Trading

It was highlighted to me recently just how many charities are now acting like PLC companies and I was in two minds whether this was a good or bad thing.

The articles I write for UK Fundraising are mainly about charity consumerism – how charities harness the power of consumers to diversify their revenue stream.

In my last blog post, I spoke about the need to diversify fundraising income by asking supporters to switch their consumer spend from their existing supplier to you.

There’s currently a big problem for charities throughout the country.

You might have spotted that Kindle ebooks are now outselling hardback books by two to one at Amazon.co.uk. Kindle itself is the bestselling product on the site.

Here are some Easter-related fundraising activities. I'll try and mention them without saying 'eggstravaganza' or 'cracking'.

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is to phase out their CAF Gift Vouchers.

Successfully encouraging donors to give more than once is at the heart of most good fundraising. Which is why I like this sticker so much.

Commissioner Gordon says : I never said thank you.

Batman replies : ... and you'll never have to.

- Batman Begins

But human nature doesn't generally work this way, right. We like being thanked for our efforts and there's no shame in that. And its been empirically established that charities and social enterprises alike are more likely to be successful when they thank supporters and customers (see the blogroll for numerous examples).

After the latest round of Christmas donations, however, I am starting to think that we need to find a better way of doing it. I keep my thank you letters and emails to learn from professionally, and in 2010 I've received nearly 50.

It’s easy to think of turbulent times as just a threat, rather than an opportunity. After all, aren’t lots of our donors about to lose their jobs and won’t statutory grants be drying up soon? The challenge then is to look beyond the usual solutions and find new ways to raise resources.