Category Archive: Uncategorised

1. Letter published in Third Sector 26th March 2012

   22nd March 2012 3:12 pm Leave a Comment

   It is disappointing to say the least to read that of the 30 staff who are at most risk of redundancy at Mencap are those in the campaigns, policy and communications teams. If this happens, it looks like “the voice of learning disability”  will become a little softer for a while.

   This proposal would be heading in the opposite direction of many other charities and  campaigning organisations who after a tough couple of years are in 2012 investing again growing in these areas. The marked increase in recruitment for campaigning and policy roles in the last quarter is producing a postive outlook at last for this sector for the rest of the year and hopefully beyond. And it doesn’f feel like it’s just a blip either.

   The reason Mencap is looking to cut campaigns, policy and communications roles was reported in Third Sector as lost funding from local authority contracts. I would have thought a loss of funding from this source would have meant a reduction in the charitable side of Mencap’s work rather the their work in gaining justice and long term change for people with learning disability.

2. Holding out for a hero with The Right Ethos

   1st December 2011 3:14 pm Leave a Comment

   Earlier this week I tweeted:

   “Help for Heroes is non-political and non-critical, we simply want to help” – that’s suitable, but means that they don’t have the right ethos

   Help for Heroes have just recently won an award for being the Most Admired Charity and this comment about being “non-political and non-critical” struck me and realised that with that attitude they will never be a client of The Right Ethos.

   All of the organisations we work with are critical. And most of them get involved in the  political debate to a greater or lesser extent. Personally, I’m glad they do. Because the aspirations of our client organisations are, I believe, higher. They work to change our world or our society for the better. They campaign for justice.

   There’s certainly a place for charities who simply want to help out. And I wouldn’t be sniffy about them. They can provide a valuable safety net. Or provide activities that you wouldn’t expect to be paid for out of our taxes.

   My award for Most Admired Charity 2011 would go to one that campaigns and is critical and often supports political behaviour to gain permanent change.

   To show that we don’t wish any bad will, many of the Christmas cards sent out by The Right Ethos this year are in aid of Help for Heroes.

   Season’s Greetings

3. Evie Papada

   17th November 2011 10:23 pm Leave a Comment

   

   Whilst Campaign Coordinator at Amnesty International

   Who is the campaigner you admire the most?
   The campaigner I admire the most is Sarah Duthie. She is a campaigner at Greenpeace.

   Apart from your current organisation which other organisation that campaigns do you currently admire?
   ‘War on Want’- They seem to campaign on very topical issues and they have the most updated campaign calendar: the messages they send through are original and it urges you to take action.

   What advice would you give to someone starting their career in campaign today?
   I would urge them to remind themselves that we campaign in order to foster change and not just to raise awareness on issues – i would also advice them to spend enough time planning their campaign strategies and always evaluate the work at different stages of the campaign development.

   What 3 things make a good campaigner?

   Good preparation and planning of the campaign strategy.
   Creativity and boldness in decision making.
   Ability to deliver the campaign message in such a way that it is simple, catchy, using as few words as possible.

   Which of these three things do campaigners have most of?

   Campaigners have all of the above things to a lesser or greater extent – campaigning is both an art and a science, so campaigners tend to be creative and also good at creating thorough plans and effective strategies.

   Which of the 3 is missing the most…

   Most campaigners are not paying enough attention to the preparation and planning process – as they tend to apply strategies that have proved successful in previous campaigns but they don’t necessarily work for all campaigns.

   Are organisations getting better at campaigning….

   There are more campaigning tools out there now and new information tech has helped those organisation that know how to use them effectively to become better at campaigning.

   If you weren’t a campaigner what would you be?

   I would be a painter or a musician – I would find another way to channel my artistic abilities.

    

4. Lizzie Jeans

   10th November 2011 10:16 pm Leave a Comment

   

   Whilst Campaigns Consultant at End Child Poverty

   Lizzie is freelance campaigner. She was previously Campaigns Manager at Help the Aged and has worked for the Methodist Church, People & Planet and Christian Aid.
   Apart from your current organisation which other organisations that campaign do you admire?
   Shelter, Christian Aid, RNID and YWCA.

   Who is the campaigner you most admire?
   Guy Hughes of Crisis Action and People & Planet. Guy was a fantastic campaigner who was tragically killed in an accident in 2006. I worked with Guy at People & Planet and he was a huge influence on my development as a campaigner – especially the need to think about levers of power and influence. The Sheila McKechnie Foundation has a award for young campaigners in his memory.

