EUConsult Information Service

2006 September

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News / Resources

Sector News/Resources

• Plan Ireland begins test door-to-door campaign

Plan Ireland, the Irish division of international humanitarian organisation, Plan International, began a test door-to-door campaign in May with EUConsult members, Fundraising Initiatives. The door-to-door test will run simultaneously with the charity’s current street activity, both campaigns will be promoting child sponsorship. They are diversifying into door-to-door having assessed the success of door-to-door campaigns by other overseas Plan divisions, particularly for the recruitment of middle-aged donors that research has shown become highly involved in Plan’s work. The campaign will run throughout June and will target households in the Dublin area with the objective of recruiting 1,000 new donors at a high value monthly ask. The campaign is part of the charity’s ongoing donor acquisition strategy.
Plan Ireland

• First convention of Swiss Nonprofit Governance Forum

The first convention of the Swiss Nonprofit Governance Forum took place on 11 May. The main topic for discussion was the Swiss Foundation Code, which was published at the end of 2005 (ISBN 3-7190-2393-1). Major Swiss charity Schweizer Hilfserke also presented its own newly developed code. EUConsult member, Peter Buss of NonproCons, opened the convention. The Nonprofit Governance Forum’s website contains a discussion forum, news area and a knowledge database.
Nonprofit Governance Forum

• European third sector leaders call for more creativity

Third sector leaders from the UK, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Belgium have issued a wake-up call to third sector organisations to get more creative in the way they communicate their cause. Delegates meeting for a two-day workshop in Bologna in May have endorsed the recommendations of the recently-published Cox Report, which argued that companies should recruit a creative specialist to the board. They warned that charities run the risk of being unable to sustain and grow income and awareness in the future, if they fail to acknowledge the contribution that good creative communications can bring. Responding to popular demand, ACEVO is already planning to build on the success of the workshop with an event in Milan, and a follow-up event on creative communication to be held in London next year. The International Programme’s next event will be in Paris, in July.
ACEVO Article

• Public service delivery – surveying the sector in the UK

The latest UK Charity Commission newsletter reports that few trustees can have failed to notice the high profile being given to charities delivering public services on behalf of statutory authorities. It’s an area the UK Government is urging charities and the voluntary sector to consider but one which charities themselves need to think carefully about before undertaking. The Charity Commission ‘Charities and public service delivery conference’, which was held in March, brought together charities engaged in this type of work to share their experiences and clarify the areas they need to consider. A report of the event can be found on the Commission’s website under ‘Strategies, Plans and Reports’.
While a number of surveys have been undertaken in this field, the full scope and extent of this work being done by charities isn’t known. So the Commission is asking for help in completing an online survey into public service delivery. The survey runs until 30 June and the findings will be announced via the Commission’s website and in a future edition of its newsletter.
Charity Commission Survey - info and link to survey...

• Results of Dutch Donor Society Research – Success for Delphi’s “Donor Safari” tool

Many private individuals who launch an initiative in the field of aid provision have often had requests for help turned down by the larger development organizations. Starting your ‘own’ charity is therefore not a predetermined choice or a deliberate attempt at doing things differently. It is often the only practical solution, without any illusions or pretence. This is the most important outcome of research into the emergence of small private initiatives in the area of development aid. The research was carried out in January this year by Delphi Fundraising and Membership development for the Donateursvereniging and the NCDO. Of particular interest were the motives of the people behind the initiatives in setting up projects in developing countries, as well as those of donors for giving money to these initiatives. Delphi used its new research product during the survey, the so-called ‘Donor Safari’, which involves visits being paid to the donors at their homes and being interviewed by Delphi researchers. This makes it possible to carry out representative and high-quality research quickly and efficiently.
It seems that the ‘private development workers’ have in various ways been made aware of areas where help is needed. This may have been a personal contact (while on holiday, for example), or perhaps via the media. They then take their request for help to the traditional aid organizations, who do not appear to be able to assist, however. The people involved are sent from pillar to post, but they are not deterred, and find themselves having to launch activities of their own and set up their own organization. It is meeting the need for aid that is their driving force, not the need to set up a new organization.
“I saw the pictures of the tsunami on television. I decided I wanted to go and offer help, so I approached the Red Cross and the SHO, but they said, ‘best stay at home’, even though I wanted to go and help. I then bought a ticket and flew to Sri Lanka. One thing led to another and now I have a foundation of my own which buys new fishing vessels for fishermen affected by the tsunami in Sri Lanka.”
“We wanted to donate a large amount to a project in Africa, but we wanted to be involved and also pay a visit to the project. We were then told by the large organizations, ‘We can’t make appointments with everyone’ and ‘We’re not a travel agency!’ or ‘Financing projects, impossible, we’re too big for that.’ Well, I decided to organize it myself.”
These people are under no illusions. They do not pretend that what they are doing is better than their larger fellow organizations. They also continue to make donations to traditional good causes. Some of them say that as soon as the need for which they are catering has been met, their organization will be wound up. Private initiatives seem to devote much effort into communicating with their donors. This is done through newsletters, e-mail newsletters, quarterly bulletins, and especially through their websites. (Thank you to Ramses Man for providing this information.)
Donateursvereniging / Delphi

• Irish charity crisis

A leading Irish third world charity is in crisis after it emerged that close to a quarter of the charity's overall budget, most of which is grant aid from the Government, was spent on administration and fundraising costs. Self Help Development International had a budget of €4.1m for its work providing famine and poverty relief in five African countries in 2004, but spent €925,049 of this on "management, administration, fundraising and promotion" costs.
UK Fundraising article...

• New York Times reports record targets in US university fundraising

The University of Virginia will announce a $3 billion fund-raising drive in the fall. New York University is in the middle of a $2.5 billion campaign. And officials at Columbia University say they are moving ahead with plans for the largest university campaign so far, a push to raise $4 billion over seven years. These efforts are a sign of the fierce competition among major universities as they look to improve their rankings and images, attract students and grab star faculty members. Officials at elite institutions nationwide say that simply to keep up they must build athletic facilities and science centers, pursue research grants and donors, court big-name faculty members and stave off raids, and lay the foundation for eye-popping fundraising campaigns.
New York Times article

• Gates Foundation award to help fund data collection for study of charitable giving

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University a $750,000 matching grant to help fund data collection in 2007 and 2009 for its signature research project, the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS). COPPS is the largest and most accurate study of charitable giving by U.S. households over time ever conducted. A nationally representative panel study, it looks at giving and volunteering by the same households over time and across generations as families mature, face differing economic circumstances, are affected by public policy shifts and encounter changes in their family size and health, among many other factors. Scholars and nonprofit professionals can access COPPS data and findings free of charge online in downloadable formats.
Centre on Philanthropy press release and links

• American Association of Fund Raising Counsel changes name

AAFRC has changed its name to Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-profits. A new website to reflect this is being worked on.
AAFRC