Round 3 of the Aviva Community Fund up in Canada is under way. The slogan of the competition is “Supporting what’s important to you”. I've just been in touch with a great project called Charity CHAMPS, which is promoting microphilanthropy amongst youth, the most important, but least engaged demographic in philanthropy.Also unlike a lot of the other ideas competing for votes, theirs has a fundamental online and micro-action foundation which there needs to be more of. Philanthropy needs to bene... Read Full Story

One of the biggest fundraising mistakes that social organisations make is chasing anyone who might potentially have some money, without really assessing whether or not their goals or interests fit the project.  This is why generic applications get nowhere, and why creating specific proposals often fails too. You absolutely must have some kind of selection criteria to filter the right organisations to approach, before you spend time on funding proposals. The next mistake involves assuming... Read Full Story

[Taken from my new blog @ http://www.socialeffect.org]This is more for social enterprises and charities that are raising funds in order to continue to operate and/or grow rather than for startups.The trick is to do these in parallel. Start your research and network to build relationships with potential funders, while simultaneously putting the platforms in place. This means that by the time you've built your relationships with the people interested in your work, you've also got all your messa... Read Full Story

Over the past few years I've slowly been moving more and more towards a focus on social enterprise. Along the way I've worked on grassroots projects, run initiatives, joined and chaired charity boards and provided advisory help and input to social enterprises; all with the end goal of covering enough ground to be compelling as a consultant in the social space. However, as I began to understand the UK social sector, I began to develop a curiosity about how things work in other parts of the wor... Read Full Story

[Taken from my new blog @ http://www.socialeffect.org - Click here to Update your feeds, or subscribe via email]Here's a quick snapshot of how brand awareness impacts the different audiences for Social Enterprises, NGOs and Non-Profits.If you ever wondered why your organisation should be devoting time to building mass recognition, this should clue you in.* HNWI = High Net-Worth Individuals (Philanthropists, Investors) Read Full Story

[Taken from my new blog @ http://www.socialeffect.org - please visit and update your feeds!]Having problems loading? View this presentation on SlideshareHere's the jist of it...A brand is what your audience feels , thinks , and remembers about your enterprise.Brand used to be ‘ offline ’ and ‘ online ’ Now it is seamless , and primarily driven by how you are perceived via the web.And now that organisations can create their own profiles , brands can effectively function as ‘ people ’ i.e. In t... Read Full Story

[Taken from my new blog @ http://www.socialeffect.org - please visit and update your feeds!]Over the past few years I've slowly been moving more and more towards a focus on social enterprise. Along the way I've worked on grassroots projects, run initiatives, joined and chaired charity boards and provided advisory help and input to social enterprises; all with the end goal of covering enough ground to be compelling as a consultant in the social space. However, as I began to understand the UK s... Read Full Story

[Taken from my new blog @ http://www.socialeffect.org - please visit and update your feeds!] A year of working with different social startups and growing enterprises has highlighted one very unfortunate trend. Too many social entrepreneurs are wasting precious resource on building websites for their startups. If you're about to hand over a few thousand pounds to a designer somewhere to create you a logo or build you a few pages, STOP!! Read this first...Here's a few key fundamentals you shoul... Read Full Story

[Taken from my new blog @ http://www.socialeffect.org - please visit and update your feeds!]I've recently had a number of people with ideas for startups come to me for advice on how to get these ideas going. In each case the idea has appeared to plug a perceived need in the market, suggesting a no-brainer that the 'inventor' is therefore about to take risks to pursue. After a little investigation however, I'm usually able to find equivalents that already exist, or good reasons for why it's no... Read Full Story

After a year and a half of development and evolution, what started out as The Urban Survival Project has finally changed so significantly that it is time to move on.The core idea of USP itself evolved into a broader wikipedia-esque volunteering platform called iVolntr, for which I never really found a suitable funder and thus has largely been parked as a project. The blog too has shifted from a focus on the development of these projects into one that primarily provides ideas, help and advice ... Read Full Story