Grafton Street Special Planning Control

Today Dublin City Council published proposed changes to the existing "'Scheme of Special Planning Control for Grafton Street & Environs'.

One of the key points in the document is that 'Charity Shops' would not be permissible as "they would detract from the character of the street". They define a charity shop as:

"A shop in which a charity sells used goods that are given to it, or in which they sell new goods, in order to generate an income for the work of the charity."

Now I understand why they would be against the sale of used goods but I am amazed at the explicit mention of new goods. Essentially they are specifying that any shop or establishment that is welcome on Grafton Street would no longer be welcome if they are generating income for charitable work. This to me seems like a (hopefully unintentional) attack on the charity sector.

Bryan Ward, a planner at the council, was quoted in last weekend's Sunday Times as saying, "We're not saying there are no places for charity shops in the city centre. We'd be quite happy to have them on some of the side streets."

I don't understand this disapproval of potentially high-class shops whose profits go towards the work of charity. This proposal is saying it's OK to sell clothes and toys and technology made in a sweatshop but if you're selling ethical goods whose profits go to charity then you're not welcome. I'm welcome to open an art gallery, a tailors or a barber as long as it's for personal profit. If I'm a charity and I want all the profits to go towards saving lives, well, I'm not allowed on the South Side's most dynamic retail experience. One could even argue that this wording prevents profit-making shops from selling items on behalf of charity.

It's another case of rewarding those that want to make personal profit but penalising those who want to do good. I am more welcome to make millions for myself and give a small percentage to charity rather than to make millions for charity and keep a small percentage for myself. All because of this taboo word 'charity'.

Thankfully they are welcoming submissions and observations to be made by June 13th 2013. I would encourage everyone in the sector and beyond to voice your concerns. 'Charity shops' needs to be removed or redefined or we could very well see this restriction rolled out on Grafton Street and beyond.

It is worth noting that Oxfam Ireland already have a shop, selling only new goods, in this area on South King Street. This document states that The Planning Authority have the power to

"serve a notice on each person who is the owner or occupier of land of measures required to be undertaken for the discontinuance of any use or the continuance of any use subject to conditions"

"Under this notice the Planning Authority must state they shall pay expenses that are reasonably incurred by that person."

Finally, the point may be made that charity shops could not afford space on Grafton Street anyway, but we have seen excellent locations been bequeathed to charities in the past. And frankly, if a business feels it makes financial sense to locate on Grafton Street then why would it not make sense for a charity to locate there? If anything, because of their access to volunteers, a Grafton Street location should be more affordable to a charity.

Map of the affected area.

You can read the full report here.
You can make your submissions/observations using this document.

Update: Apparently Oxfam on South King Street now sell secondhand goods, not just new goods. My apologies.

Fundraising Ireland Conference 2013: Raising Colon Our Game

Here are the slides from my 'The Best Donor In Ireland' session at the Fundraising Ireland Conference 2013, as well what I think are the key points below:

Open Your Direct Debit Date
I still strongly believe - and I believe the data shows - that opening your choices of direct debit date (i.e. allowing donors to give on any day of the month) will decrease unpaids and improve attrition. If you do not have the resources to do this I believe it is worth shifting some of your spend from recruitment/retention in to this processing change. I'm going to do a dedicated blog post on this soon.

Reactivate & Upgrade
Telephone reactivations are working. Telephone upgrades are working. If you're not doing them then you should be. More than that, on-line upgrades are working too: Sponsor.ie donors are prompted to increase their donation to cover credit card fees and 17% of people are saying yes. With some tweaking I believe we can get this figure even higher.

Changes In Tax Relief
This appears to be having an impact on how much self-assessed are giving: last year self-assessed individuals donated 9% more than PAYE. This year it's only 6% so far.

Consider The Spikes
You will see a spike in cancellations in January. You will see a spike in cancellations in the summer. You will see a spike in cancellations if there is negative media coverage. You will see a spike in cancellations if your CEO does something stupid. How are you going to pre-empt this?

Be Mobile Friendly
The number of donors who are using (and trying to donate through) mobile devices is increasing massively, with nearly half of visitors now on mobile devices. Your website (and mine!) need to be mobile-friendly. Please prioritise this over making 'an app' - nobody wants your app.

Share Data
We all learn and we all benefit when we share data.

Frequently Asked Questions

I thought it would be handy to do a Frequently Asked Questions - a lot of this stuff comes up repeatedly through this blog, the media, on-line forums/comments and general discussions:

Charity staff have a vested interest in not fixing the problem. If they achieve their mission they'll put themselves out of a job! So do they actually want to fix these problems?
Yes. If an individual cures cancer or fixes poverty they will almost certainly never have to work again. In fact, they will probably be the most famous and richest person in the history of the world. If you put "Found A Cure For Leukaemia" on your CV you are definitely getting a second interview. 

