Online Fundraising

Income in the Third Sector is disproportionately distributed – this also applies to online fundraising sites. The majority of these sites are dominated by larger charities. Larger charities are also on those sites that target the smaller charities and the smaller charities simply do not have the resources to compete. The majority of these sites charge set up or monthly fees and often a fee per transaction as well. This has a disproportionate impact on smaller charities.

Charities income sources can differ according to their size. Many of the smallest (50% have under £50k income) are reliant on cash donations and cheques from local community based forms of fundraising.

Generally amongst the smallest charities there is a lack of knowledge and understanding about online fundraising, also for some a lack of IT equipment and skill in their organisation. Many are run solely by volunteers. The majority of the Small Charities Coalition’s members say they have no experience or rate themselves as beginners in online fundraising. Of the 85% of them who ask for help with fundraising an increasing number are asking for help with online fundraising.

Advice to small charities:

• Do your research and find out about fees. Some provide additional support with the development of the charity’s page which might make the fee more reasonable.
• Do your sums – calculate whether a lower transaction cost will offset a higher set up fee or vice versa. Be realistic about how much you are likely to raise from this channel and assess whether it enough to outweigh the costs – don’t forget you also need to factor in the time to set up and maintain your web presence.
• Register for Gift Aid – until April 2011 you will get 28p extra for each £1 given if you do and the donor has completed a deliration. It is crucially important that you encourage all your donors to use Gift Aid, if they are eligible.

 Advice to donors:

•  Also do your research and sums – which site will pass on the best deal to your chosen charity
• Use Gift Aid and other forms of tax effective giving – payroll giving, CAF account

 

The frustration with meetings!

I get very frustrated when I go to meetings and find that the other people there aren’t really there at all. They spend an inordinate amount of time thinking their own thoughts. They are not prepared for the meeting and they think that by repeating a point already made they will show that they are contributing. However, by far the biggest frustration is the lack of listening. Although most business leaders will say that listening is extremely important, research indicates that we actually spend 75% of our time not listening and when we do listen we only recall about 25% – 50% of what is said, even when we really pay attention!

So what are we actually listening to when we listen? Only 10% of our message is communicated through words, while 50% is our body language and 40% is the tone of our voice. That is one of the reasons why communication via the telephone is fraught with misunderstanding.

Coming back to the problem of really attending meetings here are some points to consider;

• During the meeting be aware of how often you are not thinking about what others are saying rather thinking about your relationship to them and how valid their contribution is. Put this judgement to one side and concentrate without preconceptions,
• Be aware when your mind is drifting off on your inner conversation and make the effort to focus on the speaker’s body language, tone and words,
• Notice how your mind jumps to conclusions or want to “make a point” rather than listen and understand. Which is more interesting: understanding what the other person is trying to say or making your own point?
• Take note of yours and other people’s physical gestures, as this tells you a lot about their attitude and readiness to listen too.
• Notice when someone’s words say one thing and their tone of voice conveys a different message. Which message has a greater impact on you?
• Above all be curious, when appropriate, asking questions and probing to better understand and clarify what others are saying rather than trying to second guess them or jump in to make your point.

Mentoring for Success

Over the past year I’ve been working with Mentor-net. Mentor-net is the business mentoring scheme for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It is a confidential service provided by the not-for-profit Mentor-net program and volunteer Business Mentors, who are drawn from experienced members of the business community and the professions. I would like to extend my experience to people who are not part of this wonderful service.

My understanding of a mentor is essentially a ‘wise or trusted adviser or guide’. The word has its origins in Homer’s The Odyssey. Before leaving to fight the Trojan war, Odysseus leaves his son and estate in the care of his friend Mentor, who then guides the young Telemachus. I rather like this connection as Telemachus's name in Greek means "far from battle” and mentoring is most definitely a relationship of support .

To give it a more modern context, I see a mentor as someone with experience or wisdom, sharing and imparting their knowledge on to someone younger or less experienced. The concept works incredibly well in a business environment where an entrepreneur may have a great idea for a business but needs a bit of guidance turning it into a successful and profitable venture. Successful entrepreneurs will often attribute much of their achievement to the support and guidance they received from a mentor. Most notably, billionaire airline and entertainment industry mogul Richard Branson was mentored by the British airline entrepreneur Freddie Laker.

A business mentor is someone who can act as a sounding board for your ideas and plans. They bring their own unique experience of life and business and are willing to share their skills and knowhow with you. Having a business mentor can help you to focus, to look at your business from a different perspective. This is essential to identify strategies and opportunities for improvement and growth.

As a business mentor I am not a consultant, I will only mentor from my own experience. By acting as a sounding board for you, I walk alongside you as your business grows. My role as a business mentor is to support and develop, stimulate and challenge.

