What we can learn from Olive

Last week, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the F&P Forum here in Sydney.  This years keynote, Mark Phillips, is someone I have been following for quite some time.  He's a brilliant fundraiser, and CEO and founder of Bluefrog - an agency based in England, and doing amazing work around the world.

Mark spoke a lot about what is happening in the UK, following the tragic death of Olive Cook, a beautiful 92 year old woman from Bristol, who ended her life in May when she jumped from a bridge.  Olive was a volunteer and donated to a large number of charities, and the newspaper picked up on the amount of requests she was getting to give more, both through the mail and over the phone, and cited this pressure to be the reason she chose to end her life. 

You can read some of what is being said in these articles from the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, and the Guardian.  British daytime television show This Morning even created the hashtag #charityonslaught and ran a special feature on the fact that kind people are being bombarded with unwanted mail from charities asking for money. 

The truth is, we will never know what caused Olive to jump from that bridge.  And while I believe it is a pretty big stretch to assume that it was because of the requests that she was receiving from charities, I do think Olive's death should be a reminder to all of us to look at the ways we are asking for donations.

There is no doubt that aggressive fundraising techniques will raise money for charity.  Money that is desperately needed, and money that is being used to make our world a better place.  However, when these techniques are then used by multiple charities, a small number of our most generous donors are being put under an overwhelming amount of pressure. And many of these beautiful, incredible people find it difficult to say no. 

I know, as a sector, we have to be cautious not to react too quickly or drastically when we hear a story like Olives. If we stop asking for money, we won't be able to accomplish our mission and to serve the beneficiaries who are relying on our support. 

However, I do think we should pay attention to what is happening.  And I think that as a sector we need to constantly strive to be better.  I think we can start by looking at our current communications and the relationships we have with our donors.  What are we giving them, that they would miss if that relationship didn't exist?  Are we thanking them? Really genuinely thanking them?  Are we telling them about the impact that their donation is making, and explaining to them how it is making this world a better place to live?  Are we giving donors a reason to connect to our cause and our mission, or are they giving because they are good people who just can't say no? And are we confident in the fundraising tactics that we are using - and willing and prepared to explain those tactics to our donors? To the press? To our critics?

There was an opinion article in the guardian this week, A Message to Big Charities, which urged charities to stop groveling and sand up for themselves, and I think it is on point in so many ways.  We are incredibly lucky to do what we do.  We get the incredible opportunity to connect beautiful people with opportunities to change our world.  We need to ensure that our fundraising is responsible.  And if it is, we need to stop apologizing for what we do, and start telling the world why our charity matters. It is our responsibility to raise money for the causes and people who are relying on us.  And there is no shame in that.