Three BBC Radio 4 programmes on charities and fundraising today
Howard Lake | 10 February 2016 | News
Charity fundraising is the subject of three BBC Radio 4 programmes today alone.
You and Yours
You and Yours at 12.15 today featured the closure last year of face-to-face fundraising firm Fundraising Initiatives. It also covered the case of a charitable legacy to Cancer Research UK in which the daughter of the donor alleged that the charity had not acted sensitively in the process.
Money Box Live
This afternoon at just after 3pm Money Box Live will ask whether charities have become too commercial. Ruth Alexander and guests will discuss the issues in the wake of The Sun’s criticism of Age UK and E.On’s corporate fundraising partnership.
The programme is inviting contributions from donors, charity workers and others.
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The Moral Maze
This evening at 8pm Michael Burke looks at charities in the Moral Maze. It will cover questions such as:
- what should charities be allowed to spend their money on, given the government’s new restrictions on statutory funding and lobbying on behalf of beneficiaries?
- should campaigning and lobbying be funded by the taxpayer or even by the tax-breaks that charities receive?
- do we need to rethink our definition of what a charity is?
In short:
“If we want our charities to make a difference is it time to accept that they need to apply all the modern commercial tools you’d expect from such a large industry. Or, in their rush for influence and impact, have charities lost [sight] of the personal relationships, responsibilities and trust that lie at the heart of altruism?”
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.