Developing your donors: Winning supporters and keeping them, Monday 23rd November, online at 1400. Run by Charity Excellence. See this link for more details. Read more »

The easyfundraising Impact Fund will offer 15 unrestricted grants of £1,000 to UK not-for-profit organisations to help them continue or enhance their work. The application window for 2026 is now open, with a deadline of 8th November. More details. AB Charitable Trust Open Programme offers £10-40K grants for one to four years. Funding can be project or unrestricted and should focus on human rights and social justice. Next window closes 29th Jan 2017. See the ABCF website for further details and to apply. Allen Lane Foundation aims to make a lasting difference to people’s lives; reduce isolation, stigma and discrimination; Read more »

Apparently, when it comes to complex strategic decisions, a shorter thinking time is associated with a higher quality of decisions. The study is limited in as much as the study is about chess, and the implication is extrapolated out to all aspects of decision making. I’d take this with a pinch of salt, but there is something interesting to consider. See the LMU Munich website for more details. Read more »

Here’s an interesting piece from New Philanthropy Capital on the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP). What new SORP guidelines mean for trustees – and why this moment matters. The guidance moves impact reporting from ‘nice to have’ to a core responsibility. Drop me a line if you’d like to know more. To discuss financial compliance and general accounting requirements contact my colleague Uday at Red Ochre. Read more »

Here’s an interesting piece on the ethics of AI in the workplace and in society more generally. The Young Foundation is a think tank so the perspective and language reflects that, but there are some interesting points here. AI in the charity sector: ‘How organisations can be both people-powered and tech-enabled’ For a more pragmatic approach to human and machine collaboration, once again in organisations and in society, have a look at Superminds: The Surprising Power of People and Computers Thinking Together, by Thomas Malone (ISBN 978-0316349130). Most people read this for the aforementioned AI section, but there is also Read more »

People give lower priority to improving moral traits because they think they’re highly moral already. This is a key finding from Jonathan Berman (Associate Professor of Marketing at London Business School) in his exploration of how people balance self-interest with prioritising others for the greater good. It seems that we’re more interested in improving those traits that we think will make us happier or help us achieve our goals. It’s an interesting read, but one I take with a pinch of salt. Read more at the LBS website. Read more »