How can charities rise to the net zero challenge?

Evidence shows that our planet has been getting hotter, with global average temperatures now 1.2°C higher than in the pre-industrial era.

1.2°C may not sound like much, but the reality is we’re already feeling the effects of incremental warming, such as erratic weather patterns (heatwaves, floods, and severe storms), the loss of polar ice, acidification of our oceans, and rising sea levels.

Global temperatures are on track to increase by as much as 2.7°C by 2100, which could render parts of the planet uninhabitable.

The world’s major governments, scientists and heads of industry all agree that urgent action is necessary to avoid further global warming. The general consensus is that the world must limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C, by halving our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.

Net zero strategy

The UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener sets out a plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This includes reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels, making the transition to clean energy, and investing in green technology. 

For the country to reach this target, it needs the support of the public and every sector – including the third sector. 

However, a survey by Charity Finance Group into charities’ action to tackle climate change suggests more needs to be done to prioritise environmental awareness and care for the planet.

Eight in 10 charities (84%) surveyed said that they don’t have a net zero objective and only 14% said they currently report on their carbon emissions.

Furthermore, the survey found that charities want to do more to reduce emissions, but don’t know where to find support.

As a result, Charity Finance Group (CFG) published Charities and the path to net zero, a free guide to help charities develop a net-zero strategy, understand the links between net zero, investments, pensions, and grant-making, and reduce emissions through the procurement process.

Steps you can take now

Implementing the advice in CFG’s guide will take time. But there are lots of simple things you can do now to make a difference.

Recycle: When we recycle, we reduce the number of raw materials that need to be sourced to create products. For example, recycling a single tin can could save enough energy to power a computer for an hour. And a ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees from deforestation, as well as 7000 gallons of water, 380 gallons of oil, 4000 kWh energy, and 3 cubic yards of landfill space.

Reduce waste: wasted energy, materials, food, and water contribute to climate change and cost you money. By generating less waste, or managing it more efficiently, less of it will go to landfill, which ultimately benefits the environment.

Use electricity from renewable sources: Transition to renewable energy sources. If feasible, install solar panels or investigate renewable energy credits. 

This will not only lower your carbon emissions, it will also help you prepare for environmental laws and regulations that may come into force in the future.

Review your travel policy: given that over a quarter of the UK’s total carbon emissions are due to petrol- and diesel-powered transport, encouraging staff to walk, cycle or use public transport can significantly reduce your impact on the environment.

Cut down on packaging: explore ways to reduce packaging and choose eco-friendly alternatives. Consider using biodegradable or compostable materials and design packaging that minimises waste and maximises recyclability.

Make your supply chain greener: work with your suppliers to make your supply chain more sustainable. Encourage them to adopt environmentally friendly practices and prioritise suppliers that share your commitment to sustainability. You can look into buying products that take less energy to make, transport and use as a starting point. 

When procuring new services, ask suppliers to provide their sustainable strategy, policy, or credentials.  

Change banks: does your bank have investments in fossil fuels? If so, make the switch to a green bank that invests in renewable energy, such as the Green Investment Group.

Sign up to Carbon Neutral Britain:  Founded in 2020, Carbon Neutral Britain is an NGO that provides guidance and carbon offsetting to businesses and charities of all sizes.

When you sign up, they’ll calculate your annual carbon footprint, help you reduce it, and offset the remainder through certified carbon offsetting projects.

Once complete, your organisation will be certified as Carbon Neutral.

You can find out more here.

Final Word

Addressing climate change and environmental challenges may seem like a daunting prospect, but, whether it’s reducing the packing in your supply chain or implementing a greener transport link for employees, even the smallest of changes can make a big difference.

Is it time to start your journey?

Looking for an environmentally conscious fundraiser to join your team? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.

Funding Opportunities: November

Grants are a vital source of income for charities large and small, but trawling through databases for relevant opportunities is a time-consuming task.

Enter Bamboo.

Each month, we’re going to scour the internet and highlight a range of funding opportunities from trusts, corporates, and the public sector.

Let’s get into it.

Peter Sowerby Foundation

Amount: Up to £500,000
Deadline: An expression of interest form must be submitted by 14th December 2023, 5pm.

The Peter Sowerby Foundation has announced a £2.5million open call for charities that tackle the ‘UK’s most pressing health issues through scale and innovation.’

