Posts By: Jenna Pudelek

Don’t change the rules for charity ads

Sometimes charity adverts should shock and appal. That’s their purpose. They should shake us out of our comfort zones, and inspire us to support the cause. Injustice, poverty, human rights abuses, health inequalities, environmental exploitation, violence and cruelty are shocking and appalling things.

A cagey PR strategy can be counter-productive

I’ve never come across a business unwilling to boast about its corporate responsibility efforts. My inbox is stuffed with press releases from companies about the epic bike rides, marathons, mountain ascents and trips deep into the developing world that their employees have undertaken in aid of their charity of the year. Sometimes, the PR agencies… Read more »

Fundraising around the world

When SOS Children’s Villages said it wanted to trial face-to-face fundraising in Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, the idea was dismissed as crazy. Juan Cruz Mones Cazon, development and communications director for the charity in Latin America and the Caribbean, says his colleagues in the region’s vibrant not-for-profit sector told him… Read more »

Now councils have doorstep fundraising in their sights

Doorstep fundraising seems to be the quieter, less boisterous, older sister of street fundraising. While the so-called ‘chuggers’ who collect direct debit sign-ups in high streets have been getting into trouble with the media and now face fines for breaking fundraising rules, those doing house-to-house collections have been quietly getting on with it in the… Read more »

Why won’t charities defend street fundraising?

Street fundraising has been having a bit of a moment in the mainstream media. A Sunday Telegraph journalist went undercover and exposed evidence of potential breaches of chugging rules by a fundraising agency. More recently, Lord Hodgson’s review of the Charity Act and recommendations on fundraising led to more headlines screaming for a ‘crackdown on… Read more »

Despite the downturn, fundraisers remained positive at this year’s convention

Fundraisers must  be a resilient bunch to cope with all the knock-backs that come with the job. But according to our Charity Pulse survey, which asks charity workers how they’re feeling about their jobs, fundraisers are suffering from low morale. With the economic downturn continuing to make people less willing to part with their hard-earned… Read more »

Shouldn’t ATM giving be helping small charities?

Rather excitingly the ATM giving initiative is kicking off this week, allowing people to make charitable donations through some 8,000 Royal Bank of Scotland cash machines. Hopefully the whole concept of making giving money as easy as taking it out will inspire lots of spontaneous philanthropy across UK high streets.