How Macmillan is dealing with the downturn | Charles Byrne
Times are worrying for everyone. Everywhere it seems, our economy, our ways of living, our institutions are shaking. However, we depend entirely upon our donors and supporters' capacity to give and of course their generosity. It all may settle back as if nothing had ever happened, but I doubt it.
Here at Macmillan, sensible, responsible people are doing what sensible, responsible people are doing everywhere – taking an honest, cold look at income and expenditure. With every project, every event, every activity the teams and I pick up, we are asking should we be doing this or is there something else that would yield greater value? And it's not just us but so too are our business partners, our supporters, and the vast body of volunteers and donors – our vital network across the UK.
Macmillan supports people living with cancer. Each year we raise and spend roughly £115m and 99.9% of that income comes from individual and corporate donations. With over two million people living with cancer, many tackling increased financial concerns on top of the disease they are being treated for, demand for our services has never been higher. Each year we start again from zero and set out to raise all the money we will need.
Legacies, the donations people leave in their wills, have never been as vital as they are now. However, as such estates are often comprised of properties and shares, not surprisingly the values of these donations have been falling. So far our legacy income is holding up, although in general, forecasts are not good and as such the pressure is falling on our other income streams.
Fortunately Macmillan is lucky to have, or rather benefits from, a well developed and balanced income portfolio. The national network of professional and volunteer fundraisers is a big cost commitment, compared to say, a raft of supporters giving £2 per month, but the good things they bring are many, being closely knitted into the local communities as they are.
Right now there is a relentless drive to ensure we get and give the best returns we can, for the people who need our services, for our donors, our supporters and our business partners. At the same time, at Macmillan there is also a real hunger for and determination to find new ways to generate income and value. We have to be efficient, effective and creative in finding ways to engage new donors and find new partners. We are creating new models for doing business with a charity.
Whatever is happening with the economy more people are living with cancer than ever before and demand for our breadth of services is ever increasing. As such, I believe we need to invest in our fundraising to generate the income to provide the services that are needed.
Daily it becomes increasingly clear how we are all interdependent. But this is not a vulnerability, rather it is a strength we should build on. We must build and build this vital network, with each employee, each volunteer and each supporter bringing in a friend, a colleague, a business partner. Together we are stronger.
Charles Byrne joined Macmillan Cancer Support as head of corporate partnerships and events earlier this year; visit Charles' fundraising page