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A social enterprise that taps into the hidden world of online sales referrals allows us to give to charity without opening our wallets

Would you donate more to charity if it wasn't coming out of your pocket? Thanks to the combination of several technologies and services, this is now possible through the social enterprise TheGivingMachine.

Every year, online shops pay hundreds of millions of pounds to other websites for sales referrals. This is a hidden pool of money to which we have all added by clicking on a link, buying a product and as a result unknowingly created a sales commission for someone else. TheGivingMachine taps into this established technique called affiliate marketing and enables you to generate a sales commission from buying what you were already going to buy from hundreds of the best known online shops. 75% of these commissions are then converted into free donations to the charities and schools you choose, with the remainder providing the income needed to operate the website and distribute the many donation payments every month.

The mature affiliate marketing platforms enable us to track commissions generated at hundreds of shops back to the user who generated them. By knowing the schools and charities users support (up to four in any percentage split), the donations can all be tracked and distributed correctly. For example, for every £100 spent online, between £2.50 to £5 in free donations is generated and donated to causes the user chooses.

This form of giving has some other interesting outcomes. First, the shopper can choose where to donate. Second, shops now see this type of giving has become a powerful engagement mechanism. Finally, charities and schools can develop a free and regular source of new unrestricted income by simply asking supporters for a small change in behaviour rather than directly "ask" for more money.

Our team, many of whom are parents who work between school drop-off and pick-up, have a very dynamic working environment which has a mixture of home working and community space working. Thankfully, there is a huge array of technologies that enable us to provide a professional service while keeping costs low.

Website, phone lines, email, document and issue management systems are all hosted on cloud platforms, which means we can easily cope with demand increases because all our data can be accessed, managed and amended from wherever we are. Team and board meetings around kitchen tables are as effective (perhaps more so) than around office desks.

Why is being a not-for-profit social enterprise important? Enabling you to generate free donations and manage the thousands of payments every month to charities and schools across the UK is a privilege and is driven primarily by our social purpose and outcome. Being awarded the social enterprise mark means that we join the many other social enterprises who are transforming commerce into a force for good for our communities and beyond.

In 2012, more than 17,000 new givers joined TheGivingMachine (that's more than 1,300 a month) and helped generate more than 220,000 donations that year. We hope to exceed a million free donations generated by the end of 2013.

Richard Morris is the founder and managing director of TheGivingMachine

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Charity Commission investigating concerns of possible fraud relating to £450,000 donation

Comic Relief has called in Charity Commission investigators over concerns of possible fraud relating to a £450,000 donation to a Ugandan charity.

It is understood up to £200,000 of the donation, given by the British public via Comic Relief to the Ugandan charity the Busoga Association UK, is unaccounted for or is the subject of possible abuse.

It is alleged that £50,000 of the grant was used to pay for consultants to make the bid for a donation from Comic Relief – an extremely high amount for such consultancy work, according to those familiar with the case.

The charity, which is registered in the UK with the commission, says on its website that it works in Britain and Uganda to provide support to men, women and children, including helping women living in urban slums in northern Uganda. Hundreds of thousands of pounds in grants given by other organisations are also being reviewed by the regulator as part of a check on its finance and governance.

The revelations come at a time when the Charity Commission is under political pressure to improve the detection of fraud. The parliamentary public accounts committee has begun an inquiry into whether the commission is fit for purpose.

Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, has said the commission's approach to regulation and enforcement lacks rigour.

This summer, the national fraud authority estimated that UK charities had lost £147.3m of public donations to fraudulent activity in the financial year 2011-12.

The Charity Commission confirmed on Thursday it was examining concerns raised by Comic Relief auditors over the Busoga Association UK. But nearly three months on from first being alerted by Comic Relief about donations which are unaccounted for, the regulator has yet to make a decision on whether to use its statutory powers to mount a formal investigation.

A spokeswoman said: "The commission has been approached by Comic Relief expressing concern about funding it has provided to the Busoga Association UK (1081149) on the basis that insufficient accounting records have been made available to confirm how the grants were applied.

"The commission has sought a meeting with the trustees of the charity to discuss what evidence exists concerning the use of the funds in question, together with the charity's governance and financial management arrangements. Before that meeting, the commission has not formed a view of what the outcome will be in terms of any regulatory advice or action."

The commission refused to say whether the police had been alerted over possible fraud or whether any contact had been established with Busoga's trustees.

A Comic Relief spokeswoman said: "do not comment on cases prior to outcome."She said the charity, which has made more than £800m worth of grants since 1985, pursued any abuse of its funding vigorously.

"We constantly review our systems and draw on expertise from external advisors to ensure our funds go where they are most needed and are used by organisations to make real change in people's lives," she said.

The Guardian made repeated attempts to contact the Busoga Association UK, which is based in Dalston, north-east London, but there was no response.

Two months ago, the National Fraud Authority revealed that nearly one in 10 UK charities with incomes of more than £100,000 were subject to fraud in the financial year 2011-12. It exposed the failure by many charities to regularly audit donations – only a fifth of the charities who responded to the fraud survey said they tried to measure their fraud loss each year. Nearly 25,000 UK charities failed to complete the fraud audit.

The chief executive of the Charity Commission, Sam Younger, responding to the NFA report, said charities had to embrace a culture of counter fraud and risk management.

The public accounts committee said in June that the Charity Commission had failed to detect widescale abuse by a charity called Cup Trust, which received £176m in income but made donations of just £55,000.

Questioning whether the regulator was "fit for purpose" Hodge said the episode had caused "damage to the reputation of the commission and charity sector". She added: "The Charity Commission's approach to regulation and enforcement lacks rigour."

• Charities
• Uganda
• Africa
• Voluntary sector

Sandra Laville
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Charity Commission investigating concerns of possible fraud relating to £450,000 donation

Comic Relief has called in Charity Commission investigators over concerns of possible fraud relating to a £450,000 donation to a Ugandan charity.

It is understood up to £200,000 of the donation, given by the British public via Comic Relief to the Ugandan charity the Busoga Association UK, is unaccounted for or is the subject of possible abuse.

It is alleged that £50,000 of the grant was used to pay for consultants to make the bid for a donation from Comic Relief – an extremely high amount for such consultancy work, according to those familiar with the case.

The charity, which is registered in the UK with the commission, says on its website that it works in Britain and Uganda to provide support to men, women and children, including helping women living in urban slums in northern Uganda. Hundreds of thousands of pounds in grants given by other organisations are also being reviewed by the regulator as part of a check on its finance and governance.

The revelations come at a time when the Charity Commission is under political pressure to improve the detection of fraud. The parliamentary public accounts committee has begun an inquiry into whether the commission is fit for purpose.

Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, has said the commission's approach to regulation and enforcement lacks rigour.

This summer, the national fraud authority estimated that UK charities had lost £147.3m of public donations to fraudulent activity in the financial year 2011-12.

The Charity Commission confirmed on Thursday it was examining concerns raised by Comic Relief auditors over the Busoga Association UK. But nearly three months on from first being alerted by Comic Relief about donations which are unaccounted for, the regulator has yet to make a decision on whether to use its statutory powers to mount a formal investigation.

A spokeswoman said: "The commission has been approached by Comic Relief expressing concern about funding it has provided to the Busoga Association UK (1081149) on the basis that insufficient accounting records have been made available to confirm how the grants were applied.

"The commission has sought a meeting with the trustees of the charity to discuss what evidence exists concerning the use of the funds in question, together with the charity's governance and financial management arrangements. Before that meeting, the commission has not formed a view of what the outcome will be in terms of any regulatory advice or action."

The commission refused to say whether the police had been alerted over possible fraud or whether any contact had been established with Busoga's trustees.

A Comic Relief spokeswoman said: "do not comment on cases prior to outcome."She said the charity, which has made more than £800m worth of grants since 1985, pursued any abuse of its funding vigorously.

"We constantly review our systems and draw on expertise from external advisors to ensure our funds go where they are most needed and are used by organisations to make real change in people's lives," she said.

