life after a front page furore. my biggest comms mistake seminar, 24 september 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Disaster Down
Under
What a PR c@*k-up taught me
about the ideal
donor:charity relationship
24th September 2015
h Harvest. We help charities grow.
www.harvestagency.co.uk
2h
4
5h
7h
Cocktails & canapés
paid for by Red Cross
donations
8h
9h
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 3
Residual Codes: Re ligious Vir tue & Obligat ion
• Charity and/or ‘caritas’ as a general loving-
kindness towards God and other people
• Giving of alms and tithes became part of the
Christian liturgy – during the offertory
• Charity very much coded as a religious act or a
concern of the state, e.g. the English Poor Laws
and establishment of almshouses/workhouses
Originally the Christian virtue of loving-kindness, charity became codified into a much more
practical and obligatory expression of helping others.
Charit y &
Fundraising
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 4
Residual Codes: Indust r ial Ph ilan th rop y
• 19th century writers like Alexis de Tocqueville
argued against nationalised relief on the basis
that it encouraged laziness & unproductivity
• Wealthy industrialist-philanthropists & preachers
like Joseph Rowntree & William Booth (founder of
the Salvation Army) established private charitable
organisations instead
Great personal wealth generated by the Industrial Revolution led to a privatisation of charitable
giving, as individuals established organisations outside of the Church.
Charit y &
Fundraising
10h
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 5
Residual Codes: Residual Re lat ionsh ip
An unquestionably top-down relationship is residually coded between the donor and the
recipient, with charitable organisations mainly as extensions of the donors.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor/Charity
Recipient
11h
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 6
Dom inan t Codes: Inst itu t ional Fundraising
• Long-established industrial or royal charities tend
to have acronymic names, much like banks or
corporations
• This codes them as powerful and effective but
also as faceless, mechanical and inhuman
• Brand communications often focus on building up
the brand over the people it helps
Over time, these Victorian charitable organisations took on the characteristics of the industrial
institutions taking shape at the same time: efficient but inhuman.
Charit y &
Fundraising
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 6
Dom inan t Codes: In st itu t ional Fundraising
• Long-established industrial or royal charities tend
to have acronymic names, much like banks or
corporations
• This codes them as powerful and effective but
also as faceless, mechanical and inhuman
• Brand communications often focus on building up
the brand over the people it helps
Over time, these Victorian charitable organisations took on the characteristics of the industrial
institutions taking shape at the same time: efficient but inhuman.
Charit y &
Fundraising
12h
| N ew Front ie r s in Fundr aising 8
Dom inan t Codes: Gap Betw een Donor & Recip ien t
• Donors still today depicted as powerful and
personable (e.g. celebrity spokespeople), while
recipients shown as unidentifiable examples of
suffering
• Gap between two reflects outdated mindsets of
colonialism and class-ism – donor and recipient
as unequal, inhabiting two different worlds
Heritage of institutional charities means that gap is opened up between donor (assumed to be
wealthy industrialist) and recipient (generic example of affliction).
Charit y &
Fundraising
13h
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 9
Dom inan t Codes: Dom inan t Re lat ionsh ip
The emergence of the charity as an institution has broken the direct link between donor and
recipient to the extent that it may code itself as a sort of gatekeeper or taxman.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
14h | N ew Front ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
15h
| N ew Fron t ie rs in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Front iers in Fundr aising 9
Dom inant Codes: Dom inant Relat ionship
The emergence of the charity as an institution has broken the direct link between donor and
recipient to the extent that it may code itself as a sort of gatekeeper or taxman.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
Donor Donor
Donor
DonorDonor
DonorDonor
16h
Harvest. We help charities grow. 17
Harvest. We help charities grow. 18
Harvest. We help charities grow. 19
Harvest. We help charities grow. 20
Harvest. We help charities grow. 21
22h
| N ew Fron t ie rs in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Fron t ie r s in Fundr aising 1 5
Em ergen t Codes: Em ergen t Re lat ionsh ip
Emergently, charitable activity is moving towards an ideal peer-to-peer relationship, where the
charity acts more as a network than as an institution in its own right.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
| N ew Front iers in Fundr aising 9
Dom inant Codes: Dom inant Relat ionship
The emergence of the charity as an institution has broken the direct link between donor and
recipient to the extent that it may code itself as a sort of gatekeeper or taxman.
Charit y &
Fundraising
Donor
Charity
Recipient
Donor Donor
Donor
DonorDonor
DonorDonor
Visit the CharityComms website to
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events we have coming up and to
check out what else we do:
www.charitycomms.org.uk
Seminar
24 September 2015
London
#CommsMistakes
My biggest comms
mistake: why failure is
the key to success