Some of you may have seen some of my tweets last week, but for those that didn’t, I was walking down the high street in leafy suburban Surbiton when a charity fundraiser for an animal charity tried to stop me.
Normally I stop to talk to fundraisers, partly because I’m interested in the tactics that fundraising agencies use, and also because I like listening to some of the scripts, which have often been exaggerated by people under pressure to meet their targets.
This particular fundraiser’s icebreaker was certainly questionable, as well as rude, embarrassing, inappropriate and awkward. Read More »
I have my last deadline at university in five weeks. I receive my last instalment of student finance later this month. I leave the security of student life. These facts combined have triggered a pre-graduation panic, which is sweeping through universities and is on every third year undergraduate’s mind.
Within a few weeks the largest part of my income will end, and I will (hopefully) graduate with a law degree. What worries me, and others like me, is, ‘what happens next’? Read More »
Many of my recent blogs have been about the decline in individual giving, and particularly focusing on young people and their relationship with the third sector as a whole.
That’s why I’m very pleased that the Charities Aid Foundation has launched an inquiry titled ‘Growing Giving’. Read More »
My friends and I were recently talking about how I got involved in the charity sector. For me, it started with joining my local youth council snowballed from there. The conversation led to a more in-depth discussion about the relationships between charities and schools. Read More »
By LeonWard,
Wednesday, 6 February 2013,
Last year, many bloggers on Third Sector wrote about ‘chuggers’ and telephone fundraisers. When I first moved to London, I started working for a telephone fundraising agency. I was cash-strapped and interested in learning what fundraisers say and know about the charities they raise money for. It paid £8.50 an hour, which was quite a decent rate. My vested interest was two fold. I needed to earn money but I was also interested in learning the tricks of the trade of how agencies and charities collaborated. Read More »
Increasingly, charities have to diversify their products to compete in the charity market.
They may be able to attract new sponsors by launching low-cost and low-commitment options that require a monthly gift, combined with an opt-in service that delivers updates and upgrade asks to their inboxes. These types of cost options give charities a chance to build relationships of trust, and grow their networks, to be upgraded when economic conditions improve. Read More »
By LeonWard,
Thursday, 15 November 2012,
During Trustees’ Week, I’ve been asked by several people to break down a ‘typical’ week of my activities to show you what I get up to as a trustee, student and 20-year-old in London. This was the week of 15 -19 October 2012. Read More »
In my last blog I covered some of the strategic issues facing charities when they switch over to digital. So, what are the main ‘operational’ challenges?
The first issue is protection of brand representation and integrity. Controlling output from all those involved is difficult. Tweets, Facebook updates and blog pieces all need to be carefully worded so that the right message is being delivered. Charities will also find that their digital presence will also be used by supporters to make enquiries and mention grievances about their relationship with the organisation. Read More »
The transition to digital poses several strategic issues for charities.
Firstly, the development of and transference to digital is an expensive process. Organisations often lack in-house specialist knowledge and therefore resort to contractors. This can potentially be very expensive. Moreover, success is not guaranteed: they may fail to deliver on time because of the scale of the project.
Furthermore, the digital world changes rapidly and so investment currently in new software and systems will likely be redundant in a couple of years times. This promotes a reluctance to any change. Read More »
By LeonWard,
Tuesday, 18 September 2012,
Charities are struggling to develop and pursue digital agendas because of the nature of the digital world - extremely diverse and rapidly changing.
Organisations are faced with the dilemma of creating a new product that will build an immediate new group of donors, while maintaining a product to stay engaged with current donors who are often less digitally active. How can charities recruit new donors but not ‘forget’ about current supporters? Read More »
