Major Gift

This year’s Sunday Times Rich List has been postponed by a week, as there is something else going on this weekend. 8 May is the date for the 2011 List.

Finbar Cullen
ResearchPlus

On returning from a lovely holiday in France this week, I’ve spent time catching up on news, emails and generally chasing down what I missed whilst away.

The headline which caught my eye concerned the launch of BT’s new online giving service, myDonate, because it touched a nerve that’s been exposed a fair bit over the last several weeks. Simply put, too much communication from all sorts of sources over-promises and under-delivers. The major splash across pages reporting the BT story was something like “BT enters online fundraising market with fee-free offer to rival JustGiving and Virgin Money”. But it isn’t free, is it.

Charities still pay credit card fees (albeit at reduced rates). On checking my insurance cover for a recent claim I found out that a clause buried deep in the small print and not mentioned during the sales process, meant that I was not covered for what I perceived to be legitimate and accidental damage to my property.

Are there others (like me) who know very little about the British Schools and Universities Foundation, Inc. (BSUF) - "an exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3)"?

I occasionally buy editions of Somerset Life, etc., from Archant, and have signed up for some of their news alerts.

What is it that best motivates a donor to give to your cause? It could be any one of a number of factors (gratitude, duty, idealism, habit etc), but this week I was reminded of a particularly effective one, which some charities perhaps overlook.

I know Gift Aid can seem dull, but it really is worth getting right, especially with regard to higher rate taxpayers. I picked up a good tip recently for charities looking to maximise their return from wealthier donors. It works like this.

I hear that Robert Pike at Social Partnership Marketing is publishing a Compendium Edition of Invisible Grantmakers this week.

I daresay I wasn’t the only one to be a bit surprised to read of the recent £1,000,000 donation that the actor Ricky Tomlinson (Royle Family, etc) made to Ronald McDonald House.

Are you a schmoozer?  Do you use schmoozing to work a room full of potential donors or partners or just when attending an even or conference?  According to an article I saw recently, schmoozing is a vital networking skill and is not in fact a load of old cobblers!  The art of schmoozing is defined as:

“To converse informally, to chat, or to chat in a friendly and persuasive manner especially so as to gain favour, business, or connections.”

The news that the Royal British Legion has accepted a (likely multi-million pound) donation from Tony Blair raises an interesting question.  At what point does charitable purpose outweigh ethical considerations when trying to do good?