The benefits of cross-charity collaboration

Charities across the UK do a fantastic job providing vital support and services to those in need. But times are tough. A combination of the cost-of-living crisis and increased demand for services has put a strain on many.

We’d argue that it’s never been more important for charities to consider collaborating to achieve their mission, reduce costs, and multiply the impact they have across the sector.

Read on to find out why.

How can charities collaborate?

There are loads of ways charities can work together. For example:

• Sharing knowledge, skills, and information can help you solve problems and increase impact.

• Sharing office space, facilities, and/or equipment can reduce costs.

• Running joint fundraising events can help you reach a wider pool of donors.

• Establishing new programmes/services can help you better serve beneficiaries.

• Joint training sessions can help you establish best practice and explore better ways of working in your niche.

• Teaming up to campaign for change will enable you to speak with greater authority.

Case Studies

Now we’ve identified some of the ways charities can cross collaborate, let’s see how organisations have put it into action.

One Cancer Voice

When it comes to campaigning, there’s strength in numbers. Take One Cancer Voice. In 2021, over 50 cancer charities including Breast Cancer Now, Cancer Research UK and Teenage Cancer Trust formed a coalition to campaign for the NHS and UK government to tackle the backlog of cancer cases as a result of the COVID pandemic.

As a collective, they released a statement setting out a plan of action, and urged ‘our 4 nation governments and the NHS to make it a reality’.

The lobbying resulted in a commitment from the government to provide ‘hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding over the SR21 period to ensure a bigger and better trained NHS workforce”.

British Red Cross & FareShare

Back in 2020, the British Red Cross and UK food charity, FareShare, came together in a bid to keep the country fed during the pandemic. Combining FareShare’s food redistribution network with resources and volunteers from the Red Cross, the partnership enabled the delivery of 2 million meals a week to those at risk of hunger, (up from 1m million before lockdown).

Brainathlon 

In 2021, Brain Research UK, Brain Tumour Research and Epilepsy Research UK launched a collaborative fundraising campaign in a bid to make up for the income shortfall caused by the pandemic.

The charities asked their supporters to take part in Brainathlon - a virtual fundraising challenge that required participants to run 15 miles, walk 10 miles and climb 1.2 miles (or 2, 500 stairs) whilst raising money for three neuro research charities.

The campaign raised a much needed £61,000, which was distributed equally between the three causes.

Wrapping up

If these examples have convinced you of the power of collaboration, there’s lots of advice and guidance on NCVO’s website.

Don’t forget, if you’re a fundraiser looking for a new role, or a charity on the hunt for a fundraising professional to join your team, we can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 today!

Extrovert v Introvert: Which personality type makes the best fundraiser?

From recruiting volunteers and cold-calling donors to pitching businesses for corporate support and networking, fundraising is all about creating connections and building relationships. For some, it comes naturally. For others, it can be excruciating.

And it all comes down to whether you’re an introvert or extrovert.

The two terms were developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung in the 1920s and refer to the way in which a person focuses their energy. Put simply, Jung suggests that introverts draw energy from being alone, while extroverts are fulfilled by interaction with others.

Let’s break it down a little further.

Extroverts

People with high levels of extroversion tend to feel comfortable in social situations. They’re usually outgoing, talkative, and happy to be the centre of attention. They enjoy meeting new people and tend to have a wide social network.  

Introverts

People with low levels of extroversion (introverts) tend to be quieter, more cerebral, and reflective than extroverts. They feel more comfortable socialising in small groups.

Instead of seeking stimulation by socialising, introverts receive it from within, and are content with their own company.

Note: This is a simplified version of the theory. You can read about the theory in detail here.

Introvert vs Extrovert: characteristics

The chart below by MindJournal outlines some of the common characteristics of introverts and extroverts. But bear in mind, it’s not as clear-cut as it looks. In reality, most of us exhibit qualities of both personality types and fall somewhere between the two.

Instead of thinking of introversion and extroversion as two separate extremes, think of them in terms of a range or spectrum.

 Curious to know where you fall on the scale? This Myers Briggs test will provide you with some useful feedback.

Introvert v extrovert fundraisers

Now you have an idea of some of the differences between extroverts and introverts, let’s go back to the original question: which personality type makes a better fundraiser?

