There are numerous challenges that face the sector of charity across the world. The Charities Aid Foundation published a report in 2012 that indicated that giving to charity had dropped by a whopping 20%. The challenges that a charity faces to reinvent themselves persist. Can charities have new donors? Are they able to retain the old donors and encourage them to be more proactive? Is it possible to have regular donations from reliable donors other than the intermittent gifts from various corners? In addition to getting resources from donors, is it possible to attract people to give their time, resources, and skills to charity?
These are some of the challenges that charities have to grapple with in the current millennia even as the number of dependents soars on higher. In the United Kingdom, there are various charitable organizations that have been feted as a result of using innovative ways to combat the common challenges that other charitable organizations face. These innovative charities have received funding from Nesta, the Innovation Foundation of the United Kingdom which receives funding direct from the UK Cabinet Office. The charities have risen above the challenge of older methods of fundraising, models of volunteers, and exchange of resources. They have come up with modern methods which enable people to donate their time, money, and skills.
This is one of the most recognized charities in the UK. It has sought to partner with Ecomodo to come up with a refurbished platform of giving. This is geared towards helping the two organizations have a bigger impact on society. There were two challenges identified by Age UK: encouraging people aged 50+ years to be active in fundraising efforts, and getting new and regular donors to support its main services.
Through the use of the already existing platform at Ecomodo, the organization is on the lookout for new models of business that will encourage people, especially older adults, to be active in charity. For instance, a retired plumber can offer some time in plumbing and the money received donated to Age UK.
This organization has revolutionized information sharing with shareholders and prospective donors. It offers real time and transparent updates to its supporters which makes it a different organization from the rest. The idea to give real time updates to its supporters was made in the supporters’ conference that was held in 2012.
The supporters said that they wanted to know the difference that their gifts make and how donations are used. As a result of the conference, the Children’s Society sought to develop a solution that would be available online and on mobile devices. The application was aimed at giving real time updates to supporters and also sending ‘thank you’ notes anytime a donation is made.
The organization is looking into ways of scaling its current network that consists of 14 hubs. This is aimed at increasing the impact the Food Cycle of UK has in society.
In order to successfully do this, the organization is faced with two main challenges — figuring out the most sustainable and perfect model of growth and the ways to use it in order to increase fundraising from the local population.
The organization is currently working with various partners in an effort to test several new ways that will help to increase the network of volunteers.
This aims to help the UK nationals to find the ease of donating their time, money, and resources either at a personal or national level. It has a support base that goes into thousands of people who give their hours to help tidy up the main towns around Britain. However, the number of hours set aside to do the activities that make the towns tidy such as unclogging drainage systems and sweeping the highways are not enough.
As such, Keep Britain Tidy mostly relies on volunteers, and not on the thousands of supporters who fill the database. In order to inspire more people to participate in cleaning their habitations, the organization has teamed up with partners to develop a Love Where You Live program that will capture more supporters.