New Year tales of woe

If you took the time to read the national newspapers during your long and hard-earned seasonal break, it would surely not have escaped your attention that the UK economy (and the rest of the world for that matter) is on the brink of meltdown. The so-called credit crunch, falling house prices and stock markets all lead to predictions that large numbers of us will be on skid row in 2008. Fundraisers beware, all is doom and gloom.

And yet history shows that charities do not suffer unduly during periods of economic woe - why do we think that is? Opinions vary, but I like to think that when it comes to the crunch, one of the last things we would cancel is our direct debits to charity. The donor/charity relationship is not purely economic, and those charities who have worked hard on their donor care and communications should see less effects from the 'hard times just around the corner'. I hope so for all your sakes and let's hope 2008 doesn't turn out to be as bad as some predict.

Happy New Year.