determined will provide a high volume of quality long term donors for our charity partner(s). All site and event activity is supported by a team leader and/or coordinator to ensure only the highest level of customer service is delivered and real-time training is available to all fundraisers.
2) Fundraiser recruitment
Recruiting face-to-face fundraisers is no easy task and it is not unusual for us to receive in excess of 30,000 job applications per year for our fundraising roles. It is the job of our recruitment department to screen these applicants and select the very best candidates to represent our charity partners.
To find out how Wesser could help you recruit more new donors email us on today: enquiries@wesser.co.uk
Growing and maintaining regular giving campaigns for over a decade
At Wesser we have a wealth of experience in generating and maintaining income for charities of all sizes.
We have been providing bespoke telephone fundraising and supporter care campaigns for over a decade and have developed a fantastic team focused on providing outstanding customer service while growing charitable income for our charity partners. Our core telephone services include:
Telephone Fundraising:
- Reactivating lapsed donors
- Upgrading existing donors
- Promoting regular giving and lottery fundraising campaigns
- Delivering emergency and one-off appeal campaigns
Supporter Care:
- Welcome / introduction calls
- Thank you / gift aid audit calls
- Handling inbound queries / providing support
- Donor feedback calling
For more information regarding Wesser’s telephone fundraising services email us today at: enquiries@wesser.co.uk
Database maintenance, IT support and direct debit management
In its simplest form, supporter administration consists of database management and direct debit processing. We also have the functionality to provide data capture, data validation, postal fulfilment and e-fundraising solutions such as e-Direct Debits and online card payments.
Our IT department provides software development and network support for the entire business but is most closely associated with supporter administration.
Wesser is the only fundraising agency that extends its services to include Direct Debit processing with the ability to send payment instructions, collect Direct Debits and credit payments directly to our charity client accounts. As a UK BACS approved bureau we currently process in excess of 1.2 million debit instructions per year.
BACS Bureau:
Since 1998 Wesser Limited has been an approved BACS bureau specializing in the management of charitable giving. We have built up an enviable knowledge and understanding of BACS processing and have subsequently gained numerous accreditation’s and accolades.
Our services include:
- Direct Debit Management – Cost effective management of inbound payments/contributions
- Data Management – Processing of payment data for long and short term donors
- Postal fulfillment – Engagement of new and existing donors in order to process payments
Need more information? Contact our team today at: enquiries@wesser.co.uk