The Guardian made repeated attempts to contact the Busoga Association UK, which is based in Dalston, north-east London, but there was no response.

Two months ago, the National Fraud Authority revealed that nearly one in 10 UK charities with incomes of more than £100,000 were subject to fraud in the financial year 2011-12. It exposed the failure by many charities to regularly audit donations – only a fifth of the charities who responded to the fraud survey said they tried to measure their fraud loss each year. Nearly 25,000 UK charities failed to complete the fraud audit.

The chief executive of the Charity Commission, Sam Younger, responding to the NFA report, said charities had to embrace a culture of counter fraud and risk management.

The public accounts committee said in June that the Charity Commission had failed to detect widescale abuse by a charity called Cup Trust, which received £176m in income but made donations of just £55,000.

Questioning whether the regulator was "fit for purpose" Hodge said the episode had caused "damage to the reputation of the commission and charity sector". She added: "The Charity Commission's approach to regulation and enforcement lacks rigour."

• Charities
• Uganda
• Africa
• Voluntary sector

Sandra Laville
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The confusing process of claiming Gift Aid hinders the often spontaneous nature of text donations and online giving

Impulse donations have to be quick. A pound in the bucket is easier than a lengthy chat with a clipboard-wielding rep on the street – and the same principle applies to giving via charities' digital channels.

This is why the cumbersome and confusing process of claiming Gift Aid hinders the often spontaneous nature of text donations and online giving. Any attempts to simplify the path to donation must be welcomed.

So it's promising that the Treasury's new consultation, Gift Aid and Digital Giving, recognises that advancements in technology, which are boosting charity fundraising campaigns, are being maimed by antiquated Gift Aid processes.

But the Treasury must go beyond recognising the problems. They must resolve them. The danger is that this promising but piecemeal paper will distract from what should be the highest priority right now: properly implementing the two biggest changes in Gift Aid – online returns and the small donations scheme.

Bringing Gift Aid online has not been without its complications so far, and the Government could be doing more to assist technology companies helping charities transition to the new system by September.

The small donations scheme is a wonderful idea but, in this case, small has not meant simple. The entry-level guidance for this was 20 pages long in explaining the scheme. The key to success of Gift Aid reform is layman simplicity. The proposals to cut the declaration by half is welcomed, although not radical.

For radical we just need to see how defective our tax incentives are in comparison to the US. To seriously boost the giving economy in the UK, we need to seriously shake things up, and this paper is too bland for that, but it could still save millions by streamlining the system.

Simplifying the process for staff, not just supporters, is the crux of this. I have watched conscientious smaller charities, fearfully checking the eligibility of donors for Gift Aid, spending salaried time on administration around it.

Sensible steps to simplify the user experience for Gift Aid declarations are important. We should focus on the donations funnel and making this as short, simple and smooth as possible. It's amazing how easy it is to put someone off giving by asking people for too much detail.

We need to aspire to making the donation experience as painless as ordering from Amazon. For one-click payments, storing Gift Aid status against a donor is critical, whereas other suggestions like a central declaration database seem too far-fetched.

Gift Aid is seen as a huge incentive to boost giving, but Raising IT carried out a simple online experiment, where we removed Gift Aid declarations from a donation form, hence simplifying it, and saw an increase in donations. Gift Aid simply cannot continue to be a barrier to online giving.

JustGiving took advantage of the public's ignorance of Gift Aid, and to many it seemed they could magically make more money from your donation. There is still plenty to be done to educate people about Gift Aid.

The government is essentially offering circa £15m in tax relief through these proposals, so it's vital that the sector as a whole provides full and frank feedback to the consultation. Without a full and forthright response, it may be another two decades before donations reach the top of its agenda again.

Tom Latchford is chief executive of Raising IT.

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• Fundraising
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The confusing process of claiming Gift Aid hinders the often spontaneous nature of text donations and online giving

Impulse donations have to be quick. A pound in the bucket is easier than a lengthy chat with a clipboard-wielding rep on the street – and the same principle applies to giving via charities' digital channels.

This is why the cumbersome and confusing process of claiming Gift Aid hinders the often spontaneous nature of text donations and online giving. Any attempts to simplify the path to donation must be welcomed.

So it's promising that the Treasury's new consultation, Gift Aid and Digital Giving, recognises that advancements in technology, which are boosting charity fundraising campaigns, are being maimed by antiquated Gift Aid processes.

But the Treasury must go beyond recognising the problems. They must resolve them. The danger is that this promising but piecemeal paper will distract from what should be the highest priority right now: properly implementing the two biggest changes in Gift Aid – online returns and the small donations scheme.

Bringing Gift Aid online has not been without its complications so far, and the Government could be doing more to assist technology companies helping charities transition to the new system by September.

The small donations scheme is a wonderful idea but, in this case, small has not meant simple. The entry-level guidance for this was 20 pages long in explaining the scheme. The key to success of Gift Aid reform is layman simplicity. The proposals to cut the declaration by half is welcomed, although not radical.

For radical we just need to see how defective our tax incentives are in comparison to the US. To seriously boost the giving economy in the UK, we need to seriously shake things up, and this paper is too bland for that, but it could still save millions by streamlining the system.

Simplifying the process for staff, not just supporters, is the crux of this. I have watched conscientious smaller charities, fearfully checking the eligibility of donors for Gift Aid, spending salaried time on administration around it.

Sensible steps to simplify the user experience for Gift Aid declarations are important. We should focus on the donations funnel and making this as short, simple and smooth as possible. It's amazing how easy it is to put someone off giving by asking people for too much detail.

We need to aspire to making the donation experience as painless as ordering from Amazon. For one-click payments, storing Gift Aid status against a donor is critical, whereas other suggestions like a central declaration database seem too far-fetched.

Gift Aid is seen as a huge incentive to boost giving, but Raising IT carried out a simple online experiment, where we removed Gift Aid declarations from a donation form, hence simplifying it, and saw an increase in donations. Gift Aid simply cannot continue to be a barrier to online giving.

JustGiving took advantage of the public's ignorance of Gift Aid, and to many it seemed they could magically make more money from your donation. There is still plenty to be done to educate people about Gift Aid.

The government is essentially offering circa £15m in tax relief through these proposals, so it's vital that the sector as a whole provides full and frank feedback to the consultation. Without a full and forthright response, it may be another two decades before donations reach the top of its agenda again.

Tom Latchford is chief executive of Raising IT.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Fundraising
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Carefully selected images on your charity website will help to increase your organisation's impact

Images engage readers, support your written points, present information differently or break up the monotony of text. They can affect what a user thinks, feels or does and make your website more attractive. This matters because more attractive websites make the user want to stay and engage with you.

Having a unique style and professional approach to images on your charity website can set you apart. However, with web page space at a premium, what tricks are there to ensure that your images have the most impact?

Keep it real

Photos of the people your charity reaches – service users, fundraisers and donors, will increase the user's emotional engagement with you. Show real people in real situations to demonstrate the impact your work has. Christian Aid's recent TV advert featured a real community to show the possibilities their work could have.

It's easier to take photos of real-life situations than to set up photo shoots. Plus, you'll build up an archive of fantastic photojournalism that records your work and achievements. Don't be afraid of action shots - they capture the moment, and convey energy that feels genuine and trustworthy. Stock images and posed photos can feel fake, which threatens your credibility and can reduce support.

Be specific

Generic pictures that don't make a user think, feel or do something waste valuable space. Remember that it's not the case of using more images, but using the right images.

Being too arbitrary can be counterproductive – it creates visual noise that confuses your users. Don't encourage people to cut down on sugar in their diet by using a picture of scales. Use an image that shows them how, or why, to cut down. For campaigning pages think about how you can use images to back up your written points and actually inspire action.

It's been suggested that people donate more when they receive information about a specific individual they can relate to, rather than a group.. For example, it's easier for the public to empathise with an image that explains how a person became homeless, rather than a stereotypical image of a homeless person.

Images of children that evoke negative emotions produce more and greater potential donations than those that evoke positive emotions. Plus studies have found that people tend to give more money when presented with images of children rather than adults, so if your charity works with or for children in any way this is worth bearing in mind.

