Jude Habib

I had an interesting conversation this week with a chief executive of a small charity. The charity is one of several organisations which benefit financially from a successful relationship with a large corporate partner.

But all is not well. It seems that one of the other charities – much larger in terms of income and reserves – has been questioning the share of money the charity I know of is getting from the relationship. It puts the CEO in a difficult situation.

She doesn’t want to rock the boat of a successful, long-term corporate relationship but feels under threat by comments heard through the grapevine of what the other charity is saying.  

Speak up and say something, then you risk losing a corporate partner and all the benefits that come with it; or keep quiet and allow unsubstantiated comments being left uncorrected.

These bullying tactics don’t just disappoint me but have made me extremely angry. But I don’t think this is an isolated incident and I am sure some charities have found themselves in a similar position.   

As the share of the funding pot diminishes, successful long-term relationships with the corporate sector are even more important. Businesses want to be working alongside charities who will make them look good and this kind of incident, if not handled carefully, could lead to both the charities losing this corporate support. There are enough charities in the background who’d be ready to take the place.

So what would you do if you were in this position?

Yesterday I was on the phone to a client who works for an international NGO. She told me that her organisation has recently been informed by DFiD that its core funding would be cut from March next year and redundancy plans were now being put into place.   

Unfortunately, a project we were due to work on with them is now unlikely to take place.

This is one of several conversations I’ve been having with people in the last few weeks and months.

At the other end of the scale, I had another conversation with the CEO of a small but growing charity who is about to have a big media opportunity with huge potential to raise its profile, as well as raising funds. As a supporter of this charity, I wanted to ensure that every step was being taken to ensure that coverage was being maximised.

Her response wasn’t as positive as I would have liked, citing ‘lack of time’ and ‘limited resources’ as a reason for not going above and beyond the work the charity was already doing. It’s simply not good enough.

Yes, this charity has currently got good sources of income and great relationships with corporate donors, but what about the year ahead? Or the next few years? Every pound will make a difference.
 
Today marks the start of challenging times in the Third Sector. We will all be affected by it in some way.

As a social entrepreneur, I should potentially be worried about the prospects for our future. Our work is based on providing services to charities, community groups and other third sector organisations. Our company then goes on to fund social projects out of our profits. So if people are using our services less, not only does it have implications for financing the work we do, but our whole ethos of supporting other projects might get lost in a battle for survival.
 
But I am not worried. I didn’t leave a full-time staff job to set up my own company only to start running away when the business climate gets tough. Like other social entrepreneurs we will adapt to the changing circumstances of the people we work with  and for. We will adapt our services and products to ensure that they are affordable and relevant to the workplace. We will continue to be creative and innovative and to explore other opportunities to ensure that the people we work with get the training they need when budgets are being cut. For example we’ve started to do this by offering monthly free digital media networking events in partnership with the Third Sector PR and Communications Network.   
 
I see the CSR as an opportunity for all of us to put a spotlight on the work we do. It will be strong leadership coupled with forward-thinking, creativity, innovation and working above and beyond, that will enable Third Sector organisations to survive. For reasons beyond their control some organisations won’t make it but I’m confident that we can all face these challenges head on.
 
My life plan wasn’t to set up my own business and leave the luxury of a staff job. But I have and I have had the pleasure of working with fantastic and dynamic people working for charities and other third sector organisations. It’s these individuals who’ll continue to remind donors, funders, trustees and supporters why their organisations need to exist and what their purpose is through simple but powerful storytelling. It is these stories that will ensure that the third sector will survive.
 

I just wanted to send a gentle reminder that on Monday 4 October submissions close for the BBC’s Radio 4 and Lifeline Charity Appeals. I wanted to make a direct appeal to very small charities that this is a deadline not to be missed.   
 
As an ex-BBC producer, I am constantly surprised how charity fundraising departments don’t take more advantage of these long-standing appeals.
 
I’m going to focus on the Radio 4 Appeal in particular, as this is the programme that I rarely miss. As you know, I’m passionate about the spoken word and the power it has to deliver clear and simple messages. For those of you who don’t know about it, the Radio 4 Appeal is a short 3 minute broadcast each week where a single speaker, usually a celebrity, highlights the work of a charity and appeals for donations to support its work.  

The appeal is broadcast 3 times during the week. Listeners can make donations by sending cheques using a Freepost address, or can make payments online or by telephone. Increasingly these programmes are using non-celebrity speakers – to great effect. Also, short audio clips have been inserted into the programmes to add additional impact.
 
The producer of the Appeal, Sally Flatman, recently mentioned to me that although they receive many applications for the BBC Radio 4 appeal, it is by no means overwhelming and they’d be happy to hear from more charities. You can check out if you’re eligible on the appeal website.
 