Five charities will be awarded up to £500,000 to launch or expand existing initiatives that:

• demonstrate innovation in process, patient care or structural and systemic changes in primary healthcare.

• are high-impact and transformative in improving the quality of healthcare at scale (national) on three levels: individual, community and the sector.

• are potentially high-risk, complex, or technical.

• are backed up by clinical evidence and run by high-calibre professionals with compelling track records

Note: The scheme is focused on active delivery, not research i.e., it’s for initiatives which are ready to launch or scale.  

Click here to find out more and apply.

BA Better World Community Fund

Amount: Up to £15,000
Deadline: Ongoing

British Airways’ Community Fund provides match funding for crowdfunded projects that align with the priorities of BA Better World.

To qualify, projects must either:

• deliver support in areas experiencing social and economic deprivation, including rural communities.

• work with one or more of the following groups as a main focus:

- lower socio-economic groups
- culturally diverse communities.
- disadvantaged females.
- individuals struggling with mental health and wellbeing.
- groups that explore/provide solutions for climate change.

Priority will be given to projects that:

• provide training for disadvantaged groups to help them access employment and education.

• create opportunities for people in underrepresented groups, focused on improving gender and ethnic diversity and accessibility for people with disabilities.

• tackle environmental and climate challenges.

Additional information

• the fund will match each individual donation, up to £250.

• the maximum amount of funding per project is £15,000.

• projects must receive donations from at least 25 supporters to qualify.

Click here to find out more and apply.

Lloyds Bank Foundation’s Programme for Specialist Small Charities

Amount: £75,000
Deadline: Thursday, 25 January 2024, 5pm

The programme offers three-year unrestricted grants of £75,000 for small, local, specialist charities that provide in-depth services in one of the following areas:

• addiction

• asylum seekers and refugees

• care leavers

• domestic abuse

• homelessness

• offending

• sexual abuse and exploitation

• trafficking and modern slavery

The programme prioritises charities that:

• can demonstrate an understanding of trauma and strengths-based approaches. 

• involve people with lived experience in the leadership of the organisation and the design and delivery of services. 

• demonstrate an understanding of their own organisational challenges, have the interest and are willing to invest time and effort in owning and addressing them.

• can demonstrate a solid commitment to D, E, &I

To qualify, charities must have:

• an annual income of between £25,000 to £500,000.

• a board of at least three trustees.

Find out more and apply here.

Motability Community Transport Grant Programme

Amount: Up to £4m
Deadline: Ongoing

Through its Community Transport Grant programme, Motability is awarding charities in the community transport sector grants of between £100,000 and £4 million until March 2025.

The programme aims to help charities develop, expand, and improve community transport options for disabled people.

To qualify, charities must:

• be registered in the UK and have been active for at least three years.

• have generated an annual income of at least £150,000 per annum over the last three years.

• hold free reserves equivalent to at least three months of operating costs.

The scheme will fund:

• local, regional, or national initiatives that increase awareness of community transport and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.

• existing schemes, programmes and initiatives that provide best practice solutions, but require further investment to remain operational or scale up.

• staff or volunteer training and costs.

• additional vehicles to support more disabled people in the community.

Additional information

 You can apply for one-, two- or three years ’ worth of funding. For example, you could apply for £102,000 in total over three years, which would be £34,000 per annum.

Find out more and apply here.

Looking for a trust fundraiser to join your team? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.

New report explores how charities are responding to the cost of living crisis

According to the Office of National Statistics, around 46% of adults are finding it difficult to afford their rent or mortgage payments due to the increased cost of living. As a result, 63% are spending less on non-essentials, including charity donations.

A new report by Ensleigh Insurance explores how the cost-of-living crisis is impacting fundraising and the ability to recruit and retain staff. It also analyses what charities are doing to overcome these challenges.

The findings

307 charities took part in Endsleigh’s survey. Here are the key findings.

Finances under pressures

Charities reported that their finances were under pressure across all areas of the UK. At just under 65%, the north of England and the Midlands have been hardest hit, followed by the South at 58%.

Notably, 45% of respondents said they are in a worse financial position now than they were during the pandemic, and 43% fear their organisation is at risk of closure due to ongoing financial pressures.

Social media marketing and technology are a priority

The report found that charities are responding to financial challenges by increasing their social media marketing activity and utilising innovative technologies to engage younger donors.

Let’s look at these two areas in a little more detail.