There’s a common assumption that fundraising is an extrovert’s game. After all, extroverts enjoy being sociable and find it easy to strike up conversations with people they don’t know.

That’s what fundraising is all about right?

Not quite. As you well know, there’s a lot more to fundraising than chatting up a storm. And there are some fundraising roles in which introverts have the edge over extroverts.

Here are just a few ways introverts and extroverts can thrive in a fundraising environment.

Extroverts

• Extroverts are comfortable and confident in social situations. Happy to strike up conversations with anyone and everyone, put them on the front line of a fundraising event and they’ll be the life and soul of the party.

• Need someone to cold call lapsed donors? Give the job to an extrovert. They thrive on verbal communication, enjoy chatting to new people, and their assertive and fearless nature means they won’t shy away from asking for what they want.

• Extroverts are great at motivating and getting the best out of people - in terms of conversation, energy, and confidence. These traits make them ideal mentors - for junior fundraisers/members of your team. They can also excel at recruiting and managing volunteers.

Introverts

• Introverts like to connect with people on a one-on-one basis. Sensitive and observant, they spend less time talking and more time listening. These tendencies are more aligned with building long-term relationships, making them excellent major donor or legacy fundraisers.

• A 2018 study found that introverts tend to make more accurate observations about human behaviour than extroverts. In other words, they may be able to "read" people and understand them better. This is because they spend more time observing than interacting, which can make them very insightful.

• If you’re planning a fundraising event, your introverted fundraisers may not want to be on the frontline, but they can be valuable assets behind the scenes, as they’re detail oriented. For this reason, they often excel at administrative tasks like database management.

Final Word

In answer to the original question, neither introverts nor extroverts make better fundraisers. Both personality types possess qualities that enable them to excel. The secret to success is knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your personality profile and how they affect your interactions with donors and colleagues.

The strongest fundraising teams comprise of introverts and extroverts. If you want some help building yours, give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk

Do the standards around door-to-door fundraising need an overhaul?

Disclaimer: The experience and views outlined in this post are my own.

My 75-year-old mother has Alzheimer’s. I recently discovered - by chance - when going through her bank statements that monthly payments were being made to three charities, amounting to £250.

Knowing this was financially unsustainable for her, I contacted the organisations to cancel the payments. When asked how she’d been solicited, I was told she’d been approached by door-to-door fundraisers.

I asked my mother about the direct debits, but she had no recollection of signing up for them. When I told her how much money was leaving her account each month, she got anxious and upset.

The experience raised several red flags for me, as:

• My mother is a pensioner.

• She has dementia.

• She’s empathetic and generous by nature.

In short, she’s vulnerable.

I should say at this point, I have nothing against face-to-face fundraising per say. I appreciate it’s a valuable source of income for charities. This is evident from Chartered Institute of Fundraising figures, which showed a sharp rise in door-to-door sign ups, with 28,400 people committing in April 2022 compared with 14,500 in the same month in 2019.

My concern is that the regulations around soliciting donations from vulnerable people are not stringent enough.

What are the rules?

Section 1.3 of the Code of Fundraising Practice outlines the following standards on fundraising and vulnerability:

• You must take into account the needs of any possible donor who may be in vulnerable circumstances or need extra care and support to make an informed decision.

• You must not exploit the trust, lack of knowledge, apparent need for care and support, or vulnerable circumstances of any donor at any time.

• You must not take a donation if you know, or have good reason to believe, that a person lacks the capacity to make a decision to donate, or is in vulnerable circumstances which means they may not be able to make an informed decision. Among other things, you should consider:
  

• any physical or mental health conditions the person may have.

• any disabilities the person may have.

• any learning difficulties the person may have.

• whether the person is facing times of stress or anxiety (for example, following the death of a loved one or redundancy).

• whether a donation is likely to affect the person’s ability to sufficiently care for themselves or leave them in financial hardship.

• how well the person can communicate and understand what they are being told.

• whether the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

• the person’s age.

Is it ethical?

My concern about these rules is that indicators of vulnerability aren’t always obvious.

Take Dementia, for example. (For the unfamiliar, Dementia is an umbrella term for a range of medical conditions that affect memory, thinking, behaviour, and the ability to perform everyday activities). Many of these conditions are progressive, but the signs and symptoms can change from day to day, or (in the case of my mother, from hour to hour). 

