Fundraising body releases code of practice for "chuggers"

The Institute of Fundraising (IoF) is the professional body that represents 4500 individual fundraisers and 250 organizational members in the UK.

The IoF just released a new draft code of practice on face-to-face fundraising, a practice known to some as "chugging" because it can be perceived as charity mugging on the street.

For the first time, the code includes rules on the practice of prospecting - where fundraisers take down potential donors' details but not initially their money.

"Previously, only those who took money or were active in getting people to sign up for direct debits were required to follow the IoF code. During the initial F2F conversation, fundraisers are now required to "acknowledge the possibility of a subsequent financial commitment request".

Mick Aldridge, Chief Executive of the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association, said that the body had seen a desire from local authorities who claimed that prospecting "looks like fundraising" and therefore needed to be included under regulatory guidelines."

Now that the draft is released, the IoF will begin a 12 week public consultation period until August 8th. If you want to give your input, go here.

British Prime Minister looks to US for fundraising tips

When Gordon Brown visited the United States last week he met with all three presidential candidates. Why, you might ask?

It appears he is looking for help "in wiping out the lead that the Tories have established over Labour in the dash for political cash."

The Prime Minister has told The Times his party is examining the fundraising success of the two Democratic presidential candidates, both of whom regularly generate more than $1 million (£500,000) a day through small donations on the internet.

“We are watching closely how they’ve managed to extend their reach to new groups of supporters and donors,” he said during a trip to Washington last week. “The political systems are not the same and there are legal constraints about asking for money in unsolicited e-mails. But we’re certainly interested in what we can learn.” Mr Brown, a keen student of American politics, met both of the Democrat contenders and John McCain, the Republican nominee. According to latest figures, Mr Obama raised more than $40 million last month – the bulk of it online, via a donor base of more than one million individuals.

Oiy. One more bad habit we can export to the rest of the world.

Fundraising priest disappears after floating away on 1000 helium balloons

A Brazilian priest named Rev. Adelir Antonio di Carli took off Sunday from the coastal city of Paranagua in southern Brazil, buoyed by 1,000 helium-filled balloons. Unfortunately, less than eight hours after taking flight, Fr De Carli lost contact with authorities and was reported missing.

He was seeking to break a 19-hour record for the longest time in-flight with balloons and to raise money for a 'spiritual rest stop' for truckers in Paranagua.

The cluster of yellow, orange, pink and white balloons was seen last night, floating intact in the sea off Santa Catarina state near Fr di Carli's last contact point.

The priest embarked on a similar adventure in January this year when he used only 600 balloons to carry him on a four-hour, 5,300m-high voyage from the town of Ampere to neighbouring Argentina.



According to the CBC in Canada, some people are criticizing the fundraising stunt:

Meanwhile, a flight instructor who expelled di Carli from flight school three years ago has publicly criticized the priest for his stunt, Gancia said.

"He called him undisciplined and an exhibitionist, and he was always bragging about his faith and how his faith was going to carry him and take him safely through his journey. And that's not what happened."

He was reported to have been strapped into an inflatable chair, wearing a thermal outfit and helmet. He also had a parachute, however rescuers admit that hope is fading.

U.N. official discusses international philanthropy

Tom Watson posted some video on the News onPhilanthropy website.



Keynote speaker Dr. Robert C. Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning and Policy Coordination of the United Nations touched on international action around climate change and global health. at onPhilanthropy's fifth annual Summit onPhilanthropy in New York. More than 300 philanthropists, nonprofit executives, and foundation managers filled the Yale Club on March 11th, joining in a spirited day-long discussion on trends in giving and social ventures. The Summit is a yearly event for philanthropy leaders produced by onPhilanhropy.com, the media arm of international philanthropic services company Changing Our World, Inc.

They are coming to eat your lunch

For years I have heard Americans who work as fundraisers for national advocacy groups discuss whether it would work if they decided to raise money internationally. Usually, such conversations hit a snag when people start asking about postage for international mailings or some other such concern.