Evoke emotion

Research has suggested that the emotional intensity of images stimulates donations. If you need more funds to mentor children then positive imagery means viewers are inclined to support or encourage your future activities. However, if you need funds to prevent poverty, then negative imagery will prompt the viewer to respond with an action that reduces poverty.

Imagery that elicits pity can work for one-off donations but not long term giving. An emergency appeal can show a worried girl in a refugee camp, but a long term giving strategy could show the same girl safe and well thanks to the charity.

Test it

You can test what works and what doesn't by using trial and error. Multivariate testing can be a great way to see if different images have an impact on what your users think or do, while Emotional Response Testing can provide great insight into how different images change the way your user feels. Use the insight to make small incremental changes to your charity images to have a big impact.

Summary

A picture captures a moment in time. Once the moment has gone, so has your photo opportunity. So understand how you will plan, capture and share visual records of your charity activity, establish photography guidelines to ensure your images reflect your brand personality and vision, check your images work well on different devices, and use them for maximum impact to tell a story.

Vicky Reeves is managing director and founder of Chameleon.

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• Impact and effectiveness
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Research by nfpSynergy found that public would have more confidence if staff did not travel in first class

Almost three in four people have said that London-based offices and rebranding are a waste of money for charities, an nfpSynergy poll of 1,002 adults has shown.

The poll was carried out as part of nfpSynergy's Charity Awareness Monitor, which surveys a representative sample of adults in Britain. Of those surveyed, 74% felt that London-based offices for charities were a "somewhat" or "very" wasteful expenditure, with just 4% saying they were "fairly" worthwhile, and the rest saying they were unsure.

Rebranding recieved a similar response, with 72% of people saying it was wasteful for charities to spend money on changing their name, logo or look, and just 9% saying they felt it was worthwhile.

Joe Saxton, founder of nfpSynergy, said: "London offices make complete sense for many charities, so they need to be honest and proactive about the benefits. Being in London provides a much better pool of staff to recruit from and the small savings outside London would be a false economy."

More than half (62%) of those surveyed said they would feel confident that a charity spends donations well if staff did not travel in first class and 55% of respondents said they would feel confident if the organisation was mostly ran by volunteers. Of those surveyed, 51% said that if nobody in the organisation was paid more than £50,000 a year that would increasse their confidence in the charity.

In addition, close to one in five (23%) said that they would have more confidence in a charity if staff paid for their own Christmas party, while 9% felt that staff would need to work for free one day a month for them to feel confident in a charity's spending.

"Paying someone more than £50,000 and £100,000 [makes sense for charities]," Joe Saxton said. "If that person brings a skillset, a breadth of experience and other benefits, be proactive and tell the world about it. I think every major charity can justify paying their chief executive over £100,000.

"What charities need to remember is that if London offices or £100,000 salaries are worthwhile, they need to scream and shout about why. The sector needs to talk about these issues now, not hope that nobody notices what they are doing."

Online tools and lobbying recieved a more positive response, with 70% of respondents saying they felt that spending money on a website was worthwhile and over half of those surveyed saying that lobbying government and other organisations (58%), as well as advertising (67%), were worthwhile.

In addition, 48% believed that producing a magazine to update supporters on work that had been done was a worthwhile expenditure for charities.

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• Finance
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Abby Young-Powell
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Expert advice for ambitious fundraisers from the Institute of Fundraising's national convention

In the recent debate at the Institute of Fundraising's national convention, 'How do we attract, develop and retain the fundraising leaders of the future?' fundraisers got some top tips from experts on stepping up to a director of fundraising role.

Joe Jenkins - director of fundraising, Friends of the Earth

- "Start acting like a fundraising leader. You don't need the job title. Start to think in terms of the big picture for the organisation. Lift your gaze above day-to-day activities and the next year. Look at the long term.

- "Grab every opportunity to look beyond what you're already responsible for. Look outside and inside the organisation for richer, more diverse experience that you can offer in your current or next role. Inspire colleagues, eg., give presentations.

- "Make sure the job is what you really want. Some people are better at actually fundraising than leading a team and are more valuable in that role."

Chris Askew – CEO, Breakthrough Breast Cancer

- "As a CEO, I look for people who can connect across the whole organisation, those who can transpose. Directors of fundraising need to do this more than directors of service or finance or any other department."

- "Don't be defensive or territorial about your work. You need to open it up to the rest of the organisation. Good fundraising directors are the chief storytellers in an organisation."

"People are always rushing to manage. It sometimes puzzles me. Lots of 20-year-olds talk about aiming to be a manager. Management isn't something you want to rush into and it's not the only route to developing."

Catherine Cottrell – deputy executive director of Fundraising, Unicef UK

- "You should be thinking about what skills you need to grow, and also what your organisation should be doing to help you. Work with colleagues in other departments more. Look at getting mentoring or formal training. You want to be seen as someone who can lead the organisation in a crisis."

- "Strategic planning experience is essential, but hard to get. At Unicef, we have a strategic leadership group and we look at how we can get people across the organisation involved in decision making."

- "The long game is important. It's not just about the money you can bring in this year. You might have to make decisions which mean less money this year, but better outcomes in the long run. It can take a long time to train yourself to do that and to be seen to be thinking like that."

Claire Wood Hill – director of fundraising at The Children's Trust

- "Lots of fundraisers say they're not good at maths. You need to get better at it if you want to be a fundraising director. You need to be able to hold your own and answer any questions from the board on potentially multi-million pound projects. Skill up and get to know Excel very well."

- "As a director, it's not about you, it's about the best people in your team. You need to be able to challenge and motivate them. You should plant seeds of ideas but then enable and empower staff to take the reins."

- "Be careful to not become too divorced from fundraising on the ground. You need to keep your hand in but still maintain a helicopter view."

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• Fundraising
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Claudia Cahalane
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Analytics experts joined forces with charities and public bodies over the weekend in a 'Data Dive', the first of its kind in the UK
• More from our series on big data

Read about how the participating organisations got on:
• Oxfam
• Hampshire County Council
• CVAT
• HelpAge International

Professional data scientists and corporate analysts are collaborating with charities and public bodies to identify and combat social problems in the UK and worldwide, as part of a new series of projects launched by DataKind UK.

Over 50 volunteers from some of Britain's largest businesses spent the weekend working side-by-side with staff from Oxfam, HelpAge International, Hampshire County Council and Community and Voluntary Action Tameside (CVAT) at the UK's first 'Data Dive'.

Analytics experts from Marks & Spencer, Ocado, Sky and Ordnance Survey joined academics and financial analysts, all of whom were taking part in a personal capacity.

"The variety of organisations taking part and the variety of problems they bring adds a lot to the event", said Duncan Ross, founder of DataKind UK and director of data science at US technology firm Teradata.

"The volunteers got a lot out of this weekend because they were doing things they weren't necessarily familiar with, as opposed to simply taking the work they do professionally and applying it to the third sector", said Ross.

Analytics and complex algorithms are commonplace among most large businesses and governments today, and have been used in industries such as finance and bioscience for decades, but the third sector and local government often lack the resources to take advantage of these powerful tools.

DataKind - the overarching organisation of which DataKind UK is a chapter - aims to address this imbalance, creating opportunities for nonprofit organisations to take advantage of skillsets that would otherwise be far beyond their budgets.

"For charities large and small, that kind of expertise is just not affordable. This is the only way we can get access to such sophisticated analysis", said Ben Gilchrist, Policy and Participation Manager at CVAT.

The Data Dive follows similar events run by DataKind and will be the first of many over the coming months.

Jake Porway, founder and executive director of DataKind opened the event by setting out the organisation's broad aim of using data to serve humanity, before opening the floor to each of the charities taking part.

Oxfam - food prices

Oxfam came into the weekend aiming to look in detail at the problem of unstable global food prices, and how their unpredictability might be lessened through intelligent analysis of data.

