Tag: fundraising

Charities who allowed scandalous fundraising methods ‘incompetent or willfully blind’

Charity bosses who allowed scandalous fundraising methods to be used were either “incompetent or wilfully blind” and are on their last chance to “put their house in order”, a committee has warned.

In a damning assessment of the practices used by some of the biggest names to bring in cash, MPs said the “sorry episode” had damaged the reputations of charities across the board.

Trustees must now take proper control of the methods their organisation use or face statutory regulation, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) said.

MPs heard that some charities, including Great Ormond Street Hospital and Macmillan Cancer Support, made it difficult or impossible for donors to block further communication from them or other charities.

Personal information ended up with scamming companies after being sold on by some charities while vulnerable and elderly people were seen as “fair targets” by some organisations, they were told.
The committee also heard an undercover investigation by the Daily Mail found telephone fundraising contractor GoGen ignored the telephone preference service that allows customers to opt out of receiving unsolicited calls.

It also had a script to allow fundraisers to continue to press for a donation even after discovering a vulnerable individual was confused or suffered from dementia.

MPs said they had “no doubt” that most UK charities did not engage in such practices but the behaviour of some had damaged the reputation of all and made it harder for them to raise money.

The report found fundraising is “increasingly competitive” and a large charity can spend more than £20 million a year on trying to bolster its coffers.
Fundraising practices were thrust into the spotlight last year after widespread public concern over the death of 92-year-old Olive Cooke, one of Britain’s oldest and longest-serving poppy sellers.

After the pensioner took her own life, her family described how she had been receiving repeated requests from charities for donations with up to 267 letters a month as well as regular phone calls.

During the PACAC’s investigation a number of charity bosses admitted there were flaws in their governance.

Oxfam chairwoman Karen Brown told MPs “our monitoring procedures were not adequate to the task” while RSPCA chairwoman Daphne Harris said she “did not know that this had happened” after allegations that the personal data of dementia sufferer Samuel Rae had been repeatedly bought and sold by charities and companies emerged.

Stanford, Harvard each topped $1 billion in charitable donations last year

A fundraising campaign, drawing the support of alumni and a host of other philanthropists, more than doubled the charitable contributions George Washington University received last year. Giving at the tony private school in Washington, D.C., soared to $248 million in the 12 months ending June, up from $98.5 million a year earlier.

And new data shows it’s not the only area school benefiting from the largess of donors, who were buoyed by a strong economy. An annual survey from the Council for Aid to Education found that 20 colleges and universities in Maryland, Virginia and the District scored a 20 percent or higher bump in charitable contributions in the 2015 fiscal year. Some of the largest gains occurred at GW, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Maryland College Park, Virginia Wesleyan College and the University of Mary Washington.

Private elite schools Stanford ($1.6 billion) and Harvard ($1.05 billion) topped the national list, well ahead of the rest of the nation’s schools.

[See the national top 20 list for charitable fundraising]
[See the local top 10 list for charitable fundraising]

Not every college and university in the region participated in the study, but nearly 1,000 institutions across the country responded to the survey, which captures cash and other assets in hand, not pledges that schools often include in their fundraising stats. Of the 63 area schools to participate, half reported an increase in gifts.

For GW, the outpouring of support signals that the school is well on its way to meeting its goal of raising $1 billion by June of 2018. The university launched its largest fundraising campaign, dubbed “Making History: The Campaign for GW,” in the summer of 2014. Proceeds are earmarked for increased financial aid, research projects, and the expansion of the school’s science and technology offerings, among other things.

“We are starting to see some significant momentum building for the campaign,” said GW spokeswoman Candace Smith. “We have seen an increase in annual giving and major gifts, which are apparent in the fundraising totals.”

National Funding Scheme’s DONATE raises £250,000

The National Funding Scheme has now raised over £250,000 for charities through its DONATE giving platform in just over two years.

Founded in March 2013, DONATE was originally provided specifically for and cultural organisations, where it is being used by over 350 art galleries, museums, theatres and heritage sites. It has now been extended to all UK charities.

Notable successes for the platform include the £75,000 raised in the four days following the Battersea Arts Centre fire, over £9,000 raised for the Watts Gallery, £18,000 raised at a charity cricket match (shared between Walking with the Wounded and Combat Stress) and just under £20,000 raised for a landmine charity.

DONATE passes on donors’ details, if they give permission, to the recipient charity. It says that 99% of the donors to Battersea Arts Centre’s emergency appeal asked for their details to be passed on.

The National Funding Scheme sustains its service by charging a small proportion of the Gift Aid that eligible donors donate via the mobile and online platform. When no Gift Aid is added it charges 2.5% of the total gift, “half the rate charged by commercial providers”. By extending the service to all charities, the National Funding Scheme believes it can reduce these fees further.

The service is run by two separate organisations – a technology company and a charity. This governance procedure means that DONATE “can bring in investment for ongoing technical development that the charity would not be able to support”.

Dan Pallotta to speak on innovation with purpose at International Fundraising Congress

American entrepreneur and founder of the Charity Defense Council Dan Pallotta will present the opening plenary at the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands next month.

Pallotta has argued for some years that “everything the donating public has been taught about giving is dysfunctional”. He is well-known in particular for his TED Talk on the subject which has been viewed more than 3.4 million times and remains one of the 100 most-viewed TED Talks.

At IFC he will challenge delegates to think about what it takes to innovate and why there is such pressure on fundraisers to do so. These are the kinds of questions that IFC organisers The say “can change entire organisations”.

Pallotta delivered the closing plenary at IFC four years ago.

This year he says about his subject:

“We’re asked to innovate without really addressing the purpose of the innovation at the outset. Is its purpose only to obey what the cutting-edge business books say we should be doing?

“I wanted to take a counter-cultural look at the subject. The talk addresses themes and questions around great innovation coming from great purpose, frustration being the fuel for innovation, the power of an idea whose time has come over an idea whose time has been forced, the role of patience and presence in innovation, the power of commitment and if you’re not taking risks, the risks will take you.”

Pallotta, author of ‘Uncharitable‘, shared his views on how charity staff in particular need to change their views on the nature of their organisations when he presented a plenary session at the Institute of Fundraising’s National Convention in London in 2010.