Dusting off the blog - 6 months on

Well it has been a long time since I've written anything. Some of you may be happy about that while others have missed these rambling posts.
I never intended to stop or to take a break and it's not that I haven't had anything to say or there has been a lack of things I'd like to comment on.

Really it's been about a shortage of time and lack of head space to get my thoughts in order. The little baby has been turning into a little boy.

And figuring out how to be a parent has really absorbed all of my spare time.

So do I now all of a sudden have lots of time and can you expect lots and lots if witty and informative blogs?

No

Life is still busy and I'm still not that witty but I wanted to share some things I've learned over the last few months.

As you may or may not know I started a new role about 6 months ago with Don Bosco Care.

Now before I continue I want to be clear that this a personal blog and if I make any mistakes or don't quite get my head around an issue it's down to me and not the awesome people I work with.

Don Bosco Care does 3 things:

1. Residential Care 
2. Residential Aftercare
3. Aftercare Support and Outreach

Translation:

1. Children and teenagers are placed in our care by the state when they are not receiving the care and protection they need at home. They come to our houses having had extremely difficult and often traumatic experiences and are cared for by compassionate, loving, expert social care workers who slowly, month by month, year by year rebuild the young persons damaged life so they have a chance to achieve their potential.
2. When somebody has grown up in care and reaches 18 or so they can find it extremely difficult to adapt to the adult world. In the eyes of the state they are no longer a child and all the different care and supports they've had change or dissappear. In our houses they are supported through this transition. While they are studying we help them learn to budget, pay bills, cook for themselves and all the growing up things that my Mammy taught me about (even though I didn't listen - sorry Mam). This aftercare support is vital. The young people we work with have had reallly challenging upbringings and this can lead to low confidence, depression, isolation and even mental health issues. A helping hand at this crucial time can be the difference between somebodys life spiralling out of control or heading on an upwards trajectory.
3. When a young care leaver moves on from Don Bosco or another service our aftercare and outreach team support them in the community. We advise them on social welfare entitlements, help negotiate with landlords, teach them budgeting skills etc. Anything we can do to keep the young person in a safe and secure home, accessing education if possible or to find work. 

In short: Young people who are in state care are walking a tightrope. They can have extremely complex needs and issues to work through because of their background and at anytime from early teenage years through to adulthood (and I mean mid 20's not 18) they can slip off that tightrope. If they fall too far their lives can be filled with depression, anger, addiction, loneliness and even criminality. But if they can receive a helping hand at the right time or if there's somebody there to catch them before they fall too far, no matter how many times they fall, then their potential is unlimited. 

That's what we do - reach out to help and catch you if you fall



Now that's a very long and complex explaination of what we do and I'm sorry about that. As a fundraiser I've been trained  to shorten it down and condense my cause and ask into an 'elevator pitch'.
Can I do it with this?
Well yeah I can but I don't want to and I'm beginning to think that we should stop trying to.

Some things are too important to be made into a catchy sentence.
To serious to be used as a carrot to encourage more questions and to be honest it's too easy to hide behind the slogan as a staff member rather than be willing to speak about and deal with the pain or horror that is really there.

If you're a cancer charity talk about cancer and the fear and pain it causes.
If you're a homeless charity talk about the cold and fear but also about the drink, drugs and violence.
If you're in development talk about children not having clean water but also talk about the corruption, religious biggotry and other less catchy topics.

BTW before you start saying that you can't explain all the detail on a poster I know that. I'm just talking as a fundraiser, as a non profit worker or as a volunteer we need to be able to give depth to our cause. If it takes 15 minutes to explain your work then talk for 15 minutes with passion, clarity and honesty and people will want to keep listening. Give them a catchy 20 seconds and they'll have tuned out after your well crafted exclaimation point!

Rant over
So I can't explain what we do at Don Bosco Care in a couple of lines and really I'm not qualified to give any kind of expert opinion but let me put it in the way that sticks in my head.

I sit and eat breakfast with my wife and little boy every morning.

Normally the radio is on - Newstalk if you're interested.

Every now and then there'll be a story about some child or teenager who has been the victim of horrendous neglect, abuse or violence in their own home.
Often their parents have addiction problems or are themselves the victim of violence and abuse but my mind is always on the kids.

And it's not 'how could they do that to their own child?' because I know that people can be ill, addiction causes all types of abhorent behaviour and it's too easy to point fingers at people in circumstances we could imagine ourselves in.

No, I find myself shouting - often at my wife  (sorry E) 'Somebody should have done something before now! How can they (don't ask me who they is) leave that child with that family? They should be taken off their parents!!

and then I stop

The story might haunt me for a few days and then I'll move onto thinking about other things.

