Would tax breaks really encourage more giving to youth charities?

Interesting piece here about the lack of donor support for youth charities, but are tax breaks really the answer?


It seems to me that describing them as "youth" organisations really don't do them justice: they're tackling employment issues, housing and homelessness, education, and so much more.


There's plenty there to engage potential donors, and although tax incentives are nice, they're not the answer.


Rick Holland CFRE MInstF
www.confidentphilanthropy.co.uk

Charities reject News of the World 'offer'

As the voluntary sector warns against accepting the News Of The World offer for free advertising in its final edition, we can only hope that charities will continue to reject such scraps of private corporations and set their sights higher.

What think you?

Rick Holland CFRE MInstF
www.confidentphilanthropy.co.uk

Arts Council promotes Fundraising

These should be rather interesting, and it's good to see the Arts Council finally waking up to the need for good private philanthropy.

http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/fundseminars.htm

Rick Holland CFRE MInstF
rick.holland@confidentphilanthropy.co.uk
www.confidentphilanthropy.co.uk

The UK's National Occupational Standards for Fundraising...where's the "Ask?"

Last week, I had the privilege to participate as a member of an expert fundraising panel discussing the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), the new framework for creating and accrediting qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.


QCF units are based on the National Occupational Standards (NOS) which are developed and managed by the UK Workforce Hub.  According to Skills Third Sector, the QCF:

• recognises smaller steps of learning (units)
• enables learners to build up qualifications bit by bit (by combining units)
• helps learners achieve skills and qualifications that meet industry needs
• enables work-based training to be nationally recognised

 Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the National Occupational Standards for Fundraising skip the quite important step of asking people for money.

Sure, there's information on creating and developing a Fundraising Plan, and recording and monitoring donations, but the important step of asking a donor for money is omitted, compressed into the "implementing a fundraising plan" stage.

In the Major Giving component, for example, the important step of asking for a contribution is alluded to in No. 12. Select and implement appropriate solicitation strategies.

It's hard enough sometimes for professional fundraisers to ask for money, or to facilitate the process with trustees and existing donors.

The most troubling thing about the National Occupational Standards for Fundraising, however, is that young professionals with an interest in the sector will get a very wrong idea of what fundraising is about.

If we are going to encourage a "culture of asking" in the country, including it in our National Occupational Standards would be a great place to start.

Rick Holland CFRE MInstF

Director

Confident Philanthropy Ltd.

David Puttnam is wrong.

On tonight's 10:00 BBC news, David Puttnam makes the same tired argument, linking his concept of American-style philanthropy to wealthy donors who want their names on buildings.  He said it wouldn't work in the UK, calling it "tacky" and adding that he himself would be "embarrassed" by such recognition.


Codswallop.


Puttnam, bless him, continues to perpetuate the stereotype of the philanthropy coming solely from the wealthy narcissists.  


The cultural shift in the UK's giving will be driven by donors at every level, and the fundraisers who facilitate that giving.  Support of charitable organizations is a responsibility we're all learning to share, and not one that's only borne by the wealthy.


Rick Holland CFRE MInstF
Director
Confident Philanthropy Ltd.

Did you give less last year?

Good piece of information from our American colleagues, via an article in the New York Times which can be found here.


Although the report on decreases in voluntary income are timely, what I find more intriguing is how the entire funding picture breaks down.


The Giving USA foundation reports that an estimated $303.75 billion was given away in 2009.


Of this total, $227.41 billion came from individuals.  That's a healthy 75%.


Trust and foundation giving was down as well, to $38.44 billion, but that's just 13% of the total.


Corporate giving was up, to an estimated $14.1 billion, a paltry 5% of the total.


Why do we continue to put so much effort into pigeonholing  fundraising (and fundraisers) into outmoded jobs like "corporate account executive" or "trust fundraiser"?


As fundraising professionals, let's encourage our employers and clients to think differently, and stop concentrating so much resource and effort to 18% of the fundraising pie.


Rick


Rick Holland CFRE MInstF
Confident Philanthropy Ltd.


www.confidentphilanthropy.co.uk

Scottish misconceptions continue.

The May 2010 issue of Caritas arrived at Confident Philanthropy headquarters not too long ago, and I was excited to see the article "North of the Border" included, a report by Cathy Pharoah and Mark Pincher about fundraising in Scotland.


There were cogent comparisons of English vs. Scottish  fundraising, with assertions that Scottish charities depend more on statutory funding than their English counterparts and that the Scots spend about half as much on fundraising than the Welsh or English.


Things get a bit hairier for Pharoah and Pincher near the end of their report, however, when they say that in Scotland "private donating may not be as embedded in charitable culture," followed by "it may also reflect very different socio-economic profiles, and this factor is outside the control of fundraisers."


This is thinly-veiled way of saying that Scottish donors are simply poorer than their neighbours to the south, less able and less willing to make philanthropic gifts, and less saavy about fundraising and the need for private support of charities.


I don't buy it, and neither should you.


Philanthropy can thrive at all income levels, but as a percent of income it actually decreases as income rises.  I challenged Geraint Talfan-Davies when he made a similar charge nearly two years ago (we followed it up with a great meeting at the Royal Over Seas League a few weeks later), but as far as I thought we'd come in developing the private philanthropy and the "culture of asking" in the UK, I realise we still have a long way to go.


Jeremy Hunt, let's make this happen!


Rick Holland CFRE MInstF
Director
Confident Philanthropy Ltd.


www.confidentphilanthropy.co.uk