The usual conclusion is that "we'll think about it later when we have more time." (Ironically, that's also the same conclusion reached when big groups try to consider whether they should reach out in Spanish to potential immigrant populations within the United States.)

I don't think this procrastination is simplybecause people are lazy... often the concerns and cost/benefit questions are valid... however, I mention all of this because I've had more than one person comment to me about the high number of foreigners at this year's AFP Conference.

So, while fundraisers rarely admit publicly that they view themselves as competitors to each other, I thought I would warn you... those foreign nonprofits are coming to eat your lunch (and steal your donors)... so be prepared.

Chapel & York announced recently that they are holding a series of seminars entitled, "Fundraising from America." The seminars will be held in London to coincide with their publication, "Directory of American Grantmakers 2008-09."

Globization can be a bitch if you are caught unprepared.

Paper claims Bill Gates 'reneges' on $2 million pledge

In recent weeks, Microsoft had given up to $500,000 of its software to Prince Charles' charity named, the Technology Leadership Group, a subsidiary of the Prince's Trust.

Sources claim that Microsoft agreed verbally to commit an additional £1million was apparently secured for the charity's efforts to train young entrepreneurs.

The Daily Mail cites an "insider" that admitted on closer inspection the specific project the Prince's Trust wanted to use the new money for was not "tightly focused enough around technology" to benefit its recipients.

But negotiations between Microsoft and the Prince's Trust broke down and the offer was abruptly withdrawn. Insiders suggest Gates, given an honorary knighthood by the Queen in 2005 for his charity donations, intervened personally to block the donation after a trip to Britain in January.

It should be noted that the discussions and plan were never legally binding and no public announcements were made.

Donor pays for NY Philharmonic's trip to North Korea

I hope you all have been following the amazing story going on in North Korea as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra made a historic two-day visit to Pyongyang.

I was surprised to hear Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, herself a classically trained pianist, offer a cool assessment recently by saying, "I don't think we should get carried away with what listening to Dvorak is going to do in North Korea."

The truth is, it is big.

Everyone knows that relations between the United States and North Korea have been "cold," but I was surprised to read Thomas Omestad observation in his article for U.S. News and World Report:

The North Koreans appeared intent on welcoming the symphony and its accompanying entourage—a group totaling nearly 300, making it the largest group of Americans to visit Pyongyang since the U.S. Army briefly occupied the city in the Korean War.

It's kind of cool to think this group of musicians, staff, benefactors, and journalists is the largest group of American to visit Pyongyang. It's even cooler that the fundraisers at the Orchestra were able to count of one cool donor to make it happen.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal profiled the Japanese-born countess, Lady Yoko Nagae Ceschina - the donor who sponsored the cost of the trip.

Mrs. Ceschina lives in a mansion on the banks of Venice's Grand Canal but she spends much of her time in concert halls in St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, London and New York. At age 75, she keeps the frenetic schedule of a musician on tour, flying around the world to hear her favorite soloists. Occasionally she surprises performers by attending a concert in Chicago one evening and New York the next.

"Music is more than a luxury for her; it's like vitamins," says Mr. Vengerov, 33, who performs with many of the world's major orchestras, playing the Stradivarius violin that Mrs. Ceschina gave him. "She always says to me after a concert, 'Maxim, I feel so much better now. I was feeling tired, and now I feel I am alive.' "

Mrs. Ceschina is petite woman with swept-back brown-and-gray hair and a round, youthful face. An accomplished harp player, she often turns up at concerts wearing a turtleneck, blazer and large, tinted glasses. She says she is funding the concert with faith that music can succeed where words and diplomacy fail. "I hope that this will lead to some good will," she says in an interview at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. "Even if I'm criticized, I believe in my position."

Go here to read more of this excellent story.

400 Santas running for charity

The 2007 Santa Run attracted more than 400 people dressed as Santa to run the annual charity fund raiser in Newtown, Powys (located in Wales).

“We still had up to 400 santas running the four-and-a-half-mile course which was marvellous,” said organiser Michael Jones.

