The art of giving back

A few days ago I heard the phrase “chugger” which refers to charity muggers. Those who are persistent in requesting donations for their cause. A couple of days later it hit the news how charities are becoming quite ruthless about how and who they target for fundraising.

As someone who is very much involved in supporting Amsphere charity work it made me think as how this news will now impact our ability to support our chosen Charites. Consequently what impact it will make on the people we are trying to support. 

Technology has improved our ability to fund raise considerably over the past few years. I remember once upon a time having to knock on doors with a sheet collecting names of potential sponsors who would pay up after the event. Now, with just a few emails and a web link you can collect funds from far and wide. Although, in the same way it is a lot easier to not be involved by failing to respond, which  does not help the causes we are looking to support.

So we have the challenge that Amsphere very much want to support our nominated charities including Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity and Prime Cymru. We have a small team who focus on how we are able to provide continued support, in addition to busy full time roles across numerous clients. 

How do we do this? Well, same way we deliver for our clients: 

  • Creating an overall plan that defines who does what, along with when and how. 
  • Running agile sprints as we look to deliver little and often in our charity support that all adds to the grand total.
  • Analysing  the options available as to how we can best support our charities. Innovation is required when we consider the continued involvement of colleagues and friends whilst also extending our reach. 
  • Knowledge management skills are also invaluable as to how we can develop and share our expertise as charity supporters.
  • We review our progress on a regular basis and determine what tweaks may be required for improved service. Feedback of our experiences does also cross over to our core work to improve service for our clients. 

What we have found across the work we have been doing in charity support is that we have greater success when we have strong connections with our donors. Donors being those who make valuable contributions in supporting our work. Contributions can take the form of sponsorship, time, skills or products that can all be used to support our events. Important factors for donors is that they feel valued and involved in supporting the end cause. Wherever possible we try to ensure our donors are rewarded for all their contributions no matter how small. Sometimes a simple “thank you” will suffice on other occasions it may be a cake they have bought at the bake sale. As our charity involvement is in addition to daily work routines we try to keep it fun for all the participants and donors for continued involvement and contributions.

A key motivation for our charity involvement is the knowledge they exist to fill a need that would otherwise go unfulfilled. Knowing our contributions can make a change for the better to our recipients is rewarding indeed. So I ask myself what would happen if I was in the positon requiring support from such a charity that did not exist as it was no longer supported. I  personally believe that giving back in advance and hoping the need never arises is what drives us forward in our support. 

More information on Amsphere supported charities can be found at:
http://rainbowtrust.org.uk/ 
http://www.primecymru.co.uk/ 

Max Bowyer

Consultant Programme Test Manager