What I never, EVER, thought about was this.

If the state does remove a child from their parents - What happens next?

Well in essence. For some of those children and young people

Don Bosco Care is what happens nexts.

Now this is by no means the forum to talk about the details of what happens next except to say that from my limited experience. If I was in the nightmare that some of our young people are in and Don Bosco Care was offered as a place to live I'd grab it with both hands.

Because I know I'd be cared for
and that I'd be cared for with love, compassion, intelligence, consistency and incredible skill until I was able to pick myself back up off the floor and rebuild my life.

I'm very proud to work here.

So that's the bit about the cause what about the ask.

Well that is simple.

The young people in our care receive some (quite rightly) by the state. But it's not enough. We are creating a safe, nuturing home environment for these young people. Our houses are staffed 24 hours a day, every day of the year by highy trained professionals and we don't believe that a roof and some food is enough to heal and nuture a hurt young person.
They need to engage in music, sport, hiking and outdoor pursuits so that they can develop their sense of self worth, overcome their insecurites and become independent young adults. They need to experience things that are easy for 'normal' kids so that they feel 'normal (i hate using that word) like trips to the cinema or theatre or beach. Occasionally we try to cook food from different countries so that they can start thinking about traveling in the future and where they'd like to go.

Our care is about the opportunity to achieve your potential - to be the best you you can be.

and we need money to do that.

If you think what we're trying to do is as important as I do and you are able to help you can make a donation here

ok, so that's enough for now. I've got lots more things in my head to write about and I'll try get to them over the next while but I won't promise anything.

If I don't see you or speak to you before then. Please let me wish you and everybody you hold dear a very Happy Christmas.

xx
K

The Magic Arrow

I was asked to do a short blog about my magic arrow.

Your what?

Yes my magic arrow.

When I worked with the Irish Cancer Society I spent a lot of time recruiting volunteers to take join committees and then teaching those volunteers to recruit their own volunteers and supporters.

Now if you've ever had to call people to ask them to do an event, join a committee or even ask them for money the conversation probably went something like...

"Hi, I wanted to ask you a favour

now it's ok if you say no and I completely understand if you don't want to do it.

It's only a really small thing.

and maybe you're not interested 

but we're doing this event 

and we kinda need some people to volunteer

I know you don't really have the time

but is there any way that maybe you might like to, possibly, consider ........"

If I'm polite I'd say we fudge asking

We're afraid to ask somebody to do something that they might really like to do.

So anyway I created the magic arrow to help guide myself and others through asking for support.

It looks like this

I stuck this on my wall and followed it every time I needed to ask somebody to get involved. It goes.

• I work for Don Bosco Care
• I care about our work because I believe that every young person in Ireland deserves the right to have a safe home and an opportunity to achieve their potential
• I believe that we are making a huge difference to the lives of the young people we work with and are giving them a chance for a better future
• I think you'd enjoy getting involved because I know you're very interested in young people and social justice issues
• Will you help us organise our event? 

It works for all causes and any ask. It's just about giving you a structure to shape you conversation.

It's not a trick or even a technique.

There are two very important pieces

It starts with I - NOBODY gives a damn about your organisation. Organisations are buildings, with articles of association and boards. People give because they believe in the same thing we do and if if I'm asking then I need to explain my beliefs.

The second part is the You part. This is just about matching my beliefs, the work of the organisation and what the person believes in.

It's really simple and it's definitely better than the fudges method of asking for help.

So there you go.

The magic arrow

K

The Past. The Present. The Future.

So it's been a while since I blogged.

It's been a busy couple of months really.

First off we had Charity Hack 3 taking place during the +Fundraising Ireland National Conference. It was a completely different type of hack really. It took place in a hotel conference room rather than a beautiful Georgian classroom. It was on a Thursday rather than a weekend and the vibe was just different.
Not different bad but different.
After our 3rd Hack in a little over half a year we were exhausted. Emotionally drained. Energy sapped and in danger of falling out of love with Charity Hack. So we decided to take a hack-ation.

At the same time we've had some illness in our family. Nothing major but lets just say I've spent WAY too much time driving in and out of hospitals in the last couple of months. It's funny how you don't realise what a fine balance your day to day life is in until something unsettles in and chaus ensues.

I've also had an exam looming for the last couple of months which is finally now complete and I'm  happy to day that I passed my Diploma in Fundraising Management  - Phew

and there's been lots of other stuff going on.

So you can see it's been a busy few months.

Oh Yeah and the little boy started in creche too while his Mammy returned to work.

