Six weeks on the wagon raised "how much???"
Howard Lake | 14 April 2009 | Blogs
A little self sacrifice can go a long way. As I’ve just discovered when tallying up how much money I saved by giving up alcohol for Lent.
And even though I am not a big drinker (these days…) the six weeks or so from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday proved surprisingly social. All in all, I saved an eye watering £150. As one mate remarked “How Much??? Bloody Hell!”
So which good cause should get the lolly?
At first I thought I’d portion it up to some deserving good causes I came across during Lent. I really liked the recent Darfur appeal from Practical Action which would help protect women and children in a, ahem, practical way. And also a fairly unfashionable cause – The Miscarriages of Justice Organisation which assists innocent people in prison and after their release. I like to give to Marys Meals because as the charity itself says, it offers a simple solution to world hunger, by paying for school meals for children in countries as diverse as Haiti, Ukraine and Malawi. Then I thought that maybe a local cause should benefit – my hometown football club Stranraer FC which has just been rescued from oblivion due to financial mismanagement by a supreme community effort and a local white knight.
But would spreading the jam too thinly be counter productive? A one off big gift (for me at any rate) could surely achieve so much more: can “just £2 a month” really make a difference?
In a very crowded marketplace, how do fundraisers ensure their cause stands out, that their case reaches the parts other charities often fail to. The causes that I considered appealed for the usual range of reasons, linked to values, interests, beliefs and background. And definitely there was a value for money element in that my small gift could go a long way.
But they reached me in very different ways – Practical Action through a newspaper insert; MoJo through a free media piece on its work; Marys Meals because a friend used to work for them; and Stranraer FC through word of mouth/grapevine.
So after much deliberation I have decided on a one off gift and it goes sadly to none of the above. The appeal that has made most impact on me in recent weeks is one that has appeared on these blog pages and which many of you will also have warmed to. And it’s Derek Humphries’ orang utans. I share Derek’s passion for these wonderful creatures – they are my most favourite animal. And his blog has been inspiring and indeed enriching. Real evidence of real difference through a real person’s eyes. Something for others to think about maybe when constructing their next appeal.
In the meantime, £150 is winging its way to Borneo Orangutan Survival. Hope it helps buy a few more hammocks and ropes for the likes of Tian Tian and Tari.
And next year I’ll be trying to encourage a few of the sector’s bigger drinkers to join me in Lenten abstemiousness and see if we can’t raise a far bigger sum for another deserving good cause….
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.