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 »
Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
The changing definition of ‘mutuals’
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen some movement on the government’s mutuals agenda – the idea, championed by the Cabinet Office, that public services should be spun out into employee-controlled social enterprises which, it says, will be much more efficient at delivering services than the lumbering giants in the state. One announcement, at… Read more »
Government claims over small donations scheme seem a bit optimistic
The government announced last week that it has introduced a bill to Parliament which will bring the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme into law. This new scheme is pretty simple, at heart, and also a pretty good idea: it will allow charities to claim something equivalent to Gift Aid on £5,000 a year in cash… Read more »
Other quangos should follow the Canal and River Trust and become charities
The Canal and River Trust doesn’t yet exist, but it’s already got a partnership with Google. What’s more Google, who’s agreed a partnership to display the towpaths on Google Maps, is one of three major organisations who today agreed to put their support behind the new CRT, which will next month spin out of government… Read more »
Why my latest charity direct mailer went straight in the bin…
This week, my ‘thank you’ package arrived from the charity I signed up to with a door-to-door fundraiser last month, and I’m sorry to say it went straight in the bin. I have to admit, I was relieved to see it at first as it meant I hadn’t handed over my bank details to a… 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.
Oh dear – another U-turn
The Chancellor’s decision this morning to ditch the plan to impose a cap on tax relief for major donors was the government’s third U-turn in a week – the fourth, if you count the pasty tax and the static caravan tax as separate items. It came as a surprise to me – in fact, I… Read more »
Giving is a personal choice… so please back off
Working on Third Sector means that I talk about charities outside work much more than I ever did previously. As a consequence, I’ve been on the receiving end of a little hostility, the level of which has surprised me. You see, I have the gall to donate to animal charities.
Why I’ll think twice before donating by text again
I’ve had two experiences in the last week that have made me think hard about the way I donate to charities. The first followed a donation I made a few weeks back while watching an advert on the TV. The voiceover urged me to make a one-off, £3 donation to the charity by text that… Read more »
Tax relief cap estimates just don’t add up
In the last week, we’ve seen some calculations from the Charities Aid Foundation and Oxford Economics estimating how much the tax relief cap will cost the charity sector. At the moment, the Charities Aid Foundation says it will cost £500m. This has been extrapolated by Oxford Economics to a negative cost to society of £1.5bn.