So I got in contact with a couple of charities to  find out about their experiences of having a Radio 4 Appeal. The charity Alstrom Syndrome UK  had huge success with its appeal last year, raised just under £12,000 and still receives the odd cheque from the appeal. It had one donor who not only gave a generous £5,000 but also offered to volunteer for the charity when it ran children’s activity trips.  

Interestingly, this particular appeal wasn’t fronted by a celebrity because Alstrom Syndrome is so rare it couldn’t find anyone who had a link to the charity, which made it very difficult finding anyone. In the end its chief executive and founder of the charity, Kay Parkinson, structured a script and presented a very personal appeal for people with the condition.
 
There was a lot of admin work for a small charity shortly before the appeal and immediately after with thank you notes and information requests, but the charity was clear that the work put in was all worth it for the amount of money that was raised. The appeal not only raised vital money for the charity but increased awareness of the condition and the work that it does.
 
Another beneficiary of the Radio 4 Appeal was the Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund who applied to the appeal to attract new donors and raise its profile. It raised a massive £28,469 from 697 donations, which is a huge amount for a small charity. It felt it was a simple, cost-effective way to raise funds and profile and found the process very straightforward and stress-free.
 
This wasn’t the first appeal it had done and in a previous appeal it attracted a new donor who gave a few hundred pounds to the appeal, then a similar donation in the two subsequent years.  When this donor passed away she left the charity a legacy of £120,000. So clearly the effects of the Radio 4 appeal can be felt many years after the actual broadcast.
 
You’ve only got a few days to get your application in for the latest round of Appeal broadcasts and I hope many small charities will take the time to do this. 
 
Good Luck
 
PS – if you can’t get the form in for this time, start work on an application for the next round!

As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, I am passionate about film and documentaries – especially ones which explore tough social issues. Earlier this year I blogged about the powerful documentary Shed Your Tears and Walk Away, which put a spotlight on alcoholism and mental health issues in the picturesque town of Hebden Bridge.  

It was a film that I had first come across at the London Film Festival – I might never have seen it otherwise.

So I wanted to give you the heads-up that the line-up of films being shown at the London Film Festival has just been released. And it’s worth taking a look and, if you can, going to see something.

This year the line-up is as relevant to our sector as ever, with films covering themes including bullying, homelessness, poverty and child abuse.    

The Sutherland Award recognises the director of the most original and imaginative debut in the Festival and several candidates explore issues that might not get coverage on mainstream media.   

Picco features prison life in a story of young inmates in an overcrowded youth prison, while Two Gates of Sleep looks at bereavement and Submarine is about bullying.

In other parts of the programme, Comic Relief is supporting the film Africa United – linking poverty and football in the run up to the World Cup.
 
Films can provide a real opportunity for an organisation to piggyback on the marketing when they are released to a wider audience. But the truth is that some of these films might not get a wider release – they might only get to be shown at festivals, and then film distributors, who have the real power, might simply decide to release the ones that have mainstream appeal.

The fact is the London Film Festival might be your only opportunity to see a particular film that has a resonance for the charity you work for.
 
So my advice is that if you see a film you think brings the issues you are dealing with to life, don’t wait for it to reach the mainstream. Get in touch with the director yourselves, champion the film yourself, perhaps even screen the film yourself, but don’t waste what is a fantastic opportunity to get your messages out.  

I’ll leave you with a story. I met a film director who approached a large charity to be the financial beneficiary of a documentary film screening, which featured issues that particular charity dealt with. He called several times but no one returned his calls. When he finally got through to someone from the communications team they said they were too busy to be involved or send someone along to the screening.

In the end a smaller charity sent a representative and the event was a massive success. The documentary has subsequently had 4 and 5 star reviews in all the mainstream media and I think the larger charity really missed a great, low cost opportunity to market its cause to new audiences.  

Facebook groups pop up every day for different causes but last weekend one particular group caught my eye. 
 
It was for a campaign initiated by a young person who has taken part in a Do it 4 Real summer camp run by the charity YHA (formerly the Youth Hostel Association).
 
These government-subsidised camps have enabled young people, many from low-income backgrounds, to have holidays that might otherwise have been impossible.
 
As government departments review their funding, schemes like Do it 4 Real are under threat.
 
So I was excited to learn that a camp participant had got wind that the camps might be no more and – unprompted – set up a Facebook campaign to save it.
 
I should declare that my company has in the past produced multi-media content about Do it 4 Real and earlier this year provided some PR for it.
 
That aside, I think this Facebook campaign has interesting implications and is worth keeping an eye on because it highlights the fact the people who use your services are your best ambassadors.
 