Social media marketing

According to the Donor Pulse Summer Edition, the age groups feeling the financial squeeze most are Gen X and Baby Boomers. The picture looks slightly different for the under 40’s, with 28% of Gen Z saying they are unaffected, or are better off financially, as do 30% of millennials.

To target this group, 31% of Endsleigh’s survey respondents said they’ve doubled down on their social media marketing efforts in the last 12 months. While 30% have partnered with social media influencers to raise awareness and boost donations.

Use of technology

The survey also found that charities are experimenting with new technologies to engage Gen Z and millennials.

58% of charities said they’ve used the metaverse, Augmented Reality, VR, or online games to encourage donations in the past year.  

They’re also using tech to make it easier for people to donate. Online payments, facial recognition, and fingerprint scanning technology are now widely used by the charities surveyed, with 63% adopting one or more of the technologies over the last 12 months.

Recruitment

The report also looks at the sector’s recruitment and staffing issues.

Of those surveyed, 45% reported increased staff turnover and 55% said employees had been forced out of the sector in search of better-paid employment in other industries.

To fill the gaps, 29% said they are increasing their use of automation and AI.

Alison Meckiffe, chief executive of Endsleigh Insurance, said of the report, ‘The cost-of-living crisis has put even more pressure on charities, social enterprises, and not-for-profit organisations. While the report highlights the financial threat many organisations face, it also highlights the resilience of the industry, with many identifying ways to evolve their business model to continue to support those most in need.

You can read the full report here.

 Need a tech-savvy fundraiser to help you navigate the cost-of-living crisis? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 to talk tactics.

Introducing the Funding Network

Calling all small charities. Are you familiar with the Funding Network? If not, read on, as this post is for you.

What is the Funding Network?

Dubbed the “Dragon's Den” for charities, The Funding Network (TFN) is the UK’s first live crowdfunding charity.

Established by four friends in 2002, the goal was to create a forum where people could come together to learn about social change, the work of small charities, and raise funds as a group.

The priority? To make giving ‘fun, social and impactful.’

Since launching, TFN has raised over £16 million for over 2,300 charities in the UK, driving social change in the areas of human rights, climate change and the environment, health, education, inclusion, and more.

Gone global

TFN also runs an Affiliates' Programme through which they equip civil society organisations (CSOs) across the world with the skills, and resources to run their own live giving circle events.

They provide ongoing training and funding to drive community transformation in 14 countries, from Peru and Palestine to Singapore and New Zealand.

What does TFN do?

Live crowdfunding events are the beating heart of what TFN does.

They hold regular events throughout the year, both in-person and online, which connect socially minded donors with small non-profits looking for funding.

What does a live funding event look like?

Have you seen Dragon’s Den? Imagine that, but friendlier and more entertaining.

TFN events typically begin with informal networking, where guests and non-profits can get to know each other over light refreshments.

Once everyone is sitting comfortably, presenters from four pre-nominated charities are given six minutes to pitch for funding in front of 70-100 potential donors.

They can pitch for anything up to £10,000.

At the end of each pitch, the audience has six minutes to ask the presenters questions.

To ensure they get the most out of the experience, presenters take part in a workshop prior to the event, to learn how to bring their work to life through stories, and communicate their organisation’s impact in a short, compelling pitch. 

After the Q&A sessions, the presenters leave the room and the audience is led through a fun, auction-style pledging session.

They’re encouraged to pledge donations, time, or pro bono support to the four charities. 

‘Matched funding’ is a frequent and often hilarious feature of the pledging sessions, whereby one donor will pledge funds on the condition that it is matched by another pledger (or pledgers) in the room.

At the end of the pledging session, the presenters re-enter the room, and they’re told how much has been raised for their respective causes.

Twelve months after the event, each organisation provides a short report on the impact of the funds raised which is sent to all donors.

Want to find out more about what happens at a live crowdfunding event? Read this.
You can also watch some live pitches on TFN’s YouTube page.

Who attends the events?

The events are open to anyone, but the audience usually comprises of philanthropists, socially minded individuals and businesses.

How much do the events cost?

Virtual events are free to attend. Face-to-face events cost £20 for non TFN members.

Why crowdfunding?

TFN believes that giving should be fun, well informed and engaging.

Live crowdfunding offers people a unique opportunity to pool their time and resources to support small charities driving change, and to meet the inspiring individuals behind those organisations.

