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“Pick up the phone… give me the money.”
THE PLEA FROM Bob Geldof for people to donate money during Live Aid in 1985 resonated strongly with viewers. Alongside the images of those stricken by the Ethiopian famine were rock stars wowing crowds and direct demands for money.
Tens of millions were raised as a direct result of the concerts.
Over 30 years on, however, and times have changed considerably. Direct appeals still exist on our screens, but charities are beginning to rely on people phoning in donations less and less.
The ubiquity of people being online 24/7 has led the charity sector to explore the opportunities presented by fundraising through to the internet.
It is most certainly a useful tool to raise money but online fundraising is not without its pitfalls where charities are concerned.
“It’s a place to innovate”
Irish people donated €51 million to Concern last year. The global organisation provides humanitarian aid in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Sarah Martin, director of communications at charity Concern, told TheJournal.ie that there’s been a big shift towards digital at the charity in recent years.
“It’s become central to our fundraising strategy,” she said.
A recent appeal for aid in east Africa saw one quarter of all donations coming from online. While money donated through online is not strictly replacing other forms of fundraising just yet, Martin said that the method is “probably attracting new donors”.
“Analytics allow us to reach out to people in ways that we haven’t done before,” she said.
She said that Concern was using online and social media to innovate how they attempt to attract donations.
“Direct mail targets an older demographic, but with snapchat we can look at much younger people,” Martin said. “With this platform we actually had teenagers send out these messages. They know how to talk to their audience.
For Concern, it’s important to create that emotional connection with people. Bring them on a journey with us. We have 45,000 followers on Facebook and 50,000 on Twitter. We’re building audiences all the time. For every channel we use, we’ll have a different tone and style.
Crowdfunding
When it comes to online fundraising, crowdfunding as a means of raising money has exploded in popularity in recent years.
In the space of seven years, an online fundraising platform has managed to raise over €2.7 billion for a variety of causes.
A quick look across social media feeds is enough to see that GoFundMes, or similar fundraising initiatives, are everywhere.
They range from the personal, to the community-driven, with hundreds of thousands of euro donated every day.
GoFundMe, and similar sites, have tapped into a generous public willing to give to worthy causes away from the traditional ways charities have raised funds.
Charities themselves are using these platforms but is this form of fundraising taking money away from these organisations, or is it adding more to their funds?
Martin said that Concern had experimented with crowdfunding in recent times, but wasn’t sure if it is an effective means of fundraising for bigger charities.
“We launched a campaign recently,” she said, “to see how it’d work for us”.
The charity enlisted the help of Galway chef JP McMahon through the crowdfunding site Generosity.com to raise money for a kitchen garden in Burundi.
She said: “We pushed it on a lot on our social media platforms. It was very good for brand awareness but not so good for attracting income.”
When it comes to crowdfunding through the likes of a GoFundMe, Martin says that these initiatives appeal to more people and are more successful when a personal story is told:
Crowdfunding works well on a peer-to-peer basis, such as when somebody’s friend set something up to raise money for a very specific cause. It works on that level. It remains to be seen whether it’ll work for bigger charities like ourselves. I think what we’ve learned is that you need keep the question you ask simple.
After a quick look on GoFundMe using the search term “Ireland”, it is clear what Martin means.
Among the top results is the €127,000 raised for a woman with a rare genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and €115,000 raised for lyme disease sufferer Denise Ryan who needs money for treatment in the US.
Similarly, two campaigns to help provide treatment for cancer sufferers Emily Duffy and Brian Slattery has almost €180,000 between them.
GoFundMe is not just effective at raising money for individual cases, however. Smaller Irish charities have had success in using the platform to raise some much needed funds.
‘We work with nothing most of the time, so we’re used to it’
Joe Gormley is a member of the voluntary organisation Forgotten Horses Ireland.
The organisation rehomes feral horses in the Galway and north Clare area. These include horses that have been mistreated, neglected and underfed.
“We look after their immediate needs,” Gormley told TheJournal.ie. “And then we look at rehoming them.”
The charity provides rehabilitation for the horses, through veterinary care and reintroducing a good diet.