The way you choose to approach mentoring will be dependent on how much involvement you agree to, or request me to have with your business. I can work extremely closely with you, speaking or meeting most weeks or even days. However, in most cases I will have less of a day-to-day involvement. Instead I’ll provide help every few weeks or months which could take the form of phone calls, emails, face-to-face meetings or a combination of all of these.

Mentoring can be a very formal and structured process with regular meetings which follow a specific agenda and set of goals. It can also be quite a casual arrangement, where you as the mentee calls on me as and when problems or questions arise.

The main thing to remember about mentoring is that it’s not just a one-off meeting, or opportunity to pick my brains. It’s an ongoing relationship where both parties must be committed to achieving certain goals and willing to live up to their end of the bargain.

If you’d like to try it out please visit my mentoring site and we can arrange a taster session.

The Corporate Social Partnership

Building on my thoughts from my blog entry on Thursday, 25 March this year, I am in the process of developing an organisation to help solve the problem of CSR for SME’s. 

The Corporate Social Partnership ( CSP ) will be a non-membership partnership organisation, designed to ensure that local business can get the most out of their CSR whilst enhancing their bottom line. Working in collaboration with each other local businesses are able to develop their networks and pick the CSR that best suits their objectives. There will be benefits of shared best practice and the power of buying groups.

A brief outline

Comprising 500 locally based businesses and 50 charities from 6 disciplines the CSP brings companies and charities together ensuring a business to business partnership.

Initially business partners will each donate £500pa which will be distributed amongst the partner charities. Throughout the year there will be other opportunities for business partners to provide practical help to charities as well as funding. These opportunities will be designed to maximise commercial advantage.

Charities eligible to join the partnership will fall into the £50k - £3m turnover bracket. Charities below this threshold will be able to apply to a small support fund for operational costs. There will also be a start-up soft loan scheme.

Charities commit to share their events calendar thereby minimising clashes and finding opportunities for collaborative events.

Charities will also provide details of Trustee opportunities so that the participating businesses can encourage their staff to get involved. This is a great opportunity for both personal development and a practical demonstration of CSR.

The charities are divided in to 6 categories with 8 or 9 charities in each group;

• Children and Education

• Health

• Animal Welfare

• Faith

• Environmental

Each year on charity from each category will receive a donation of £10k as the “Charity of the Year”.

 

The Sums

• 500 companies x £500 = £250,000
• £10,000 charity of year donation x 5 categories = £ 50,000
• Small Charities grants ( for operational costs ) = £ 20,000
• Start-up loans ( carry over from previous year )
• Charity event sponsorship 50 charities x £8,000 = £160,000
• Administration = £ 20,000

Potential impact of events sponsorship: example £500 for Dragon Boat Racing generated £12,000

With a ratio of 24:1 charity sponsorship the CSP could enable £3,840,000

 

The Trustee Board
The board of Trustees will consist of skill sets such as finance, marketing, strategy, governance. The board will also have representation from both the charity and business community.

 

I would welcome comments and suggestions.

 

From a Gift Of Life to a Gift After Life

In my last entry I talked about organ donation and the gift of life that it may bring. I’d like you to think about another sort of gift that you can make upon your death.


It's a common myth that only the rich and famous leave money to charity when they die. This couldn't be any further from the truth. The reality is without the gifts left in wills many of the charities we know and support today wouldn't even exist. With the challenges facing us all in this difficult economic climate I think that legacies are going to become even more important to charities.

I’m always delighted by the generosity of our community, with 74% of the UK population supporting charities. When asked, 35% of people say they'd happily leave a gift in their will once family and friends had been provided for. The problem is only 7% actually do.

That's why, if we all leave some money in our wills for charity as well as our family, we can make a huge difference. In fact, if we can raise this figure to just 11% we would create an additional £1 billion for charities in the UK every year, which would ensure that their work lives on.

Legacies are the foundation for many of the charities in the UK. Some of the larger charities receive a third of their income this way. For the smaller charities it can be vital in making sure that all the good work they do can continue.

So, you don't have to be rich and famous to make a contribution that can make a difference. We can all do something amazing for the world just by leaving a gift in our wills to charity.

Organ Donation - A gift of life

Earlier this year I agreed to become the Non-Clinical Chairman for the Organ Donor Committee here in Southampton. I was appalled that currently only 28% of us are on the register, whilst 96% of us would take an organ if we needed one. The UK has one of the lowest rates of organ donation in Western Europe at 13 donors per million, whilst Spain has 35 donors per million.

Did you know that there are 23 organs in your body, provided your human. You can donate kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas and small bowel. You can also donate corneas, skin, bone, tendons, cartilage and heart valves. I was also amazed that the simple act of registering could mean that I could help up to nine different people.

