Thoughts on fundraising in a cost of living crisis
Howard Lake | 8 September 2022 | Blogs
The cost of living crisis is affecting so many of us – fundraisers, donors and charities’ clients/service users. It is a worrying time, so here are some personal thoughts and ideas on how to keep fundraising in the hardest of times while looking after yourself and your colleagues.
Here are some ideas based on having been a fundraiser in tough economic times (the early 90s – which of course were not as bad as the last three years of COVID, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and rising inflation and energy and food prices).
They are based on what I have read and hear from fundraisers and charity leaders. And from what I’ve covered over the years on UK Fundraising.
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1. Join a union
As the cost of living crisis bites harder we’ll all be looking over our shoulder, concerned for our own financial position and that of our loved ones. Worrying about your job security is only going to drain you and damage your ability to fundraise. Don’t suffer alone: join other fundraisers and charity colleagues who have joined a trade union.
You’ll get access to support, legal and financial advice, and you will feel a little more secure as part of a bigger group, able to know your rights and take action to protect yourself. Don’t rely on all charities to act charitably to their staff. And be encouraged that you are not alone: plenty of people in the charity sector in the UK and internationally are joining a union or remaining in a union.
If you’ve never considered joining a union because you’ve never needed to, or it doesn’t reflect your political views, just spend a little time exploring how one can help you. Try Unison, Unite or GMB, and explore WorkSmart’s Union finder to see if a union is already recognised at your workplace.
2. Look after yourself
You can’t continue to work flat out, even if you wanted to, and no matter the cause. Too many fundraisers burn out, sometimes driven by their managers but mostly, I believe, driven by their own commitment.
It’s easier said than done, but this latest crisis will persist for an unknown time. So you owe it to yourself, your colleagues and the people you charity supports, to pace yourself. You can and should say no to some tasks. Homily over.
3. Take action: charities can’t rescue us from this
The cost of living crisis, combined with the energy crisis, and the impact of COVID and a decade of austerity, plus the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is so huge that even a rousing effort by the charity sector along the lines of the response to the pandemic, will not resolve the issue. Not least because the inequalities that will result will endure for years.
This is a systemic challenge (or challenges) that only government can address – in partnership of course with businesses, the charity sector, and an active society which is showing ‘radical generosity’.
It is a time for action to urge the government to act in a way that supports all elements of society.
If all you can energy for is to fundraise, that’s more than good enough. That is part of the solution.
4. Charities need to ask government for help
The scale of the cost of living crisis, how it affects individuals, businesses and charities, means that charities can’t fix it or its consequences: this requires government intervention on a huge and ongoing way.
Charities are lobbying government for action now, especially amid the current (August 2022) strange hiatus of inaction and lack of ministerial comment while the Conservative Party goes through the process of choosing the next party leader and prime minister.
Marie Curie for example has called on the government to provide the following:
- Give all dying people their State Pension, no matter their age.
- Protect dying people from soaring energy bills.
- Support dying parents with childcare costs.
Matthew Reed, Chief Executive of the charity, stated publicly:
“Terminally ill people could freeze to death this winter without further support. The need to stay warm to keep pain at bay, and power specialist medical equipment means that energy bills for some terminally ill people will be thousands of pounds higher than the average household. Many won’t be able to afford this. With 30% of excess winter deaths attributable to cold, damp housing, this could cost lives.”
Charities need to and are speaking plainly to ministers. Save the Children’s response to the August energy cap used blunt phrases such as “these costs show just how ludicrous the price rise being slapped onto people’s gas and electric bills is”, and “it is a full-blown economic crisis for thousands of families”.
5. Cut costs – but not fundraising
Charities with premises are going to have to find different ways of working to reduce energy costs. It could be shorter days, a shorter working week, or in some cases to invite staff or volunteers to wear coats indoors.
Even the government’s short-term limited relief for businesses and charities won’t help enough.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show Maria Timon Samra, Chief Executive of Tŷ Hafan, said: “We’ve been hit with £500,000 annual increase on our energy £100,000 quote – that’s to cover our hospice, our office and our 19 retail shops which are vital to us as they bring in around 20% of our annual income.
“We have worked out from today’s announcement that our £100,000 bill will now go up to somewhere in the order of £300,000 which is still massive for us, and that price protection is just for six months.”
6. Your charity will face an increase in demand
As charity staff know from the pandemic and the decade of austerity, in tough times demand for their services increases, often just as their fundraised income is challenged.
Some increase in demand can be anticipated. For example a surge in the numbers of pets abandoned or put down because their owners can’t afford veterinary bills.
Women are finding it harder to leave abusers according to Refuge:
But there are unanticipated needs that are a secondary result of the cost of living crisis.
For example, Halfords reports in November that “four in ten British motorists (38%) say they have concerns about, or definitely won’t be able to, afford their next MOT, with a further 17% saying they’re not sure if they will be able to or not. Amongst these, 45% say that if they can’t afford an MOT, they plan to keep driving their car regardless.”
More unserviced cars on the roads are likely to lead to more accidents, with all their additional effects on others.
Halfords have taken action on this by partnering with Family Action to give free MOTs directly to families that will struggle to pay their next MOT, but rely on their vehicle.
7. Partner with charities
Charities are well-connected with other charities so there could be opportunities to partner or collaborate. Experiences under COVID might well have forged these partnerships or working practices.
It could be for a fundraising appeal, with expenditure and income shared. It could be sharing office space – literally sharing the heating and lighting by working from one organisation’s premises (where possible, safe and legal) for one week, and returning the favour for the week after.
