EUConsult Information Service
2008 October
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News / Resources
Sector News/Resources
- Fundraisers debate impact of current global economic crisis on fundraising
UK Fundraising features a series of videos capturing the debate held by fundraisers attending the International Fundraising Congress, which was held in Holland on 14-17 October 2008. The debate was led by EUConsult Chairman Daryl Upsall, Sean Triner and Marcelo Iniarra.
- Response to economic crisis by Kevin Brennan, UK Minister for the Third Sector
“In the light of recent global economic events, the Government is more determined than ever to support the third sector through the upcoming months and years. We recognise that charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises will face tough challenges, particularly in raising donations, while demand for their services is likely to go up. The newly founded National Economic Council will consider the impact of the current financial crisis on the whole economy including the third sector, whose interests will be represented by Cabinet Office Ministers and officials at the highest level. We are working closely with sector leaders, representing small and large organisations, and I will sit alongside Stuart Etherington to co-chair an upcoming NCVO sector-wide summit to tackle upcoming issues. We are also pleased that the sector’s regulator, the Charity Commission, is providing advice and guidance for charities and their trustees via its helpline and website. The sector is in fact in better shape than ever before to meet the challenges ahead, not least since the Government has doubled investment over the last 11 years to £11billion a year. We are working with the Treasury to do what we can to support those organisations with investments in Icelandic banks, and ensure they are in the strongest possible position to protect their investments.”
UK Government Office of the Third Sector
- New European Institute for Healthcare and Social Economy
On the initiation of contec GmbH, the European Institute for Healthcare and Social Economy (IEGUS) has commenced with its first activities, after being founded in 2007. Under the guidance of Dr. Grit Braeseke, IEGUS will concentrate on developing practical concepts, studies and reports on current challenges in the field. The Institute’s goal is to promote the systematic further development of the health and social sector in Europe – forming the basis for political decision-making processes where the planning horizon is often short-term.
“For better health and care” is the Institute’s guiding theme, encompassing the following key aspects:
- Determinants and structures of European healthcare and social systems
- Allocation of services and resources, economic efficiency of health and social services
- Structuring of working processes and working-hours models
- Changing demands on education and training, development of new occupations in the health and social economy
- Cross-border health care
- Transition from a curative-oriented to a more preventative-based health care system
- Transfer of knowledge in an international context
- Belgian Association for Ethics in Fundraising (VEF) to integrate main elements of EUConsult Code
An announcement was made at the EUConsult Networking Lunch, which took place at the International Fundraising Congress on 15 October 2008, that the VEF has proposed to integrate the main elements of EUConsult’s Code of Ethics into its own Code in respect of the relations between NGOs and consultants/suppliers. EUConsult Member Ilja De Coster of EthiCom, explained to participants that the VEF had started a discussion on ethics and he was able to provide the Association with the EUConsult Code. Subsequently the VEF decided to take the relevant parts of the Code into account, rather than starting the discussion from scratch.
- Johns Hopkins project to produce Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work
In April 2007, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies (JHU/CCSS) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding under which ILO authorized JHU/CCSS to produce a draft of a possible ILO Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work through official labour force surveys and a draft Volunteer Measurement Survey Module. Both documents will be presented for discussion at the 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians scheduled to convene in Geneva, Switzerland 24 November to 5 December 2008.
Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies
- British universities are waking up to the idea of US-style fundraising
The University of the Arts London is the latest in a list of British institutions to have woken up to the idea of US-style fundraising: tapping alumni, former staff or, indeed, anyone, for money. Oxford and Cambridge have been doing it for a while. Indeed, in May, Oxford announced the biggest (£1.25bn) fundraising campaign of a European university ever.
- Germans donate EUR 60 million more in 2008
German NPOs (including church organisations) collected EUR 60m more in 2008 – the amount raised in the first half of 2008 was EUR 903m in comparison with EUR 843m in the same period last year, representing an increase of 7.1%. The increase is connected to the natural disasters that occurred in Asia. The number of donors increased by just 2%. The majority of donations to go humanitarian aid (77.9%), followed by a large margin by culture and heritage, and then animal welfare and environmental protection. These are the main results of the annual report published by the Deutschen Spendenrat e.V. (German Council for Fundraising/Nonprofit Organisations).
Deutschen Spendenrat (in German)
- Fundraising Ireland plans first national conference
Fundraising Ireland, set up in June 2007 as a support network for the sector, is going from strength to strength and is planning for its first national conference which will take place in March 2009. Further information on past and upcoming events is available on the website.
- Winners of inaugural Irish National Fundraising Awards
The winners of the inaugural Irish National Fundraising Awards, developed by Fundraising Ireland and The Wheel and sponsored by Vodafone, were announced on 30 September 2008 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin.
- BoardsCount™, the governance benchmarking service for non-profit organisations, seeks partners
BoardsCount™ is the UK subscription service for third sector bodies seeking to learn how their governance practices compare with others and how they can improve their governance performance. The Overview Report of BoardsCount™ 2007 is available from the website. BoardsCount 2008-09 is now underway.
The longer term aim is to extend the concept to other EU member states to help non-profits learn across as well as within frontiers. Organisations with a strong client base in governance in one or more country, with interest in a partnership arrangement, are invited to get in touch with John Tierney of Transform Management Consultancy.
BoardsCount / john(at)trans4mgt.com
- New Oxfam online shop tops 5 million pounds in first year
Oxfam’s new online shop has turned over 5m pounds in its first year with just 50 of its 750 retail outlets providing items to it. The online shop www.oxfam.org.uk/shop already has 30,000 shoppers a week browsing through the 100,000 listings of goods donated to its shops and the new products and gifts from Oxfam’s Unwrapped alternative gifts catalogue. By 2009, the charity aims to double the number of shops currently participating in the scheme to provide greater consumer choice.