   Is there a campaigning organisation that you would like to see the back of?
   The BNP

   What advice would you give someone starting their career in campaigning today?
   Being someone who’s easy to get on with and who delivers goes a long way. Make as many contacts as you can and keep in touch with people. Think of opportunities for collaborative working.

   What three things make a good campaigner?
   Drive and tenacity, strategic thinking and strong networking skills.

   Which of these three do you have most of?
   I can be a good networker and enjoy spotting opportunities to work with others.

   Which of these three do you think is missing most out of people who campaign or want to?
   The ability to always be thinking strategically at where you want to achieve change and looking at the balance of power, appropriately targeting your chosen audience at key times, where you can have most impact. Campaigners, including myself, often have so many demands, you can lose sight of your key objectives.

   Generally are organisations getting better at campaigning since you began your career? If so, what’s changed?
   More organisations are campaigning and there is a more crowded market. The public has a greater understanding of campaigning but is also more savvy about campaigning techniques. However, despite the increasing number of organisations who have campaign supporters, it is the same few organisations who are are able to genuinely mobilise large numbers of people to demonstrate.

   If you weren’t a campaigner, what would you be?
   A journalist.

5. Meeting Wangari Maathai – environmental and social activist

   25th October 2011 3:14 pm Leave a Comment

   The death of Wangari Maathai on 25th September 2011, took me back to the day I was fortunate to meet her. It was the same day as Live 8 Day in 2005.

   At the time, I was the Mayor of Islington and for my year in office, I had a theme – a small campaign to try and affect public attitude in the borough. I called it “International In Islington”, where we celebrated different countries and regions linked with Islington – through our residents and the work done in the borough.

   And to take the fact that we are international positively, instead of the negative outlook that some newspapers had and still have today.

   That day I had three events to attend under my international theme. The first one was to celebrate Africa In Islington. The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Professor Wangari Maathai attended the African Diaspora and Development Day, held by the charity AFFORD on Holloway Road.

   Professor Maathai was a member of the Kenyan government and was internationally recognised for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She had just became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

   The Honourable Professor Wangari Maathai was the Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in Kenya. She was also the Founder and former co-ordinator of the Green Belt Movement.

   I managed to spend some time talking to her in the “green room” before the event. For me, as someone who had spent 2 months in Kenya & had just finished working for the World Development Movement, meeting WangariMaathai on Live 8 Day at an African disapora event was tremendously special.

   Like all the best campaigners I’ve ever met, she was utterly optimistic, she once said:
   “I have always believed that, no matter how dark the cloud, there is always a thin, silver lining, and that is what we must look for us.”

   If you care about campaigning, I can recommend her biography – but if at least Google or Wiki her and find out more about this important woman.

6. Charities should challenge politicians’ view of them

   3rd May 2011 3:16 pm Leave a Comment

   The article “Donors Will Reject Charities” refers to comments form a Canadian charity law expert. He spoke at a European-wide conference stating that donors in 10 years time will question whether charities are worth funding as they don’t solve social problems, but simply make things more tolerable.

   I think we need to note that his comments may not be directly applicable for the UK. He spoke at a European event and he is from Canada. But in the UK, particularly over the last 12 years, charities are tackling the root causes of social problems – ever increasingly so.

   Charities are campaigning more, working on public affairs better & increasing their engagement on the parliamentary level. And the general public, including donors, are more and more open to campaigning as the most effective way to change our society & our world for the better.

   Those of us who care about the campaigning sector just need to counter those politicians – often the target of our campaigning – who wish to see charities as inoffensive, cuddly organisations and even want to use charities to financially off-set some of the responsibilities of the state.

    

7. Ray Mitchell

   5th October 2010 9:44 pm Leave a Comment

   

   Whilst Senior Campaigns Manager at Age UK (Formerly Age Concern England)

   Apart from your current organisation which other organisations that campaign do you admire?
   It’s difficult to single out individual organisations as there are excellent examples of campaigning everywhere, but I regularly visit MoveOn.org and admire their creativity and how quickly they respond to events.

   Who is the campaigner you most admire?
   Again, it’s hard to pick out one in particular. At the recent NCVO campaigners conference, I was very impressed by Jackie Schneider who organised Merton Parents for Better Food in Schools. For someone who
   described herself as ‘not a real campaigner like you lot’ she described
   passionately the development and impact of a text book campaign.

   Is there a campaigning organisation that you would like to see the back of?
   Not really. Even those we disagree with can teach us something about how an issue can be seen from different perspectives and how campaign messages can influence how people think and act in entirely different ways on the same issue.