Your charity could do its bit for other charities by reviewing its purchasing activities. Are there contracts with businesses that could reasonably be redirected to another charity? Does your charity provide services or products that other charities ought reasonably consider purchasing from?
8. Reduce travel costs
The opportunity of returning to working from home is a double-edged notion. Charities and staff have experience of making this work of course, but a charity that closes its offices to save money on energy and travel for staff is simply shifting the energy costs to its staff who will have to heat and light their homes for a whole day or days.
Virtual fundraising events might once again come into their own, as charity supporters and events participants shy away from travelling to a big event and perhaps paying for accommodation nearby.
9. Warm banks
Some charities will offer “warm banks” – buildings where people can come and keep warm and escape loneliness in a cold flat or house.
How long some charities will be able to fund such services and support will vary.
Would the warm banks be open to teams of workers, from commercial organisations and other charities? Would that be taking advantage of the charity offering the warm bank?
10. A change in funding priorities
Will funders, or enough funders, and major donors switch their giving to enable these basic lifelines – keeping people alive by providing access to warmth and power? How long will that funding last?
New Philanthropy Capital has some thoughts, advice and research findings for funders, some of it based on its experience and understanding of the impact of COVID on funding, on how they might meet these new and towering needs.
11. Charities diverting funds to core work?
Substantial energy cost rises for businesses, charities and schools could result in existing fundraising income having to shift from particular projects to core costs to enable organisations simply to survive.
12. Lights out for some fundraising events
Fundraising events that rely on a lot of energy or lighting will likely have to be adapted or in some cases cancelled. For example the many individual supporters who put on Christmas lighting extravaganzas by decking their house with lighting displays to invite charity donations from visitors and passers-by will have to cut back or cancel.
Or will a brightly lit event lift the spirits of supporters and participants and stand out from the other cost-saving events?
Due to rising costs, many cities across Britain have decided to cancel plans for an organised fireworks display on 5 November. As such, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has voiced worries that this could result in more hospital admissions.
13. Will one type of charity attract most funding?
Will there by an equivalent main charity beneficiary in the cost of living crisis to the benefit that NHS Charities Together experienced during COVID? The public (and media) focused extensively on ‘donating to the NHS’ (or more accurately the 230 NHS charities that support NHS staff and emergency volunteers), and to some degree less on the many other charities and causes that had no direct link to tackling COVID and its impact, yet which were still badly affected by its consequences.
Will the public focus on fuel poverty charities? Or will the impact of the cost of living crisis be understood as affecting every single charity?
14. Inflation part one: savings diminish
All charities are obliged to develop and maintain savings in order to ensure the resilience of the organisation.
But rapidly rising inflation is eating into the value of those savings. Charity trustees therefore face the challenge of making those savings work as hard as possible for their charity, when realistically there is no way they can work as hard as they did when the inflation rate was lower.
Asking some supporters to increase the amount they give, whether one-off or regular, will become an even more essential tool for survival for many. That said, some fundraisers will experience the pleasure of some donors taking the initiative to ask to give more. We are not quite all of us in this together in the same way.
15. Inflation part two: costs rise
The inability of charities to recruit new staff due to rising wage demands will restrict what charities can do to respond to rising calls on charities’ services:
16. Benevolent fund for charity staff?
Ironically there is no benevolent fund for charity staff, like those set up to support people who work or have worked in other trades or professions. So there is no charity-specific fund for fundraisers who are facing financial crisis.
There was, and various efforts were made to maintain and develop it. Howard Lake blogged about the need for it in 2007 – who will look after fundraisers in distress?
The Charity Employees Benevolent Fund was founded in 2003, began making grants in 2009 and closed in 2012, having generated just £69,917 in its final year.
Some fundraisers might still qualify for other benevolent funds that are set up by their current or former employer or they work in a particular sector with one.
Given that charity staff are being paid 7% less than workers in other sectors according to the Law Family Commission on Civil Society, the need for such support is pressing now.
17. How to stand out this Winter?
Many charities will no doubt mount emergency appeals this Winter (Essex Community Foundation has already launched theirs) but many have done so every Winter for some time; austerity and related policies have ensured plenty of people have lived in poverty for years. How might charities make this year’s appeals and the scale of the need stand out from past year’s appeals?
Sources of advice
Having rehearsed these extensive charities, where can you find more support, ideas or inspiration? Here are a few of the resources I’ve come across.
- The threat of the cost of living crisis has been developing for some time. Here is Pro Bono Economics‘ research and recommendations from January 2022:
At that stage, before the massive rise in the rate of inflation by July and August, the charity was estimating “that the real value of a £20 donation made in 2020 will fall to £17.20 by 2026, a reduction of 14%.”
- Sean Triner, co-founder of fundraising agency Moceanic is running a free 90-minute online workshop Fundraising in the face of inflation, recession and other storms.
- Charity Excellence Framework has stepped up its range of practical and extensive guides for charities by providing even more useful advice and resources. It is all free to access.
- Turn2us remains a valuable resource for searching for benefits and grants for individuals.
- Some funding will come from companies:
- The Chartered Institute of Fundraising has published advice for its members, Our plan to support members through the cost-of-living crisis.
It is also updating its Cost of Living Crisis Hub, which features “relevant research, guidance and advice to help you keep generating income whilst providing a great supporter experience”.
- Charities Aid Foundation has published a Cost of Living Charity Hub.
- The Directory of Social Change has a Cost of Living Hub.
- Charity Finance Group has a Cost of Living Hub resources collection.
More on fundraising in hard times
- Love for fundraisers in a time of coronavirus (12 March 2020)
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.