Lucinda and Russ are joined by Emily Wilson, chief executive of Irise International, and Martyn Drake, founder of Binley Drake Consulting, to discuss how charities can plan effectively in uncertain times.

Martyn outlines how scenario planning can be a useful way of stripping back uncertainty and identifying the most important things for an organisation to consider in any eventuality. He stresses the need to remain fixed on your vision while allowing flexibility to achieve it, and reducing pressure around big decision-making.

Emily describes how UK aid cuts demonstrated the importance of anticipating and planning to enable Irise International to continue delivering on its purpose at a time when the worst case scenario was trumped by reality. This involved avoiding groupthink and allowing plans to remain fluid as a means of retaining control.

They both stress the importance of collaboration to achieve results when resources are scarce, as well as treating staff as an organisation’s most valuable asset. 

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Lucinda and Alina are joined by Nana Crawford, social media manager at the British Red Cross, and Hannah Akitt, strategist at the marketing agency Raw London.

They discuss their favourite Christmas campaigns of the year, including Shelter’s “Brave Face” television advert, Samaritans’ “Break the Silence” winter appeal and the British Heart Foundation’s “Gift that keeps on living” campaign, along with the increasingly popular phenomenon of the Santa Dash.

Nana explains how the British Red Cross integrates its social media channels into its festive campaigns. She stresses the importance of listening to audiences in order to communicate in a way that meets their needs and describes her organisation’s deliberate shift in December from e-commerce promotions to content focusing on supporters’ health and wellbeing.

Hannah provides inspiration for last-minute, low-cost Christmas fundraising ideas, aimed particularly at smaller charities wishing to take advantage of the Christmas Eve peak in donations. These include effective email campaigns, and an emphasis on two-way communication. She reminds us that a donor is for life, not just for Christmas.

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Lucinda and Alina visit London’s Portobello Road to peruse the rails and speak to the managers of some of the capital’s boutique charity shops about their views on the rising popularity of thrift shopping.

The Charity Retail Association has reported a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in charity shop sales, bucking the wider trend of declining high street retail. The studio discussion features the CRA’s chief executive, Robin Osterley, and Libby Gordon, chief executive of Fara UK, to discuss how charities can take advantage of this growing consumer appetite.

Robin outlines the four different categories of charity shopper, including an expanding group of consumers prioritising sustainability, and suggests ways in which charities can increase their appeal to the respective types.

Libby describes the creative ways in which Fara, which supports children and young people in Romania, has used its shops to increase its visibility and grow communities, including through interactions with social media influencers. She also discusses some of the changes Fara is making in response to rising overhead costs, such as reviewing the shops’ open door policy.

In the Good News Bulletin, Lucinda conducts a mini review of the range of 2023 charity calendars, with a tribute to the roundabouts of Nuneaton among the usual trend of nudes.

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Lucinda and Andy are joined by Antonia Bance, head of campaigns, communications and digital at the Trades Union Congress, and Idris Arshad, people and inclusion partner at St Christopher’s Hospice. 

In the wake of a recent strike announcement by more than 500 staff at Shelter, they discuss how organisations can prevent employee relations from deteriorating to the point of industrial action being called.

Idris provides guidance on maintaining open and honest communications channels between management and staff, which is particularly important during periods of financial difficulty, while Antonia notes the increase in online enquiries from third sector professionals seeking information about joining unions. She outlines the benefits of joining a union and provides information on the unions covering the third sector.

This week’s Good News Bulletin covers the growing trend of festive charity tractor runs.

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Lucinda and Russ are joined by Zia Salik, head of fundraising at Islamic Relief, to discuss some of the innovations behind the charity’s record growth figures over the past four years.

Zia explains how a shift before the pandemic to increase digital engagement with younger donors allowed the charity to adapt to the suspension of in-person fundraising events. He describes the organisation’s willingness to take risks on volunteer-led innovations, including a cake-selling initiative which has become a regular feature in the charity’s Ramadan campaigns, and how taking a relationship-based fundraising approach has paid off.

This week’s Good News Bulletin covers the news that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to give most of his $124bn fortune to philanthropic causes during his lifetime. And Russ reports back from the Association of Charitable Foundations’ annual conference.

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Lucinda and Alina seek to demystify TikTok with the help of Rebs Curtis-Moss, interim social media manager at Shelter, who previously worked at the RNLI and led preparations for the launch of the Lifeboats’ highly successful TikTok campaign. 

Rebs highlights the importance of TikTok for raising awareness of charity causes among younger audiences, but stresses the need for a clear strategy prior to posting, including defining success and allocating sufficient staff resources to produce regular, high-quality content.  

They provide practical tips for tracking algorithms and jumping on the latest trends to maximise audience numbers while ensuring the tone remains consistent with charities’ wider messaging. 

Equipped with Rebs’ advice, and after reviewing examples of successful content from the RNLI and Shelter, Alina and Lucinda set out to create Third Sector’s first TikTok video.

This week’s Good News Bulletin features involuntary charitable donations resulting from drug busts.

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Russ and Lucinda celebrate Trustees Week by speaking to Liv Clarke and Ria Shah, trustees at the youth leadership charity Reclaim and the conservation charity The Wildlife Trusts, respectively. Liv and Ria explain what motivated them to become trustees in the early stages of their careers and why they object to the term “young trustee”.

They provide their views on the importance of including younger people on boards and highlight some of the barriers facing them, including heavy time commitments and imposter syndrome. They also suggest ways in which charities can help overcome the challenges common to younger board members.

This week’s Good News Bulletin explores the trend of politicians putting their pay-outs and I’m a Celebrity… appearance fees to philanthropic use.

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Lucinda and Russ speak to Vic Turnbull, founder of the podcast production and training company MIC Media, about the various ways charities can use podcasts, from awareness-raising to educating service users.

Vic provides practical guidance for charities looking to start a podcast of their own, from considerations of purpose, audience and content to funding options and utilising in-house talent. She also demystifies the technical aspect of podcast production and demonstrates the ease of creating high-quality audio content on a shoestring.

We listen to extracts from two very different award-winning charity podcasts: Log Books from the LGBT+ helpline Switchboard, and Made By Mortals’ children’s podcast Armchair Adventures.

Later in the episode, Russ and Lucinda discuss the criticism surrounding English Heritage’s acceptance of a £1.25m donation from AirBnb.

Footnotes

• Grab the MIC
• The Log Books
• Armchair Adventures

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Lucinda and Andy speak to Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, about attitudes towards campaigning by charities in the current political climate. This follows the release of a Charity Commission guide, the timing of which she questions in the context of a backlash to recent campaigns.

Sue tells us why, despite some renewed calls for charities to “stick to their knitting”, she is confident that civil society voices will increasingly be heard.

The Good News Bulletin has the bear facts about where the teddies left in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II are headed - and gives the gen on the generosity of Generation Z.

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Senior news reporter Russell Hargrave and reporter Alina Martin speak to Anne Fox, chief executive of Clinks, and Riana Taylor, chief executive of Circles UK, about the challenges of fundraising for charities working in the criminal justice system. 

Anne and Riana offer insight into the difficulties of fundraising from the general public when the general perception of their service users - people who have been in the criminal justice system - is low.

They discuss the potential impact of the cost-of-living crisis on this area of the sector and share advice on building relationships with funders.

This week's Good News Bulletin features an independent bookshop in Norwich whose crowdfunding appeal grabbed the attention of none other than the Hollywood star Russell Crowe.

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