In the words of the charity itself, ‘live crowdfunding is about gathering people who are different from each other so that our increasingly siloed lives do not diminish our collective capacity for empathy.

It is our aim to drive social change so that we have healthier, fairer, and more sustainable communities.’

Want to apply for funding?

To apply for support, charities must be sponsored by a TFN member.

If you don’t know any TFN members, you can ask someone in your charity to become a member, with a view to sponsoring your organisation. It can be a trustee, volunteer, or a supporter, as long as it’s somebody who’s not in paid employment.

Individual membership costs £150 per year.

You can find out more about becoming a member here.

Once nominated, charities are invited to apply to pitch for £10,000.

The eligibility criteria, assessment and application process is outlined here.

To see TFN in action, watch this short film or visit their website: thefundingnetwork.org.uk.

Need a pitch-perfect fundraiser to wow the TFN crowd? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.

Five ways supporters can donate cash without spending a penny

We’re living in challenging times. As a result of the sharp increase in the cost of food, fuel, and other essentials, driven by soaring energy costs and the highest inflation in 40 years, everyone is feeling the pinch.

For charities, running costs and demand for services are increasing, but income is falling as people have less to give.

Research by StepChange suggests that 60% of donors have cut back on charitable giving in the last 6 months as families struggle with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

That’s the bad news.

The good news? Donors can continue to support you without spending a penny.

Here are five initiatives to promote in your next newsletter.

Nectar Donate

In 2020, Crowdfunder and Nectar teamed up to launch Nectar Donate, an initiative that enables people to donate their Nectar points to a charity of their choice.

The setup is quick and easy. All donors need to do is set up a Crowdfunder account, link their Nectar account to it, and decide how many points to donate.

Points can be donated in increments of 200, with a maximum of 1 million per donation.

To give you an idea, 500 points are worth £2.50.

Nectar card points can be collected at hundreds of outlets including Sainsbury's, Argos, eBay, VUE, Asos, Sky, and British Airways. So this is an easy way for donors to accumulate points, and give for free. Oh, and 100% of every donation goes to charity.

Sign your charity up to benefit here.

Giveacar

Giveacar is a not-for-profit social enterprise that turns people’s vehicles into cash for charity.

The organisation collects unwanted cars, vans, and motorbikes for free. They then either sell them at auction or scrap them, and donate the proceeds (minus a service fee) to the donor’s chosen charity.

Giveacar’s salvage partners deconstruct older polluting vehicles and sell the parts separately, maximising their value for charity.

The British Heart Foundation has received £72,000 through the scheme, so it’s well worth ‘driving’ support from your donors.

Sign your charity up to benefit here.

Charitable Travel

Charitable Travel is a not-for-profit social enterprise travel agency that enables customers to donate a portion of the cost of their holiday to a charity of their choice.

To qualify, customers must donate 5% of the cost of their holiday to a charity of their choice (the charity must be registered on JustGiving and the donation made through the platform). Once the donation has been made, Charitable Travel will discount the cost of their holiday by 5%, effectively making the donation free.

The organisation offers everything from beach getaways to safaris, both in the UK and abroad.

Sign your charity up to benefit here.

eBay for Charity

eBay for Charity is a free and easy way for ebayers to support causes they care about.

All they have to do is tick the “donate a portion to charity” box when listing an item and choose a cause to support (they can donate between 10-100%)

Once the item has sold, eBay collects donations via PayPal Giving Fund, claims Gift Aid (if eligible), and passes 100% of the money on to the charity. They then allocate a fee credit equal to the percentage they donate to the seller’s eBay account.

Charity listings are distinguished by the blue and yellow eBay for Charity ribbon.

There are 22 million active eBayers in the UK, selling everything from electronics to cars, so this is a no-brainer.

Sign your charity up to benefit here.

Movement for Good Awards

The Benefact Group is an international family of specialist financial services companies that donate over £1million to good causes each year.

The Movement for Good Awards is their annual programme of giving.

It functions like a lottery: members of the public nominate charities to receive £1,000 award via an online form and the charities are entered into a draw.

Winners are drawn at random at various points during the year.

The organisation also picks ten charities to receive £5,000 in each draw.

Details of these are announced on their social media channels.

Bonus Tip: This year, the Group will be awarding grants of £10,000 and more. To be considered for a larger grant, register your interest here.

Need a fundraiser to manage these fundraising initiatives? We’ve got plenty waiting in the wings. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 to get the conversation started.