The kevmagic household has been a busy little place.

So that's the recent past. Not really that exciting to read about but it's just by way of saying that I'm sorry I haven't been blogging. I've had plenty of good material but unfortunately the batteries have been flat and I haven't been able to write.

So what about the present.

Well last week I started a new job.

I've spent the last 6 years working for the Irish Cancer Society. It has been my absolute privilage and honour to work for such and amazing organisation and working alongside so many amazing volunteers and dedicated staff  has been a truly inspirational experience. I'd like to write about my time at ICS more sometime but that's more about the past and I'm supposed to be writing about the present.

So where am I working now?

Last Monday I started with Don Bosco Care.

'Who?' You ask.

or

'I think I've heard of Don Bosco alright, what do they do?'

I had the same questions initially but already, after only 5 shorts days I am in awe of the work that they - sorry We - do.

Don Bosco Care provide homes and support for young people who cannot live in their own homes. Some the countries most at risk young who, along with the normal stresses of being young in a big world, struggle with personal trauma, different levels of neglect and abuse and often addiction.

Young people who are dealing with problems that nobody of any age should have to deal with. At Don Bosco we try to give them not a second chance but the first chance they never had in the first place.

At the centre of all our houses - just like at the centre of every home - is the kitchen table. This is where conversations take place, problems are solved, issues are raised, conflicts resolved and relationships are built. Just like in every home these conversations can be difficult, there can be tears, laughter, shouting and silence but just like in every home no matter what happens the table will still be there in the morning and the kettle will still be there for a cup of tea.

Now I'm just a week here and I realise that I can in no way explain or relect the work being done at Don Bosco. When I know more I'll try to explain but for now all I know is that is a place of healing for young people in pain and I'm trying to raise money for the young people in Don Bosco's care.

I'm happy to be here.

So to the future.

Well I'm going to be working in Don Bosco so that's the work side of things sorted.

My family, thankfully, is doing great.

So what about Charity Hack?

Well it's not gone away. It's coming back.

Soon.

But maybe not in quite the same format.

This time we want to have a kind of theme for Charity Hack.

It might be that we take on 5 charities with a similar cause.

Or we take on a societal issue that a few organisations want to tackle.

Or maybe its a group of organisations from the same geographical area

Or maybe we just have a cross purposed theme like Hacking Christmas?

I don't know yet but I'd love some suggestions.

We'll be announcing the date for CH4 soon once we get this theme locked down.

Please, please, please  give me soe inspiration.

I'll blog soon in a more detailed and focussed way - I promise.

K

So lucky

 Charity Hack isn't even a year old yet and it's already been an incredible adventure.

Since our first hack we've worked with 11 charities (with another 5 to come on Thursday).

We've had 60+ charities apply to be hacked and ask for help.

We've built an amazing team of hackers with the widest range of skills imaginable and they've all given so much to help our charities.

Over 20,000 people have read this blog to find out more about Charity Hack

and we've been approached by people in Canada, UK, USA and Australia wanting to bring CH to their home towns,

This Thursday is our third hack. Definitely not our last but maybe the last in the original format (for a while)

The register on line and Twitter promoted Charity Hacks have worked great but we've realized that doing it this way we will only ever reach charities that are very active on Twitter or who are tipped off about an open application round. It's the same for hackers. We've reached amazing people through Twitter but what about all that untapped talent that keeps away from the 144 character world. How do we find them?

I'm not sure yet but we've got some ideas.

In the next few weeks we'll be doing our first Single Charity Charity Hack (we'll call it something different I think) where over the course of 2-3 sessions in a 2 week period we work closely with one organisation to bring their fundraising to the next level. We are mega excited about this and fingers crossed lots of other charities will want to undergo a similar Charity Hack treatment.

We're also exploring the concept of themed hacks.

Can we get a number of homeless charities in a room together and work on one particular problem for a day?

and find a solution?

Or what about disability issues or human rights?

Wouldn't it be cool to hack a problem?

Well we think it's worth trying so we have to figure out how that might work.

We're also considering Charity Hack taking on it's own particular problems and see if, rather than us telling other people how they can solve a problem, we can come up with a solution to an issue and implement it ourselves (with our amazing team obviously ;-) )

We want to work with university's, local governments, activists and those without a voice.

Those that have taken part in Charity Hack as hackers and as hackees have proven, through their faith and encouragement, that it is a model that works.

That Margaret Mead was right and small groups of individuals can change the world.

Now we don't believe that we can change the world but we know we're great at putting small groups together.

