Giving Tuesday is a day of global giving. Last year, charities in the UK raised £10,000 a minute. That’s £14.4 million in 24 hours. Not bad, huh? But here’s the thing. Giving Tuesday is not just about giving money. No. The sector’s response to the infamous antics of Black Friday, Giving Tuesday is about giving back. In any way that you can. When end-of-year targets are looming, it can be easy to forget this simple truth. But as people up and down the UK grapple with the economic impact of COVID-19, charities need to get creative with their fundraising asks. To encourage giving in every shape and form.
Finding value in non-financial asks
Not every gift has to be financial, so we’ve pulled together examples of fundraising asks that go above and beyond money. This does not mean they don’t have value. Far from it. When you add up the contributions of non-financial gifts, you might be surprised. You might even find you have raised more than you would from a traditional capital request. Non-financial asks can also be a great way to help plug the gap in core funding. To bring in essential skills and resources that funders don’t like to fund.
- Topic:
- Not For Profit
Now that you’re on your audience’s radar, thanks to effective strategies at the Reach stage of the new visitor lifecycle, it’s time to initiate contact and turn potential visitors into actual visitors.
However, you might find that your visitors’ interests and motivations, their goals and their pain points have altered since the early months of 2020. Hygiene, crowd control and fee flexibility are likely to be much higher up their list of priorities and your messaging needs to adjust to stay in step.
Find out more about ‘Creating the New Visitor Experience’
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- Visitor Attractions
With England now in its second lockdown, finance leaders in businesses across all industries find themselves in a similar position to March - but with one distinct advantage.
When we entered lockdown earlier this year, we were all gripped by uncertainty, no one working today has lived through anything like this, so from the day-to-day point of view of a finance team, it was all about reacting, re-forecasting, re-budgeting and stabilising cash flow in any way possible - while simultaneously setting-up remote working and learning to operate in a different way to usual.
Businesses as a whole were quick to react to the outbreak and introduce contingency plans, with almost 80 per cent of businesses in response to one survey claiming they had already put these plans in place before the end of March. Only each business will know themselves how effective those contingency plans have been.
Now with lessons learned, businesses go into this lockdown with experience which is vital to navigate through difficult trading periods and means finance teams are better equipped to understand what the financial data in lockdown is telling them and how to turn plans into action.
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- Finance
We all know that Black Friday 2020 is set to be a little different. However, despite the obvious challenges of one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the midst of a global pandemic, retail finance teams will still be preparing to carefully balance forecasting, stock control, payments and transactions to ensure that Black Friday brings a much needed boost to a sector that’s been hit hard.
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- Finance
2020 has brought unprecedented shifts in the way we work, and the tourism industry is bearing the brunt of changes sweeping the globe. From new health and safety measures to furlough, sudden closures and enforced working from home, people who work in visitor attractions have never faced such uncertainty.
A negative impact on staff morale and organisation culture is inevitable and entirely understandable. When people become stressed or anxious, they disengage and productivity takes a nose dive. Now more than ever, looking after your people behind the scenes is vital to ensuring a positive visitor experience.
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- Visitor Attractions
After the year we’ve had – we’re looking at you, coronavirus – the need to balance the traditional swings in seasonal demand is greater than ever.
Extending the visitor season beyond July to September, or even May to October, has been on the tourism industry’s agenda for a while, but the loss of Easter, the May half-term, two bank holidays and June from the 2020 holiday season has nudged it even closer to the top of the ‘How to improve tourism for everyone’ to do list.
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- Visitor Attractions
It’s never been more important for your attraction to grow its local audience. National and international tourist numbers remain low thanks to a double whammy of the global pandemic and the encroaching off-season. But loyal local visitors can be the bread and butter that helps you through this tricky time, bringing a steady trickle of revenue to your attraction. And if you play your cards right, they might even do your marketing for you, too
- Topic:
- Visitor Attractions
All lines between what is normal and what’s not seemed to have blurred in 2020. Whilst there had been a considerable rise in remote working in the past, the lockdown forced the business world to take a crash course in making remote working possible without much warning. Except for a specific set of occupations, which require incumbents to be physically present, the pandemic has taught the world that remote working is not only possible, but that it has many benefits for workers and businesses alike.
With all of these changes, it's crucial to ensure your expense system can give you the visibility on new expense patterns and can embrace, not restrict remote working.
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- Finance
Technology has always altered the way we live and work but this year, things have happened at a much quicker pace than many of us ever imagined.
The big difference in 2020 is that technology has not been the catalyst for change. With dramatically different circumstances in both our work and personal lives being forced upon us, change has driven our requirements for technology rather than the other way around.
- Topic:
- Finance
