News highlights
The Wellcome Trust has reported a data breach to the Charity Commission, the Information Commissioner’s Office and police after the email addresses of four staff members were compromised. The charity has launched a full investigation and has taken measures to prevent another incident. Read the full story.
The amount raised by text donations is less than a third of previous estimates, the phone services regulator admitted, after a new analysis revealed it had made an "overestimation". The Phone-paid Services Authority said in its annual market review for the 2017/18 financial year yesterday that charity donations made by text had actually been only £37.5m in the most recent year, compared to an estimate of £124m. Read the full story.
A Labour MP, Neil Coyle, has written to minister for civil society Tracey Crouch criticising the fees JustGiving charges during emergencies. He said the fundraising platform should be pressured to return the £500,000 it “picked from the pockets of victims of terror and tragedy last year” and that this should form part of discussions about explorations of ways to stop digital giving platforms from taking commission from Gift Aid, as first outlined by Treasury minister Robert Jenrick. Read the full story.
Latest partnerships
Samaritans and Torchbox
Samaritans has appointed Torchbox to overhaul its website. The new site will launch in early 2019 and use the open-source content management system, Wagtail.
Katie Colombus, assistant director, digital, brand and engagement at Samaritans, said: “We need to deliver the right digital services to people who may be in crisis, are worried about somebody else or who want to learn more about mental health issues and suicide. We are also improving our volunteer recruitment journey and our digital products for potential donors. We will use digital technologies to facilitate better communication and new types of contact for people who need to talk.”
St John Ambulance and FleetCheck
St John Ambulance is to start using fleet management software from FleetCheck to keep track of its 850 vehicles, which include four-by-fours, ambulances and mobile treatment centres. The move is part of a programme to centralise its fleet management to improve consistency across the charity.
Mike Moore, national fleet manager, said: “What we wanted to achieve was a national standard of legal compliance, and adopting fleet management software is a key element of that strategy.”
WaterAid and Access
WaterAid has appointed Access as its global web development partner to grow the number of websites it runs. The charity operates in 35 countries and wants to expand the number of country sites that are tailored for regional needs from ten to nearly 50. Access will also expand the charity’s existing websites.
Temina Milovanovic, digital marketing and product lead for WaterAid, said: “Our digital platform is a core element of our entire global operation, communicating the vital work we're doing as well as facilitating ongoing fundraising from all around the world.
“We launched a new Drupal website in the UK in 2017 and more Drupal sites are now being rolled out for the countries in which we work. The next phase is to further enhance the performance of the website, and develop new features that will bring our supporters closer to our work.”
Central YMCA and BoardPacks
Central YMCA has started using BoardPacks software to distribute documents to trustees saving time and money on the costs of printing and posting briefings for trustees. Naomi da Silva, group project and governance manager, Central YMCA, said: “It wasn’t just cost savings by any means, but also efficiencies such as having a shared space where everyone could securely access the relevant board meeting materials, and how we could make everything more transparent.”
It has also helped the charity improve data protection. Da Silva added: “BoardPacks means we can just direct people to the meetings via the app or the website instead of having to email anything confidential. This avoids all the security issues that can come with email, especially if a trustee is using an external email account, which are more vulnerable to breaches and being hacked.”
Insights
Nominations for this year’s Social CEOs awards close tomorrow. Zoe Amar has shared some tips from last year's winners. Read her piece here.
A data visualisiation competition organised by 360Giving has announced the winning entries, one of which revealed some hidden themes in charity funding. Read more here.
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