My question would be this. Can a fundraiser make a fair and informed assessment of someone’s capacity to make an ongoing financial commitment based on a 10-minute chat on the doorstep?

Voice of the Regulator

Last year, the Fundraising Regulator urged charities to be “increasingly careful about the risks of requesting donations from people with dementia” and to “factor in” the way the UK’s population is set to age, especially when dealing with potential donors who are older and in poor health.

The warning followed the release of the regulator’s 2021/22 annual complaint’s report, in which it said it had seen a 19% increase in complaints on the previous year.

The majority of the complaints related to ‘misleading information in campaigns’, ‘negative behaviour from fundraisers’, and ‘fundraisers posting charity bags through doors despite signs asking them not to’.

The regulator pointed out that concerns about fundraising from vulnerable people “threaded through” many of the complaints it received and said it would “continue to work closely with charities to support them in the areas of concern identified in the report and to ensure they are properly equipped with the tools to fundraise appropriately.”

Opinion

The 2016 Charities Act introduced regulatory measures to protect vulnerable donors, but I’d  argue that additional steps need to be taken. For example, face-to-face fundraisers should receive comprehensive training on common physical and mental health issues donors may face, and the signs to look out for (the Chartered Institute of Fundraising has published guidance on this here). It would also be beneficial for fundraisers to ask homeowners to disclose physical or mental health conditions at the point of sign-up.

What do you think?

We’d love to get your opinion on the subject. Post your thoughts on our Facebook or Insta pages and we’ll include them in a follow-up post.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a fundraiser to update your vulnerable person’s policy, we’ve got a bank of talented candidates waiting in the wings. Call us on 020 3750 3111.

The Small Charities Advisory Panel

There’s some good news for small charities.

In Spring 2022, the Small Charities Coalition (SCC) was forced to close due to shortfall in funding. The organisation championed small charities by providing low-cost training and events, information, and mentoring to ensure they had access to the skills and resources they need to thrive.

In a further blow, the Foundation for Social Improvement (a membership body that provides free advice and heavily subsidised training in strategy, governance, fundraising and impact to small charities) announced that they will also be winding up this Spring, due to a lack of funding.

The good news

To address the gap in provision, the Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) teamed up with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) to create the Small Charities Advisory Panel as part of a deal to take over its services, and those of the defunct SCC.

Launched last month, the panel will champion the voices and experiences of small charities and ensure that they can continue to access tailored help, support, and advocacy.

About the panel

There are 14 members on the panel, including representatives from six small charities, two funders and six infrastructure organisations.

It’s being jointly chaired by Ray Coyle, director of volunteering charity Oxford Hub, and Vicki Beevers, chief executive of The Sleep Charity.

Other members include Becky Gilbert, co-founder of Baby Bank Network, Matt Plen, former chief executive of Masorti Judaism, and Amina Ali, a consultant at the charity think tank NPC. 

The chair of the FSI, Noorzaman Rashid, will also sit on the committee.

The role of the panel

The panel will help the NCVO and their partners anticipate and meet the needs of smaller voluntary sector organisations. They will also work with organisations across the sector to ensure that wider support offer is comprehensive, responsive, and coherent.

Among other responsibilities, the panel will:

• ·Share and explore insights and emerging trends, identifying gaps in support for small charities and finding ways to fill them.

• Share expertise to improve the practical support offering from the NCVO.

• Actively engage and represent the panel in appropriate forums and discussions, including being the ‘voice’ of small charities with a seat at the table in policy making forums.

Bring lived experience of small charities and best practice of small charity infrastructure support to guide the strategic direction of support for small charities.

Holding the NCVO accountable to ensure the voice of small charities is heard at all levels.

You can find out more about the panel and its members on the NCVO’s website.

Final Word

Infrastructure is a vital part of the voluntary sector ecosystem, providing support, connection and voice to government, so charities can focus on delivering their mission. And yet, over 1,000 infrastructure charities have closed in the last decade.

The launch of the Small Charities Advisory Panel and the commitment by the NCVO to secure and build on the legacy of the SCC and FIS will ensure that small charities are given a voice and are equipped to continue to provide their vital services to communities throughout the UK.