All of those involved with the charity are volunteers and, despite excellent support from the local community and volunteers, limited funds are an ever-present problem:
Funds are always limited. We basically work with nothing most of the time so you get used to it.
Money to pay for stabling, food and medical care for the horses is sought through a variety of means including cake sales, wreath sales as well as money provided from the Department of Agriculture.
During the summer, the charity will have around 30 horses at one time. To provide them with grazing areas that will help them recover, land is leased from local farmers.
For the first time earlier this year, the charity set up a GoFundMe page to pay for these grazing areas this summer.
“It’s been very effective,” Gormley said. “We’ve already raised over half of the money we needed for it.
It’s definitely something we’ll do again.
Alongside Facebook campaigns, this charity that is always faced with limited funding opportunities has embraced online as a means of raising funds.
A matter of trust
When it comes to online fundraising, the issue of trust is vitally important, and two-fold.
There is the general negative perception around the charity sector due to recent scandals such as at Console.
Console provided a range of services including a 24/7 suicide helpline, a suicide bereavement liaison service, and a suicide bereavement counselling service.
The charity was wound down last year after it emerged through an investigation by RTÉ that its founders spent money on personal expenses.
An audit found that half a million euro was spent on foreign trips, designer clothes, eating out and other expenses between 2012 and 2014 – while another half a million was spent on salaries and cars for CEO Paul Kelly and his wife Patricia.
Concern says that it’s incumbent on charities to show the utmost of transparency in the current climate.
Speaking on the launch of its annual report for 2016, its CEO Dominic MacSorley said: “As an organisation, we understand the crucial importance of maintaining the highest standards of accountability and transparency as we deliver our programmes across some of the world’s poorest countries.”
Martin, the charity’s spokesperson, added that Concern aims to position itself as trustworthy was evident from its transparent financial reporting and accountability of funds.
The other bone of contention with online fundraising is data security.
“People need to know we’re keeping their details safe,” Martin said.
Our donors have to feel secure when giving their details and cards numbers.
The charity has created positions in data protection to this effect, and said that they have experimented with online platforms of collecting money to ensure they use the safest, and best, form of collection.
Digital first
When it comes to online, charities big and small have begun to experiment on how to tap into the potential of people’s generosity on the internet.
GoFundMes raise money for specific cases with people making an emotional investment in them in the process.
Charities have always raised money in various manners, and they’re adapting to this platform in particular to try to make this kind of appeal to people too.
In a charity sector where needs are endless and funds are limited, online is an effective, and relatively-new, way for charities to get their message out there and attract donors.
As Concern’s Martin put it, the future of fundraising is going one way:
There’s no doubt that, as time goes on, our strategy will be digital first.
Let the Guards investigate Murphy.
@SF Knee Knockers: for what?
@Shawn O’Ceallaghan: fraud
@John fitzpatrick: legally he has no case to answer. He broke no Dail rules. Disgraceful but true.
@Shawn O’Ceallaghan: Signing on when he wasn’t available for work.
@Conoroconnor: except for claiming allowances when he was not actually there. If that’s not breaking the rules , I do not know what is. In any job , if your faking milage , claiming false expenses, you will be sacked as fraud is fraud in any job.
@John fitzpatrick: He didn’t break the rules. Fob in at the Dail and leave straight away and you qualify.
When will all of you people learn? This is what FG and FF do: they line their own pockets at OUR expense.
Look at Bailey. Look at Murphy. Look at Lowry. Look at Haughey. Look at Ahern.
Tribunals find against these people and you vote for them. They essentially rip off the Irish tax payer for 300k. You vote for them. They attempt to defraud an insurance company and you vote them. Verona Murphy engages in racist rhetoric. The Taoiseach campaigns with her – and…..you vote for them.
When will you learn?
@Billy McNamara: He was getting the dole too?
@SF Knee Knockers: we need to make laws he has broken first. Too late but should be done now.
@Conoroconnor: actually you are very wrong. He didn’t comply with tax regulations and was earning monies and claiming expenses which he should have paid tax on. So yes this is fraud which an average joe soap would get 3 to 7 years jail time for. But of course politicians seem to make their own rules and laws don’t they.