Many of us have an organ donor card from when we passed our driving test but simply carrying it does not mean you are on the register, you need to sign up to the online database. Anyone can register on the Organ Donor Register. Age isn't a barrier to being an organ / tissue donor, and most medical conditions don't stop you donating either.

This week has been designated “National Transplant Week”. I’m not looking for actual organs, no kidneys in a soggy envelope please! It is in fact for more than 10,000 people in the UK deadly serious as they are in need of a transplant. Of these, 1,000 each year ( that's three a day ) will die waiting as there are not enough organs available.

Most of us are guilty of putting off important conversations with a loved one, so why not spend some valuable time with family and friends during National Transplant Week to have a Heart to Heart.

It might be telling someone how important they are to you, reconnecting with an old friend or apologising to a partner, but have you thought about telling your loved ones what your wishes are about organ donation?

Take time this week to have one of the most important Heart to Hearts you can have and help spread your gift of life. If you need any more persuading watch the second or third video on the NHS Organ Donation website.

The End of the Walk - Where Next?

I have completed my walk along the South Downs Way and really enjoyed all of the 200,550 steps. With the tops and tails of each day I actually covered 120 miles. The last day took me over the Seven Sisters, I’m sure there where eight, no sooner had you climbed to the top of one than you had a steep decent to the base of the next one. Although it was blisteringly hot the view was fantastic and it made for a spectacular finish to the walk. Domino did really well with her thick black coat and very little shade.

Once we climbed down into Eastbourne we had to walk another mile and a half to the party and certificate ceremony. It was lovely sitting down in the cool with a shandy and a few doggy biscuits.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported my walk. If you'd like to contribute please visit my Just Giving link or click on the blue wigget.

Almost there!

This my penultimate day is the longest day, just what you need after 80 miles! The day before yesterday was a Devil of a day, more from mythology than the toughness of the walk. I started just west of Chanctonbury Ring. A hill fort that has also been a Roman temple. Legend has it that if you walk backwards around the ring seven time you can summon the devil or is it scare him off. Whichever it is I would not recommend trying, particularly if you have to walk all the way to Devil’s Dyke. The story goes that as Christianity was spreading across Sussex the Devil decided one night to dig a giant trench down to the sea to keep the Christians back. He made such a noise that an old woman lit a candle to see what was going on. The farm cockerel thought it was the coming dawn and started crowing. The Devil was so startled by the early arrival of the sun that he took off hurling pieces of earth everywhere, one landing in the sea and forming the Isle of Wight.


The weather has been glorious in the low to mid 20’s, affording me some wonderful views. Both Domino and I have been finding it hot work but yesterday she cooled off in a dew pond. If it had not been so smelly I might have joined her.

Yesterday from the Dyke I walked to the delightful village of Pyecombe where the church had tea and rock cakes waiting. The gate of the church has a central hinge so that coffins can easily be carried in! I then walked on past the twin windmills called Jack and Jill before climbing to Ditchling Beacon.

Today the white cliffs and the coast will be clearly visible as I make my way down into the Ouse valley. That means I’m going to have to climb out of it!

A relaxed Fathers Day!

I started walking the South Downs Way, with Domino my Cocker Spaniel, from Winchester to Eastbourne on Friday. The 105 mile walk is in aid of my charity Wessex Heartbeat and specifically for Heartbeat House. The house provides a conformable and supportive home right next door to the Cardiac Unit at Southampton General Hospital for the relatives of people being treated for heart conditions. The reason for choosing this particular part of our services is due to a conversation I had with a guest only a couple of weeks ago. She told me that they live on the Isle of Wight and that without Heartbeat House she could not be with her husband as they could not afford the daily ferry crossings. I don’t thing I need to say anything more.

The first day from King Alfred’s statue in the heart of the capital of Wessex, very symbolic for Wessex Heartbeat, to Exton was about 13 miles and went through some stunning scenery and iconic hamlets. For this first leg I was accompanied by a cohort of staff from Domino’s Pizza. My dog is called Domino as she is black with one white spot and Domino’s Pizza are sponsoring her! It was a glorious start to the walk with two excellent pubs on route. I don’t think I can expect that from now on.

Yesterday I was not able to walk as Wessex Heartbeat had its first Dragon Boat Race day on Southampton Water. What a great event, lots of fun. I was impressed with the speed of some of the boats and the great team names such as Skipper Heartbeat and Dragon Hearts. Unfortunately for Domino’s paws and my feet we have to make up the distance today, walking from Exton climbing Old Winchester Hill, HMS Mercury and over to Buster Hill. I then need to sneak through the border guards in to West Sussex and home ground. I think that from there I will climb onto the Ridge Way and over Harting Down. By then I should have cover around 18 miles and have Beacon Hill looming up in front of me. If I make it alright I can have a little rest with the ancient dead on the Devils Jump before the final sprint to the Cocking Gap. All in all I’ll have to cover about 25 miles and my feet feel sore in anticipation!

