Giving / Philanthropy

Like many people I was saddened at the news this week that Bmycharity is withdrawing from the online giving market. Any loss of options for raising money cost effectively and providing greater 'consumer' choice gives us as a sector pause for thought.

I will never stop believing, or probably saying that, whichever audience(s) we serve as organisations, their needs should underpin our thinking and actions.  That's not to say that we shouldn't seek to achieve our own objectives - of course we should.  The customer / supporter / volunteer is not always right and we have our own targets to meet.

There are 2 big issues the sector needs to get a grip on in the social care and ageing debate....

This week I found a great website for Childs i foundation that listed ways to give - money, time and rather brilliantly they included love..

The Guardian ran a pretty decent and balanced video news item recently entitled: ‘Why do people hate chuggers?'. Two-hundred-and-seventy-four people responded in what was a genuinely informative (though often ill-informed, as usual) comment stream (sorry, as a former officer* of my school debating society, I can’t bring myself to use the word ‘debate’).

Its amazing what the right few questions can get people to talk. And its amazing what they tell us when we ask..

A report from the Lancet at the weekend complained about the many aid agencies in Haiti spending too much time competing for air space and not enough working together.

I'm going to state the obvious. The recession is officially over, but that does not mean that charities can start to breathe easily.

It's an old and often-debated question and the answer varies depending on what kind of organisation is doing the asking and the target audience's wants and needs.

We all love a good story whether in the form of a humorous anecdote, a play, a novel or a loved one's reminiscing. But have you ever thought about what makes these stories compelling? Do we carry these attributes through to our fundraising and campaigning messages?