The benefits of corporate fundraising

GSK and Save the Children. Fairy Liquid and Make-A-Wish Foundation. Innocent Smoothies and Age UK.

These are just three examples of successful corporate fundraising partnerships where charities and businesses join forces to raise awareness and money for a cause.

If you haven’t considered partnering with a business, you should, as it can be extremely rewarding.

Take the partnership between Innocent Smoothies and Age UK. Innocent has raised a staggering £ 3 million for the charity since 2005, by donating 25p from the sale of every bottle with a knitted hat. That’s a huge amount for very little work on the charity’s part.

However, funding isn’t the only advantage of corporate fundraising. You and your corporate partner will benefit from positive PR and heightened brand awareness.

Corporate Fundraising in action

Corporate fundraising takes many forms, from matched giving (where a company matches the amount employees raise through their own fundraising initiatives) to employee volunteering.

Let’s have a look at a few examples:

Staff fundraising events

Some employers like to raise money by organising their own fundraising events. P&O Cruises raised an impressive £300,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust between 2015 and 2020 by organising a series of activities, such as foreign coin collections and summer fetes.

Members of the P&O team also ran the London and Edinburgh Marathons to raise money.

At least half of the £300,000 was raised through P&O’s ‘Trek the Deck’ challenge - a 5km walk around the ship’s deck. Guests donated £10 to enter and received a co-branded t-shirt on completion.

Donating profits

Some companies donate a percentage of their profits to charity.

For example, British spring water brand, Thirsty Planet donates a fixed amount from every bottle of water sold to Pump Aid, a charity that provides cost-effective, sustainable clean water solutions throughout Africa.

Checkout collections

There’s a long-standing tradition of retailers requesting donations on behalf of charities at the point of sale (before the world went digital, it was done via a donation box on the till).

Today, it’s more common to make a digital donation at the online checkout.

Take trade tool retailer Screwfix. They prompt online shoppers to round up their purchase to the nearest pound, with the extra pennies going to charity.

Employee volunteering

Some companies choose to support charities by offering employees time rather than cash.

Employees at XPO Logistics help families in need each Christmas by delivering more than seven tonnes of food to 35 food banks.

Over 8,700 employees support the initiative.

Selling merchandise

Some retailers support causes by selling charity merchandise through their outlets.

A prime example? Sainsbury’s supports Comic Relief and The Royal British Legion each year by selling red noses and poppies.

Common pitfalls

While corporate fundraising partnerships can pay dividends for both parties, without the right preparation, they can be riddled with problems.

Here are a few potential pitfalls to consider.

Ethical conflicts

Companies that operate in controversial industries will sometimes enter into charity partnerships to ‘whitewash’ their activities.

There’s a fine line between a company being socially responsible and cynically trying to improve its reputation through association.

Misaligned expectations

With multiple stakeholders on each side of the partnership, it’s easy for expectations to diverge. The best way to avoid this is a written agreement. Even if it’s a loose partnership, create a short ‘memorandum of understanding’ so everyone is on the same page.

Getting it right

Corporate fundraising is a complicated, long-term strategy that takes years to master. This is why you need a top-notch corporate fundraiser on board to ensure things run smoothly.

Enter Bamboo.

Specialists in fundraising recruitment, we can help you find an experienced Corporate Fundraiser to ensure you get the most out of the partnership.

Call us on 0203 750 3111 to talk tactics. 

Seven ways to keep things fresh at work

Whether we admit it or not, we all fall in and out of love with our jobs all the time. And that’s okay. It’s part and parcel of working life.

Going through a bad patch? Here are seven things you can do to rekindle the love.

1. Consider the root cause

If you’re feeling dissatisfied but can’t quite put your finger on why, it’s time to take stock.

Consider the following: How long have you felt like this? Is there a single cause or are several factors at play? Is it really work, or is an issue at home at the heart of it?

2. Learn something new

Been doing the same role day in, day out for the last five years? The likelihood is you’re bored. So why not challenge yourself to learn something new?

You could offer to help out in another department, ask to take on more responsibilities, or take a course to advance your skills.

But whatever you do, make sure it interests you. It’ll help you look at your role in a new light.

3. Look at the bigger picture

It’s easy to get stuck ‘in your head’ at work. When this happens, try to take a step back and focus on the bigger picture. Remember, every penny you raise makes a difference, whether it’s to sick children, homeless adults, animals in need, or the environment.

If you broaden your perspective and appreciate the contribution you’re making, it might just rekindle your passion.

4. Make the effort to foster strong relationships at work

A 2018 Gallup poll found that 'when employees possess a deep sense of affiliation with their team members, they are driven to take positive actions that benefit the business'.

So make the effort to get to know your colleagues. Invite them for lunch, grab a drink after work, or stop by their desk for a quick chat.

You’ll feel better for it. And it might make you feel happier in your role.