If you’d like to help my fundraising efforts, I promise that there will not be any photos of blistered feet at the end, please visit my site www.justgiving.com/dcfmyers

Brand Bible

I’m working on a brand development handbook for a friend and would value comments and suggestions on the following guidelines.

A corporate identity manual should:
a) be easily printable and easily referred to,
b) be easily accessible ( format: Make your guide available as PDF, Put the guide on your intranet , Create templates of all your elements so people can easily work with them and stay on-brand ),
c) use very simple language - and at least in 2 languages ( one in a major language of the country plus vernacular languages ). e.g. In Canada it will be in English & French. In the Middle East, English & Arabic. In Pakistan, English and Urdu and so on and so forth,
d) use lots of "Dos & Don'ts" to lucidly depict the logo type, colour scheme, size, height etc,
e) display options in colour & if in black & white,
f) portray all possible avenues of branding.

A corporate identity manual should contain:
a) Corporate introduction: include your brand values, philosophy, proposition with a little history about your brand, its roots, founders etc. It gives the creatives a little more meat to chew on and they love a good story!
b) Brand basics ( communication platform/attributes, writing style, design attributes ),
c) Kit of parts ( corporate logo, font samples, colour palette / Pantone , photography, icons and other graphics elements, headline usage, page layouts, paper specs ),
d) Templates (presentations, packaging, marketing literature, merchandising),
e) Promotional items (banners, trade show booth design elements, packaging/info-binders),
f) Direct Mail guidelines,
g) Advertising (print) guidelines,
h) Electronic brand elements (web site layout guidelines, GIF banner guidelines, e-mail templates and guidelines),
i) Co-branding guidelines,
j) International considerations ( guidelines for local photography, font usage ):
 - Paper specifications are not the same worldwide. Make sure to leave room for local paper specifications ( material, format, etc. )
- Font usage ( Japanese/Chinese/Hebrew/Cyrillic fonts do not always exist, depending on your font choice )
- Photographic material ( think about racial effects, cultural dependencies )

Notes
1. Explain the importance of using the brand guidelines consistently and why they need to be used across all markets and what this contributes to the brand. Maybe include, how much re-branding has cost to the company and why EVERYONE needs to ensure the correct formats, identity, logo, colour etc are used.

2. Use a binder that you can add inserts to and that are easy to print and do not incur unnecessary costs by being 'creative' - an A4 size will do and is a pretty universal format.

3. On your CD/DVD make sure your interface is simple and easy to use with a hyperlink to get updates from your website/intranet. Include commercials or well known campaigns.

4. Clearly illustrate the different versions of your identity - e.g. colour, greyscale and outline versions and specify colour usages.

5. This also applies to your product & brand typeface usage but can be applied to pictorial usage and any other elements you use as a standard across your brand. Also allow for some interpretation of elements for International markets for flexibility.

6. Show relationship sizing of your identity & products regarding its placement within collateral material with samples of use in e.g. a full colour ad, bw ad, billboard, poster treatment, email campaigns etc.

7. Specify media usage with clear examples using the identity, colours, sizing and proportion.

8. Also show, how your brand CANNOT be used. Give examples of wrong use of identity, colour etc and product usage. This refers to brand identity mutilation and distortion, inappropriate or offensive imagery or association (becomes more important internationally) This saves a lot of headaches and annoying questions.

9. Specify photo usage and how they can be used with your chosen media. Include examples as mentioned. You need feedback from your International markets regarding photo 'sensitivities' e.g. sexual references but this will be clarified in your brand values, philosophy and proposition earlier.

Marketing Mentor

A colleague has asked me to pose a question to businesses large and small.....

Do you know what role a mentor fulfils? Specifically would you consider using a marketing mentor to improve your organisational and personal business performance? Perhaps an expert who would come in each month to work with the MD/Chief Exec to progress strategic plans or perhaps work with an inexperienced marketing team to get them working more effectively?

Would their membership of the Chartered Institute of Marketing be important to you? Do you understand what membership means?

Any thoughts would be welcome including the price you would pay for such a service?

CEO's working together

It can be a lonely place being a CEO. That is why I’m writing this blog and have set up the South East Charity Forum ( See my article of the 13th May ). The SECF meetings are proving to be an excellent support network as well as brains trust. At the last meeting on the 18th the discussions around the recession and collaborative working where both informative and inspiring. I for one am delighted to see CEO openly sharing their expertise and concerns. SECF is a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. As the SECF grows I’m convinced we will be able to speak as one voice for charities in the region. That is a powerful incentive to be involved.

