I am not saying that the article on campaigning and fundraising was not interesting – it was. I particularly liked the way some of the development charities seized the opportunity of a natural disaster to talk about political solutions to poverty – very lateral! But isn’t it all a bit passé now?

I'm the kind of girl who likes to stay ahead of the curve. I think I have noticed the next big thing, and it is not integrating campaigning into your fundraising, it is integrating volunteering.

Stop right there if your immediate thoughts are of sweet old grannies stuffing envelopes for your next appeal.

I mean volunteer fundraising.

I first noticed the fact that charities were investing in recruiting volunteers when the Royal British Legion ran press recruitment ads for poppy distributors last October. Perhaps not so surprising given the massive role the Poppy Appeal plays in their fundraising.

But then I noticed that Marie Curie were advertising on the radio asking for people to help them sell daffodils.

And now the mighty CRUK are advertising their Race for Life on the TV for the second year – it must be working.

All these charities are recruiting not the traditional £3 a month donor but a volunteer fundraiser, who commits their time and effort and by doing so gets others to give cash (buying poppies/ daffodils or sponsoring them)

So maybe before we all get carried away creating campaign propositions and ‘shoving in’ as Ruderham – perhaps more concerned with protecting her integrated portfolio than overwhelming the public? – warns against, we should be looking at ways we can encourage people to give us their time, and use it to make more money for us than they could ever afford to give themselves?