So the future is bright and exciting and we really hope that people will continue to get involved and hack with us.

but for now back to Thursday

We have 5 incredible organisations taking part in Charity Hack 3

Aidlink
Teen-line
Children in Hospital - Yoobyyoo
Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
Northside Community Law Centre

you can read about them here http://www.charityhack.ie/#!ch3-hackees/cst3

We've another group of brilliant hackers lined up, primed and ready to get stuck in
http://www.charityhack.ie/#!ch3-hackers/c1ofp

and we're putting the finish touches to preparations













Another crazy day awaits us but for this evening we're just thinking about how lucky we are

K

My two or three cents

Silence is golden.

Say nothing.

Keep your mouth shut.

Stay safe.

Don't raise your head above the parapet for fear of getting shot.

These are the thoughts that are going through my head and have been going through my head for the last few weeks. The charity sector has been under attack from all sides and with some justification, although not all the attacks are justified.

Through all this I've said nothing.

Now maybe I don't have a right to say anything and maybe nobody cares what I have to say.

But I'm not going to be silent.

Firstly, why have I not said anything?

I don't know.

Do I have an opinion? Yes.

Have I discussed at length the scandals within the charity sector with colleagues? Yes.

Why not talk about them?

Well, maybe I'm afraid.

Maybe what I have to say isn't what everybody else thinks and I'll look stupid, or maybe what I have to say is exactly what everybody else is saying and what's the point saying something if you're not adding something new.

Anyway here's my two or three cents.

Is it wrong for the board of a charity to secretly use donated funds to top up salaries and to try and hide it?

Of course it is!

Now if the board thinks that paying these large top ups saves the organisation from future lawsuits over breach of contracts from the employees in question there may and I say MAY be some justification for it but if that's what they believe then they should just come out and say it!

Hiding this from your organisation, your staff and your donors is wrong. If there's a problem come out and say it, tell us what the best solution is and then do it. Just don't lie about it. It's stupid. It's wrong and really just causes a huge mess.

Now what about large CEO salaries paid out of public money.

Well first off isn't everybody's salary paid out of public money? Or at least doesn't it come from somebody else's pocket?

I have a big issue with the hypocrisy of government ministers who are quite happy to pay millions to government contractors to provide services and they accept that these contractors may pay their CEO's multiple millions of Euro.
However, they then turn around and say that other organisations that they pay to provide services to the public can only pay their staff according to their criteria.
What they are saying is that the contracting of external IT or accounting expertise is much more valuable than the contracting of external child protection services or counselling. That's just rubbish.

Anyway...

Do I think that the CEO of a charity should get paid €250,000 a year or so?

Hell, I don't know!

What does that CEO do? How expert are they? How many staff do they employ? Are they amazing at their job and doing a much better job than the person you could hire for €200,000?

Does the public have the right to know how much the CEO of a charity gets paid?

Well of course they do.

But why do they care?

Recently I gave a talk and spoke about doing the impossible.

Nobody ever set up a charity to do something that was easy.

A simple problem that a few quid or a bit of hard work could solve.

No.

Charities are set up with the biggest of goals, to do the almost impossible.

To eradicate hunger.

To end suffering.

To cure disease.

To ensure everybody has a home.

To make every child safe.

These challenges are almost impossible and the reason that governments rely on charities to solve them is because the problems are too hard, they can't sell them in an election manifesto and they might not be successful.

But charities,

wonderful charities,

inspirational charities,

don't care about the risks,

don't care about how hard these problems are to solve,

and don't ask whether they can do the almost impossible.

All they think about is that this is a problem, it needs to be fixed, nobody else is going to do it so we HAVE to.

Charities exist not out of ego or a desire to be popular but out of a Need to right the wrongs and fix  the impossible.

So let's get back to salaries.

How much would you pay to end hunger?

To eradicate suffering?

Cure a disease?

And to make every child safe?

I would suggest that solving these problems would be priceless. So I guess the point is why do people care how much the CEO of a charity gets paid when they could just ask how much closer is he or she bringing the organisation to achieving the impossible?

On a side note, the government has put a price on all these things and figures that €45million is about enough to make sure that nobody is homeless in the country. That nobody is sleeping out tonight on our streets and going hungry.

Is that enough?

Maybe, I'm not an economist.

And another weird one,

How come a charity CEO is vilified for getting paid €250,000 a year for running an organisation that helps thousands of people and Wayne Rooney is celebrated for getting paid €300,000 a week for being a bit part of an organisation that markets overpriced merchandise to kids and puts parents under pressure to pay €50 for a replica kit? And why don't you ever hear people asking what percentage of the jersey price is going to Rooney's salary, the catering in the board's box and servicing the owners debts?

