MNHQ calling: Giving Week (our recent match-funding drive) - your thoughts please!

[KateHMumsnet]

Afternoon folks,

As you may remember, back in June we hosted our first ever Mumsnet Giving Week to shine a light on some brilliant causes nominated by Mumsnetters. Thanks to you, we were able to raise £11,302.43, which when we matched, rose to a whopping £22,604.86!

Woolly Hugs, Women’s Aid, Haven House, the PDA Society and Free Cakes for Kids are all overcome with warm-fuzzy feelings, as are we. This will make such a difference to all the people out there supported by these incredible charities and causes, and we hope will have a really positive impact on what they can achieve this year, so hats off to all of you!

We’ll be back with an update from the charities later in the year, so that you can hear firsthand from them about how your donations have made a difference. But in the meantime, we wanted to to ask you what you thought of our first ever Giving Week.

What do you think worked well, and what didn’t?
What compelled you to give, if you donated?
If you didn’t get involved in nominating or donating, was there anything in particular that stopped you?
What would you like to see as part of future giving weeks?

Giving back to the organisations who support Mumsnetters is important to us, and we’d like to make this a more regular feature so all feedback very welcome.

MNHQ

Betty, MNers suggested the charities.

I donated because of the reminder thread. Agree that giving month would be better.

MNHQ came in for some stick for capping the match amount which I thought was very unfair.

I know MNers suggested them but they're not going to suit everyone.

As I said up thread MN needed to do something other than 'hand over your bank details on this website to one of these charities, oh yeah and it closes tomorrow'. They didn't even successfully raise awareness for their charities even... For example PDA - without clicking in the link above can you remember what it was, what it's aims were... I couldn't.

Anyway I've said enough. I think a Giving week is a fab idea but MN didn't think it through better and/or advertise it well enough.

As a PP said, I did like feeling part of the great MN community. I cant remember where I directed my donation to as I felt they were all good causes. None of them are organisations I have had to turn to but my feeling was there but for the grace of god go I.

Publicise a bit more next time.

I did see all the awful threads about the Christmas Appeal. But why should something so worth supporting be abandoned because there are a few greedy, entitled twats?

biwi I think you would find a lot of us don't support the Christmas appeal because it doesn't go to people who 'need' . Personally I would rather people applied to HQ to be given something in the Christmas appeal and they sort out who deserves . I'm sure there are some Mumsnetters who have little to give their DC at Christmas and yet some of the Christmas giving goes to people who don't 'need' anything . If that makes you feel good then carry on and give ,personally I'd rather feed a homeless person or give toys to a local refuge where I know they go to people who are less fortunate than myself.

I agree with Flora's comments, I found the Secret Santa threads got so unpleasant and 'greedy' in some cases; I have supported it in the past but didn't last year but would enjoy contributing to a general Mumsnet Christmas Appeal where we could make a really significant donation to a deserving course.

Well I was a recipient and we officially aren't poor and in need. However as someone who doesn't qualify for benefits, free school meals, help with trips, child benefit etc are you all really saying that life's great unless you're skint?
Because that really would be stupid.
I cannot tell you how brilliant it was that someone had noticed me at the end of a truly shit year and nominated me.

Or do those of us facing disability, mental health issues, debt, bereavement, job loss etc somehow get deemed not worthy if we aren't on benefits and struggling to pay the rent?

Nerf - no one wants to get personal about who is or isn't nominated but did you see the threads about the Secret Santa last year? There were truly some awful comments.
Of course it's great that you were nominated but there must have been lots of mumsnetters who weren't nominated who were deserving - it just all got a bit unpleasant - IMO.

Not at all , you could apply ,nobody is saying you have to be on benefits , but you should need to benefit if you get my drift . I'd be happy to give to someone like yourself but the way it's set up I'm not going to donate because my donation could just as easily end up with someone who lives in a million pound house and has 4 holidays a year .

This is part of the problem though, isn't it? You could live in a million pound house (not hard in London, actually) and have 4 holidays a year but still be having a shit time - bereavement, redundancy, illness etc are not the preserve of the less wealthy.

I totally missed this. Didn't see anything about it at all! So maybe that's something you need to look at...I can't be the only one?!

It sounds like it's basically a good idea. How can people complain about voluntarily donating to charity and an organisation/company matching the donation? How can that be bad?

I didn't give because I give to several other charities of my own choosing. That said, I agree and support the idea of Giving Week. My concern, I suppose, is the chosen charities. The cake one was ridiculous IMO. I know mnhq didn't choose it themselves so it's not a criticism in that respect, but I was surprised at the time that something like that was included. It wouldn't have affected my decision to donate or not, just FTR. Just that the inclusion of something like that and then to see nothing, for eg, dedicated to the elderly, animals, or childline/NSPCC types was baffling.

I'm really intrigued now...what was the cake charity?

I think Women's aid was a good choice.The Hospice one was too geographically limited.People would rather give to their local hospice.

The woolly blankets one.Well I imagine some people would find them comforting, but others would find the whole idea bewildering/irrelevant at best.If I were in that unfortunate position I think I would appreciate donations into more research into the condition my loved ones had suffered, or one which gives practical help to families with seriously ill children .
The cake ones seems bizarre, you can buy a cheap cake for pence and begging for problems (and litigation) with allergies etc
PDA I have no personal experience of but teacher friends think in their experience it is medicalising a personality trait/parenting deficiency.So I think donations to more mainstream charities.Certainly one for the elderly eg Alzheimers which affects parents of many MNers, a children/teen medical charity or a charity which helps the parents and families of seriously ill bereaved families. I know we don't like McDonald's but their charity I think is a good example if we could find something similar without big corporate links.

NoTea - Here's the cake one

I thought it a lovely idea. I think publicity was not great. I saw about it when people were offering suggestions for charities but totally missed the voting and then I ended up not really being sure when they actual giving week was, I think I saw a thread on here and then a post on FB the following week when I thought it was over. Possibly a bit more of a coherent strategy regarding the voting and then the dates for the giving week would be helpful.

I'm really intrigued now...what was the cake charity?

NoTea - I linked it above for you.

Sorry I don't know where that second post came from! Thanks for the link!

I agree with the poster that says the choice if charities are a bit weird. But then MNHQ can't give the choice over to mumsnetters and swap charities over if they don't agree or could they?!

queenofthemountain

"TThe woolly blankets one.Well I imagine some people would find them comforting, but others would find the whole idea bewildering/irrelevant at best.If I were in that unfortunate position I think I would appreciate donations into more research into the condition my loved ones had suffered, or one which gives practical help to families with seriously ill children ."

You only have to read the posts from people who have (very unfortunately) received a Woolly Hug to know that they give incredible comfort.

And it's woolly hugs.

Biwi - exactly. The christmas appeal is lovely because it's inclusive and recognises either someone having a crap time, needing a lift, being poor, doing a nice thing etc.
tbh if I lived in a mansion and was having a shit time a thoughtful stranger sending me glittery nail polish and warm wishes is lovely - it's not like we are donating life changing amounts of cash through the christmas appeal.

And yes I did see the threads and I just thought badly of the posters starting them. If I'm honest.

Well I've obviously misunderstood the Christmas thread ,I was under the impression that it wasn't screened at all and that you could nominate anyone not just people having a 'shit time', and I do appreciate that even the wealthy can have problems .

What's the usual Christmas thing then? I only joined this year.