![[ad] Fundraising Everywhere Trusts and Major Donors Conference December 2026](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/09/fundraising-everywhere-trusts-conference-202612-728x90-1.jpg)
Charity April Fools’ Day jokes 2020
Howard Lake | 1 April 2020 | News
It’s the cruellest of Aprils for many years, but charities are still keeping our spirits up with April Fools’ Day jokes.
1. Dinosaur Park
Oxford’s Magdalen College is using the lockdown to create its dinosaur park. Model dinosaurs, of course.
2. National Trust squirrels away a treat
Those red squirrels need all the help they can get, it seems.
3. Animal magic
ZSL London Zoo staff must really love 1st April…
[Editor’s note: the tweet at https://twitter.com/_David_Lacey/status/1245252513282097152 is no longer available].
It looks like other zoos are on the receiving end of this jollity on this day too:
[Editor’s note: the tweet at https://twitter.com/IanMullen3/status/1245250218393776128 is no longer available].
4. CRM-VR from Beacon
Today is the perfect day for charity CRM specialists Beacon to introduce their unbelievably powerful new tool.
[Editor’s note: the tweet at https://twitter.com/beacon_crm/status/1245246250091532289 is no longer available].
5. A greener Google
This one fooled quite a few people. A very plausible news release appears to show Google and Alphabet deciding to stop “funding climate denial”.
The CEO Sundar Pichai seems to say: “We will stop our funding of organisations that deny or work to block action on climate change, effective immediately”.
There is a pledge and even an apology for its actions in the past.
You’ve guessed it. It is activism on April Fools’ Day. It is a parody site set up by Extinction Rebellion to call on Google to do much more in terms of tackling climate crisis.
6. Not April Fools
The first day of April can be a tricky time to announce an event or a new product.
7. Past charity April Fools’ Day jokes
- Charities that made us smile on April Fools’ Day 2017 (1 April 2017)
- 5 great charity April Fools 2016 (1 April 2016)
- Charities raise a smile on April Fools’ Day jokes (1 April 2015)
8. Watch charity April Fools’ Day 2017
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.