Numbers

With all this talk about our deficit and debut it is difficult to get your head around the vastness of the figures. From what I understand, people don't really understand exactly what a million is compared to a billion. Our brains just aren't wired to think in numbers that large. A million sounds a lot but how much can you visualise the difference between that and a billion? Well a million seconds equate to 12 days and a billion seconds equals 31 years!

Checking my maths;
60x60x24*12 = 1,036,800
Taking into consideration that a year would be 365.25 days because of leap years.
86400*365.25*31 = 978,285,600
(almost a billion. Rounding up is fine)

A billion is 1,000 times bigger than a million, but this doesn't impact our minds as much as we like to think it does. We still don't understand even what a million really is. To us it’s just a word. It’s not a number like 5, for instance, that we can visualise. We can hold our hand up with 5 fingers and count them, but try peaking at a crowd of a million people and accurately guessing how many are there!

However, the 12 days to 31 years really illustrates the difference for me. I’m prepared for some hard times ahead if we are to recover from our countries debt. A happy little thought for the end of a week!

South East Charity Forum

I have launched a new discussion forum to enable Chief Executives of charities in the South East to discuss ideas and share opinions on key topics and concerns in the sector. The South East Charity Forum builds on my vision and has been developed with the support of asb law and Kingston Smith LLP.
“The South East Charity Forum is all about CEOs coming together to assist each other and to share knowledge, experience and best practice with a view to developing stronger leadership and management in the region and the sector,” according to Margaret Craton, partner at asb law. “It also provides an opportunity for them to network with other charity heads, and support their peers at a local level.”
We held the inaugural meeting in January when Debra Allcock Tyler, chief executive of the Directory of Social Change and author of ‘It’s tough at the top’( which is also the tile of a course I run at the DSC ), gave a stimulating presentation to 25 chief executives on the issues currently facing the sector. Feedback from the delegates after the meeting was positive with comments such as “an excellent start”, “interesting and informative meeting” and “a good range of charities represented”.
David Montgomery, partner at Kingston Smith LLP, said: “The feedback from the first event proved its value. The members of the forum will decide on the subjects to be discussed in the future, and there’s no shortage of ideas. The next event will give charity chiefs the opportunity to discuss ways to ride out the current economic situation and prepare for the upturn when it does come, for while the recession may be officially over, we’re not out of the woods just yet.”
Membership of the South East Charity Forum is open to chief executives of charities in the region with an income in excess of £500,000 and by invitation only. In order to ensure diversity I have set up the forum to have a revolving chair. Diana Greenman of Music in Hospitals will chair the second event on 18th May at St Catherine’s Hospice, Crawley. The main discussion theme will be ‘The recession – how to ride the storm and use the opportunity to leverage change’

Election Comment

Following on from the election and my last blog with the manifesto for small charites it would seem on the face of it a hung parliament could have some positive outcomes for small charities. All three of the main parties have promised to improve things for small charities in one way or another. We hope that the parties who finally form the government work constructively together to achieve what is best for the sector. We would hope that working together to achieve consensus and compromise will result in a more rigorous approach that addresses the real concerns of small charities and will not result in delays and confusion.

SMALL CHARITIES COALITION - Manifesto

As a board member of the SCC I thought you'd like to read and hopefully comment on our top recommendations for the 2010 general election

Introduction
The Small Charities Coalition exists to help small charities access the skills, experience and resources they need to achieve their aims.

We know from our own experience that many small charities suffer from a chronic lack of resources, skills and expertise, despite having an abundance of passion and commitment. The Small Charities Coalition is like a voluntary sector matchmaking service, matching small charities with other organisations that have the skills, experience, and in some cases resources, that the small charity lacks.

The Small Charities Coalition is about helping small charities to help themselves, and enable them to have access to the considerable expertise of their larger counterparts in the charitable sector or those from other sectors.

Our services include:
• Matchmaking small charities with other organisations to increase resources or improve knowledge and skills;
• Providing support, guidance, encouragement, advice and information to small charities;
• Presenting personal and vocational development opportunities for individuals who volunteer to help small charities; and
• Offering a resource for small charities to get their voices heard within the media and Government.

Manifesto Recommendations

Advice and support
HM Revenue & Customs and the Charity Commission should develop a section on their websites specifically for small charities.
Our recent survey of small charities found that around a third of respondents believed that HMRC information on tax issues is too complex and technical to understand; and a third did not know what requirements do or do not apply to them. In addition, although many respondents found HMRC’s and the Charity Commission’s websites helpful, it was not always easy to locate the relevant information. Currently a lot of guidance is written with larger charities in mind. However, it is often the case that different rules apply to small charities. Furthermore, many smaller charities are run exclusively by volunteers without the funds to engage legal or accountancy professionals. We believe that HMRC and the Charity Commission should jointly create a specific online portal dedicated to small charities, including step by step guides written in plain English.

