Management

It is a little over 10 years since I had the vision for Create, a charity that would make society fairer, more caring and more inclusive by using the power of the arts to transform lives.  Whe

The influence of organisational culture on fundraising is rarely discussed in our sector.

I went to a very enjoyable breakfast seminar by CharityComms about managing risk and reputation.

The problems that Directors of Fundraising have in the US strikes a strong cord with me and it is great to see the solutions spelt out in this study.

When I was 18 my employer sent me on an Outward Bound course to Aberdovey, in Wales, in winter. It sorted me out; made a man of me. I loved every minute of it.

This month, the IoF launched its new consolidated Code of Fundraising Practice.

There’s been some debate recently around the subject of TOIL in the charity sector and during my recent holiday, it got me to thinking about the other benefits of working in the sector. The old chestnut of lower salaries than commercial equivalents is a debate we can’t really advance in one blog but, having asked around, I was surprised at just how many other tangible benefits there are.

As Seneca wrote, if you don’t know which harbour you are heading for, no wind is the right wind. He probably didn’t have fundraising in mind, but his quotation is strangely relevant to charity business planning today.

In that small special mini-sink in between the kitchen sink and the draining board in our kitchen lives a simple chrome cutlery drainer.  You know the sort, all silvery with partitions in it to help your knives and forks stay upright and drain properly.  Nothing flash, just functional and in-keeping with the rest of the sink furniture.

But it's getting rusty.

It wasn't expensive but nor was it bargain-basement, discount-shop cheap.  It's also less than 18 months old.  I don't suppose it has the world's greatest chrome plating but as a mid-price product I doubt it has the world's worst either.

But it's getting rusty.

A product that is intended from the outset to spend much of it's working life getting wet and holding implements that go into people's mouths and that should have therefore been made to be fit for purpose is getting rusty.

Yes this is a blog about Cancer Research UK’s re-brand... but it’s not a typical analysis.  Others have done this already and there’s not much I can add to what’s already been shared (a quick Google search will show you what I mean).

Instead I want to focus on the absence of outrage which I find hugely interesting.  Previous high profile charity rebranding exercises have come under criticism from the sector and donors alike as being at best a vanity exercise and at worst a waste of donors’ funds.