Embracing Open Innovation to Increase Giving
In times of global economic downturn charitable organisations are among the first to feel the pinch as people reign in their spending.
To encourage new and better ways for the public to give money and/or time, the UK government has created The Innovation in Giving Fund. It’s a unique platform that supports innovative ideas in giving.
The fund’s open innovation program involves 28 medium to large-scale charities collaborating with innovators to grow externally sourced ideas within their own organisation.
The bottom line will be to come up with new and more powerful ways to maximize donations, unlock underused resources and get more people to donate their time.
The program is split into two phases:
Phase 1 is the development stage and runs from July-October 2012. It includes workshops, events and open innovation coaching to help charities assess challenges and opportunities.
“The Open Innovation Programme will support charities so that they have the resources to develop new ways to engage people in giving time or money to charity,” said Nick Hurd, the UK Minister for Civil Society. “It’s important that we give charities the means to develop their ideas and use some of the same inventive approaches that have been successful in the commercial world.”
Toward the end of Phase 1 charities will be invited to pitch the concepts they have devised and developed, and the most promising will be awarded a share of £1.5 million (approx. USD $2,300 million) as well as non-financial support to help them with the next phase.
Phase 2 is the implementation stage which runs until summer 2013.
Among the charities taking part are Keep Britain Tidy, The Children’s Society, The Prince’s Trust and MacMillan Cancer Support.
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