But like I say, is €250,000 to run a charity too much? I just don't know.

And now back to me.

I'm a professional fundraiser.

The scandals and the media coverage over the last few weeks has led people to say that people like me shouldn't get paid for the work we do. That it's a disgrace that I should get paid to work for a charity and that I should be ashamed of what I do.

But I am a professional fundraiser and incredibly proud of my profession.

The job of a fundraiser is not to 'extract money from the public' as one person put it but to connect charities that are trying to do the impossible with people who want to help them succeed.

It's that simple.

Fundraisers help put two groups of passionate people together.

Those that want to do the impossible but need money to to it and those that believe with all their heart that the impossible is worth trying to achieve and that if they can give some money to help they are willing to give what they can.

It's not a scam.

It's not a secret.

Does it involve expertise? Yes.

Skill? Yes.

Techniques that not everybody likes? Yes - because everybody is different.

Hard work? Yes.

and hard working, talented staff? Yes.

But look what charities have achieved because of the money that professional fundraisers have helped raise!

Every year hundreds of homeless people in Ireland are helped to get off the streets and put their lives back together.

Millions of people in Africa are given vaccinations against malaria and other terrible diseases.

The life expectancy of people with AIDS, cancer and heart disease is increased and cures get closer.

Awareness of thousands of environmental issues is increased.

And the lives of people at risk of torture and death are saved.

Fundraisers help these things to happen, not by scamming the public but by helping people to help the causes they care about.

And finally...

Where does Charity Hack fit in with all this?

Well it's really simple.

Charity Hack is proof, if any was needed, that the charity sector isn't broken. It isn't corrupt and it's not full of selfish, thoughtless people.

Can you imagine the journalists of the Irish Independent taking a day out on the weekend to help the Irish Times to get better?

Or how about Vodafone staff volunteering to help Meteor sell more phones?

It would never happen.

But Charity Hack helps this exact thing happen within the Charity sector.

Professional charity workers give up their Saturday to give all their talent and expertise to another charity, free of charge.

In another sector you could get fired for helping 'the competition' but in the charity sector we understand that all these causes are valuable and that donors will support the cause they care about most. We're not in competition. We're all just trying to work on our charities version of the impossible task.

Since Charity Hack started my faith in the charity sector has grown and grown.

Our sector is full of amazingly talented specialists, hard working professionals and passionate experts.

Charity Hack is only a tiny player in the sector, playing a tiny part, helping us help each other.

Recently I was asked by a journalist what I thought the effect of all the recent scandals would be on the sector in a years time.

My answer is this. We will get stronger. Our sector isn't weak. It's not broken.

Sure, we need a regulator to standardise financial reporting, to promote best practise and to strengthen the public's faith in charities but the spotlight that these stories have turned on our sector will have, I believe, a very positive effect.

Now, more than ever, the public is interested in charities. Interested in how we do our work, how fundraising is structured and are at least beginning to learn what is and isn't good practise. That can only be a positive. Also the public is gaining a greater knowledge and understanding of the people behind charities, how they work and what they need to do to achieve the impossible.

I'm sure that as a result of this spotlight more members of the public will decide that they want to help the impossible become a reality by supporting a charity dear to their heart.

K


Our third Charity Hack takes place on the 10th April. Registration for charities is open until the 28th February. You can register here www.charityhack.ie

Watch some of the CH2 highlights

Charity Hack 2 is done and dusted. It was AWESOME.

I'll write a review in the next few days when the words have come back into my tired head.

But fir those of you who weren't able to make Charity Hack +Laura Ryder and James Keating interviewed Charities and Hackers to capture their experience of the day.

Soon we will have each of the charities individual story from Charity Hack online but for now.

Meet the Charities and learn some Tips from the Hackers

Is this the best fundraising team ever assembled in Ireland?

So here's the complete list of hackers for Charity Hack 2.

Gerard Tiernan @tiernangerard

​Delighted to be part of charity hack once again and looking forward to meeting incredible people. He brings experience of working with various charities on running a wide range of fundraising events with limited budgets and resources which in these challenging times is vital. He is ready to give his full engery for 12 hours to the 5 amazing charities. 

Jessica Ryan @ryan_jessica

Twenty-something year old communications professional, currently working with Irish Aid, Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Jessica graduated with a BA in Communication Studies from DCU in 2009 and an MSc in Environment and Development from Trinity in 2010. Before joining Irish Aid, Jessica worked as an account manager for a digital agency specialising in mobile. 

