Introducing the Charity Mentoring Network

How do you fancy upskilling your fundraisers, for free? You can, thanks to a new charity mentoring scheme.

Launched on October 27, the Charity Mentoring Network (CMN) is “a community platform that connects organisations, staff, and volunteers together so they can support one another and share their knowledge and expertise”.

The UK’s first nationwide mentoring scheme, it aims to connect people working across the sector and help them become more effective in their roles.  

How does it work?

Any organisation in the UK’s third sector can join the network.

Membership is priced on a sliding scale:

• Small charities (under 50 employees) will be able to use the service free of charge. (The cost will be covered by corporate sponsorship)

• Medium-sized charities: £500 a year

• Large charities: Either £1,000 or £2,000 a year, depending on income. 

Once signed up, members can invite staff and volunteers to register either as mentors, mentees, or both. They’ll then be automatically matched to a selection of people either offering or looking for support in specific topics.

The network is also open to corporates, who can use their volunteering days to mentor third-sector employees while accumulating CPD points.

What’s included in the membership?

Mentor Matching: Charities will be able to match staff and volunteers to mentors and mentees across the third sector, via the network’s mentoring software platform, PushFar. 

Reporting: Members can monitor the progress of their mentoring activity via bespoke reports that track engagement.

Support and resources: Monthly mentoring training will be included in the package, plus access to technical support during working hours.

Opinion

Thirty charities have signed up for the initiative, including the Royal Voluntary Service, St John Ambulance, Shelter, Alzheimer’s Society, and Epilepsy Action. And they’re welcoming the launch of the scheme.

Mary-Anne Fiorini, director of people and culture at Quo Vadis Trust, a provider of social housing, care, and support for people living with mental health needs, believes the network will benefit the charity sector.

“Having someone you can turn to for guidance and support is essential for acquiring confidence in your own abilities and encouraging leadership skills to grow. Developing a network within our charitable community can only help strengthen our sector as a whole, as the collective knowledge and experience shared from mentor to mentee helps underpin new ideas and decisions whilst forming alliances and sharing best practices.” 

Another proponent of the scheme, Heather Blanchard, learning and development business partner at housing association CHP, said, “having the Charity Mentoring Network available to our employees gives us a greater range of experience that our employees can tap into, both for growing in their own careers but also sharing their wealth of knowledge with others. We aim to use the CMN platform in particular to support our apprentices and graduates, as well as employees who are progressing into new roles internally.”

Final Word

Mentoring is an effective way to develop your workforce, particularly if you’re a small organisation with a limited training budget.

Drop CMN a line to find out how mentoring can benefit you.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a fundraiser, we can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 to get started.

Are you taking advantage of promotional fundraising?

Charities have been using promotional items to raise awareness and funds for their causes for years.

Take the Royal British Legion, for example. The charity has been selling its iconic red poppies to support the Armed Forces community since 1921. Over the years, its annual Poppy Appeal has grown into a multi-million-pound fundraising operation.

Last year alone, it raised a whopping £124.5 million. That’s quite a return on investment for an item that costs 2.8p to produce.

However, a healthy ROI isn’t the only reason to invest in promotional merchandise. It can supercharge brand awareness.

According to Fit Small Business, ‘people have to be exposed to a brand five to seven times to start recognising it.’ Sure, you can achieve this with glossy print ads or TV commercials, but you’ll blow your budget in the process.

Stamping your logo, slogan, and web address on a practical item like a tote bag or t-shirt is a much simpler and cost-effective way to do it.

Why? Research by FluidBranding found that 87% of people hang onto promotional items for 12 months or more. That’s one year of exposure for your brand.

How charities are winning with promotional fundraising

Those are the benefits. Now let’s look at promotional fundraising in action.

RSPB

Charity badges are among the most popular and effective items of fundraising merchandise, as they’re cheap to produce and are one of the few fundraising wearables that are exempt from VAT.