HM Revenue & Customs and the Charity Commission should retain and expand their telephone services.
The Small Charities Coalition welcomes online developments by the Charity Commission and HM Revenue & Customs. However, we also stress that many small charities do not have easy access to the internet and will face increasing difficulties if the internet becomes the preferred or sole channel of service delivery. We believe that HMRC and the Charity Commission should jointly create a bespoke telephone service for small charities, including tax, fundraising and other regulatory advice.

Deregulation of small charities
More charities should benefit from the lighter regulation enjoyed by ‘small charity’ status.
At the moment there are around 100,000 ‘small charities’ with a gross annual income of less than £10,000 who benefit from less onerous reporting requirements. In particular:
(a) small charities are not required to complete an Annual Return (although they must inform the Charity Commission if any changes to the charity’s details, including income and expenditure.
(b) if the charity’s income does not exceed £25,000, the trustees are not required to file their Trustees’ Annual Report (although they must complete it and make it available); and
(c) small charities can prepare ‘receipts and payments’ accounts (rather than more complex accrual accounts) and these need not be audited.

We believe that these thresholds should be raised so that more charities benefit from lighter regulation. It would also be beneficial for small charities to ensure that the monitoring thresholds are co-ordinated and aligned across the UK jurisdictions.

Public consultations should consider the regulatory impact on small charities
In recognition of the role of small charities within the Third Sector, public consultations should consider the impact of any proposal on small charities and not just larger ones. After all, continuing change has a disproportionate impact upon smaller charities.

VAT
Simplify the rules; The current VAT rules for charities are extremely complex and reform is long overdue.
Encourage collaboration by exempting shared services. Currently, charities which charge each other for shared services currently have to pay VAT. This often ends up costing more than simply working separately. We therefore support proposals to exempt this form of cost-sharing from VAT. This will encourage greater collaboration between charities.

Gift Aid
Simplify the Gift Aid rules
We support the simplification of rules for Gift Aid and the further promotion of its use. We also believe that an individual’s donation should be Gift Aided unless expressly stated. This would make a larger number of donations tax-efficient and increase charities’ income. These proposals are also supported by NCVO.

Extend the transitional relief
We propose to extend the transitional relief beyond the current end date of April 2011. This is in the hope the end of transitional relief will coincide with the implementation of Gift Aid reforms. This proposal is also support by the Institute of Fundraising.

Trading
Raise the limit on the small charities’ trading exemption
We call on the Government to raise the small charities’ trading exemption from the current limit of £50,000 to £250,000. This would give charities greater flexibility and obviate the need to create a subsidiary. This proposal is also supported by the Charity Finance Directors’ Group.

Treat sponsorship and advertising the charity’s work as primary purpose trading
We support calls to treat as primary purpose trading (a) sponsorship where it is directly related to charitable purposes and (b) advertising that supports the charity’s charitable activities. Many charities give corporate donors recognition for their sponsorship of an activity or event. However, this can have adverse tax implications for the charity if appropriate arrangements are not put in place. In particular, if HMRC believes that the substance of the relationship involves the charity providing advertising services, its sponsorship income will be treated as trading income. If the level of sponsorship takes the charity over the threshold of the small charities’ trading exemption, the charity would need to divert the sponsorship income through a trading subsidiary. We believe that donations currently treated as taxable sponsorship should be reclassed as primary purpose trading so that charities are not forced needlessly to establish a trading company to receive them. This is cumbersome, expensive and serves no useful purpose. In the same way, advertising income should also be reclassed as primary purpose trading if it is revenue that supports the charity’s charitable activities. These proposals are also supported by the Charity Finance Directors’ Group

Recognising volunteering
We support NCVO’s proposals to formally recognise the importance of volunteering.
Introduce a bank holiday dedicated to volunteering.
We believe that a bank holiday dedicated to celebrating the voluntary sector and recognising its role in society would encourage greater participation and build community.

Give employees a right to take five days’ paid leave for voluntary work
We believe that employees should have a right to take additional paid leave for voluntary work. We believe this will particularly benefit smaller charities which foten do not have the resources to pay for staff.

Easter Message

‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’ John 10 verse 10

Spring time is my favourite time of the year! Having just endured one of the coldest winters in the UK for over 30 years, the blue skies and the spring sunshine are such a welcome sight, well they would have been if they had stayed! Our garden, like many, throughout winter looked so dark, dull and lifeless. But now with the onset of spring, it is exploding into new life with a beautiful array of colourful plants and fragrant flowers. Although I found myself mowing the lawn in the rain this morning!

