UK slips out of top 10 most generous nations as giving surges in developing countries.
Annual global survey shows people in Myanmar, Indonesia and Kenya are the most generous, with only six of the G20 economies in this year’s top 20
The UK has slipped out of the top 10 most generous nations in the world as developed countries together fall back in the largest annual index of giving, volunteering and helping strangers.
African states have surged in the index, with the continent as a whole growing on all three counts. Kenya has leaped from 12th place to third in the overall table.
Charity leaders are counselling caution on the findings, arguing that the deterioration in the UK’s generosity profile may in part be due to a change in how the index is compiled.
Last year, the launch of the new polymer £5 note generated charitable donations of an estimated £12.5m. Will the new £10 note, due for release in September, generate a similar response, and how can your charity benefit?
Zurich Insurance’s guest contributor, John Thompson, who launched the #FirstFiver campaign, shares his thoughts and top tips.
Last year, the launch of the new polymer £5 note generated charitable donations of an estimated £12.5m
Will the new £10 note, due for release in September, generate a similar response, and how can your charity benefit?
Guest contributor, John Thompson, who launched the #FirstFiver campaign, shares his thoughts and top tips
Charities across the UK were quick to pick up on the social media storm created by the launch of the new polymer £5 note last year, raising an estimated £12.5m for good causes.
Here, John talks to us about what charities can learn from #FirstFiver, and whether the new £10 note, which is released in September, could provide a similar opportunity.
A perfect storm for #FirstFiver
I was delighted when #FirstFiver took off. It received such a positive reaction from donors and fundraisers and was widely covered across social, print and broadcast media.
It came at a time when the charity sector, and fundraising in particular, was recovering from a steady stream of negative publicity, in-fighting and strained relations with regulatory bodies.
According to CAF/YouGov research, as many as 2.5 million people may have got involved, donating an incredible £12.5m. What an amazing result for a fun campaign ignited by a single Friday night tweet!
It worked so well because it was fuelled by the “Chocolate Factory Factor” – our changing relationship with cash maintained intrigue and that feeling of pent-up excitement as people waited to finally get, and then give, that elusive golden ticket.
As there was no single beneficiary, donors followed their hearts, each contributing to an avalanche of micro-stories and photogenic content.
I think the unique nature of #FirstFiver took the sector by surprise, and its real growth and popularity was driven by people deciding to participate even before they were asked to. People used social media to make a pubic pledge, a public donation and often this was followed by a public thank you from their chosen cause.
Other cash-related campaigns
Since #FirstFiver there have been other events in the cash calendar that have been adopted by charities as a fundraising drive. Some sector-wide campaigns such as #PoundForPound and #FinalFiver had an initial burst of enthusiasm, but failed to take off in the same way.
This may be because they lacked the simplicity and novelty factor of #FirstFiver. For example, how would you know which paper £5 note was really your #FinalFiver? And is donating a pound coin really worthy of a posting on Facebook or Twitter?
The new £10 notes will hit ATMs and shops on 14 September. Some causes, such as Chicks and School in a Bag, and Just a Helping Hand, have already soft-launched their #FirstTenner campaigns. Jane Austen’s House Museum is using its own hashtag #AustenTenner and asking people to help preserve Jane’s house.
I spoke to a few charities of different sizes about whether they will be pushing #FirstTenner. Sixty-five percent said that they will be getting involved, and I imagine they’ll put their own slant on the campaign, with some using bespoke hashtags. I look forward to seeing how imaginative they all are.
‘Peak #FirstTenner’ will happen during September and October, and I’d expect to see major annual fundraising campaigns that take place around this period, such as Macmillan’s Coffee Morning month and the Poppy Appeal, leveraging the concept in a big way.
A few major celebrities got behind #FirstFiver. My feeling is that some causes will enlist similar support this time, which will help the campaign go viral.
I’d also like to see more companies getting involved – providing opportunities for staff and customers to donate at their offices and, for retailers, at their stores.