"Oxfam were an interesting group because they got the largest number of volunteers and split it up into four subgroups, each looking something different like rainfall, oil prices and food prices", said Ross.

Analysts used a variety of tools for analysis and visualisation including R and D3, with outputs including a 12 month forecast of the price of white maize in Nairobi (see above) and a dashboard showing various observed food prices at different locations in Kenya (see below).

You can read more here about the process, participants and results in the Oxfam group.

Hampshire County Council - special educational needs

The team from Hampshire arrived aiming to develop a model for predicting the prevalence of children with special educational needs (SEN) at a hyper-local scale by combining data from diverse sources including public bodies and social media.

"Hampshire discovered that the data they currently have is perfect for reporting purposes, but not necessarily for predicting purposes. For example, the data they pulled in from Twitter is granular down to the millisecond, while SEN data is granular down to the year", said Ross.

While they didn't achieve their ultimate aim, the group were able to identify limitations in their data that would need to be overcome in order to carry out the level of analysis they were aiming for.

You can read more here about the group's process and participants, as well as the obstacles that were identified.

CVAT - patterns in charity funding

CVAT set out to explore how charity funding is distributed across charities of different sizes, financial vulnerabilities, and physical locations, using data for voluntary organisations in the Tameside area of Greater Manchester.

"CVAT had done a survey in Greater Manchester on the voluntary sector, but had lacked the resources to fully analyse it. The key question for them was how is the sector coping with the cuts agenda? This is particularly relevant given that a lot of smaller organisations get their funding almost exclusively from local government - an area of the public purse already under a lot of stress", said Ross.

The above interactive dashboard summarises their findings, including the fact that more funding goes to large bodies than those of any other size.

"The commitment of all the volunteers was incredible. The amount of effort they all put in, and the expertise they brought, was quite overwhelming at times. Ten people were working on our data over the course of the weekend, and the different questions they asked made me think a lot about we can do in the future with this", said Gilchrist.

You can find more details here about the CVAT group's work, including links to the datasets they used.

HelpAge International - elderly care across the world

The HelpAge group analysed data on care for the elderly, the results of which will be published later this year as part of an index of how different countries treat elderly people.

What next?

Ross now intends for participant analysts to form what he calls the Data Corps, which will provide ongoing support for interested charities beyond individual Data Dives.

"The Data Corps will work on longer term projects, which can either be standalone or can come directly out of a Data Dive. We hope some of the volunteers who came over this weekend will actually commit to working with them much longer term", he said.

The next Data Dive is slated for late autumn this year, and Ross plans to hold three or four per year in order to make full use of the 300 data scientists and analysts on the DataKind UK contact list.

Data Dives are one method, but how else can we bridge the gap between the analytical capabilities of corporations and the needs of the voluntary sector? Join the debate in the comments below, on the #datadive hashtag or by contacting me directly on Twitter @jburnmurdoch

• Big data
• Charities
• Voluntary sector
• Food poverty
• Autism
• Special educational needs
• Voluntary sector network blog

John Burn-Murdoch
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Expert advice for fundraisers who want to create solid research on which to base marketing decisions

Why personas?

Everyone thinks they know who their audience is but without data, it's just a guessing game. Building up a detailed picture of your audience is a vital stage of marketing planning and potentially even more important for the voluntary sector - by getting a firm grasp on who your audience is and what you want to achieve from your non-profit's digital communications, you can tailor your message to resonate better with potential donors and volunteers.

Despite its importance, following a recent free training session for charitable organisations we found that many fundraisers lacked the necessary knowledge to create solid research on which to base their marketing decisions and so, during the workshop, we introduced them to personas.

Personas are not new in marketing; in fact they have been around since 1994 and since then many digital marketers have been using them to gain better insight into their users. With 56% of charities reporting that they needed training to maximise the potential of digital, however, it perhaps isn't surprising that that even charitable organisations that operate heavily online did not know what they were or how to make best use of them. In response to this I've written this guide to personas specifically for non-profits.

A persona is a "fictional character that communicates the primary characteristics of a group of users, identified and selected as a key target through use of segmentation data".

By using personas in their marketing planning our attendees were able to understand and adopt the cognitive frameworks of their supporters and concentrate on designing content to fit their need states. In referring back to these reference points they are able to ensure that the content created is actually read and found useful by supporters and that it helps assist them through the decision-making process and donor funnel.

Personas are a fantastic tool to create a well-rounded view of your charity's market segments to not only help improve your brand messaging to these audiences but also, thanks to their transparency, to help you get internal buy-in from the many stakeholders from within the organisation.

Creating the personas

A marketing persona can be a complex document (especially when a large number of stakeholder groups are involved) or they can be as simple as this example highlights. Either way, below are 6 simple steps that can help you put together personas for your own specific donor segments using readily available data:

Collect your existing data

To create marketing personas for donor group segments, start by pooling the data you already have, collating all available qualitative and quantitative information about those who have already interacted with the brand. This is a great place to begin as there is no doubt a tremendous amount of material readily accessible; from recent event sign-ups, newsletter subscribers or even basic information from your CRM system.

If you are not yet collecting data on your charities event, attendees and donors, start doing so. When collated this information can be incredibly useful in understanding your current evangelists.

Use your social networks

When searching for demographic data, look no further than social networks (and no... I don't mean Klout scores). People freely volunteer their demographic information on social networks due to their open privacy settings which allows marketing tools such as Facebook Insights access to a host of data instantly, all fine-tuned to your specific audience. Logging into your Facebook page will give you a whole host of information about the community who are already engaging with your charity such as age, gender, location and language.

Another good tool to mine persona data from social media is Demographics Pro which offers further information based on followers of your Twitter accounts.

Make use of website data

There are a number of places you can go to get further data on your web users, for example Quantcast and Google's AdPlanner allow you to gather information on demographics based on the advertising profiles of websites. This is especially potent for those who have a niche target market that regularly frequents particular online meeting places or reference websites, for example, my local charity Ty Hafan could look to related sites such as that for World Hospice Day.

Drill deep down into your own website analytics data too. Take great care to look into metrics such as social media traffic and organic keyword performance to identify intent, but also pay close attention to internal search, as this may offer clues about behaviour or missed content opportunities. Look for commonalities that can help backup the insight you have already captured. For example: you may believe that your current donors consist of young digital natives, but if your analytics show a distinct lack of mobile and tablet activity there may be cause to rethink your hypothesis.

If you know how your donors prefer to find information online, whether that is via search, social or other means, you can also make yourself present in those areas and, using your improved knowledge of the target audience, work on establishing the charity within related communities.

Ask the audience

Further expand your research for more qualitative data on your target market and gain more insight into the decision-making process of donors by gathering customer feedback.

Getting responses from your current audience on their feelings towards certain social issues (it helps if these issues are related to the non-profit) can give you much more information regarding the more "touchy feely" elements of persona creation, highlighting as they do their current mind-set which, when combined with your raw data, helps give more of a narrative to your personas. This is particularly useful to charitable organisations as it offers a much more natural way of illustrating key insights to key stakeholders outside of the persona development process and the project. For example, you can create extended descriptions to personify the donor segment, making it much easier to explain your marketing decisions to others by asking: "Would 'Donor Persona A' relate to this?"

It is important to note however that this qualitative information must still be substantiated with hard data – don't forget that outside influences and biases might skew feedback responses.

Pull it all together

Using all of the data gathered you can begin to piece together a set of marketing personas that blend all of your research into a series of documents, each focused around a single personification of a market segment. The content and complexity of these documents can vary from project to project depending on the level of insight needed but, if very in-depth, can become quite detailed, including:

Age

Educational level

Social interest

Job status

Typical work experience

Main information sources (TV, web search, social media, etc.)

It is important to understand that a marketing persona does not reflect a single person. It is a hypothetical representation of the behaviour and motivations of a group of similar people that, in many cases, is captured in a 1-2 page description to make the persona a realistic character.

With a completed persona you have a real (though hypothetical) person you can imagine, understand and plan around, making it much easier to predict how they might act under any given situation and, importantly, how they will respond to certain stimuli from your campaigns.