One charity that’s successfully tapped into the fundraising power of charity badges is The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

The conservation charity launched its first set of four enamelled pin badges - the Bittern, Bullfinch, Puffin, and Red Kite - in 1997 to celebrate securing one million members.

The badges were a hit with supporters and quickly became a collector’s item.

Spotting an opportunity, the charity commissioned four new badges in 1998 and has continued to add to the collection each year since.  

The badges, which feature everything from flora and fauna to birds to fungi, are sold at RSPB nature reserves and in 8,000 independent shops, garden centres, and retail locations across the country.

The long-standing campaign not only raises awareness of the precious species the RSPB works to protect; it raises around £1 million each year to help the charity carry out its conservation work.

Northern Pride

Charity wristbands exploded in popularity following the success of Livestrong’s yellow silicone bands in the early noughties.

Designed by the cancer charity, in collaboration with sportswear brand, Nike, the bands were insanely popular.

87 million were sold between 2004 and 2013. They adorned the wrists of cancer survivors, supporters, and celebrities around the world, uniting people in the fight against the disease, and raising £66m for charity.

Still popular

The allure of wristbands continues. And charities are being increasingly innovative with their campaigns.

Take Northern Pride. The LGBTQ+ charity has teamed up with Eldon Square, one of the North East's leading shopping centres, to entice people to buy UK Pride wristbands.

In return for a £2 donation, the wristbands can be used to unlock discounts at a range of restaurants and stores within the shopping centre, including Bella Italia, Accessorize, Lakeland, Molton Brown, Chiquito, and Frankie and Benny’s.

In an attempt to appeal to socially conscious consumers, the wristbands are made from 100% recycled materials using PET–shredded pellets from plastic bottles which are spun into thread.

War Child

If your aim is to raise awareness and spread a message, you can’t beat a promotional t-shirt. Especially if it’s designed by Vivienne Westwood.

In 2017, War Child, (a specialist charity for children affected by conflict), partnered with the renowned English designer to launch its #StopArmingSaudi campaign. The aim of the campaign was to urge the UK government to suspend arm sales to Saudi Arabia amid the conflict in Yemen.

As a part of the campaign, Vivienne Westwood designed a limited-edition t-shirt which featured influences of her iconic design language and a skull motif, overlaid with phrases highlighting the atrocities of war. 

The t-shirt, which was modelled by a host of celebrity supporters including Simon Pegg, Dara Ó Briain, Melanie C, and Jack Savoretti, raised over £70,000 for War Child whilst opening minds and kick-starting difficult conversations.  

Final Word

These are just a few of the ways charities have tapped into promotional fundraising to raise funds and visibility for their causes.

Low-cost, high-value, practical merchandise can go a long way to maximising your fundraising return on investment while spreading your message far and wide.

On the hunt for a fundraiser? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.

Team Talks: Conán’s hurling

Recruitment is a people business. So, we thought we’d introduce you to the people behind Bamboo in our new ‘Team Talks’ series.

In this post, Recruitment Consultant, Conán talks about his passion for hurling.

Let’s start with the basics. What is hurling? 

It’s a fast-paced team sport played with a wooden stick (hurley) and a small leather ball (sliotar). In terms of a comparison sport, it’s a mixture of rugby, cricket, and lacrosse. 

Along with Gaelic football and handball, it’s one of Ireland’s ‘big three’ native games. And it’s a big part of our culture and our history. 

How long have you been playing? 

I started playing at the age of three in my hometown of Midleton. And it’s been a big part of my life ever since. 

Is there a strong hurling community in London? 

Yes. The Irish have been emigrating to the UK for a long time, so it’s well established - more so in West and Northwest London because that's where a lot of Irish settled.  

There are big communities in Cricklewood, Kilburn, Ealing, and Ruislip, where the main pitch is.  It’s also big in South London, where I’m based.  

I play for Fulham Irish.  

