“…and probably most importantly is to …be yourself … be true to the charity, be true to what you’re all about… and don’t get sidetracked by trying to be relevant or trying to …crowbar yourself in. If you don’t fit, you don’t fit, there are other things for you to… get involved in…" - Chris Rushbrooke
In this episode, recorded a few weeks ago, we speak with Chris Rushbrooke, Chief Bear at Northern Bear.
1. Charities sometimes need to reframe the question
Chris talked about his work as helping to reframe the question that charities may be asking themselves and giving them a new perspective. This ties in with conversations we’ve had about taking a donor centred approach to fundraising, and the evidence that charities being fast to respond to changing circumstances, such as the pandemic, and how this has led to better outcomes for them, their fundraising and their beneficiaries.
2. Focus on the ones who know you and love you
In the world of fundraising, it is far more effective to focus on those who are more likely to want to support your cause, not everyone will. The give and forget donors are numerous, but can they be encouraged to build a longer-term relationship with the causes they support ad hoc? We’ve spoken befoe about responding quickly to make the most of a brief and possibly fleeting contact with a supporter. There is a pressure, which we can all see in the commercial sector, to respond quickly, even instantaneously to customers, and many charities need to work smarter at doing this too.
3. What are donors looking for?
Chris also mentioned the Donor Pulse Report from Enthuse, which can be found here: https://enthuse.com/insights/donor-pulse-report-spring-2021/ Do have a look and see how your charity can improve their approach.
Digital natives (Gen Z), may be overlooked by many charities and there is therefore a huge opportunity to engage an existing audience who will also exert increasing giving power over the next few years. We have spoken before about what younger generations are looking for in the brands they choose to support, including charities, and this segues into diversity, and specifically the diversity of charity boards.
4. Diversity will help you thrive
There are many reasons for diversity on board, one is the benefit of having a young audiences represented on Boards and within decision making hierarchies that can help to keep the charity in touch with the ever moving, ever evolving digital worlds, and the audiences living within them. After all, for charities and our causes to survive, thrive, and change the world, we need to embrace the progress of technology and bring our agenda to it.
This episode of Charity Chat has been brought to you by our platinum sponsor, fundraising platform Work for Good and the festive Small Business Star match funding campaign. This year there is a £50,000 match funding pot available. Head to www.workforgood.co.uk to sign-up for free!
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode.
Related episodes that you may be interested in:
E165 - Why Young Trustees? With Amelia Ireland And Kate Roberts -
E134 - Digital Transformations With Shaf Mansour -
E85: Video Messaging with Matt Barnett -