Monthly focus: Christmas fundraising
Howard Lake | 9 August 2022 | Features
This month we explore how charities are planning ahead for yet another challenging Christmas, as the cost of living crisis affects all of us, but in varying degrees.
Last year we focused on Christmas fundraising against the backdrop of the COVID tide beginning very slowly to recede. But that changed suddenly with the rise of the Omicron variant at the end of the year. And we’ve experienced another Summer wave this year.
This year Christmas will be a true challenge for millions of people, many of whom would normally have given to one or more charities’ Christmas appeals. But with the increase in inflation, the ratcheting up of interest rates, and the cost of living crisis, charities are once again going to find themselves in the hard position of facing increasing demand on their services, and, in most cases, decreasing or at best static income.
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Unless Prime Minister Johnson and his successor in September radically change tack, there is going to be no equivalent emergency funding for charities or indeed businesses along the lines of the furlough system, or the COVID loans and grants.
How are charities planning to fundraise in these conditions? Which platforms or services are able to help them? What information or advice do charities need to help them through this situation?
As always, many charities will achieve success despite the odds. We’ll feature those as we come across them, and some of the opportunities from fundraising agencies and platforms.
We’ll share all our coverage here.
Summer events are the perfect time to launch Christmas fundraising events. During Clacton’s annual Air show in August, volunteers from Clacton lifeboat station launched their ‘Reindeer Run’ event, due to take place on Sunday 20th November 2022.
Is the World Cup, being held in Winter (northern hemisphere) for the first time, an opportunity for charities and fundraisers? Or is it another challenge?
John Eversley, Managing Director – Agency, WPNC, discussed this in the inaugural edition of UK Fundraising Insight and more, its new LinkedIn newsletter.
The fall and rise of cash
Contactless payments helped exacerbate the reduction in the use of cash during COVID. But cash has made a comeback as the cost of living crisis bites, according to the Royal Mail. The company interprets the record sum of cash withdrawn during July as a response to enable more people to manage their limited budgets through being able to see and hold cash in hand.
Advertise your Christmas fundraising services
If you’d like to promote your Christmas fundraising services as part of this two-week focus, please contact Connor Seaton.
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.