95% have had to cancel events and activities
52% have had to reduce core service delivery
74% have had to reduce fundraising activity
78% say that they are running virtual events and activities
37% have launched an emergency appeal for support
21% secured emergency support (Only half have a resilience plan)
45% have a budget deficit due to CV-19
65% have reserves of less than 6 months
… but, there’s still hope – as you’re more needed than ever; public trust in charities has increased significantly over the Covid Pandemic too.
Donations, legacies and earned income make up 47% of charities income, according to a 2018 government survey. The total voluntary and community sector income in this time was £45.5bn!
This means we need to think more about to encourage new donors, and also retain current ones. That includes thinking about how giving may change in the coming years, and focusing on more digital models of fundraising.
Post-lockdowns, there has been a significant cost of living rise: 25% of adults are said to be reviewing non-essential outgoings in September, up from 15% in August.
Trusts and funds make up 10% of income for charities, and they responded well to Covid, with many crisis funds set up to keep charities going throughout!
It’s so important to have a relationship with your donors. Keep them updated with what’s going on, how they’re vital to your work, and show them how appreciated they are. Fixing Fundraising have a great podcast on this.
In our section, we spoke about the need to create a connection with people as a charity. We spoke about the importance of brand (I mean, what else are we going to talk about?!), and making sure we know the answers to the 7 key charity branding questions as the foundation of all we do as an organisation. The “brand manifesto”.
If we don’t know what we stand for as an organisation, how will we be able to communicate our value to others?
Make sure your charity has these questions answered internally:
What do you do and how do you do it?
Who are we here for?
Why are you different to others?
What are your values?
What is your purpose?
What is your personality?
Where are you now and where do you want to be?
Another thing that’s crucial is to then develop key messages based on creating emotion and creating a “hook” to engage people. We gave an example of a recent re-brand we’ve worked on with Selig Suffolk. We came up with three key messages that stems from the purpose statement we created with them that explained their approach and would automatically draw people into the story of what Selig do.
Those messages can then be copied and adopted for use in campaigns, funding bids or presentations. They can also be developed and adapted depending on the audience.
Lucy then spoke about how we shouldn’t be afraid to use our data to enhance storytelling on social media. She gave the example of Spotify’s Wrapped campaigns. It’s quirky, makes people laugh, but also shows the power and influence of their platform. You’d be surprised what works well on social, so don’t be afraid to show the personality of your team and have fun with it!
Lucy also gave the example of brands making the most of opportunities when Twitter was down earlier in the week. Not everything has to be professional and sanitised!
One running theme throughout the webinar was driving home the fact that we shouldn’t be humble about what happens in our organisations, and we should shout about what we do and why it matters! Use the tools available to you; social media, your brand, your website, sector awards, new technology… whatever works for you, use it to the best of your ability to get your message of hope across!
Thanks to everyone who came along to the webinar. We’ve got plans to run more in the future, and you can be the first to know about them by following us on our social channels or signing up for our newsletter!
Speak to you all again soon, and keep up the great work.
