Focus on World Sight Day

World Sight Day (WSD) is an International Day of Awareness held every October, to focus attention on the issue of eye health.

This year it falls on October 13th.

In recognition, we’re sharing our Co-Founder, Graham’s personal experience of living with Retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

You can find out more about Retinitis Pigmentosa here.

Physical events are making a comeback

Feels good to get out and about in the real world after two years of restrictions, doesn’t it?

And it's not just the general public that’s glad to see the back of COVID.

The combination of lockdowns, social distancing, and reduced income due to furlough and redundancies has impacted 90% of charities.

Fundraising events stalled; volunteer numbers dwindled, and donations took a big hit,

However, things are looking up. Physical events are making a comeback. Research shows that more than 50% of the public are now happy to get out and mingle again.

In this post, we’re going to take a moment to understand how the pandemic impacted charities, and how the return of physical events will benefit charities.

Fundraising hit hard

The charity sector was one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus. Donations dropped

Surveys show 1% of charities shut down permanently, and another 1% merged with other organisations in a last-ditch effort to stay afloat.

How did charities cope?

Those that survived were forced to innovate by finding a way to deliver their services online and run their events digitally.

This wasn’t possible for every charity, so many were forced to find alternative funding sources.

Time to get back out there

Let’s face it. Nothing beats the camaraderie of in-person events. And the value of f2f can’t be ignored. Research by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) shows that for every £1 spent on face-to-face fundraising, £4.20 is returned. That’s a whopping 320% ROI.

However, virtual events are not going to be relegated to the history books any time soon.

Trends suggest that hybrid events are set to become the new normal.

A prime example is the London Marathon, which, this year, will take place virtually, alongside the traditional inner-city run.

But this is good news. Hybrid events provide charities with an opportunity to raise funds through multiple funnels as they look to rebuild after a couple of very difficult years.

Getting event-ready

Looking to recruit an events fundraiser? We can help. Contact us on 0203 750 3111 to talk tactics.

what3words ///straight.to.interview

Here at Bamboo, we love tech. We love its ability to transform, simplify, and streamline everyday tasks.

We’re on a constant digital transformation journey, analysing every facet of our candidate and client journeys to see how we can effect transformational and incremental change.

The last 15 months have seen a marked shift to online interviews. This has given us some time to cast a critical eye over the candidate experience, and find ways to improve it for when we return to the ‘new normal’.

We surveyed 300 candidates who attended interviews via Bamboo. One of the key stress points that emerged was finding the office.

Candidates said the nature of interviewing for jobs (while employed) means you have to cut as much as you can out of your diary, so there’s ample time to wander up and down roads looking for the office.

This problem was particularly an issue for our London-based candidates. London’s streets are a marvel of ad-hoc construction, having grown with the times rather than to any grand plan.

While this creates a warren of intrigue, it’s a challenge to find a specific address.

Precision exactitude is required. With this in mind, we had a chat with Keith Leddington, Senior Partnerships Lead at What3Words HQ.

If you’re not familiar with the company, they’ve broken the entire planet into a grid of 57 x 1012,3 meter x 3-meter squares - each with a unique 3-word reference. 3 meters x 3 meters gets you straight to the door, for example,  ///Luxury.Thigh.Pilots will land you on Bamboo’s doorstep.

We’ve now incorporated this tech into our interview confirmation process, and moving forward, every candidate will receive an email containing a What3Words reference and a picture of the office door. This means you can spend your journey to the interview running through examples, safe in the knowledge that you’ll be guided straight to the door.

We’re always keen to speak with companies whose tech might make our candidates’ and clients’ lives easier.

If you have a solution that might help, get in touch. Equally, if you’ve experienced a solution that made life easier while searching for a job or carrying out a recruitment process, we’d love to hear your thoughts.