Isn't it wrong to make money from working for a charity?
No. In the same way it's not wrong to make money from selling water, providing information, providing gas and electricity, producing medicine, teaching, upholding the law, being a doctor, destroying our planet, etc.
Or, wait...maybe it is wrong?

Don't charities just make the problem worse?
No.

Charities shouldn't pay CEOs so much money. Shouldn't they employ someone who costs less, or better yet is a volunteer?
Yes, in the same way every company and organisation should try to get the best staff at the lowest cost. If you are that person please write to the board of directors of the charity and inform them you will do the same or better job and you will cost less. Include your CV.

Adverts, billboards, chuggers, mailings, phone calls, bucket shakers, etc. put me off donating. I only donate to charities that don't ask.
That wasn't a question, but that's great. You are awesome. Unfortunately you are the minority. If everyone was like you then charities wouldn't have to spend any money on advertising or fundraising and that would be really cool. But they're not, so can you please ask your friends, family, co-workers and strangers to donate without being asked. In fact, how would you like to shake a bucket for your favourite charity?

A lot of charities get government funding. Shouldn't they be held accountable for how they use that money?
Yes, absolutely. And they are. They are probably held accountable more than the government's other service providers and suppliers, such as the telecoms, transport, stationery, hospitality companies, etc.

Is it true only 10 cent of every Euro goes to the cause?
That question doesn't make sense...what do you mean 'the cause'? Do you mean does the charity only hand a 10 cent coin to a starving child in Africa? That's not how it works at all.
100 cent of every Euro goes towards the organisation achieving its goal. In the same way that 100 cent of every Euro you spent on that can of Coke goes towards giving you that can of Coke. It's irrelevant to say that 1 cent of every Euro is wasted on the Coke CEO, 8 cent is wasted on the shop selling it, 10 cent of every Euro is wasted on the can, 3 cent of every Euro is wasted on transport. You wouldn't ask "Does only 10 cent of every Euro go towards the actual cola liquid?" You wouldn't travel to the Coke factory and stick your face under the industrial sized tap to ensure that none of your money was 'wasted'.

I read in the newspaper and heard on the news that charities spend too much on admin and overheads. Is that true?
The concept of admin and overheads is flawed. And, generally, the head of newspapers, TV stations and radio stations earn more for running much smaller organisations. If they didn't then your newspaper and TV license fee might be cheaper.

I still totally disagree with these charities. What can I do?
Don't donate to them. If they're funded by the government, and you don't have that choice, then write to your TD. You might also use that opportunity to complain about how the rest of your taxes are being spent.

Charities...
Sorry, I'm going to stop you there. Saying "Charities..." do something is like saying "Businesses...", "Politicians...", "Scientists...", etc. It doesn't work. There are good charities and bad charities. Next time someone says something about charities trying replacing the word 'charities' with 'businesses' and see if it still makes sense. Yes, they're different, but a lot of the same principles apply.

The Problem With Dan Pallotta

I love Dan Pallotta...obviously.

I first read 'Uncharitable' a few years ago and it had a big impact. It didn't change my life or the way I think, but for the first time I had read someone successfully vocalising what a lot of us had been thinking. He says it better than we ever could. I went on to support his Charity Defense (sic of American spelling) Council and I was delighted to see his recent TED Talk get over a million views and counting. He upstaged Bono.

Dan Pallotta's TED Talk should be required viewing for you,

your staff, your board, your donors, your friends...

Whatever you think of Dan Pallotta and his history and his motivations you can't deny that he has brought a fantastic and important argument to the masses.

But...I believe there is one glaring problem with his argument and a single barrier preventing support from the general public.

When he speaks of the salary difference between the private sector and the charity sector he loses people. He loses people because he's talking about a $400,000 salary compared to a $232,658 salary compared to a $84,028 salary.

The average salary in Ireland is less than €40,000 (less than $50,000) but the majority of the people watching this video, supporting your charity, reading the newspapers, browsing the internet earn less than that. Most of the service staff you deal with in your day to day life are probably on about €20,000 per year. He quotes Business Week while people watching read The Daily Mail.

So when you suggest to people that it's unfair that someone only earns $84k and that they should be allowed to earn more you will almost certainly, instantly lose their support.

