Oxfam criticised as "bookshop bully"
Howard Lake | 15 February 2010 | Blogs
Do you think it was just face-to-face fundraising that generates heated criticism from some? Of course not. All methods of fundraising can generate quite heated opposition, even charity bookshops.
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Oxfam is accused by author Susan Hill of being a “bookshop bully”. She reports that “small bookshops and antiquarian booksellers are being bullied by Oxfam bookshops and their aggressive expansion.” She made the accusation in an article in The Spectator, (Bullying is bullying, – whoever does it), an extract of which appeared in the Review section of The Guardian this weekend. She even refers to Oxfam bookshops as “thugs and bullies”.
Of course, bookselling is a big, competitive business. Oxfam has done remarkably well to have become “the third biggest booksellers in the country”. To do so, it has used good commercial practice.
That was present right from the beginning: my first fundraising boss at Oxfam set up the first Oxfam bookshop in St Giles, Oxford in 1988. She had very clear ideas about attracting volunteers with professional book-selling experience to run the shop, and a commercial approach to pricing. To me, that is a commendable approach.
Charities’ trading arms should adopt commercial best practice. It is ironic that its business success should count against it and arouse the wrath of Ms Hill and the many who have commented online in support of her.
It seems all kinds of fundraising staff now need thick skins to cope with the criticism they receive for doing their job well. Or have I missed a halycon area of fundraising where all is sweetness and light, and the fundraisers are feted by the public?
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.