Tag Archives: donation

How do you know if your charity is making any difference? Take control

Charities need to understand which parts of their activities are working and which aren’t. But to really understand the charity’s impact, we need to know not only what did happen, but what would have happened without the charity’s work. Imagine a city with … Continue reading

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Who’s the most generous nation on Earth?

It’s not the US! According to The Economist, the rankings contain a few surprises: Australia               57%   New Zealand        57% Canada                  56% … Continue reading

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The good, and the weird, features of Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save

‘How much should each of us give to help the world’s poor?’, asks the moral philosopher Peter Singer in his book The Life You Can Save. It’s a cracking book, with some great insights about poverty, effective solutions and the weirdness inside … Continue reading

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Comparing giving in the US and in the UK is a total red herring

If I had a pound for every time I’d heard people try to compare giving in the US and in the UK, I’d have more pounds than is given in both together. It’s a rubbish comparison. Here’s why. First, they normally … Continue reading

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Why do charities ignore millions of donors?

Despite my giving £200 to Cancer Research UK through JustGiving when a friend did a sponsored something, I never heard a bean from Cancer Research UK about it. A year later, I gave £100 to another charity when another friend did … Continue reading

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Raising funds? Just dress well!

Wearing designer logos virtually doubles donations According to a study reported by The Economist, all you have to do to increase donations is to dress well! A team of volunteers knocking on doors solicited donations raised nearly twice as much when wearing … Continue reading

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Who gives to charity, why, who doesn’t, why not & what to do about it

A segmentation based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is helpful in showing who gives, who doesn’t, and how to get more people giving more substantially and more often. This paper describes the segmentation, gives the data about giving behaviour and recommendations of … Continue reading

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Let’s inspire better giving, by… celebrating failure!

When did you last hear of a charity that was rubbish? By some estimates, fully 60% of donations are made with no research into the charity’s performance. Whereas about 0% of commercial investments are made with no research into the … Continue reading

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Buy one, get 24 free!

I just have to share this because it’s so stunning. You want to improve education in rural India. A good start is to improve attendance. So you look at the causes of non-attendance: poor transport to/from school; children having no … Continue reading

Posted in Great charities, Impact & evaluation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Of course we don’t discuss charitable giving: there’s no decent term for it

Language shapes how we think. No clear language: no clear thinking What is this thing that we do? “Deploying money, time and other resources to achieve positive social and environmental change”. A snappy phrase, don’t you think?? I’ve been talking … Continue reading

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