At Easter we celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! God’s Son could not be contained in a cold dark tomb. Jesus rose again on the third day, conquering sin, Satan and death once and for all (as he promised he would), making it possible for you and me to celebrate the truth and power of Easter every day and to have the assurance of eternal life.

‘We live and die; Christ died and lived!’ I can't remember which Theologian said this but it sums it up perfectly,

The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility for SMEs

Small to medium-sized business (fewer than 250 employees) account for about 90% of businesses worldwide and are responsible for 50-60% of employment. As such, they play a fundamental role in society and can potentially have a huge impact on social welfare.

I find it surprising, therefore, that corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, so far, have tended to focus on large companies and multinationals. As SMEs have stakeholders and an impact on society, the concept of CSR is just as valid for small companies, as for large companies.

Many SMEs may be doing CSR in some way or form, but don’t call it “CSR” as such. For example, they may provide excellent goods and services; they may be great employers, engaging with their employees and other stakeholders; they may be alert to health and safety issues in the workplace and for customers, or they may be attempting to operate sustainably and minimise their use of natural resources. All of these things are examples of socially responsible behaviour but are not labelled as such by many small and medium sized businesses.

Staffing is often a critical element in the success of a small business. It is true in any business but employees in a small business are often a critical resource for the business’s success and prosperity. As such, many small and medium-sized businesses place emphasis on increasing employee skills and work on motivating and building staff morale. Much of SMEs’ social, community and environmental initiatives are therefore driven by, or focused on employee engagement and development.

Some of the barriers for SMEs in becoming involved in corporate social responsibility include; 

• the cost of implementing CSR activities when survival is often the greatest economic imperative;
• time and resource constraints which may mean a lack of affordable external support and resources; 
• a lack of awareness of the business benefits with no/little understanding of the business case for small and medium-sized enterprises; 
• the fact that existing CSR tools and guidelines are mainly geared towards large business;

On the other hand, there are a number of things which could encourage CSR in small business. Most importantly there is the ability to attract and retain valued employees. A characteristic of small businesses is that their success is largely dependent on a handful of key employees. Other things include the ability to develop unique selling propositions and competitive benefits through their products and services; cost and efficiency savings and enhanced reputation. 

One of the problems that SMEs face when seeking to address CSR issues is that many of the tools are designed for big business. Initiatives aimed at encouraging SME involvement in CSR need to be easily accessible and relevant. The advice needs to be tailored to them with easy-to-use tools and case studies that make it real and provide encouragement to SMEs. If small businesses can see examples of specific initiatives that have increased profitability and improved the business they will be more likely themselves to adopt CSR strategies. I think charities could work with channels known and trusted by SMEs such as industry associations to ensure that information, guidance and partnerships are available.

Charities working in partnership with business

The following is the text from an article in the Southampton Echo:

In this time of economic pressure both charities and the companies who support them are looking for ways to work smarter and to ensure that the money is well spent.

Peter Robertson of Condor Office Solutions is keen to help charities to work together to maximise their fundraising events. Peter, who is also Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, said “I’m delighted to see local charities taking the opportunity to work closer to the business community”.
D’Arcy Myers, CEO of Wessex Heartbeat, is a prominent member of the not-for-profit community and is out spoken about the need for charities to be the best possible stewards of the monies gifted to them. As a board member he explained about the Small Charities Coalition and called for local charities to form a consortium to better promote their work and the benefits of support. He said “Where charities can work together they should, supporters want to see real impact for the money they give”. Peter Robertson along with James Hiley-Jones of Careys Manor and the Montague Arms provided a congenial setting and superb lunch to a dozen of the most proactive charities in Southampton and seventeen local businesses, enabling them to discuss ideas and ensure that the maximum benefit is derived from people’s generous support.

There was much interest in the Small Charites Coalition which exists to help small charities access the skills, experience and resources they need to achive their aims. The Coalition is like a voluntary sector matchmaking service, matching charities with other organisations that have the skills that that the charity lacks.

St Patrick's Day Blessing

On this St Patrick's day I have this blessing by an unknown author for you all. I hope you will find time to raise a glass of the black stuff ( you have dispensation from your Lent abstinence ).

I wish you not a path devoid of clouds,

Nor a life on a bed or roses.

Nor, that you might never need regret,

Nor that you should never feel pain.

No, this is not my wish for you. My wish for you is:

That you might be brave in times of trial

When other's lay crosses upon your shoulders.

When mountains must be climbed and chasms crossed,

When hope scarce shines through.

