What developments do you hope to see in the third sector in the year ahead? Five charity experts share their wishes for fundraising in 2014

Andy Harris, Director of Fundraising and Marketing, Breast Cancer Care:

I would like to see greater creativity and innovation in 2014. The way to achieve this is to be bold and not be afraid to take risks.

Society doesn’t reward failure apart from exceptional cases. For example, it is reported that it took Thomas Edison over 1,000 attempts before he developed a successful prototype light bulb. “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” a reporter asked. “I didn’t fail 1,000 times” Edison responded. “The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

Fundraisers and charities are all too keen to share their successes, but few are brave enough to take risks. Achieving fundraising greatness depends on throwing caution to the wind; occasional failure is simply a by-product. Charities should seek to recruit creative, bold risk-takers as a vitally important element of their workforce.

Fortune favours the brave. 2013 might be remembered as the year of charity-bashing. So make 2014 your bravest yet!

Anne Shinkwin, Director for Fundraising for Ambitious about Autism:

In 2014, we will continue to see the growth of technology for charitable giving and communicating with donors. We saw a huge upsurge in donations by text for Comic Relief, BBC Children in Need, and the DEC Philippines Appeal in 2013 and crowdfunding donations are growing 20% each year. It will be essential for our sector to use these trends and react quickly. Use of social media, having content and presence suitable for different platforms will be vital to engage current and new donors.

Collaboration, partnerships and mergers between charities will continue. Events like Prudential RideLondon will have an even greater charity presence after raising £7 million in its first year and the appointment of a Charity of the Year for 2014. As always, the drive will be to develop the next innovative idea we will all be talking about at the end of the year!

Pauline Broomhead, Chief Executive of The FSI:

My big hope is to see more voluntary income ‘going local’. There is a small charity working in every area of the UK and overseas that needs the support of donors, but they may not be on the general public’s radar.
I want to see small charities supporting local giving by taking early steps to steward their donors to the second gift and the life-long relationship. Early simple steps in developing relationships will pay huge dividends for small charities.

Embark on some ‘thoughtful’ innovation. Test out raising money from, for example, crowd fundraising. New funding mechanisms are crucial to bring in those vital young donors.
Think about the ‘whole donor family’. Family fundraising requires thought and many of the larger charities have been forging a path in this area. Small charities have a unique opportunity as they are very close to the donors they have to facilitate multigenerational giving in families.

Richard Taylor, executive director of fundraising and marketing at Cancer Research UK:

“As the sector continues to experience mixed results, the ideal would be to see sustained economic recovery in the housing and stock markets, which drives donor value particularly in legacy and individual giving.

I would also like to see the us driving higher capacity levels in face-to-face fundraising. We should work more collaboratively with our suppliers to ensure higher levels of supporter satisfaction. I want to see self-regulation protected and enhanced and with greater attention to the protection of supporter data.

In charity retailing, I hope that rate relief continues to recognise the hugely valuable contribution of charity shops to our high streets and wider society. Plus greater conversion to digital giving especially through mobile would be very rewarding.

And, finally, I urge all charities to be open and transparent to protect our causes from the cynical naysayers waiting for us to drop a collective clanger.

Alex Swallow, Chief Executive of Small Charities Coalition:

There are three main things that I hope for our sector in the year ahead.
The first is better collaboration within our sector and between our sector and others. Issues that we try to tackle aren’t ‘our’ problems; they are problems that the whole nation needs to face up to.

The second is an increased understanding that our sector is mainly made up of small charities; 97% of the registered charity sector has under a million pounds in income a year, and there are countless unregistered charitable organisations.

The third is that our sector becomes a bit less London-centric. Charities help people at the very fringes of society; we will only be able to make the biggest difference and understand the situation on the ground most accurately if we make sure that we learn lessons from, and collectively devote resources to, every part of the country.