The cost of acquiring a pound of charitable income has grown swiftly since the start of the century. The latest edition of the UK Civil Society almanac contains a section on the cost of generating funds, which shows that in the year to March 2001, adjusted for inflation, the charity sector spent a total of … Continue reading Why is the cost of raising funds rising so fast?
Creating and leading a Great Fundraising Organisation
Do you work for a Great Fundraising Organisation? Not any great fundraising organisation… but a Great Fundraising Organisation. For the purpose of the academic study, “The Great Fundraising Report,” Profs. Adrian Sargeant and Jen Shang from the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at the University of Plymouth, defined Great Fundraising Organisations as those charities, NGOs and … Continue reading Creating and leading a Great Fundraising Organisation
Fundraising Directors – Why is your job so hard?
The majority of Development Directors are hired to grow income. In keeping with the ads and job descriptions, the charities are poised for growth and keen to hire an experienced fundraiser to lead the charge. The job interviews focus on a DD’s ability to raise funds, lead a team and be a senior team player … Continue reading Fundraising Directors – Why is your job so hard?
Data compliance officer: the next big role in fundraising?
Fundraising charities rely on information about their supporters to survive; such as names and addresses, financial information and other private data. Information such as this will always be integral to the fundraising process, and the storage and safety of this information will be too. GDPR’s rules around proving consent necessitate new processes at the back … Continue reading Data compliance officer: the next big role in fundraising?
Giving Day – The Ultimate Guide to Success
A Giving Day is a 24 hour digitally driven fundraising and engagement campaign with the goal of rallying a university's or nonprofit's community behind a particular cause. The original and most famous Giving Day is #GivingTuesday and has since been embraced by universites and nonprofits across the globe looking to run their own campaigns. In … Continue reading Giving Day – The Ultimate Guide to Success
Better to be kind, than to be right?
In this leadership blog, Shaun Horan discusses how the need to be “right” holds some leaders back: "you can’t bring people with you if you are only focused on yourself." Shaun continues: "Kindness should be seen as an antidote to this. We all know being kind makes us, and everyone around us, feel better. So … Continue reading Better to be kind, than to be right?
Long Read: The philosophical dispute between fundraising and data protection
At the end of 2016, when the ICO fined several charities for breaching the Data Protection Act 1998, Ian MacQuillin, wrote a fascinating philosophical piece on how charities are perceived by different types of people. Even though this feels like a long time ago, it's still as relevant today as it was back then. Whenever … Continue reading Long Read: The philosophical dispute between fundraising and data protection
Long Read: Good asking
The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) recently launched Good Asking – a report on why charities research and process supporter information. They worked with leading academic Dr Beth Breeze from the University of Kent, to survey over 300 fundraisers to understand why they process and research information about their supporters, and what the benefits are for … Continue reading Long Read: Good asking
Data Governance: 3 Key areas to focus your efforts
Data governance is needed to ensure your organisation can consume data which has integrity and quality. But how do you focus your efforts so that your governance programme can deliver the results needed? Toochukwu Philip Ibegbu MBA shares with us how he was able to successfully launch data governance initiatives that made the most impact. … Continue reading Data Governance: 3 Key areas to focus your efforts
How to Make Better Decisions with Less Data
Are you drowning in analysis paralysis? Having data to back up your decision making is good, but sometimes there is just too much! Sometimes people struggle to convert data into effective solutions to problems. The problem isn’t lack of data; the vast amount of data means managers struggle to prioritise what’s important. In the end, … Continue reading How to Make Better Decisions with Less Data