Keep refining as more data becomes available

This list is far from comprehensive and while it does not guarantee success for your charity, it does give you a basis from which to develop your well-researched personas based on real market data. Remember though, it is important to maintain persona profiles by adding in new data from alternative sources as they become available as well as removing any traits that can no longer be backed up.

In creating personas, and gaining a more detailed understanding of donors, you can better allocate marketing budgets, evaluate opportunity cost and minimise wastage within your campaigns.

How do you currently identify your target market? Do you use a similar technique to highlight audiences or do you use a less focused approach?

Andrew Isidoro is a digital strategist at Box UK.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Fundraising
• Voluntary sector
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Petition calls for singer and model to pay back £350,000 cost of setting up charity website while she was France's first lady

When Carla Bruni-Sarkozy – a millionaire heiress who once made over £4m a year as a supermodel – became France's first lady, commentators whispered that she might be attacked as a kind of modern-day Marie Antoinette. But it is only now her husband, the rightwing former president Nicolas Sarkozy, has left office that she is increasingly held up as the symbol of his moneyed, bling-bling era.

The latest row to engulf Bruni-Sarkozy as she promotes her new album is over her charitable foundation's website, which it has emerged cost French taxpayers €410,000 (£350,000) to set up while she was first lady.

The cost was published earlier this month in a state auditor's report on Élysée budget savings since the Socialist François Hollande took office, sparking outrage that has culminated in an online petition. More than 50,000 people have demanded that Bruni-Sarkozy pays the money back.

The creation in 2009 of the first lady site for Bruni-Sarkozy, which is different to her personal music site, was a departure for the Élysée. It was a public relations move supposed to capitalise on the soap-opera interest in the model-turned-singer, who had already appeared in interviews calling her French president husband "darling", introducing their dogs and revealing the contents of her handbag.

The site became a byword for glitches when it famously crashed on launch day – accompanied by a message blaming a "vast number of visitors" – and remains active in promoting the work of her charity foundation to help the underprivileged and her work as an ambassador for the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

When the cost of the site emerged, Nicolas Bousquet, a web developer, launched the petition saying the state spend on the site was "indecent" and "anyone could have built the site for less than €10,000". He appealed for Bruni-Sarkozy to pay back the cost.

Amid the outrage, Olivier Laurelli, a French web expert, wrote on the website Rue89 that "at that price, one would naturally expect a veritable marvel", but instead referred to the site as a badly-maintained "catastrophe".

The Bruni-Sarkozy site issued a statement stressing that the foundation had distributed €8m in aid, adding that "all the visible content on the site has been financed by the foundation".

Earlier this year Bruni came under fire from the left when the prime minister's office published a report on spending pointing out that the five people working for the service of the president's partner, the journalist Valerie Trierweiler, cost €19,742 euro a month, compared to the eight people employed by Bruni-Sarkozy's office in January 2012 who cost €36,448.

Meanwhile, a trade union at Air France voiced outrage over state freebies after Bruni-Sarkozy enjoyed a free return flight from Paris to New York while promoting her new album in the US last month. Air France also paid the €500 (£428) airport taxes for her.

The SUD union complained that the longrunning tradition of free tickets for former presidential families and VIPs were scandalous at a time when the part state-owned airline is telling staff its financial situation is "catastrophic". Air France has been undergoing major restructuring and is trying to cut its debt by €2bn by 2015 with significant job losses.

During the last election campaign, Bruni-Sarkozy sparked ridicule when she said she and Sarkozy were modest folk. She later added: "I wasn't talking about our lifestyle. I'm aware that I have a life full of privilege." She claimed she meant her husband's "modest attitude" – in contrast to his reputation for arrogance.

• Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
• Nicolas Sarkozy
• France
• Europe
• Charities
• Voluntary sector

Angelique Chrisafis
theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Petition calls for singer and model to pay back £350,000 cost of setting up charity website while she was France's first lady

When Carla Bruni-Sarkozy – a millionaire heiress who once made over £4m a year as a supermodel – became France's first lady, commentators whispered that she might be attacked as a kind of modern-day Marie Antoinette. But it is only now her husband, the rightwing former president Nicolas Sarkozy, has left office that she is increasingly held up as the symbol of his moneyed, bling-bling era.

The latest row to engulf Bruni-Sarkozy as she promotes her new album is over her charitable foundation's website, which it has emerged cost French taxpayers €410,000 (£350,000) to set up while she was first lady.

The cost was published earlier this month in a state auditor's report on Élysée budget savings since the Socialist François Hollande took office, sparking outrage that has culminated in an online petition. More than 50,000 people have demanded that Bruni-Sarkozy pays the money back.

The creation in 2009 of the first lady site for Bruni-Sarkozy, which is different to her personal music site, was a departure for the Élysée. It was a public relations move supposed to capitalise on the soap-opera interest in the model-turned-singer, who had already appeared in interviews calling her French president husband "darling", introducing their dogs and revealing the contents of her handbag.

The site became a byword for glitches when it famously crashed on launch day – accompanied by a message blaming a "vast number of visitors" – and remains active in promoting the work of her charity foundation to help the underprivileged and her work as an ambassador for the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

When the cost of the site emerged, Nicolas Bousquet, a web developer, launched the petition saying the state spend on the site was "indecent" and "anyone could have built the site for less than €10,000". He appealed for Bruni-Sarkozy to pay back the cost.

Amid the outrage, Olivier Laurelli, a French web expert, wrote on the website Rue89 that "at that price, one would naturally expect a veritable marvel", but instead referred to the site as a badly-maintained "catastrophe".

The Bruni-Sarkozy site issued a statement stressing that the foundation had distributed €8m in aid, adding that "all the visible content on the site has been financed by the foundation".

Earlier this year Bruni came under fire from the left when the prime minister's office published a report on spending pointing out that the five people working for the service of the president's partner, the journalist Valerie Trierweiler, cost €19,742 euro a month, compared to the eight people employed by Bruni-Sarkozy's office in January 2012 who cost €36,448.

Meanwhile, a trade union at Air France voiced outrage over state freebies after Bruni-Sarkozy enjoyed a free return flight from Paris to New York while promoting her new album in the US last month. Air France also paid the €500 (£428) airport taxes for her.

The SUD union complained that the longrunning tradition of free tickets for former presidential families and VIPs were scandalous at a time when the part state-owned airline is telling staff its financial situation is "catastrophic". Air France has been undergoing major restructuring and is trying to cut its debt by €2bn by 2015 with significant job losses.

During the last election campaign, Bruni-Sarkozy sparked ridicule when she said she and Sarkozy were modest folk. She later added: "I wasn't talking about our lifestyle. I'm aware that I have a life full of privilege." She claimed she meant her husband's "modest attitude" – in contrast to his reputation for arrogance.

• Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
• Nicolas Sarkozy
• France
• Europe
• Charities
• Voluntary sector

Angelique Chrisafis
© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions

Data analytics can help organisations to make better decisions and change their actions

Data analytics has had a lot of bad press lately: when people think of data mining they are as likely to think of big brother as of big data.

Revelations about the National Security Agency (NSA) are just the latest in the long list of people using data for questionable ends. Why would any charity in its right mind want to open that can of worms?

The answer, of course, is that people use data analytics because of its power to help them make better decisions and to change their actions. And it truly is powerful.

It's hard to justify making decisions based on instinct. Nate Silver showed us clearly just how poor our instincts are when compared to statistics. But if you scratched beneath the surface of many charities you'd find that this is often the way it's actually done.

Take the most basic question faced by any charity: "is what I'm doing making things better?" It may be a simple question, but in the absence of data it is a difficult one to answer. It's even harder to work out how to become more effective at addressing those objectives – and that is an area where data analytics can help.

Lesson one: improve not prove

Already, some charities have begun using data to overcome key challenges or realise efficiencies: after working with volunteers at a free pilot DataKind 'Data Dive' event last year, the youth-oriented charity Keyfund were able to significantly change their working practices. Using what their chief executive, Hannah Underwood terms the "improve not prove" approach, they discovered that they couldn't justify the additional cost of one of the stages their young people went through. It just wasn't delivering sufficient benefits for the cost.

