Companies engaged in a charity's operational work could be more likely to donate, according to the head of mission at Medecins Sans Frontieres, which received a $14m donation from its partner Google to its Ebola appeal.

Ivan Gayton, head of mission at MSF, said that, while it was right that fundraising considerations should not impact on operational decisions when it came to delivering aid, “when you engage with people as operations partners it has a knock-back effect on fundraising”.

Gayton was speaking at the Institute of Fundraising’s technology special interest group’s annual conference on Friday.

Last year the operations team approached Google because its medical team had difficulty communicating effectively in areas at risk of contamination, and wanted Google's help finding a technology solution.

He said MSF told them: “We don’t want your money, we want the skills that you have.” An app was developed to transmit medical notes wirelessly. 

But when the tech giant decided to make a donation it picked MSF because “they already knew the need” and “felt personally involved”.

‘We need to get tech to do more’

Gayton also said that there was more that the charity sector can learn from technology companies, such as Google and that operations needed to be involved in those discussions.

“From my perspective I still see a divide between ops and digital people. Whenever there is a digital conference we send someone from fundraising,” he said.

And that those with understanding of how charities operate should be involved, he said: “If we work together we can achieve much more.”