Does it attract a crowd? 

On a championship day, there'll be two or three games at McGovern Park (Ruislip). You might get between 50 – 200 people watching. But it’s a different story in Ireland, especially in small villages, on a championship day, shops, pubs, and everything else will close for the day, as everyone will be at the game.  

In 2009, Ballinacurra (the village next to Midelton) won the county final, and the whole village shut down for two weeks. Everyone was drinking and partying, as they hadn't won a championship in 70 years. 

How often do you play? 

Pre-season, we train twice a week. Once the season gets going, we train twice a week and have a game on the weekend. If there's no game, we train three times. 

Is it tiring? 

Yep. It's the fastest field sport in the world and it's extremely physical. My hands and shins are battered from getting hit. 

Is it easy to pick up?  

From a skills perspective, it’s complicated.  

Because I've been playing since I was three, it all comes very naturally. However, we welcome & encourage people from all walks of life into our national sports.

What do you get out of it?  

I'm a really competitive person. I love to win (which is why I love recruitment), so I enjoy the thrill of the game.  

I've won county championships in Cork, which is known as one of the strongholds of hurling in Ireland. The thrill of winning something like that, for the village or town you're playing for, is indescribable. 

Aside from the thrill factor, it’s a great way to meet people. 

When I first moved to London and joined a team, they really looked after me. I built some strong friendships from it.  

I’d never have met them without hurling. 

How can people get involved?

Come get involved with my team Fulham Irish http://fulhamirish.org/

RSPB fiasco highlights the risks of campaigning

No charity is immune from a crisis, as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) found out earlier this year.

On August 30th, the conservation charity launched a scathing attack on X (formerly Twitter), aimed at PM Rishi Sunak, Housing Secretary Michael Gove, and Environment Secretary Therese Coffey.

The post, which has been viewed over 10 million times, raged, "you said you wouldn't weaken environmental protections... And yet that's just what you are doing. You lie, and you lie, and you lie again. And we’ve had enough.”

The attack related to government plans to scrap pollution rules to build new homes near sensitive UK areas like rivers and waterways.

The RSPB then proceeded to cite Tory manifesto lines and quotes from the three ministers about ‘supporting environmental protections’, which it claimed were false.

Response

The charity was praised by clean rivers advocate Feargal Sharkey, who congratulated the charity for “taking a stand”. But it also faced harsh criticism.  Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson accused the RSPB of becoming “a political campaigning organisation” and called on the Charity Commission to strip it of its charitable status.

The post also infuriated RSPB trustee, Ben Caldecott. In a tweet, he said, "whatever one thinks of the government's policy proposals and their record on nature, these tweets are not an appropriate contribution. We can strongly disagree and make our case without calling people 'LIARS!'."

Apology

Hours later, the charity issued an apology on X, saying, "we are in a nature and climate emergency and that demands urgent action. The RSPB is deeply frustrated by the government's reneging on its environmental promises. But that frustration led us to attack the people not the policy. This falls below the standard we set ourselves and for that we apologise. We will continue to campaign vigorously on behalf of nature, but we will always do so in a polite and considered manner."

The following day, RSPB’s chief executive, Beccy Speight, appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme to explain the outburst.

She said: "The reason that has made us so frustrated and led to that original tweet is that it [the nutrient neutrality change] completely goes against the commitments that the government has made many times in the past, not to weaken environmental protections, most recently when the retained EU law bill was going through in the summer.”

When asked why the charity issued an apology, she said “we believe that the nature of public discourse does matter and that we have a role to play in that, and that we campaign on policy, not on people. The framing of that tweet, where we called out individual people, we felt was incorrect and inappropriate, and we apologise for that."

Fine line               

There’s a fine line between promoting conservation and political campaigning. The RSPB has walked it for years. But have they overstepped the mark this time?

Charity sector lawyers gave their view in a Civil Society article.