Lesson two: you're not alone

Keyfund now have ambitious plans to hire their own analytical resource and to share the data they collect with other organisations. But the starting point for this was the support that they got from volunteers.

There are many data scientists and analysts out there who are looking for a worthwhile way to use their skills. There are also organisations like DataKind UK and the Open Knowledge Foundation who try to link volunteers with charities and provide guidance and support.

Lesson three: the possibilities are (almost) limitless

Other UK charities are now getting in on the act, looking to data to solve an array of practical challenges and improve the way their individual organisations operate.

For example, Oxfam GB will explore world food prices – using data science approaches to harvest these from the web so that changes can be predicted and acted on. Hampshire County Council's Special Educational Needs team will look to a wide variety of data to try to predict future need – hopefully to enable the authority to marshal its resources and provide more timely help.

The challenge for HelpAge International will be to understand and visualise support for the elderly throughout the world, so that pressure can be brought to bear on decision-makers. Meanwhile, Community Voluntary Action Tameside plans to use data and analytics to learn about the development of its local volunteer movement, how it is being shaped by the current economic climate, where it is strong and where it is fragile.

Using analytics and data mining 'for good' is less likely to make headlines than using data 'for evil'. But by making more of the information assets they hold – or can access from other sources - third-sector organisations can achieve the type of tangible objectives that commercial organisations are spending vast sums to achieve.

Duncan Ross will be among those hosting the first UK DataDive event, from Friday 26 July- Sunday 28 July. See DataKind UK for more information and future events.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Voluntary sector network blog
• Voluntary sector
• Charities

theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Data analytics can help organisations to make better decisions and change their actions

Data analytics has had a lot of bad press lately: when people think of data mining they are as likely to think of big brother as of big data.

Revelations about the National Security Agency (NSA) are just the latest in the long list of people using data for questionable ends. Why would any charity in its right mind want to open that can of worms?

The answer, of course, is that people use data analytics because of its power to help them make better decisions and to change their actions. And it truly is powerful.

It's hard to justify making decisions based on instinct. Nate Silver showed us clearly just how poor our instincts are when compared to statistics. But if you scratched beneath the surface of many charities you'd find that this is often the way it's actually done.

Take the most basic question faced by any charity: "is what I'm doing making things better?" It may be a simple question, but in the absence of data it is a difficult one to answer. It's even harder to work out how to become more effective at addressing those objectives – and that is an area where data analytics can help.

Lesson one: improve not prove

Already, some charities have begun using data to overcome key challenges or realise efficiencies: after working with volunteers at a free pilot DataKind 'Data Dive' event last year, the youth-oriented charity Keyfund were able to significantly change their working practices. Using what their chief executive, Hannah Underwood terms the "improve not prove" approach, they discovered that they couldn't justify the additional cost of one of the stages their young people went through. It just wasn't delivering sufficient benefits for the cost.

Lesson two: you're not alone

Keyfund now have ambitious plans to hire their own analytical resource and to share the data they collect with other organisations. But the starting point for this was the support that they got from volunteers.

There are many data scientists and analysts out there who are looking for a worthwhile way to use their skills. There are also organisations like DataKind UK and the Open Knowledge Foundation who try to link volunteers with charities and provide guidance and support.

Lesson three: the possibilities are (almost) limitless

Other UK charities are now getting in on the act, looking to data to solve an array of practical challenges and improve the way their individual organisations operate.

For example, Oxfam GB will explore world food prices – using data science approaches to harvest these from the web so that changes can be predicted and acted on. Hampshire County Council's Special Educational Needs team will look to a wide variety of data to try to predict future need – hopefully to enable the authority to marshal its resources and provide more timely help.

The challenge for HelpAge International will be to understand and visualise support for the elderly throughout the world, so that pressure can be brought to bear on decision-makers. Meanwhile, Community Voluntary Action Tameside plans to use data and analytics to learn about the development of its local volunteer movement, how it is being shaped by the current economic climate, where it is strong and where it is fragile.

Using analytics and data mining 'for good' is less likely to make headlines than using data 'for evil'. But by making more of the information assets they hold – or can access from other sources - third-sector organisations can achieve the type of tangible objectives that commercial organisations are spending vast sums to achieve.

Duncan Ross will be among those hosting the first UK DataDive event, from Friday 26 July- Sunday 28 July. See DataKind UK for more information and future events.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Voluntary sector network blog
• Voluntary sector
• Charities

© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions

Britain's Personal Best campaign aims to inspire people to volunteer and achieve personal goals

Last summer, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games captivated us all with the amazing feats of athletes achieving personal bests. I will never forget Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah winning gold medals. The Paralympics was an absolute triumph - challenging perceptions of disability as never before. These memories have been rekindled by 2013 being a second summer of British sporting success.

Recent weeks have seen Olympians and Paralympians back in action, Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, Ashes victories, a second British Tour de France winner and the British Lions triumph.

We all remember the gold medals and the opening ceremony, but as impressive was the role played by volunteers in creating the spirit of the Olympics. This was typified by torchbearers carrying the flame through their communities and by the Games Makers who gave their time freely to help make the event a success. You could see the selflessness of the volunteers enhanced the sense of community and how much people enjoyed it.

Britain's Personal Best, funded by the Big Lottery Fund as part of a range of campaigns to keep the spirit of 2012 alive, has been set up to help each of us to rekindle last summer's memories by doing something special. We can't all break world records, but can all achieve a personal best in our lives. This could be something to help ourselves – say giving up smoking - or something to help each other by giving time or raising funds for a good cause. Britain's Personal Best aims to inspire us, as individuals, organisations and communities, to achieve our very own personal best.

The UK has a proud history of volunteering for good causes. Millions of people already volunteer each year. I believe the best way to achieve a lasting impact from the Olympic spirit is to build on this and encourage people to make a regular effort to help their community, something more permanent than one-off donations or fundraising activities.

The 2012 Olympics changed the public perception of volunteering. It made volunteering attractive, exciting, open to all, aspirational, modern and of the moment. Last week official statistics confirmed a surge in volunteering during the Olympic year. The majority of Olympic Games Makers were new to volunteering. We need to keep attracting new people to the world of voluntary work. In 2012, participation rose especially among younger people and among black and ethnic minorities. That's great news.

But a recent YouGov poll revealed that almost a third (31%) of adults were keen to play their part in an Olympic legacy but didn't know how. Are you one of these people? If so, Britain's Personal Best can help. It can connect you with others wanting to support local causes you care about.

Local charities and community groups can also benefit by taking up the invitation to register with Britain's Personal Best. This allows them to offer opportunities and ideas for people to achieve their Personal Best for a good cause in their own community. Britain's Personal Best recognises that although people give their time freely, volunteering is not a costless exercise. You need organisation to support volunteers and to match the right volunteers with the right opportunity. Local Volunteer Centres play a vital role in making the right match.

Disability campaigner Martyn Sibley has made his personal best a challenge of going from Land's End to John o'Groats in a wheelchair. But regular volunteering need not mean making major life changes. There are many ways to be part of this Olympic legacy through regular participation without taking over too much of your time:

• Contact an older person living alone - regular joggers are encouraged to pop in on isolated neighbours as part of their run

• Mates and dates events where volunteers run social and dating events for people with learning disabilities

• If you have special skills (in say IT, electronics, plumbing or finance) offer to share them with a charity

• Puppy walking – either guide dogs for the blind, for elderly people or for animal rescue homes

• Sport coaching – do you know how to play tennis or rugby? There is always a need to teach a new skill to people of all ages.

• Undertake a challenge you have dreamed of, say parachuting, to raise money for a good cause.

• If time is an issue, consider a regular direct debit donation

To find out more about Britain's Personal Best click here.

