"Don't listen to talk about compassion fatigue", argued comedian Billy Connolly in his 1995 film in Mozambique for Comic Relief. This year's Wine Relief magazine for Comic Relief republishes his stirring call to give and keep giving.
For the fourth year running Parcelforce Worldwide has helped underprivileged children in eastern Europe by collecting parcels for an international children's charity. "Operation Christmas Child," a special project run by the Samaritan's Purse International Charity, has delivered Christmas treats to needy children in 12 impoverished and war-torn eastern European countries.
National newspapers have launched their seasonal charity appeals. But you would only know that if you bought the paper versions. UK Fundraising reads the papers and finds they aren't encouraging online readers to give. Read the report below.
Raising funds by tucking into a pizza sounds a little too good to be true. But Pizza Express have been offering this service for some years now, and have raised an impressive figure, simply by adding a discretionary 25p for every Pizza Veneziana sold. Sales of the fundraising pizza have now raised £777,434.46 (as of 3 May 1998).
Direct debit has been a convenient method of regular giving for some years now. It could soon get even easier, according to telemarketing company Pell & Bales. "Paperless direct debit should deliver at least a 20% improvement in your results," said Karl Holweger, CEO at Pell & Bales.
November is Will Aid month. Over 2,000 solicitors in the UK are taking part to encourage people to make a Will. Participating solicitors ask for a charitable donation of £40 from clients and pass that on to the participating international aid charities. Don't be put off by the fact that the Web site is still stuck in 1996 - Will Aid is a valuable fundraising tool that is very much alive.
And there you were, thinking that your main fundraising database worry was the Year2000 bug/bomb. But there's another issue that needs tackling which, if unaddressed, will also seriously compromise the quality of your donor data. The nation's telephone numbering system is being changed - yes, again.
At the Charities Annual Conference in London, AlertNet, the Internet service for international emergency relief, and Charities Aid Foundation launched a new initiative to make it easier for people to make donations to victims of disasters and other emergencies.
Charities Aid Foundation has launched World People, a new way of giving to the world's poorest countries, easily and tax-effectively. World People works alongside the new government 'Millennium Gift Aid' initiative designed to support anti-poverty and education projects in areas of the world that need your help most.
It's difficult to stand out from so many fundraising events, but Imperial Cancer Research Fund have done so by coming up with a novel idea for a sponsored event. They are asking men to show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October by wearing a bra to work on the outside of their shirt.
