Christian Aid plans major changes to its fundraising

The charity, which is making about 80 posts redundant, is developing a new fundraising model that will come into operation on 1 April. It will involve doing more of its work in-house and expecting agencies to work across a number of areas rather than on particular projects.

Ruth Ruderham, head of fundraising at the charity, said agencies had previously worked on specific aspects of its work, such as direct marketing. She said it was likely that the charity would in future expect agencies to work across its legacy marketing, events, church appeals and campaigning departments.

This could mean asking agencies to focus on creating overarching campaign concepts rather than writing advertising copy or designing marketing materials, she said.

"In order to reduce costs, we have to make sure we are spending money on employing agencies only when it is really necessary," said Ruderham. "We can do a lot of our work in-house."

She said she expected a number of other large charities to restructure their fundraising activities in a similar way this year in order to cut their expenditure.

Last month, Christian Aid launched what it called an "unprecedented" appeal to raise £1.5m that would enable it to carry out its existing plans for the next financial year. The charity has made about 10 per cent of its posts redundant since November last year.

Provided courtesy of Third Sector Online