Looking for a savvy fundraiser? Whether your charity is large or small, we can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to find out how.

Organisational Culture: What Is it and why is it important?

“Organisational culture” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it actually mean? Intangible and difficult to define, organisational culture means different things to different people. We define is as ‘the set of values, ethics, and beliefs that define the day-to-day operations and the atmosphere at an organisation.’

In a nutshell, it’s your charity’s personality.

Why is it important?

Often seen as a ‘nice-to-have’ frippery, organisational culture is a vital component in keeping employees happy, motivated, and engaged. In fact, as research by HR platform Achievers found, it’s one of the top indicators of employee satisfaction and one of the main reasons that almost two-thirds (65%) of employees stay at an organisation.

It’s also a top priority for job seekers. A whopping 77% consider an organisation’s culture before applying for a role, and almost half of employees would leave their current job for a lower-paying opportunity at an organisation with a better culture.

Not convinced? Here’s one more stat for you. Organisations with happy employees outperform their competition by as much as 20%.  Yes, it can have a direct effect your bottom line … if this doesn’t convince you, we don’t know what will.

How to build an effective organisational culture

Organisations that nail their culture have exceptional rates of staff retention and productivity. It’s the secret sauce that takes their teams from good to exceptional. But what makes a winning organisational culture?

Here are three (of many) components that contribute to an awesome culture. We’ve also thrown in some examples of ways charities are putting them into practice.

Define and live your core values

Building shared values, and living those values, is the bedrock of a great organisational culture. They steer the way your people behave, treat one another, and go about their day-to-day work.

Take Mencap’s, for example.

• We are passionate about making the world a better place

• We are inclusive of everyone

• We are brave we challenge and try new things

• We are positive in our work and with each other

• We are kind to everyone

These core values paint a clear picture of who Mencap are, what they look for from their staff and how they approach their work.

Tip: Rather than create top-down values, give your team the opportunity to co-create them. After all, your values should be living, dynamic ideals that the whole team believe in. 

Foster strong relationships between employees

Work relationships are key to employee well-being. They can positively or negatively affect employees’ stress levels, productivity and happiness. So, if you want a happy, healthy, and united workforce, it pays to support and encourage social connections among staff.

Thirtyone:eight prioritises this with a number of initiatives, including:

• A dedicated games room for staff to use at break times, with a television, table-tennis table and table football. They run two table-tennis leagues, one for beginners and one for those who “want to get serious.

• Regular all-staff lunches, funded by the charity.

• Barbecues in the car park, cooked by the chief executive.

Prioritise employee wellbeing & work-life balance

A survey by Monster found that two in five (60%) of respondents ranked ‘well-being’ as their top or second preference when choosing an employer, with a third (34%) ranking it as their top priority.

It matters to jobseekers so it should matter to you. Ingraining it in your organisational culture is a way to show potential employees it’s a priority.

In its broadest sense, wellbeing is impacted by a number of elements, such as mental and physical health, a positive work environment, financial well-being, and healthy lifestyle choices.

Royal Holloway Students' Union ticks all these boxes with their wellbeing initiatives which include:

• Half-days on Fridays during July and August

• Birthdays off work and first-day-of-school leave for parents

• Wellbeing walks during working hours

• Staff netball, rounders and other sports focus on socialising and health

• Financial bonuses for exceptional performance

Recognise employee’s achievements

Another key component of a strong organisational culture? Making your employees feel appreciated. It may sound obvious, but a global study by the O.C. Tanner Learning Group found that 79% of people who quit their jobs cite “lack of appreciation” as their reason for leaving.

The lesson? Make gratitude part of your organisational culture.

There are loads of ways to do this. Over and above grand gestures like pay rises, bonuses, and promotions, thank you notes, gifts for staff members who go above and beyond, and acknowledging individual achievements in team meetings can go a long way to making staff feel valued.

Thirtyone:eight excels in this area too:

• As part of their appraisal process, staff who have achieved over and above expectation in a given year are given a cash bonus

• Staff receive gift vouchers and cards on their birthdays, signed by the chair of trustees, along with a note of thanks for their dedication

Final Word

Organisational fit is an important aspect of the recruitment process. If you want some help/advice on hiring the right people for your team, give us a call on 020 3750 3111