The group, made up of parents as well as young people, has been posting messages and ideas to save Do it 4 Real.  The ideas range from writing a petition to calling and emailing government departments (The Treasury is currently at the top of their list).
 
I think this is a sign of things to come as people in the frontline of cuts to services start their campaigns.
 
The question is: how will organisations respond to this kind of direct action? Will they harness this people power so that passion can be channelled into direct results?  
 
It remains to be seen whether this Do it 4 Real group makes a difference and gets heard. I hope it does.
 
It would be great to hear how other charities deal with this kind of e-campaigning.
 

The call to action on Facebook and Twitter was clear and was to prove to be the start of an amazing fundraising campaign harnessing social media. 

It was led by the charity Child’s i Foundation and spearheaded by its inspirational founder Lucy Buck and her team.

“We have 48 hours to save Joey’s life,” it began. “He is very sick and will not make it unless we get him out of Uganda into cardiothoracic surgery. We need to raise money to fly him and his family for urgent medical attention. Please please help.”
 
Within 38 hours they had raised over £10,000, which has enabled Joey and his family to be flown to South Africa for a life saving operation.
 
The foundation was formed to help put an end to the endemic problem of child abandonment in Uganda and has set up a child abandonment project for this purpose.

Developed with leading social care experts in the UK and Uganda, the project has three key elements: a support programme for mothers at risk of abandoning their babies; a transitional home to provide short-term life-saving care; and a family placement programme to ensure every child grows up in a loving family.
 
To raise funds they have built a massive community of supporters online. These people support the organisation not only financially but by helping to spread the word of the work being done to their own networks. 

As it says on the charity’s website: “Rather than simply sending money then forgetting about us, we want all our supporters to become an active part of our community. We are founded on the efforts, ideas and love of people like you – and there are so many ways you get involved and make a difference”
 
We are invited to watch (and share) footage of the children the charity is supporting via videos on YouTube, pictures on flickr, a blog and a combination of all the media on Twitter and Facebook. 

By building its communications around social media the charity has created a steady fundraising stream.

Its stories are told simply and the messages undiluted. And that brings me back to Joey’s story.

The charity appeal last week came after it was discovered he was suffering from a serious heart condition and there was no-one in East Africa who could perform the surgery on a four-month-old.

Donations flooded in from around the world exceeding expectations. The target was reached. Joey is now in Johannesburg in one of the best medical centres in Africa.
 
As I blog Joey is in the operating theatre, but whatever the outcome of this operation the team at the foundation should be praised for its achievements, not just in this case but its overall work and approach to social media.

Every charity should note how this dynamic organisation has harnessed social media and everything it stands for to such a great effect.
 
You can keep updated with Joey’s story and the work of the Child’s i Foundation on Facebook and via YouTube.
 

I have read a few articles recently that have tried to encourage young people to become charity trustees. I wonder why young people would bother.

Late last year my colleague Mark expressed an interest in becoming a trustee of a small charity. He’s dynamic, hard working, committed and would offer any organisation a wealth of experience and advice. At the same time, trusteeship could offer him an insight into the workings of a charity.

He spent quite a bit of time researching opportunities and finally responded to a tweet from the Media Trust about an opportunity using their Media Matching service. He sent off his CV and had a meeting with one of the charity’s trustees and one of its employees. The charity wanted to recruit a trustee with a media and communications background, and they were extremely positive about Mark’s potential for the job.

The next stage for Mark was a follow-up meeting with the chairman, which meant another couple of hours talking through ideas.

And that’s where his road to becoming to a trustee ended. Despite a positive meeting, he never heard from the organisation again. Several emails went unanswered. He felt all his time, research and energy had been wasted.

I’m extremely annoyed on his behalf. The fact that the organisation didn’t even have the courtesy to reply to an email, or explain why he wasn’t suitable for the job, is unacceptable. The charity will remain nameless, despite the fact that I would like to name and shame them.

To make things worse, this experience has put him off being a trustee altogether.

The latest Charity Commission figures show there are around 890,000 charity trustees in England and Wales, but less than 1 per cent are under 24, and 75 per cent are over 45. Given Mark’s experience, I can understand why.

Channel 4 love their formatted factual programmes. Secret Millionaire, Fairy Jobmother and Undercover Boss, to name but a few. 

Whatever one thinks about these kinds of programmes there is a lot our sector can learn from them.

Case in point – last week I watched an episode of Undercover Boss in which Kevan Collins, chief executive of Tower Hamlets Council, one of the poorest boroughs in the country, went undercover to get an insight into the way frontline services were being delivered.

With tough decisions needing to be made – he has to make £50 million worth of cuts in the next 3 years – he wanted to see for himself how things were being run and whether efficiency savings could be made without telling the people he met who he really was.