Suhan Rajkumar, senior associate at Bates Wells, said: “ahead of an election – there’s a risk that policy-based commentary which focuses on individual politicians might be misinterpreted as having a party-political aim. The Charity Commission focuses heavily on these kinds of reputational risks.”

Pippa Garland, partner at Russell-Cooke, said the post was “driven by RSPB’s concerns about the weakening of environmental protections, which I would say falls within their charitable remit. While the tweet may have been against RSPB’s own policy on campaigning, if a charity felt that this framing was the most effective way of furthering their purpose, it should be permitted to do so – subject to the usual legal restrictions, including the laws of defamation.”

She added, “the Commission’s guidance states that charities ‘can campaign using emotive or controversial material, where it is lawful and justifiable in the context’.”

Tom Murdoch, partner at Stone King, said that defamation could be a potential issue. “You can say something harmful to a person’s reputation if it is factually correct. However, here it is arguable; I expect the three named ministers would hotly deny that this is factually correct.”

The Charity Commission’s response

Mixed views. But what does the Charity Commission say?

A spokesperson said “it is encouraging that the RSPB acknowledged the post was inappropriate and took swift corrective action to issue an apology. However, as this was a serious mistake, we are keen to be assured of the trustees’ work to investigate how the incident happened, and what action they are taking to ensure such mistakes do not occur in future.”

Final Word

It remains to be seen how RSPB will emerge from this scandal, but it makes one thing clear: if you’re engaging in any sort of campaigning, be sure to stay the right side of the law. The rules are clearly laid out in this government guidance.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a policy-savvy fundraiser, give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk.

Joe Lycett’s political trolling results in an early Christmas present for Crisis UK

Brummie comedian Joe Lycett is notorious for his playful political trolling, but his latest attack resulted in more than £66,000 for Crisis UK, and a ton of unexpected PR.

Let’s dive in.

On 4 November, Lycett launched a spontaneous fundraising campaign, after the Financial Times reported that the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman wanted to restrict the use of tents by people sleeping rough, and to fine charities that supplied them. 

She said: “We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.”

In response to her comments, Lycett issued an epic takedown on Instagram.

He said, “my old friend Suella Braverman has described rough sleeping as a ‘lifestyle choice’. I always thought lifestyle choices were things such as cargo pants, fishing, and decorating your bathroom with a bowl of potpourri.

Let’s see if this image I found on Google described as ‘Wooden Botanical Fragrant Potpourri Bowl With Lemon’ can raise £50,000 for homelessness charity @crisis_uk”

Little did Lycett know how strongly the public felt.

The 35-year-old TV personality hit his target in just two days. And he celebrated in his inimitable way – sending the ‘cruel’ Home Secretary an open letter which was dripping in sarcasm.

‘I woke up this morning to see that a picture of a bowl of potpourri I posted just over two days ago has raised £50,000 for Crisis. A huge thank you to everyone who donated for their generosity. Of course, my main thanks must go to Suella: without your lifestyle choice, of being callous and cruel towards the most vulnerable people in society, none of this would’ve happened.”

He added: “There’s another choice coming to all of us soon. It’s known as an election. Best of luck with it babe x.”

Charity leaders’ concerns

Crisis is one of 15 homelessness charities calling for an “urgent reversal” of the Home Secretary’s plans to ban tents on streets.

In an open letter, the charities, which included the National Housing Federation, the Chartered Institute of Housing and Centrepoint said, “sleeping on the street is not a lifestyle choice. Laying blame with people forced to sleep rough will only push people further away from help into poverty, putting them at risk of exploitation. At the extreme end we will see an increase in deaths and fatalities which are totally preventable.”

The Home Secretary put the policy forward for inclusion in the government’s legislative programme that was due to announced in the King’s speech.

However, her plans didn’t make the cut. A shrew political move in light of the upcoming election? Surely not.

Final Word

Looking to add to your fundraising team? We can help. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get the conversation started.