Joe Irvin is chief executive of NAVCA – a strategic partner of Britain's Personal Best campaign.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Volunteering
• Voluntary sector network blog
• Volunteering
• Voluntary sector
• Charities

theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Britain's Personal Best campaign aims to inspire people to volunteer and achieve personal goals

Last summer, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games captivated us all with the amazing feats of athletes achieving personal bests. I will never forget Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah winning gold medals. The Paralympics was an absolute triumph - challenging perceptions of disability as never before. These memories have been rekindled by 2013 being a second summer of British sporting success.

Recent weeks have seen Olympians and Paralympians back in action, Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, Ashes victories, a second British Tour de France winner and the British Lions triumph.

We all remember the gold medals and the opening ceremony, but as impressive was the role played by volunteers in creating the spirit of the Olympics. This was typified by torchbearers carrying the flame through their communities and by the Games Makers who gave their time freely to help make the event a success. You could see the selflessness of the volunteers enhanced the sense of community and how much people enjoyed it.

Britain's Personal Best, funded by the Big Lottery Fund as part of a range of campaigns to keep the spirit of 2012 alive, has been set up to help each of us to rekindle last summer's memories by doing something special. We can't all break world records, but can all achieve a personal best in our lives. This could be something to help ourselves – say giving up smoking - or something to help each other by giving time or raising funds for a good cause. Britain's Personal Best aims to inspire us, as individuals, organisations and communities, to achieve our very own personal best.

The UK has a proud history of volunteering for good causes. Millions of people already volunteer each year. I believe the best way to achieve a lasting impact from the Olympic spirit is to build on this and encourage people to make a regular effort to help their community, something more permanent than one-off donations or fundraising activities.

The 2012 Olympics changed the public perception of volunteering. It made volunteering attractive, exciting, open to all, aspirational, modern and of the moment. Last week official statistics confirmed a surge in volunteering during the Olympic year. The majority of Olympic Games Makers were new to volunteering. We need to keep attracting new people to the world of voluntary work. In 2012, participation rose especially among younger people and among black and ethnic minorities. That's great news.

But a recent YouGov poll revealed that almost a third (31%) of adults were keen to play their part in an Olympic legacy but didn't know how. Are you one of these people? If so, Britain's Personal Best can help. It can connect you with others wanting to support local causes you care about.

Local charities and community groups can also benefit by taking up the invitation to register with Britain's Personal Best. This allows them to offer opportunities and ideas for people to achieve their Personal Best for a good cause in their own community. Britain's Personal Best recognises that although people give their time freely, volunteering is not a costless exercise. You need organisation to support volunteers and to match the right volunteers with the right opportunity. Local Volunteer Centres play a vital role in making the right match.

Disability campaigner Martyn Sibley has made his personal best a challenge of going from Land's End to John o'Groats in a wheelchair. But regular volunteering need not mean making major life changes. There are many ways to be part of this Olympic legacy through regular participation without taking over too much of your time:

• Contact an older person living alone - regular joggers are encouraged to pop in on isolated neighbours as part of their run

• Mates and dates events where volunteers run social and dating events for people with learning disabilities

• If you have special skills (in say IT, electronics, plumbing or finance) offer to share them with a charity

• Puppy walking – either guide dogs for the blind, for elderly people or for animal rescue homes

• Sport coaching – do you know how to play tennis or rugby? There is always a need to teach a new skill to people of all ages.

• Undertake a challenge you have dreamed of, say parachuting, to raise money for a good cause.

• If time is an issue, consider a regular direct debit donation

To find out more about Britain's Personal Best click here.

Joe Irvin is chief executive of NAVCA – a strategic partner of Britain's Personal Best campaign.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Volunteering
• Voluntary sector network blog
• Volunteering
• Voluntary sector
• Charities

© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions

We brought the Charity Commission, the Institute of Fundraising and other experts together online to discuss the issue

One bad apple shouldn't affect confidence

"One bad apple shouldn't affect trust in the other excellent online fundraising platforms, but as always research needs to be done into the trustworthiness of a payment platform prior to use." – Nick Shread, head of third sector at 4Ps Marketing.

Online giving has an important role to play

"Digital giving is growing, it's an area charities are investing in and I'm sure the growth will continue. The Dove Trust case is of course concerning, but I think people will continue to give online - they have had good experiences of most online giving platforms, which generally provide a very safe way to give." – Daniel Fluskey, head of policy and research at the Institute of Fundraising.

It's difficult to tell whether public trust will be affected yet

"[Charity Choice] have been contacted by a number of charities who have been understandably concerned that their donations are at risk, which demonstrates that they have lost some confidence in online giving. It's too early to make any definitive assumptions about public confidence, but we have not experienced a drop in donations yet." – Tanya Noronha, publisher for Charity Choice.

"As hard as this case is for the charities and donors affected, I don't think it will stop the growth of digital giving and fundraising. However it is a shot across the bows and makes it timely to ensure that online giving is as safe and secure as possible, and that charities and the public have the best information to hand when using online platforms.

I think more could be done to help charities and donors understand what happens to money that is donated, where it goes and how the organisations work together. The more transparent the process, the more people will trust it." – Daniel Fluskey, Institute of Fundraising.

Platforms and governing bodies should collaborate more

"An agreed standard with other platforms would be a helpful development [that would] enable everyone to continue to improve and help charities to raise the most [money] possible. The number of different platforms available can be confusing but competition has also improved costs and quality in the sector. It would be good to have a mechanism to share fraud cases with other giving platforms. " – Eleanor Harrison, chief executive of Global Giving UK.

Charities using online services should be careful

"Charities must ensure that the next portal they use has a dedicated trust account that ring-fences donations. This means that, in the event of something happening to that organisation, the donations will not be touched as they belong to the charity. It is imperative that online fundraising platforms are transparent in how they treat charity donations. We recommend that charities using online donation services regularly check that reports provided reconcile with the donations reaching their bank accounts so that they can react quickly if necessary. You could ask the portal for a copy of the Declaration of Trust which demonstrates that the account has been set up for this purpose." – Tanya Noronha, Charity Choice.

It's important that trustees keep an eye on funds

"We have to at least give trustees, who are normally volunteers, an opportunity to put right mistakes that have been made. This is a timely reminder that all trustees have a basic duty to protect the assets of their charity and to use them to further the purposes of the charity. [It is important that] trustees keep a close eye on the charity's finances. The controls trustees put in place need to be monitored to ensure that they are complied with and provide a sufficiently robust system for managing financial risk. The monitoring of financial activities by trustees and management on a regular basis is a vital part of this process." – Michelle Russell, head of investigations and enforcement at the Charity Commission.

It's vital that lessons are learnt

"It's vital that lessons are learnt, but its also important not to allow this to adversely affect wider perception of the sector. Online giving has an important role to play and if we can get some collaboration between platforms and governing bodies on investigations that would be a big step forward." – Liz Williams is programme director BT Group Improving Lives.

To read the online discussion in full click here.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Fundraising
• Voluntary sector
• Charities
• Communities

Abby Young-Powell
theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

We brought the Charity Commission, the Institute of Fundraising and other experts together online to discuss the issue

One bad apple shouldn't affect confidence

"One bad apple shouldn't affect trust in the other excellent online fundraising platforms, but as always research needs to be done into the trustworthiness of a payment platform prior to use." – Nick Shread, head of third sector at 4Ps Marketing.

Online giving has an important role to play

"Digital giving is growing, it's an area charities are investing in and I'm sure the growth will continue. The Dove Trust case is of course concerning, but I think people will continue to give online - they have had good experiences of most online giving platforms, which generally provide a very safe way to give." – Daniel Fluskey, head of policy and research at the Institute of Fundraising.

It's difficult to tell whether public trust will be affected yet

"[Charity Choice] have been contacted by a number of charities who have been understandably concerned that their donations are at risk, which demonstrates that they have lost some confidence in online giving. It's too early to make any definitive assumptions about public confidence, but we have not experienced a drop in donations yet." – Tanya Noronha, publisher for Charity Choice.

"As hard as this case is for the charities and donors affected, I don't think it will stop the growth of digital giving and fundraising. However it is a shot across the bows and makes it timely to ensure that online giving is as safe and secure as possible, and that charities and the public have the best information to hand when using online platforms.