5. Speak up

If the job you once loved dearly has lost its spark, don’t suffer in silence. Schedule an informal meeting with your manager to discuss how you’re feeling. After all, it’s their job to make sure you’re happy and engaged.

However, the conversation won’t go your way if you spend an hour moaning.

Outline the issues with a positive mindset, and bring solutions to the table. And ask them how they think things are going. It will remind you what your work (however brain-numbing it may be) contributes to the bigger picture and the charity’s goals.

6. Take some time off

Burnout is a real thing, and it’ll infiltrate every aspect of your life unless you take a break.

If you don’t have enough holiday left, take a day at the weekend to do something you love. Completely disconnect and give yourself time to think about something other than work.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all.

Still not happy?

If you’ve tried all the above and you’re still unhappy, it might be time to move on.

This is where we come in.

Our site is packed with exciting opportunities. If you spot one that gets your heart racing, give us a call to discuss it on 0203 750 3111.

Food for Thought: Three fantastic Christmas charity campaigns

From the highly anticipated John Lewis adverts to the Coca-Cola truck tour campaign, advertising is as much a part of the holiday season as a good glass of mulled wine.

But Christmas ad campaigns aren’t just for huge corporations – they’re an invaluable tool in the fundraising kit.

Why? The season of goodwill accounts for nearly 30% of charitable donations according to the Network for Good. So, Christmas is a prime time to make an ask.

There are loads of amazing campaigns we could mention to inspire you, but, for the sake of time, we’ve whittled it down to three of our favourites from 2021.

1. One Step Closer to Home

GOSH’s festive campaign is a heart-wrenching, 60-second animated film about 4-year-old Henry, a GOSH patient with a rare cardio condition.

We follow Henry as he travels from GOSH to his home in East Yorkshire, for a short Christmas break.

On the way home, we see him collect a series of magical stockings that represent donations from real-life GOSH charity supporters, such as 100-year-old Ivy, who climbed 100,000 metres to support the children’s charity.

With each magical stocking Henry receives, he grows taller, until he finally makes it home to be with his family to celebrate Christmas.

The real Henry may not have been given any magical stockings, but the donations from generous people like Ivy helped get him home for Christmas.

Check out the ad here: Great Ormond Street Hospital

2. This Christmas, let's make Santa's list the only list children care about

This campaign is more sombre but equally emotive.

The advert starts with a young girl writing a letter to Santa. But instead of asking for a PS5 or a Paw Patrol playset, she writes, ‘Dear Santa, I just want to stop feeling sad.’

Simple but poignant, the video highlights the fact that thousands of children are stuck on lengthy waiting lists for physical and psychological support.

The link between Santa’s list and waiting lists inspired thousands of donations.

A powerful message that was cleverly executed by Scottish charity, Children 1st.

Watch it here: Children 1st

3. The Good Fire

This campaign from anti-homelessness charity, Shelter is a little different to the others in that it’s not just encouraging people to donate. It also provides them with a unique way to do so.

To donate, all viewers need to do is watch The Good Fire - a ten-hour YouTube video of a roaring fireplace, ‘that provides real heat to those forced into homelessness’.

You don’t need to watch the whole ten hours to raise money though. YouTube videos generate ad revenue based on the number of views they get. So even if you watch it for a minute, Shelter will benefit.

This is an inspired example of tech for good, and it could well be the start of a movement.

Watch the ad here: The Good Fire Launch Film

Looking for a fundraiser to develop your Christmas campaign? Call us on 0203 750 3111 to get started.

The ‘new normal’ was never supposed to be exploitative

Houston, we have a problem! Everyone I speak to, from Directors to Administrators, tells me the same thing. “I'm at breaking point. I don’t know how much longer I can take this.”

The pandemic has been brutal. There’s no getting away from that. Difficult decisions had to be made, extra effort had to be invested, and sacrifices had to be accommodated.

But the sector stepped up as the country was locked down.

Despite teams and budgets being slashed, and expectations rising to an all-time high, the people who make our charities great rose to the challenge.

They worked round the clock, at an unimaginable pace, picking up the slack of furloughed team members. Fundraising was pushed to new heights of creativity as events went digital overnight.

This superhuman effort meant that the sector was, by and large, able to weather the storm.

However, now the pandemic is over, we’re left with a dilemma.

No one wants to let go of this incredible pace and agility.

But it’s not realistic.

People were happy to work longer hours when there was no life outside the home, but they have lives to return to.

Some employers have lost sight of what’s reasonable to expect from staff, and are suffering a drain of their top talent as a result.

Every day, we’re speaking to incredible fundraisers who are disillusioned, burnt out, and in need of change.

Unless something changes, things will get worse. For every candidate we speak to that wants to jump ship, we speak to another three who say they’re going to change jobs once the market stabilises.

We spoke with an HR Director at a Top 100 fundraising charity who said, “I am working as hard as I possibly can. I start early, I finish late, I don’t take lunch, and I can’t remember the last time I got to sit down for dinner with my kids. But it’s never enough. Expectations increase and the criticism increases.”

We then spoke with a Major Donor Officer at a large children’s charity who said, “At the start of the pandemic, they removed the majority of our managers in a cost-saving exercise, and increased the responsibility of junior team members. We were tasked with limiting income losses with half the number of staff.

Everyone wanted to see the charity prevail, so we worked like we’d never worked before and managed to limit losses to near zero. In the last few months, I’ve started to feel burned out and under-appreciated, so when mental health came up in a meeting last week, I took the opportunity to speak out. I was called into a meeting to discuss my concerns and was essentially told that it was a difficult time and more was expected of me as part of a small team. They offered to put me on a course for time management.

I want to get out of here, for the sake of my mental health.”

While this isn’t being done maliciously or purposefully, people aren’t commodities. They’re sentient beings with thoughts, feelings, and long memories. If you sacrifice the goodwill of your staff now, chances are you’re going to have some long-term recruitment and retention issues on your hands.

Share your story

We want to hear your stories, thoughts, and experiences of work during the pandemic. If you’d like to contribute, send Graham a message at graham@bamboofundraising.co.uk And, if you’re struggling and looking to remove yourself from a difficult working situation, give us a call on 0203 750 3111.

Charities urged to step up security after a record £8.6m lost to fraud

A lot of homeowners only install burglar alarms after they’ve been burgled. Similarly, a lot of charities fail to invest in fraud training and cyber security until they’ve been hacked.

Have you taken steps to protect your charity? If not, can you afford to wait? Not if the latest data by Action Fraud is anything to go by.

According to the UK's National Reporting Centre for Fraud and Cybercrime, during the last financial year, charities in the UK lost a staggering £8.6 million through online crime with 1,059 incidents of fraud reported by charities between April 2020 to March 2021.

This shocking figure (which is likely to be much higher as fraud often goes under-reported), was a result of fraudsters exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fraudsters used a number of scams to defraud charities, such as:

• Scam emails (‘phishing’)

Fraudsters claiming to be from legitimate organisations offer to provide information that could be of assistance to charities, such as a list of ‘at-risk’ elderly people in a local community who may require support from the charity.

The member of staff has to click on a link to get the information, which takes them to a fake website, where they are then asked to make a payment.

Advice: Don’t click on links or attachments in unexpected or suspicious emails. And NEVER respond to unsolicited messages or phone calls that ask for your personal or financial details.

If in doubt, report suspicious messages to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS): report@phishing.gov.uk

• Procurement fraud

Some scams involve the online sale of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as face masks and gloves.

In some cases, once the payment has been made, no products are delivered or the products do not meet the required standards.

Advice: Carry out due diligence if you’re making a purchase on behalf of your charity from a company or person you do not know.

• Unsolicited offers of goods, services or financial support (advanced fee fraud)

Some fraudsters made unsolicited offers of goods or other financial support in return for an advanced fee from charities.

Advice: Just because someone has your contact details, it doesn’t mean they’re genuine. Don’t be rushed or pressured into making a decision that could harm your charity or your beneficiaries.

Sign up to the ‘Stop Fraud’ pledge

In response to the sharp rise in cybercrime, the charity commission is urging charities to be vigilant and sign up to a new Stop Fraud Pledge, which asks them to commit to taking six practical steps to reduce the chance of falling victim to fraud – namely:

1. Appoint a suitable person to champion counter-fraud work throughout your organisation.

2. Ensure that all trustees are aware of their legal duty to protect the charity’s assets.

3. Consult with staff, volunteers, and trustees to identify the types of fraud that pose a threat and brainstorm ways you can prevent them.

4. Create a written fraud policy and share it with staff, so everyone understands what fraud is and how they can help prevent it.

5. Carry out checks on the organisations with whom you have a financial relationship.

6. Assess how well your fraud controls are working on a regular basis, taking into account new risks.

Word of warning

Helen Stephenson CBE, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said of the pledge: “Charities deliver good to so many people’s lives and help strengthen our society. When the public donates generously to charities it is because they want to make a real and positive difference to a cause they care deeply about, and they want to know their money will reach the front line. Sadly, as these figures show, there remain criminal individuals who would take advantage of organisations that seek to do good and of those that generously donate.

That is why I am calling on all charities to take the risk of fraud seriously by signing up to our new Stop Fraud Pledge and taking six simple steps to protect their charity. Combating fraud gives the public confidence that their money is safe, protects vital funds for charities, and helps maintain trust in the charities we all care so passionately about.”

Don’t be a victim

With a total annual income of over £69 billion, the charity sector is vulnerable to fraud and financial crime. And with more people working from home, the risk to valuable funds and sensitive data is higher than ever.

If your charity has been a victim of fraud or cybercrime, report it to:

1. Action Fraud

2. The Charity Commission

Read the Commission’s guidance for information and advice about how to protect your charity from fraud and cybercrime.

Need an additional fundraiser? Contact us on 0203 750 3111 to get the process started.