@Shazam37: look at ferris and Ellis for SF, told the public they were taking home an average industrial wage but had a special deal
@Rhomas Teddy: how do you know he didn’t pay tax on it? Whistling Dixie I reckon.
Funny how Mícheál Martin is all over this now AFTER Dara Murphy has resigned. Everyone knew what Dara Murphy was doing. It was reported last year. Why wasn’t he calling for an investigation then? Only now because of the public outcry. Gowls the whole lot of them.
@Caireann Rua: because there is an election coming and he’s pretenting to be the opposition
@Caireann Rua: the two parties (FF and FG) are masters at deflection. Every person knows both the voting and expense claims are at the very least, morally wrong, at the very worst criminal. Neither will push the other so far as to test the criminal side. Party first and all that.
@DaMoons: two cheeks of the one arse!
Feck the investigation, it should be a criminal case. No different to your one in Donegal. Stealing from your employers m. In this case the tax payer.
@John fitzpatrick: Similarly, if you are found to have voted illegally, everyone who tries to cover it up or not volunteer information on voter fraud should also be charged.
@DaMoons: agreed . But I bet there are lots more of it from every party. Tip of the iceberg
@John fitzpatrick: Apparently it is mainly confined to FF and FG. SF corrected their record on the day when they did it inadvertently. It’s in the Dail records.
@DaMoons: “inadvertantly” oh ok then….
@Gerry Cummins: And corrected the Dail record on the day. But I am sure you are not interested in getting mistakes corrected on the day. You would rather what?? An expensive tribunal?
All the same From Murphy to chambers to Dooley.They change and abuse rules to suit themselves and claim max amount of expenses.Needs to be total overhaul of all expenses and accountability.But who does it.They can’t police themselves.Greed is an awful curse on our democracy.
Oh so today Micheal Martin is on the opposition is it? Can’t keep up with that lad at all.
@Badger the witness: He isn’t really. He started squealing about the IRA when Pearse Doherty got up to challenge the Taoiseach about the insurance price gouging impacting businesses, drivers and homeowners. Martin circled the wagons around FG yet again to protect their cosy cartel.
If a complaint is made to the garda are they not obliged to investigate?
@Sea Graham: in order for the gardai to get involved, he has to have broken the law, which he didn’t do.
@Conoroconnor: well actually he has stolen money from the taxpayer. He was claiming expenses that he wasn’t entitled to. They are all going of about how various departments can’t investigate as he’s no longer a TD. Why is there one law for them and one for us. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” springs to mind.
@Sea Graham: he was entitled to the expenses.
They rigged the system so they could take money from the taxpayer legitimately.
Phone your closest FFFG TD tomorrow. Tell them you will under no circumstances vote for a party that defrauds the tax payer. Then don’t vote for them.
Simple.
@Shazam37: Ha! I can imagine how that conversation would go.. “Hello. I’d like to speak to minister Harris please.” “I’m sorry, he can’t speak to you right now, the ventriloquist has stepped out of the office.”
@Sea Graham: well they’re never in their constituency office – but they’re fully staffed.
I ring every time there’s a massive controversy. Which with this lot is pretty frequently. They what back that people are phoning and writing and they get the idea its bad for them
The old “Smoke – Mirrors” ploy to appease the voting public in check by giving a glimmer of hope.
This like all other “arguments and disputes” is part of a very deceptive and well rehearsed plan .
Do I believe them…….. No
Do I trust them……. Not a chance
Will I be voting for them ….. No.
There is not one of them care about someone scamming expenses because they’re all at it. They shouldn’t be getting any expenses anyway just a base salary and if they don’t like it don’t run for office.
@joe byrne: Genuinely, can you imagine FF and FG ever supporting your proposal?
@DaMoons: I can’t see any party supporting it because they are only all in it for themselves. Do couldn’t care less about any other agenda
@DaMoons: I can’t see any party supporting it because they are only all in it for themselves. They couldn’t care less about anything else.
@DaMoons: sf collected €1.3 million in expenses from Westminster and they don’t even turn up
Micheal Martin pretending to be the opposition again. How cute.