When every gift God gave you might grow along with you,

And let you give the gift of joy to all who care for you.

That you might always have a friend who is worth that name.

Whom you can trust.

And hope will be, in times of sadness,

Who will defy the storms of life by your side.

One more wish for you:

That in every hour of joy and pain, you may be close to God.

This is my wish for you and those who are close to you.

This is my hope for you, now and forever.

Charities working together to strengthen trustee boards

Developing a coherent and effective Trustee board is an ever evolving challenge. It goes hand in glove with the need for leaders to constantly challenge their standards. After all a Trustee board is only as strong as its component parts. Effective boards have a mature understanding of the skills and experience of their members and seek to fill gaps as soon as they are identified. However, in my experience some charities have difficulty in recruiting from outside their personal pool of contacts and therefore often end up with an ever narrower view of themselves and the outside world. If the charity is located outside the capital this problem is even greater.


A strategy to minimise trustee clones would be for charities in the same geographical area to work together in establishing a “Trustee Recruitment and Retention Committee”, I’m sure that there is a snappier title! The committee could;

• Create a pool of available trustees to fill vacancies promptly as they arise;
• Develop links with local business, professional bodies, community groups and other partners to promote charity trusteeship;
• Present awareness sessions for local people or companies who are interested in serving as trustees;
• Develop and share best practise templates;
• Provide briefings to potential trustees candidates whilst their application is being processed;
• Provide a local induction programme for new trustees;
• Facilitate a forum for trustees to meet and collectively discuss issues that are relevant to all trustees.

As this would be done as a collective of charities, approaches to potential trustees would be seen to be none charity specific and focused on the benefits offered to both the individual and company. For example; local accountancy firms could be approached outlining the professional personal development opportunities for staff and the corporate social responsibility achievements for the company. This would also have the benefit of cutting down repeat requests from multiple charities.

Once a firm, group or individual decides to become a charity trustee they would be able to select the charities that most interest them and be matched to the charities needs. An example of this could be an accountant who is interested in working for a health charity being able to choose between a number of health charities that need a Treasurer.

Recently I was reminded of a maxim that "as a leader your lowest standard is the highest others will aspire to".

Trustees from Beyond the Boundaries

Recently I attended the TrusteeWorks first sector event hosted by the Clothworkers’ Company which challenged the often voiced view that recruiting trustees is difficult.

The follow-up from the event makes for interesting reading;

The panel debate discussed three questions that sought to challenge the boundaries trustees and boards can impose when looking for great trustees. Key points that drew further discussion included the challenge that, as boards, we spend too much time looking backwards not forwards. We also talked about sustainability, which limits us to be the organisation we are now where resilience is a more relevant focus, becoming the organisation we need to be. Less than 1% of trustees are under 30 and yet these are talented people like any other trustee, they just happen to be young.

Leadership by a board is critical. The panel recognised the challenge of leading as a group and understanding the difference between leading and managing, the board’s role and the staff role. Compared to the private sector, the voluntary sector has been slow to undertake proper board development and review.

Compelling improvements identified included the need to introduce new talent, to recognise the value of difference and diversity on a board as well as understanding risk and how to manage it, rather than be controlled by it, and the need to actively consider and act on the need to change to thrive.

‘Effective organisations have a restless search for improvement’  – quoting Michael Barbour

The table discussions looked at 7 questions across 13 tables and some creative and lengthy discussions continued into the networking and drinks. Highlights from the discussions include a sense that trustees can be overvalued especially in relation to status, i.e. the “great and good” and the value of the board as an entity can be under recognised. Being able to understand and represent the community being served is important but over representation by users and not enough recognition of skills, business experience and decision making create real barriers to success. Younger people have a lot to offer especially in this digital age, it is our problem to recognise, understand and include them not theirs. Private sector experience was recognised as valuable and bringing key skills, more needs to be done, consciously, to integrate people with differing backgrounds on a board.

The use of skills audits, self administered or with out side support was echoed across a number of tables where the need for self review, external governance support, succession planning, board development and time for the board to know each other as people as well as the task of being trustee was highlighted. Being a trustee can and should be fun, it should add value to the individual, it may be great personal development, build CVs, allow them to be part of a team or social environment. The motivations of trustees are not uniform, recognising and allowing different motivations was seen as a key way to cross recruitment boundaries. To read the speaker and table notes in full, http://ctt-news.org/72Y-3NGG-1D37XJ-21QUS-1/c.aspx.

The evening supported the TrusteeWorks suggestion that attitude and approach can be two boundaries to successful recruitment.

To add to the debate, email trusteeworks@reachskills.org.uk

To find out more about TrusteeWorks, visit the website http://www.trusteeworks.org.uk/