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Campaign Drift and efficiency.

Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2005-08-15 18:43:34 - Graham Ellis

My heart strings were pulled when I read the appeal for 700 pounds in the local paper for a special wheelchair for a local teenager, as the NHS standard one provided was so inappropriate as to be unusual. A slight worry that there was something very wrong here was washed into insignificance by a feeling of sympathy and an agreement with Lisa that, perhaps, here was something that Well House Consultants could provide significant help with.

It turned out that the chair wasn't 700 pounds but about 1200. Oops. Then it turned out that the teenager needed a special bed too, and the appeal target went up to 2100. It was probably a good job that the appeal was fully funded from elsewhere as my slight worry grew into a feeling - perhaps unjustified - that the recipients might have been being greedy, or that they were unable to manage their affairs / presentation and so perhaps couldn't manage money either.

I guess that's the sort of thing one has to expect from a small, local appeal by someone who's "salt of the earth" but new to managing resources. Better to make charity contributions to a larger charity? Oh - I just wish that were the case; I've heard of, and seen at first hand, instances of charities who are not making the best use of resources, and I think of how many "little old ladies" going from door to door that represents. At the time of a major disaster, money WILL be wasted, things sent just in case and that's absolutely right, but I could quote cases of thousands being paid for something where only hundreds needed to be spent ... and the charity was even advised of this.

We didn't end up pocketing the money we had put aside for the wheelchair, nor did we end up putting it into one of the big charity buckets. We put it to a ring-fenced appeal for emergency accommodation and provision packs to be flown to ... wherever ... at short notice. And we KNOW that we have bought x units and what a unit comprises.

I took yet another phone call on Friday from a telephone sales person wanting our business to help fund their charity. We look bigger than we are on line, and in other publicity, so I suppose we have to expect a lot of these calls. And, stopped at Strensham service area as I drove up here (Edinburgh) on Sunday, I negotiated my way past a collector waving a tin in my face. I know her cause was an excellent one but I actually felt clear in my conscience as I failed to contribute; I prefer to target my giving. My conscience is also clear when I tell telephone beggars that our charity budget for the year is all assigned ... as indeed (financially) it is.

There are contributions other than financial ones we can make ... we can offer our time and our skills and perhaps some of our other resources and facilities to help good causes; yes, sometimes we do. And indeed we can even help run / organise such things; the Save the Train website is an example. How can we learn from the experiences / thoughts above and do this in a way that's likely to get a good reception and be effective?

1. Lay down Objectives.
2. Avoid objective creep (or if we must, explain why)
3. Ask for help and not money.
4. Help people help us.
5. Provide clear contact points.
6. Not make exaggerated or far-fetched claims or requests that water down the main point.

1. We want to save the train service to Melksham at its current level (or as close to that as possible) into the foreseeable future. At present there is a threat that we'll loose more that a half of our trains when the new franchise to operate the line is awarded next year.

2. The Objectives are drawn wide enough to carry us through at present.

3. I want you to publicise this, to write to the local MP, to the companies bidding, and to the county council. You can ask them to help subsidise the service, but I don't want your money!

4. Links to all the people I want you to contact to help us are here. Information that you might want to read to help you write is available here.

5. I'm Graham Ellis. My email address is graham@wellho.net. My phone number is 01225 708225. I live at 404, The Spa, Melksham, Wilts. You can lead more about me from my personal web site.

6. I am concerned about a continuing good train service to Melksham, as I believe that a substantial reduction in service would be bad for the town, bad for visitors to the town, and bad for the reputation of any company or organisation associated with the cuts.