The correct argument is of course that nobody should be earning $400,000 or $232,000 or anything near that while there are still people suffering for no reason, people still blind because they can't afford a simple operation and children withering away and dying because they can't afford medication that is over there in that room next to them.

But strangely enough, the people who live on minimum or low wages don't seem to have a problem with the private sector earning these huge wages and being charged inflated prices on everything to pay the salaries of these high earners.

Well, hey...that's just the world we live in.

The Opposite Of A Careerist

Recently, someone named Gina Miller called people like me a 'Careerist'. She explained that people like me "are not necessarily passionate about the organisations that they are involved with, but switch casually from charity to charity." More than that, a good salary is what seems to drive people like me.

I started thinking what the opposite of a careerist is, and I think it's:

• Someone who can only care about one cause - you can not possibly care about animal rights, the environment, lifting people out of poverty AND keeping children safe.
• Someone who makes their money through other means, such as drilling for oil, selling fizzy drinks, letting out property or managing other people's funds. They do not devote their full-time to the charity sector.
• Someone who is not driven to succeed, to progress their career, or to earn more money.
• Someone who misleads the public by saying 100% of your donations goes to helping others.

The Telegraph might call someone like this a philanthropist. But I think we can come up with a better name.

Stream of Blog Titles

These would make good fundraising blog titles. You can have them:

• "Why your fundraising should be more like Jefferson Airplane and less like Jefferson Starship"
• "Scratchcards - You're The Only One That Hates Them"
• "Taking the 'Fun' Out Of The Phrase 'Put The Fun In Fundraising'"
• "Forget On-line Fundraising - Be like Kings of Convenience and Get Back To Basics"
• "Why being a donor is like being a gym member"
• "What if Dylan wrote copy"
• "Managing Your Major Donors In The Same Way You Feed A Toddler"
• "Stop Reading Blogs, Start Asking For Money"
• "What You Can Learn About Fundraising From Fundraising Blogs"

A Look Back At Irish Fundraising In 2012

Here's my Top 10 Irish Fundraising News Stories of 2012:

Changes in Charitable Donation Tax Relief
After a very-welcome public consultation, it was announced that 2013 would see a change in how charities claim back tax on donations over €250. Although the increase in relief from self-assessed donors was generally welcome, the sector braced itself for a drop-off of donors. The new composite rate of tax relief was met with mixed feelings dependent on the structure of your own donor base.

Fundraising Ireland Gets a CEO, launches Certificate in Fundraising
Anne Hanniffy joined Fundraising Ireland as its first CEO. The organisation continued to grow, focusing on training, with the launch of Ireland's first Certificate in Fundraising and a high quality annual conference. It will be interesting to see which way they move in 2013 and will they begin to tackle the Irish public's perception of charitable fundraising.

INKEx Goes Into Liquidation
After funding was pulled without notice, INKEx was forced to cease trading. It was the "The first-ever and only comprehensive data repository for the non-profit sector" and the loss meant a step back for Ireland in terms of having real data on the sector. However, organisations such as The Wheel and Fundraising Ireland started to fill the gap by continuing and building upon some pretty good surveys and research, with some great reports published in 2012.

'Chuggers' Go Digital
After an initial trial in 2011, street and door-to-door fundraisers began to make the switch from paper direct debit forms to electronic tablet forms.

Barnardos Closes For A Week
Some cynics called it a clever marketing ploy, but Barnardos was forced to shut up shop for a week in 2012 in an effort to cut costs. It later emerged they would be doing the same in 2013.

Ulster Bank enables charitable donations at ATMs
ATM giving finally came to Ireland, but you had to be an Ulster Bank customer at an Ulster Bank machine. The roll-out will be slow, but other banks will follow suit and this will become a noticeable source of income for the big 10.

John O'Shea Leaves GOAL
After a bit of a kerfuffle, John O'Shea stepped down as CEO of GOAL. Renowned for their low investment in fundraising due to O'Shea's personal dislike of it, the change paved the way to a potential shake up of how they run things.

2into3 Begin Recruiting For 6 Fundraising Staff At €70k
2into3 began to recruit for "seven new high level fundraising roles" as part of the RAISE pilot. At a salary of €70,000 per year, the fundraising community collectively spat out their tea and scrambled to hide the ad from their own staff.

Irish Charities Expo Flops
The first ever Charity Expo left a number of charities unhappy, feeling it was a waste of money and time. You can read my thoughts here.

Legacies Get Big
Irish Cancer Society and Barretstown both received huge legacy gifts in 2012. With the help of these and others, as well as the growth of MyLegacy, leaving money to charity in your will began to get some real media coverage.


What am I missing?