With my specialist interest in corporate giving, the icing on the cake for me would be to see major companies match their employees’ #FirstTenner donations.
Learnings from #FirstFiver
The success of #FirstTenner will depend on whether the public buys in to the concept of donating their first new plastic note to the charity closest to their hearts, at double the price.
Many of the organisations who were successful with #FirstFiver put a lot of effort in to drive it. Those who did particularly well:
Had loyal and active supporters across social media platforms
Provided donors with a very specific, tangible, focus for their plastic donation
Sent individual and tailored thank-yous (rather than being bland and generic)
Kept followers updated with fresh content
Made use of the note’s photogenic qualities
Shared insights about the difference the money donated was going to make
For example, in our recent Charities Embracing #FirstFiver post we showed how School in a Bag used Twitter and Facebook to promote the simple message that just four #FirstFivers would enable them to send a bag.
Giving to York, the philanthropy arm of the University of York, used #FirstFiver as a hook for the launch of its Equal Access Scholarships. It marketed its campaign with emails, an AV screen promotion and a bespoke URL to a #FirstFiver donation page, and by putting #FirstFiver- branded collection boxes across campus.
Despite the marketing efforts of some of the bigger players, my feeling is that smaller organisations making a very specific plea are likely to benefit most, as a proportion of income, from #FirstTenner.
Remember that concepts such as #FirstFiver and #FirstTenner are as much about social engagement and relationship building as they are about generating immediate donations. So aim to catch, not snatch.
Good management of a charity’s finances and other assets enables it to succeed in delivering its charitable aims
The purpose of creating a set of finance policies and procedures is to provide the framework to help you to do that, so that you don’t have to waste time making small routine decisions on finance and can focus on your real work.
There is no off-the-shelf manual, what matters is to have a set of policies and procedures that work for your organisation. Written best practice procedures may appear to offer control but will be useless without communication, acceptance and leading by example – therefore you need to create procedures that will match the culture of your organisation and that everyone can adhere to easily.
The template and guidance give you a head start, with wording to adapt, along with questions to ask yourselves so you can shape sections according to your need and values.
What does citizenship in the UK mean to you? What barriers are preventing people from being more involved, locally and nationally? Join in with UK Parliament Outreach and Engagement Service inquiry and let them know what you think.
The big issue
British society is changing. Technological, economic and cultural changes are leading to shifts in how people live and work together.
The Scottish independence and Brexit referendums, low levels of confidence in the political system, and concern from people who feel left behind are all signs of a need to find new ways of building bridges within and between communities.
How you can help
What does being an active citizen mean to you? Can you tell them about what will help you play a more active role in in public life?
Let them know your thoughts by Thursday 8 September 2017.
Informal submissions
If you’d like to send a more informal submission, you can email videos, blog posts, poems, posters, postcards, cartoons or even music to [email protected]parliament.uk by 30 November 2017.
What are select committees?
Find out more about select committees, how they affect government policy and how you can get involved.
‘Holiday hunger’ means charities are stepping in to replace free school meals outside term time. Without us, struggling families go hungry says
Julie Coates manager of Hailsham food bank, East Sussex.
When politicians talk about holiday hunger, they always make it seem like an abstract idea; a recent report, for instance, talked of up to 3 million children at risk of being “exposed to hunger”. But running a food bank, I’ve seen first-hand exactly what going hungry in the holidays is really like.
Tracy tells me that every day is a struggle to get by. Each of her three children has learning difficulties and they need constant supervision. The food bank is a godsend for her – the children eat things they wouldn’t normally eat and get a good, nutritious meal in a safe space.
In the past year alone, as manager of the Hailsham food bank in East Sussex, I’ve coordinated the distribution of around 1,000 food parcels to local families in crisis. We give out more than a third of these to children, and this always increases during the summer holidays. New research from the Trussell Trust shows that across the UK last year, almost 4,500 more emergency food supplies were given to children in July and August than in the previous two months.
