Thumbs up: what I learned from Stephen Sutton

This month – May 2015 – sees the first anniversary of the death of a young man who taught me so much. This blog is a tribute to Stephen Sutton. Stephen battled cancer from the age of 15, and became known for his bucket list of the 46 things he wanted to achieve, and for the amounts he raised for Teenage Cancer Trust (currently over £5 million). So, what did I learn from Stephen? Harness positivity Stephen showed me that fundraising can be just as successful, if not more so, if it focuses on positivity, as symbolised by his thumbs up gesture. His website has these introductory words: “This is not a sob story, this is Stephen’s Story!” Supporting charity is a great thing to do, and it should make us feel good to give. Let’s learn from Stephen that we don’t need to use negative case studies. Or, at least, that we can focus on the uplifting elements of our work and still be successful. Communicate well, particularly through social media Stephen was a fantastic communicator. If ever anyone you work with is sceptical about the power of blogs, you need to show them Stephen’s blog. He understood and harnessed social media brilliantly, with his legions of Facebook and Twitter followers effectively becoming his own mini-activists. Set clear goals Stephen set clear targets that were easily embraced by his supporters. Initially his bucket list of things he wanted to do, and of course his fundraising target (which was number 1 on his bucket list, incidentally).