  

Jennifer McConnell @WorldJen

​Inquisitive nature, interested in bringing outside the box thinking to help solve a problem, a fan of fun and trying new things (although this is my second Charity Hack, it will no doubt be a whole new experience!) A career spanning 15 years Jennifer has experience in PR, account management, business development and HR. Deciding on a career break at the end of 2009 she is in a period of academia, graduating with a BA in Anthropology and Geography in 2013 and currently undertaking a Masters in Anthropology and Development.

She is currently carrying out research for a few Irish charities and is also on the Board of Management for a policy and programme organisation, Health Food for All.
​ 

Aisling O'Connor @A_o_connor

​Positive, energetic and adaptable campaign planning from inception to end and beyond. 

Natalie Livingstone

​Experienced digital marketer with 6+ years experience in online display advertising with Yahoo!. Currently working at Facebook helping clients and advertising agencies get more from their social media strategy and paid Facebook advertising campaigns. 2 years NGO volunteer experience, including fundraising, in Central America working on indigenous education projects. 

Mike McGuire @mikemcguire_m

​Former MD of a Property Management Company, working for UNICEF as Fundraising Manager for 3 years, one of the first in Ireland to achieve the Fundraising Ireland Diploma in Fundraising. His skills are in business development, marketing and organisational management.​

Johann Fox @johannfox

​Seven years of experience from the nfp sector across all areas of fundraising with a particular focus on corporate fundraising in the last 18 months. Motivation, enthusiasm and outside the box thinking guaranteed!​

Clare O'Donoghue

​Clare has worked in digital marketing - Google and Facebook - for almost 6 years, and have managed advertising campaigns for clients ranging from major global corporations (P&G, Samsung, O2) to NGOs and small local charities. She established the Google Grants programme for EMEA and now works with the Facebook for Social Good initiative. She has also worked on the other side of the corporate/non-profit divide, having spent two years with a human rights organisation in Kosovo, and another two volunteering with grass-roots charities in Peru, Thailand, Greece, Kosovo and Ireland (from where I supported volunteer activities in Haiti and the Philippines).

  

Joanne Ryan @joryanjo

​Currently Fundraising Coordinator with Dublin YMCA Joanne has been working in the charity sector for 5 years, formerly with Focus Ireland where she worked on large events such as the Four Peaks Challenge, Dublin Tunnel Run and Key to a Home Flag Day. Event management and recruiting and managing large numbers of volunteers are skills she will share at Charity Hack 2.

Nicola Burgess

Senior Designer and Art Director at Zahra Media Group, currently also studying Human Computer Interaction at IADT. Design for print, digital, consumer, custom and corporate.

Brian Walsh @bdubdb

With over five years’ experience in the charity sector, Brian brings a wealth of knowledge to the Hackers table. Brian is Head of Administration for the leading service provider for not-for-profits in Ireland, Total Fundraising. In this role he co-ordinates over 90 staff throughout the island of Ireland to maximise donor accusations and manages business relationships. He is currently studying a postgraduate diploma in Organisational Behaviour in the Irish Management Institute.
Outside of work he is a passionate volunteer and fundraiser for Habitat and ISPCC, among others. In the last 18 months he has successfully raised over €6,000 for charities and volunteered overseas in South America and Africa to build much needed homes.
In his spare time he can be found playing guitar in his bands, planning his next travel adventure, organising music gigs, studying and training for marathons.
To get the inside track on Brian’s various opinions, checkout him out on Twitter @bdubdb

John Healy @kindcitizen

18 year digital marketing and product manager. CNN's former Digital Brand Manager. Marketing lecturer and entrepreneur.

Maria Martin @mariamartindub

A wise friend once said ‘Things can either be as simple or as complicated as you make them’.
In the non-profit sector when you have - people who are so passionate about their work; lack of funding; huge administrative tasks and most importantly service users’ needs - things can get complicated pretty fast.
Maria loves being part of Charity Hack. It’s like a magic 12-hour remedy to ensure charities can get to the next level where they can realise their full potential. Consistently focussing on simple, creative fundraising solutions and keeping in line with the charity's resources and goals.
Having brought Look Good Feel Better cancer support service through various challenges and changes; she comes to the table with Volunteer Management, Event Management, Recruitment and Training experience. She's pretty handy with a make-up brush too!
Other previous experience includes liaising with over 60 cancer support charities nationwide through working with Irish Cancer Society’s Affiliation Programme.
Maria feels it’s an honour be amongst such a great bunch of people with such a big melting-pot of skills and she just can’t wait to get started on the 18th!

