Charity Chat podcasts on fundraising and giving apps
Samuel Davies | 20 July 2021 | Blogs
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Arthur C. Clarke
Contactless and online fundraising platforms aren’t seen by most of us as magic but perhaps that’s down to the unprecedented technological advancements in our lifetime.
Think about this: over 90% of 16-54 years olds in the UK own a smartphone. There’s about a 50/50 chance that you are reading this on your mobile phone or tablet. And regardless of whether you’ve been wowed by the above, just think that it’s been less than 15 years since Steve Jobs announced the first Apple iPhone.
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The world of tech is moving at great speed, and driving our social evolution with it. How many of you now have coins in your pocket? How many of you still carry a business card, have a fax number, or carry a map around with you?
We use this tech in our day-to-day lives as standard. But what about the charities we support? Are they adapting as quickly as we have?
In many cases yes, and there’s still a rationale for keeping up with the old ways as well as the new, which poses challenges in terms of resource and clarity of message for charities. How many giving options should charities be offering before the weight of that choice starts putting supporters off?
Our Charity Chat with Sean Donnelly and Matt Smithson, made me think that their Roundups platform gives the consumer much more of a chance to make an impact on their chosen cause than using cause-related-marketing-rainforest-based platforms for example.
The impulse-buy equivalent of donating for a good cause, putting change into a bucket, has been hard to satisfy with the decline of pocket change. Our conversation with Tom Montague and Alexander Coleridge of TapSimple, raised the profile and opportunity of contactless fundraising for charities:
Before the pandemic we spoke with Natasha Stone about JustGiving’s Gaming for Good platform. The virtual gaming events have been a boom industry since then. For some, me included, gaming online to raise funds is an alien concept, as frightening and fascinating as magic.
There is a multitude of choice to serve the giving needs of supporters, and as one fundraising door closes another one, or two or three open. The challenge for charities is where to invest their precious and increasingly limited time and resource: what to try and what to pass by. As with all fundraising quandaries, gaining a greater understanding of your supporters is vital.
More Charity Chat podcasts
- Legacies: Charity Chat features legacy giving (16 February 2021)
- Gaming for good: three Charity Chat podcast episodes (8 February 2021)
About Samuel Davies
Samuel Davies is a fundraising leader and trustee and Chair of Charity Chat and regularly produces their podcast episodes. He has been fundraising since the early 2000s and provide a pro bono fundraising training and advice service to small charities. When he's not thinking or speaking about charities he's usually out trail running.