I think more could be done to help charities and donors understand what happens to money that is donated, where it goes and how the organisations work together. The more transparent the process, the more people will trust it." – Daniel Fluskey, Institute of Fundraising.

Platforms and governing bodies should collaborate more

"An agreed standard with other platforms would be a helpful development [that would] enable everyone to continue to improve and help charities to raise the most [money] possible. The number of different platforms available can be confusing but competition has also improved costs and quality in the sector. It would be good to have a mechanism to share fraud cases with other giving platforms. " – Eleanor Harrison, chief executive of Global Giving UK.

Charities using online services should be careful

"Charities must ensure that the next portal they use has a dedicated trust account that ring-fences donations. This means that, in the event of something happening to that organisation, the donations will not be touched as they belong to the charity. It is imperative that online fundraising platforms are transparent in how they treat charity donations. We recommend that charities using online donation services regularly check that reports provided reconcile with the donations reaching their bank accounts so that they can react quickly if necessary. You could ask the portal for a copy of the Declaration of Trust which demonstrates that the account has been set up for this purpose." – Tanya Noronha, Charity Choice.

It's important that trustees keep an eye on funds

"We have to at least give trustees, who are normally volunteers, an opportunity to put right mistakes that have been made. This is a timely reminder that all trustees have a basic duty to protect the assets of their charity and to use them to further the purposes of the charity. [It is important that] trustees keep a close eye on the charity's finances. The controls trustees put in place need to be monitored to ensure that they are complied with and provide a sufficiently robust system for managing financial risk. The monitoring of financial activities by trustees and management on a regular basis is a vital part of this process." – Michelle Russell, head of investigations and enforcement at the Charity Commission.

It's vital that lessons are learnt

"It's vital that lessons are learnt, but its also important not to allow this to adversely affect wider perception of the sector. Online giving has an important role to play and if we can get some collaboration between platforms and governing bodies on investigations that would be a big step forward." – Liz Williams is programme director BT Group Improving Lives.

To read the online discussion in full click here.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Fundraising
• Voluntary sector
• Charities
• Communities

Abby Young-Powell
© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions

There are 3 million volunteers in the health and social care sector, who play an indispensable role in sustaining the system

"If we can't support a volunteering culture based on goodwill and altruism, then we can't support the NHS." That was the view of Dr Michael Dixon, Chair of NHS Alliance speaking at a recent King's Fund conference on volunteering in health. Many delegates shared the view that the NHS would struggle to survive without harnessing the power of communities more effectively, suggesting that we won't have an NHS unless we change our relationship with it.

Volunteering was seen as a barometer for the goodwill on which the NHS depends. The King's Fund's recent report estimated that there are around 3 million volunteers in the health and social care sector, the same number as the combined NHS and social care paid workforce. This includes people who volunteer in the NHS and those who are supported by the voluntary sector. One of the report's conclusions was that the role played by this large group of people needs to be better understood, managed and resourced.

Through a wide range of activities, local people make a powerful but under-acknowledged contribution to health and social care Their efforts help to improve patient experience and extend the reach of health services into diverse communities. Volunteers play a particularly important role in taking health "upstream", preventing ill health. Volunteers working in the community are well-placed to identify simple, practical solutions that enable people to stay healthy or recover from ill health, although as we heard at the conference, these are often undervalued compared to clinical solutions.

A good example was Altogether Better, a charity that supports 18,000 volunteer community health champions, who in turn support 100,000 people to live healthier lives.

Alyson McGregor, director of Altogether Better, highlighted the benefits that of volunteers get from volunteering, such as increasing skills and confidence and helping people to return to the workplace. For example, in Sheffield, 40% of 300 volunteer community health champions have now found paid employment. This is volunteering on a large scale, but we also heard from a number of smaller organisations such as East Lancashire Women's Centres, a winner of this year's GSK Impact Awards for health charities, who highlighted the important role that volunteers can play in co-ordinating services provided by multiple agencies and giving individual service users a more integrated experience of care.

Another important message from the conference was the need to be intentional and transparent about the use of volunteers. This is particularly pertinent when looking at the boundaries between volunteers and staff roles and ensuring that volunteers do not substitute for paid staff in inappropriate ways. The idea that voluntary or volunteering did not mean "free" was also addressed: delegates argued that commissioners would need to accept that effective community participation and partnership working requires proper resourcing.

So whose responsibility is it to take all of this forward?

The conference panel included senior representatives from NHS England, Public Health England and the Department of Health. Participants felt that these national organisations have a key role to play in creating an enabling environment in which the full value of volunteering can be realised. However, there was also acknowledgment that much of the work needs to take place at a local level. Some suggested that a cultural change is under way, with professionals increasingly seeing volunteering as a high-value activity and an indispensable part of the health and social care system. As one participant commented: "Volunteering is not just the icing on the cake; it is the fruit within the cake."

The King's Fund's power of volunteering conference was supported by the Department of Health's Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund . To learn more click here.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Volunteering
• Voluntary sector network blog
• Voluntary sector
• Charities
• NHS
• Health

theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

There are 3 million volunteers in the health and social care sector, who play an indispensable role in sustaining the system

"If we can't support a volunteering culture based on goodwill and altruism, then we can't support the NHS." That was the view of Dr Michael Dixon, Chair of NHS Alliance speaking at a recent King's Fund conference on volunteering in health. Many delegates shared the view that the NHS would struggle to survive without harnessing the power of communities more effectively, suggesting that we won't have an NHS unless we change our relationship with it.

Volunteering was seen as a barometer for the goodwill on which the NHS depends. The King's Fund's recent report estimated that there are around 3 million volunteers in the health and social care sector, the same number as the combined NHS and social care paid workforce. This includes people who volunteer in the NHS and those who are supported by the voluntary sector. One of the report's conclusions was that the role played by this large group of people needs to be better understood, managed and resourced.

Through a wide range of activities, local people make a powerful but under-acknowledged contribution to health and social care Their efforts help to improve patient experience and extend the reach of health services into diverse communities. Volunteers play a particularly important role in taking health "upstream", preventing ill health. Volunteers working in the community are well-placed to identify simple, practical solutions that enable people to stay healthy or recover from ill health, although as we heard at the conference, these are often undervalued compared to clinical solutions.

A good example was Altogether Better, a charity that supports 18,000 volunteer community health champions, who in turn support 100,000 people to live healthier lives.

Alyson McGregor, director of Altogether Better, highlighted the benefits that of volunteers get from volunteering, such as increasing skills and confidence and helping people to return to the workplace. For example, in Sheffield, 40% of 300 volunteer community health champions have now found paid employment. This is volunteering on a large scale, but we also heard from a number of smaller organisations such as East Lancashire Women's Centres, a winner of this year's GSK Impact Awards for health charities, who highlighted the important role that volunteers can play in co-ordinating services provided by multiple agencies and giving individual service users a more integrated experience of care.

Another important message from the conference was the need to be intentional and transparent about the use of volunteers. This is particularly pertinent when looking at the boundaries between volunteers and staff roles and ensuring that volunteers do not substitute for paid staff in inappropriate ways. The idea that voluntary or volunteering did not mean "free" was also addressed: delegates argued that commissioners would need to accept that effective community participation and partnership working requires proper resourcing.

So whose responsibility is it to take all of this forward?

The conference panel included senior representatives from NHS England, Public Health England and the Department of Health. Participants felt that these national organisations have a key role to play in creating an enabling environment in which the full value of volunteering can be realised. However, there was also acknowledgment that much of the work needs to take place at a local level. Some suggested that a cultural change is under way, with professionals increasingly seeing volunteering as a high-value activity and an indispensable part of the health and social care system. As one participant commented: "Volunteering is not just the icing on the cake; it is the fruit within the cake."

The King's Fund's power of volunteering conference was supported by the Department of Health's Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund . To learn more click here.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.

• Volunteering
• Voluntary sector network blog
• Voluntary sector
• Charities
• NHS
• Health

© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions