Our Day at The Third Sector Conference

We spent 18th June at London's Barbican Centre for The Third Sector Conference. It was a fantastic day filled with insightful talks and great opportunities to meet people. Here are some key moments and takeaways that stood out to us.

On Tuesday 18th June, the Catnip team headed to the Barbican Centre in London for The Third Sector Conference, eager to dive into the latest developments in fundraising, finance, leadership, and innovation within the charity sector.

The event guidance reads: “It's not just an event, it's a community-driven initiative empowering your organisation to thrive.” Attending as sponsors, participants, and speakers, we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but we found that guidance to be 100% true! The day proved to be both enlightening and inspiring, and a great place to connect with other people working in the charity sector. 

We had a fantastic time speaking to a whole host of people, listening to inspiring stories, and learning about the current state of the sector for many charities. Here are our key takeaways...

Collaboration over competition: The key to charitable success in challenging times

Lindsay Tilston Jones, Head of Community Fundraising at Shelter, and Mary Rose Gunn, CEO at The Fore, kicked off the conference with a message about the importance of charities coming together instead of competing that really resonated with the room. They stressed that collaboration should be about building momentum around critical issues, not rivalry.

As we listened, we couldn't help but reflect on the pressing issues facing charities today. From the lasting impact of COVID-19, the ever-present cost-of-living crisis and the upcoming general election, their discussion hit home considering the causes we’re currently supporting through our work. The theme of solidarity they spoke to really struck a chord that we echoed in our own talk about the general election later in the day.

Afterwards, we spoke as a team about what these insights mean for the future of nonprofit communications. Peer-to-peer support is becoming increasingly vital, especially this year when elections are being held in 64 different countries worldwide. It’s clear that communication strategies need to evolve to embrace more sharing of resources, insights, and joint campaigns. In the digital realm, fragmentation is growing, and it will take innovative approaches from charities to bridge these divides.

Harnessing celebrity support: Effective strategies to boost charity impact

We joined Rachel Walker's session on 'Using Celebrities and VIPs to Support Your Charity While Minimising Reputational Risk'. At Catnip, where we specialise in building effective influencer outreach campaigns, we were eager to learn from Rachel's insights.

Rachel is from Marie Curie, and the discussion centred on leveraging celebrities and VIPs to enhance charity support while managing reputational risks, steering away from traditional influencer strategies. Rachel highlighted that celebrities and VIPS often carry more weight than brands or organisations in delivering messages effectively.

At Marie Curie, the strategy involves building direct relationships with celebrities and treating their agents as crucial gatekeepers. Rachel emphasised their approach of avoiding formal agreements, preferring instead to maintain flexibility and responsiveness. This ensures a more natural and adaptable partnership that allows them to easily distance themselves from a celebrity if their  public actions warrant it for PR reasons.

At Catnip Comms, we are a social media-first agency. We create campaigns similar to what Rachel mentioned, but we specifically focus on influencers and creators who have built their audiences online. Similar to the celebrities and VIPs, their opinions and outlooks often hold much more weight with their audiences than a more traditional digital ad campaign would.

Forging strong corporate partnerships: Insights from industry experts

Next up, we heard from Daniel Valentine, Head of Communications at The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland. He delivered the session, ‘Building and Maintaining Meaningful Corporate Partnerships’. Daniel shared invaluable insights and even used one of his volunteer allowance days to speak at the conference. He stressed how crucial it is for charities to integrate partnerships into their core fundraising strategies.

Daniel made it clear that partnerships go beyond monetary donations; partnerships can also support charities through event fundraising, customer donations, joint ventures, and product donations. He provided a straightforward perspective on what corporate partners look for in charities, helping organisations refine their approach to potential new prospects.

One of Daniel’s memorable takeaways was, “You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs to get a corporate partnership.” He highlighted that even achieving a 1% success rate in securing partnerships is a significant accomplishment. This practical - yet encouraging - advice reminded everyone of the effort and persistence needed to build successful corporate relationships!

Continuing on the theme of partnerships, Niki Barton, Head of Marketing and Communications, and Megan Marsden, Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager at Bowel Cancer UK, presented the inspiring #GetOnARoll campaign case study. They discussed how supporters can become powerful advocates by promoting causes within their professional networks. This was exemplified when M&S approached Bowel Cancer UK with a campaign idea originally suggested by one of their employees.

Niki and Megan emphasised the ripple effect of corporate partnerships, showing how one successful collaboration can pave the way for future endeavours. They highlighted the importance of enabling corporations to showcase their philanthropic efforts, which can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes. By harnessing the enthusiasm and networks of their supporters, charities can forge impactful and sustainable partnerships.

Changing charities: The future is already here

Zoe Amar, CEO of Zoe Amar Digital, Kathryn Jackson from the British Heart Foundation, Victoria Lyons of Dementia UK, and Ella Thomas from Relate, teamed up for an insightful session on artificial intelligence (AI) hosted by Third Sector. They dug into how charities are leveraging AI to facilitate out of hours support, meaning people can receive advice when office hours are closed, and shared practical tips for those interested in diving into these technologies.

One big takeaway was their emphasis on AI as a complement rather than a replacement for human interaction. They stressed the importance of keeping colleagues informed about AI’s strengths and limitations through effective internal communications and education efforts. They even talked about installing AI tools on all office computers to encourage self-learning and build confidence in the technology.

They also tackled the challenges of adopting new technologies head-on, offering advice on creating clear, flexible guidelines for AI use. One quote that stuck with everyone was, “AI won’t replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace those who don’t.” highlighting how integrating AI into daily workflows can give organisations, and people, a competitive edge!

Later, we heard about the need for charities to transform if they are to continue providing a service in the future. Priya Bhandri, VP of Customer Success at Enthuse, gave us a sneak peek into their upcoming Donor Pulse Report, slated for release on June 27th. She highlighted some interesting findings, including a noticeable rise in donations and the growing preference among donors to give through a charity’s website over other platforms.

Jasmine Eaton-Saltwell, Senior Marketing Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support, shared a refreshingly honest account of their digital marketing challenges. Despite the ups and downs in finding a consistent strategy, Macmillan remains steadfast in their commitment to experimentation and exploring new avenues.

One standout from Jasmine's talk was Macmillan's shift towards creating a seamless journey for supporters who are also service users. By integrating these two groups and ensuring consistent support, they are aiming to enhance the overall donor experience.

These discussions really emphasised the importance for charities to stay adaptable and innovative in today’s rapidly changing landscape. It’s clear that embracing change and refining strategies are crucial for thriving in the evolving world of charitable giving and digital engagement - the takeaway here is, if you’re not already innovating, you’re already behind.

Conclusion: Embracing insights and connections

It was a joy to connect with people face-to-face! It had been a while. Being surrounded by such passion in the charity sector helped reaffirm our purpose at Catnip. It's clear that everyone in the charity sector does what we do because we love what we do, and we want things to be better.

We're truly thankful for the opportunity to share our knowledge and engage with everyone who attended our session, ‘Get your social media to snap this general election’ too. Big thanks to those who came up to us for a chat after and have since been in touch to discuss using social media during an election. If you would like to chat about strategies before or after the election, drop us a line at hello@catnipcomms.com.

One big concept that’s lingered for us is Enthuse's concept of 'generation generous' - those 18-24-year-olds who are not just donating money but are deeply involved online and on social media. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen influencers and creators from a wide variety of backgrounds take on fundraising campaigns, coordinate different social movements, and more. We're eager to see how younger high profile individuals will impact charities moving forward in what we hope will be increased involvement through partnerships and campaign collaborations.

Attending the conference has given us the drive to keep innovating and adapting with the ever-changing world of digital engagement and charitable support. Here’s to continued growth and impactful collaborations ahead!

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