Niamh Clowry @neevy101

Programme Manager at IAPC. With over 5 years working in the charity sector Niamh is looking forward to sharing her expertise at Charity Hack 2. Her skills are in membership, comittee and governance, and event management. She is also an avid baker and promises to bring some delicious baked goods to share at the Charity Hack table.  

Tracey Mullin 

Tracey has studied Psychology with Sociology & Politics at NUI Galway. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Promotion, as well as a Masters degree in Public Advocacy and Activism both from NUI Galway. She has experience in working at different levels with many different charities, her main focus being advocacy and health promotion campaigns - empowering individuals and groups to make a positive impact on society through removing stigma and increasing awareness.  

Matt Lewis @Mattewis 

With 5 years experience as a community fundraiser, Matt's experience comes from recruiting and working with volunteers to achieve goals, projects and fundraising. He has also earned a crust in eco-tourism, sports coaching and English teaching. He hopes to bring these skills plus plenty of banter.   

Rachel Duke @RachelDuke2 

Currently Membership & Sustainability Officer in the Children's Rights Alliance, Rachel manages a membership of over 100 organisations, as well as being responsible for sustainability and fundraising for the Alliance. As the Alliance's fundraising campaigns are just begining and developing, her job is an exciting mix of exploring new possibilities, from crowd-funding to donor events.
She previously spent 3 years in the Irish Cancer Society fundraising team, working on major fundraising campaigns like Daffodil Day and Shave or Dye, building and developing relationships with donors and volunteers. 

Breifne Earley @breifneearley 

As well as being involved in Charity Hack 1, Breifne has been responsible for managing numerous sports projects including Ireland's participation at 3 World University Games, 27 World University Championships. He established the Student Sport Ireland League Finals, a multi sport event which took place in a single venue over one day.
He also established ChallengeTen.com and as well as managing that project, he achieved extensive media exposure with a budget of €0.
Breifne has worked for a number of start-up organisations, mostly with no budget available so has had to be resourceful in terms of completing most projects. In most cases there have been minimal other staff so time management has also been very important.

Heidi Jermyn @heidipj 

Website design, WordPress wrangler. (Good at social media stuff too).

Lara Walsh 

Experienced online marketing and advertising specialist with an entrepreneurial background. Advanced Facebook advertising experience as well as SEO, PPC advertising and some User Interface design experience.
Ideas, problem solving and working with people to achieve goals are what motivate her. Lara's strengths are her communication, organisation and presentation skills. 

Jean O'Brien  

Jean has over 12 years experience in web and multimedia, and 8 years experience doing web and multimedia for charities. Her specialities are design, content and strategy.  

Ed Hurrell  

For the past four years, Ed has been working to help Ireland's fundraisers raise more money in his role as Business Development Manager at Fundraising Ireland. Ed brings to the hack a broad mix of skills including: income generation, membership development, sponsorship, business strategy, sales, marketing, event management and rebranding. He knows a thing or two about fundraising also, having organised three National Fundraising Conferences and countless other fundraising seminars and courses.

John Nolan @Hallainzil  

Almost 5 years experience as database developer with the Irish Cancer Society, implementing the organisation's central IS solutions. Currently a senior software engineer with Irish Life Investment Managers, creating scalable systems that manage over €40bn in assets. Skills include problem solving, business analysis, IT and data analysis.

Laura Bohan @lauraandjake  

Laura is passionate about fundraising, campaigning and social media. She currently does all three for a fantastic charity call ADAPT Services in Limerck.
She studied Psychology and PR which comes in very useful. She adores how charities are embracing social media as it has opened up so many possibilities to engage with people. While she is only 2 years in the fundraising game she is a creative gal and relishs the opportunity to apply what she's learned, team up

and help some deserving causes. 

Declan Arthur @DeclanArthur  

A marketing professional with over 25 years of commercial and NFP experience. Recently completed a Masters thesis on Cause Related Marketing and Social Media. Solutions focused.

Kevin Dempsey @KevinDempsey4  

Kevin has two years experience working with Gorta as a Fundraising and Communications Executive. The role was heavily focused around direct mail and donor management along with planning and implementing public facing campaigns. Since November 2013 he has been working with the Irish Cancer Society as a Community Fundraiser.

Diarmaid O'Sullivan @diarmaidy  

Diarmaid's background is research and policy but, for 4 years for Older & Bolder and more recently with Oxfam he has been designing and running national online and offline advocacy campaigns. This involves widespread consultation, building an evidence base and coherent rationale, interrogation of campaign goals, identifying clear asks, assessment of levers to move asks forward and basically building and managing effective social justice campaigns. Key to success is building enthusiasm and commitment among as many people as possible to work together to a common goal. He loves his work. 