   What advice would you give someone starting their career in campaigning today?
   Don’t be afraid to copy (and improve on) other campaigners’ ideas, but also challenge yourself to come up with an idea that everyone else wishes they had.

   What three things make a good campaigner?
   Passion, persistence and a steady stream of good ideas

   Which of these three do you have most of?
   They may not all be good, but I’m never short of ideas

   Which of these three do you think is missing most out of people who campaign or want to?
   I think sometimes persistence can be lacking: it’s easy to get disheartened when achieving campaign objectives can seem impossible or a very long way off.

   Generally are organisations getting better at campaigning since you began your career? If so, what’s changed?
   There’s certainly a lot more campaigners than twenty years ago when I started. On the whole I think there is much more professionalism – I’m in the camp that sees this as a good thing – and high quality work.

   If you weren’t a campaigner, what would you be?
   Hopefully another job that combines opportunities for creativity with helping to improve things – I’m not sure what that would be so I’m glad I’m a campaigner.

8. Charities must increase their investment in campaigning

   1st September 2010 3:17 pm Leave a Comment

   Mike Hobday who leads on campaigns at MacMillan Cancer Support is right to say that “the role of campaigning will increase as spending cuts take effect”.

   The most progressive organisations, and I’d count MacMillan Cancer Support firmly within this group, are realising that they need to get a better “bang for their buck” – a better return on their spending. And at this time of threatened cuts it brings to the fore that successful campaigning gives the better return than any other activity for an organisation which is concerned about the long term goals.

   The less progressive organisations which perhaps don’t take campaigning for real change seriously, but see if as an add-on because other charities are doing it, may look to reduce their emphasis in this area. They will be doing their campaign and the beneficiaries of their campaign a severe disservice in the long term.
   Mike referred to campaigning being important in order “to leverage the system to their advantage”. This is very true and it will be a measure of the charities and campaigns over the coming months to see how genuine they are about long term change, by increasing their investment in campaigning.

9. You’ll never meet a poor bookie – how betting can help campaigning

   16th November 2009 3:18 pm Leave a Comment

   Recently, I was on the Forum for Change’s Discussion board and someone asked:

   “We’re looking at PPCs and who is the most likely to get in at the next election so we can try and make contact ahead of May. Do you know if there is an easy way to bring up a list of people from each party who have a small majority?”
   I don’t gamble myself, as I like to keep my money rather than fritter it away, but I am intrigued by the market that betting creates. How it uses knowledge and gives it numerical and financial values.

   That’s why I replied to this question as follows:

   “There are probably ways of finding or collating such lists. However, they give you little information on what’s happening beyond what happened 5 years ago in the poll.

   I think you need to be cannier to identify the real marginals. This is a report released earlier in October looking at 238 marginals and polling voter intentions:
   politicshome.com

   But, I would also look at the political betting markets to get an indication of potential change. You need to understand your odds and it’s probably worth having the results of the 2005 polls with you as you look.
   Try – Political betting

   The bookies are never 100% right – if they were no-one would bet, but they may well be 80% correct – so great information, based on real knowledge which can inform campaigning.”

10. Letter of the Week in Third Sector Magazine

    11th October 2009 3:19 pm Leave a Comment

    Dear Editor,

    I was at an event today when I heard something that nearly made me fall off my chair. Not in surprise because I know it was not an uncommon view being expressed, but not one that I thought someone was daft enough to state to the audience gathered.

    The person, who was responsible for brand for a charity – very forward, very 2012 thinking, having a role just looking at charity brand and nothing else. This person said:

    “Yes I’m very interested in campaigning. It’s vital towards supporting our brand.”
    Readers of this who are not aware of anything wrong with this statement, please put yourself in The Wrong Ethos category. For those who didn’t know, campaigning was not invented to create brand awareness. It’s not there to give some colour to the “donor’s journey”.

    Pretty sure that the suffragettes didn’t have the following thought process:
    “Feel a bit uneasy about the throwing one of us in front of the king’s horse idea – I think it doesn’t fit in within our current branding guidelines.

    Or the Anti-Apartheid Movement consider that demonstrating outside the South African embassy may conflict with the branding work that they’ve done and so affect the face-to-face fundraisers in nearby Leicester Square.

    We campaign to change our society and the world we live in. To achieve change. Not to support an everlasting circle of marketing and brand re-positioning. The ultimate aim for a campaign is to be so successful that there is no need for it to exist.