So during the week he worked alongside various employees, including meals-on-wheels deliverers, pest-controllers and housing officers. 

The staff the production team found to follow were impressive ambassadors who were completely dedicated to their jobs. OK, I know the cameras were on, but this isn’t Big Brother and I didn’t get the impression they were acting.

We discovered that the lady delivering meals on wheels no longer had time to stop for a chat to the people she was meeting. These individuals were clearly socially isolated and vulnerable and for many this was the only conversation they’d have all day.

Kevan met Tim from pest control, a service often contracted out, who was someone who worked hard to add value to the service he was delivering.

The housing officer on a temporary contract showed Kevan just how to manage difficult situations on the front line of housing.

What I found most interesting and laudable was at the end of the programme when Kevan did the big reveal to tell them who and what he was.

He invited the meals-on-wheels deliverer to be part of a steering committee to explore ideas about the provision of adult services; he offered to mentor the young housing officer; he invited Tim from pest control to head up an apprenticeship scheme.

Their responses to his requests said it all. They were being given a real opportunity to have a say in the running of the council and their voices were going to be heard. This wasn’t about being motivated by more money but being respected for the work they were doing.   

At a time when third sector organisations are making difficult decisions and redundancies are being made, making people feel valued as well as included is the most important thing that a chief executive and staff in a senior management positions can do.  It’s cost-effective and will make a real difference.

I was out with a close friend last week who is the chief executive of a small charity. She is dynamic, passionate about her work and more than capable of doing her job. Exactly the sort of person the sector needs.

But she was out of sorts and when I asked why she told me she was having problems with her chairman. He was constantly undermining her, questioning her decision-making in front of colleagues and asking whether she thought she could actually do the job. In effect, he was bullying her.
 
She was recruited to take the charity in a new direction; to help raise its profile and to bring it into the 21st Century. Yet here she was losing her confidence, questioning her position and contemplating resigning.
 
Ironically, the next day I read the report in Third Sector that bullying is on the increase among charity employees – a shocking indictment of a sector that is supposedly so ‘caring’.

As someone who has first hand experience of bullying in the workplace (not in the charity sector) I feel strongly that any behaviour that makes a colleague feel worthless is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

It has always been challenging to deal with such situations but as the economic climate becomes more difficult and jobs become less secure people are finding it more difficult to speak out.

I have been in this situation twice. On the first occasion I was a freelancer and wasn’t brave enough to say anything. Ten years on, I hear from other people that the same manager continues to behave in the same manner  to his colleagues, yet still remains in a well paid job. 

On the second occasion I did challenge the person in question – who had clearly never been tackled before – and their behaviour towards me changed immediately. 
 
So what did I advise my friend?  I reminded her just how wonderful and competent she was. I told her to create a list of all the things she’s achieved in her job and the difference she felt she had made.

I said that the next time she is faced with the chairman’s bullying behaviour she needed to take him to one side and take a stand.

If his negative attitude persists I think it is in her interest to make a decision what do to next. Life is too short and our health and happiness should take priority over any work matters.

I cannot say I spend a great deal of my time reading corporate social responsibility reports, but one by the BBC recently dropped into my inbox and I thought I would take a look.

As with all these things, it contains a whole load of patting on the back, but my attention spiked around page 35 in the charity chapter, which highlights the role the BBC plays in supporting the voluntary sector across the UK and the world, both through its own charities and the work it does to support hundreds of others.

What’s interesting is that both Children in Need and Sport Relief have raised more than ever before in spite of the economic climate, with the former achieving £39m and Sport Relief £40m.

On the volunteering side of things, just under 700 staff members have worked with external charity partners through the BBC’s staff volunteering scheme Connect & Create. It works with 10 national charity partners and six local project partners in the north of England. But with 400 members of staff “working” at Glastonbury this year the true figure could be much higher.

One of the Connect & Create projects that really took my fancy was a relationship with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, in which 15 BBC staff produced podcasts with young patients.

The BBC volunteers spent three days working at the hospital with the youngsters who recorded their experiences of different illnesses.  The podcasts were then uploaded to the hospital’s Children first for health website, where other children who had been newly diagnosed could download and listen to them.  

The BBC volunteers gained new skills and audience insights while Great Ormond Street received a valuable new communications tool for its patients. The project was also nominated for the best community programming prize at the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2010.
 
There are real opportunities for charities to take advantage and work with the BBC.

Ten organisations, including Whizz-Kidz, Age UK, Groundwork and Samaritans have been named as official Connect & Create national partners, but I know from my experience of working both inside and outside the BBC that there is great potential to develop relationships and links with the media giant.  Have you had BBC staff volunteering in your organisation or worked on a TV/radio project? It would be good to hear your stories.