Event organizers are disputing reports that bad weather kept more people away. To check out more photos from past events, go here... and be sure to check out this story about the Santas arrested for starting a street brawl in 2004.

BBC Children in Need breaks record

The BBC has an annual fundraising drive called Children in Need.

Last year, they raised £18.3m - with the sum reaching £33m after donations from all fund-raising was collected - and was seen by 8.9 million people at its peak.

It appears that this year is going to break all previous records... with £19m coming in during the 7 hour telethon which featured a performance by the Spice Girls. Organizers estimate the 36,000 donations were made online and 15,000 donations were made using digital TV service... and more than 212,000 phone calls were placed to operators.

Go here to listen to an interview exploring the technical requirements to handle 212,000 donation phone calls in one night.

Slim pickings for charity from world's richest man

I was running late for work this morning and had a chance to see Diane Sawyer interview Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, on Good Morning America. You can see a video of the interview here.
Slim is worth a reported $68 billion and was named by Forbes magazine the world's richest man in 2007. However, unlike the philanthropists that occupy second and third place on Forbes list, Slim has been critcized for not donating a large enough portion of his fortune.

Earlier this year, Slim said businessmen can do more good by building solid companies than by "going around like Santa Claus" donating money. Despite the widespread inequality in Mexico, Slim poked fun at Bill Gates and Warren Buffet while telling reporters that "poverty isn't solved with donations."

Hockey team waxes their hair for fundraiser

Douglas Reid coaches the Central Cobra-Mavericks hockey team in New Zealand.

Unfortunately, it costs $18,000 each year for the team to compete in the New Zealand Hockey League and Reid doesn't like to charge his players more than $500 each.

When the coach started looking for a fundraising idea instead of the usual "sausage sizzle" the team usually throws he thought of a very painful idea. The players would eventually raise $5,000 by having their body hair waxed in the shape of sponsors.

Seventeen year old Nick Wilson had his legs waxed. Charles Jenkins got a strawberry flavour chest and armpit wax. Coach Reid had the letters "UR" waxed into his chest for IT company Unlimited Realities, who sponsored him $500 for the sacrifice.

Jody O'Callaghan at the Manawatu Standard reports that Reid then had a chest and back wax, which his wife in Scotland knew nothing about, for a further $1,000 worth of sponsorship.

I'm not sure if it's financial despair or male bravado, but either way I would hope stories like this make your fundraising responsibilities a little easier today.

Fundraisers crash online community launch

The past couple weeks I've been receiving emails from the Third Sector Daily - a group that describes themselves as the UK’s leading publication for everyone who needs to know what’s going on in the voluntary and not-for-profit sector. They usually have good stories about fundraising gossip, news, and tips. I recommend adding them to your RSS feed.

Well, a couple days ago I learned from Third Sector about a new fundraising research website called fResource which was slated to launch yesterday - and with a description like this, how could I not be excited:

fResource is the world's first online fundraising community where fundraisers and researchers from around the world can come together to share knowledge and experience of fundraising research, products and resources. We exist to promote fundraising research as a discipline in its own right within the fundraising sector, but we also want to show fundraisers how to utilise research skills and knowledge to help find new sources of funding. Our fResource database, for example, has the most comprehensive listings and reviews of products and resources on the internet bar none.

Well, unfortunately it seems like they underestimated the amount of traffic they would get on their launch day. After sending out an announcement email yesterday, Matthew Ide, the director, sent out this embarrassing email note:

Believe it or not the website seems to have crashed due to the sheer weight of traffic but we are working very hard to rectify the problem, so if you’ll please bear with us. We didn’t think everyone would hit it at once, which I guess is a mistake on my part, especially as I know how thirsty for knowledge you all are!

I haven't had a lot of time to play around on the database or community forum yet, but I would love readers to post their feedback or reactions in the comments below.

International Katrina aid goes unclaimed

The Washington Post ran a troubling story Sunday about the extent of aid from international allies that went unused, spoiled, or uncollected after the hurricanes that hit the gulf in 2005.

Allies offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash. But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent.