TDs cannot answer a question truthfully even to one another they always answer a question with a question sad they cannot be more truthful
@Pauline Cahill: Watch this video and the attempt at deflection by both FF and FG. They both pretend they know nothing about the Insurance companies fleecing us.
https://www.facebook.com/sinnfein/videos/2461113490823325/
Any organisation is influenced directly from the top down.
So civil ‘servants’ and state bodies look up to TDs and senators on how to behave.
We are so wealthy as a nation but its cr@p like this that shows how our money is being p1ssed away at every opportunity.
Billions. Ever year.
Happy Christmas Dara. You make us all proud.
Mehole Martin pretending to have morals,
Sure aren’t FF the most corrupt and money hungry of them all!
I’ll still be voting Fianna Fáil this time round. They always gave the working man their bread and butter. Madness they still get blamed for the crash, they wanted to burn the bondholders and weren’t let. Time to forgive and forget, it’s either more of the FG Dublin-oriented jokeshop, or let Sinn Fein and their absurd economic policies force us all to fight stray dogs for scraps.
@Alex Nevin: SF were the only opposition party to put forward a costed budget alternative over the last 2 budgets. FF are now saying they would implement the SF third rate of tax rate if they steal power again. You might want to do a little research before making that sort of argument again.
@Alex Nevin: I might re-write history and vote for them too…
@Alex Nevin: it’s been a minority government for years kept in position by your FF leader, Micheal the puppet.
@Alex Nevin: Do you not remember the mess FF created? Some people are still suffering.
@Alex Nevin:
Please tell me that your tounge was firmly planted in your cheek or maybe you found a stash of wild mushrooms ?.
This party have caused more misery in this country and then joined forces with fg to join and conquer.
@Alex Nevin: you don’t know what your talking about Alex.
I’ll forgive Ff when Martin Ahern and the rest face a criminal Inwhiry and are barred from public office and excommunicated from the party. When they come up with a way to removes the 200 Billion debt that my grandchildren will be paying off.
So never. Never never never.
@Shazam37: you do know 200 billion is peanuts in terms of this country’s wealth? If we pay it all off now we would probably incur a penalty for doing so. Ame as in Joe Soap life…
@Gerry Cummins: what absolute bunkum. Our annual budget is about 60 billion. Of which everything is accounted for give or take a few hundred million to a billion.
What are you talking about? You think they have two hundred billion just lying around somewhere? We pay 6 billion in interest payments alone every year. You think they do that for fun?
Don’t be ridiculous.
They all have their noses in the trough. Hopefully it’ll open up a can of worms.
Bit like asking turkeys to vote for xmas
Someone is paying this guy 150k a year????
Did anyone phone the garda as far as i can see he collected taxpayers money same as a dole scrounger. Michael the number your looking for is 999 or shut the f ….. up with your pretend to be angry bullshit
Varadkar is probably a nice bloke to go have a few pints with but as a leader of our country he is weak, ineffective and holds no serious credibility either home or abroad. We need a leader with a bit of credibility and who is not afraid to take tough decisions.
@The Exhibition Guy – Stephan Murtagh: mostly rubbish stephen.
On what basis has he no credibility abroad? What are you basing that on? All the reports are he and Kenny were and are well respected in European circles.
And they’re not ineffective. They achieve precisely what they want. Which is to stay in office without doing anything. Which is what they Irish people voted for.
Varadkar may or may not be afraid of tough decisions. He has no interest in making them so how would he know? He has no policy agenda or vision for the country. Status quo please. And then off to a board somewhere.
Ohhh, FF and FG aren’t so cosy low, whys that? Ohhh ya the looming election… as predictable as my morning poo!!
Get off the Soap box Martin you are a fine example for honesty and integrity
Arrests should be made.. Aggressive behaviour…..
Why waste valuable time on this issue?. There are more pressing issues to be considered, and they all know this, but it suits them to bladder on about stupid issues. FF failed to drive home the Nail last week against Eoin Murphy, likewise, Harris before, what is Martin playing at?.
have your say