In addition, valuable supplies and services -- such as cellphone systems, medicine and cruise ships -- were delayed or declined because the government could not handle them. In some cases, supplies were wasted.

And if that doesn't seem shameful on its surface - the article also shares internal communications between government workers who struggled to explain why things failed.

In one exchange, State Department officials anguished over whether to tell Italy that its shipments of medicine, gauze and other medical supplies spoiled in the elements for weeks after Katrina's landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, and were destroyed. "Tell them we blew it," one disgusted official wrote. But she hedged: "The flip side is just to dispose of it and not come clean. I could be persuaded."

In another instance, the Department of Homeland Security accepted an offer from Greece on Sept. 3, 2005, to dispatch two cruise ships that could be used free as hotels or hospitals for displaced residents. The deal was rescinded Sept. 15 after it became clear a ship would not arrive before Oct. 10. The U.S. eventually paid $249 million to use Carnival Cruise Lines vessels.

I fear that the future responsibilities of managing these offers of in-kind contributions after the next major national incident have still not been adequately incorporated into disaster response plans.

Muslim leaders ridicule Sheik's donation audit

Last summer, Muslims in Sydney, Australia donated more than $70,000 to a group called the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) in order to help the victims of last year's Israel-Hezbollah war.

However, LMA President Tom Zreika told The Australian newspaper last month that one of the fundraisers had been delaying accounting to the LMA for approximately $38,000 (USD).

The Australian Federal Police are investigating the fundraising as a possible breach of Australia's new anti-terrorism laws. Taj al-Din al-Hilali (the fundraiser in question) announced this weekend he was launching his own inquiry into how the donations were distributed throughout war-torn Lebanon.

The Egyptian-born mufti said on the weekend through his spokesman Keysar Trad that the inquiry would determine the money trail. But documents uncovered by The Australian this month reveal Sheik Hilali's handwritten notes on whom he gave some of the money to, including a $US10,000 ($11,900) payment to Lebanese political leader Sheik Bilal Shaaban, who has alleged links to the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.

The Muslim community was not impressed.

Even if he didn't give it to Hezbollah, how could he not know where the money went?

In the latest development in the controversy, the mufti denies he was responsible for the cash.

“The Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA) in Lakemba, upon my suggestion, sent the money to Lebanon to (LMA agent) Sheik Yahya Safi,” the mufti told SBS Radio before boarding his flight from Cairo.

“I wish he would open his mouth and confirm this because he is a witness.

It's bad enough some Muslim donors have to be scared that their charitable giving will make them the target of police prosecution, I doubt they need the extra worry of fundraisers with poor record keeping like Sheik Hilali making things worse.

Big splash across the pond

About a month ago, a website called Intelligent Giving ran an article warning potential donors away from Children in Need just two days before its annual telethon on BBC. They claimed it was "a lazy and inefficient way of giving", largely because the charity is a grant-giver. In other words, it passes on donors' money to other charities which means donors lose control of where their money goes and pay a double set admin costs.

Given the recent whirlwind surrounding the Toronto Star's hit job on MADD, I thought it would be interesting to look at the fallout from this publicity splash.

By November 29th (two weeks after the story broke), the Guardian ran an article titled, "Pudsey's worst nightmare" in a reference to the stuffed bear Children in Need uses as their mascot. The paper describes Intelligent Giving as a self-appointed watchdog.

Marketing itself as a website run by donors for donors, Intelligent Giving was launched in October by two former journalists. It ranks the effectiveness of charities by analysing their financial reports and giving them percentage scores for criteria such as transparency and administration costs.

However, the Guardian article also raised questions about the methodology used for Intelligent Giving's ranking system. Peter Heywood, who launched Intelligent Giving in October 2006 with his own financial backing, fired back with a response on his blog.

After two weeks of national media coverage in the UK, it appears that BOTH sides won. The Intelligent Giving site claimed to be receiving 10,000 hits a day and clearly got the publicity it was looking for. However, Children in Need also pulled in a pulled in a record £18.3m on the night of the appeal.