Bronagh Walsh @bronaghwalsh 

Background is PR and Communications. She knows how to tell an impactful story. An impactful story helps charities to connect with their audience and motivate them to give to the charity. 

Looking back - Glancing forward

So this is the post I've been meaning to write for the last few weeks.

Part reflection on the year passed and part optimistic forward glance.

Today we are 9 days out from our second Charity Hack event. We have selected 5 amazing charities and almost 30 volunteer hackers are donating their time and talents in order to create new fundraising campaigns over the course of 12 hours next Saturday.

I'm feeling

Proud - that we've gotten to our second hack and that people are so willing to get involved

Excited - that we've only got 9 days left and about the amazing teams of hackers we've been able to put together for this hack, these charities are lucky

Scared - well because we're 9 days out, we've got lots to do, these charities deserve great help and we have to deliver and because we still need to get lunch, dinner and a few other items sponsored/donated

Proud, excited and scared

also

very happy

2013 despite some people's Triskaidekaphobia 2013 was, for me at least, awesome.

If you know me you'll know why but in case you don't here's a list of highlights (in no particular order):

• Charity Hack was founded - http://kevmagic.blogspot.ie/2013/07/charity-hack-story-so-far.html
• I was a guest speaker at the Norwegian National Conference Fundraising in September
• I was at the Ireland v New Zealand rugby test - heartbreak
• Saw an incredible Roy Liechtenstein exhibition in the Pompidou Centre
• I got to see a Nobel Peace Prize exhibition featuring my personal hero
• Two of my closest friends got engaged
• I was elected to the board of Fundraising Ireland
• and this little guy arrived 
  

So in short 2013 rocked for me and I'm extremely grateful

but that's all in the past now (except the little fella - he's still around)

What about the future?

Well I'm absolutely never, ever going to talk about New Year, Moving Forward, Resolutions and all that rubbish.

Regardless of the date on the calendar we live our lives day by day, make thousands of individual decisions and hope that they all work out. Obviously some of these decisions are wrong but we suck them up and move on.

So what's for 2014?

Well I'm only going to talk about Charity Hack for now to hoping:

• This year will see 5 Hacks with at least one or two of those outside Ireland. (If you're interested in helping us Hack anywhere in the world send me an email kevmagic@gmail.com).
• To develop CH so we can continually expand and improve the experience for hackers and hackees.
• To introduce our newly created CH Leadership group - expect to hear a lot more about them.
• To build partnerships with other people who are trying to do their best to help increase capacity in the charity sectors.
• To host more CH workshops and lectures - the video of the pre Christmas one will be up soon
• To create a CH internship programme

and who knows what else

Will we achieve all these? 

Maybe

Maybe not

But being over ambitious can't hurt can't it?

Shoot for the stars and you might just catch a rainbow.

So we're 9 days out from CH2. 

There are excited charities lined up to meet excited hackers

At worst we're putting together groups of great people who just want to do good for others.

At best we just might make a difference.

It's going to be a great year :-)

If you know of anybody that would like to help CH2 by sponsoring or donating anything from our wish list 

If you want to be kept up to date with all Charity Hack News subscribe here

K

Charity Hack 2 Needs Your Help

If you've been following Charity Hack over the last few months you'll know that we're doing our best to help charities to raise more money to continue to do their amazing work.

In order to do this we need help. Charity Hack is 100% voluntary, no charities are charged to take part and all of the awesome hackers donate their time for 12 hours just because they're good people. We have no income but we do have things we need to either pay for or get donated. For the first Charity Hack people were incredibly generous and we managed to get everything sponsored or donated which helped make the day a huge success.

So here we go again:

If you or somebody you know could help by either sponsoring or donating any of the below items we would love to hear from you. Just email charityhackinfo@gmail.com

We will scratch out each item as somebody agrees to sponsor it. Thank you for your help

Items we need help with

Venue                        - donated by O'Connell House

Printing of materials  - sponsored by Fundraising Ireland

Markers                     - (a couple of boxes of sharpies)

Countdown clock      - this was a long shot last time but +Colin Whittaker worked some magic so we                                          figure it's worth another shot)

Coffee / tea                - The Charity Hack ship sails on caffeine

Fruit

Breakfast                    - Thanks to Cafe Sol Dublin

Lunch (food & sodas) - Thanks to Apache Pizza

Treats

Dinner (food & sodas) - Thanks to +Damian O'Broin at Ask Direct

Beer/ non alcoholic     - For post hack celebration

Wristbands/ID cards    - some type of branded merchandise to match the awesome t-shirts we had last                                         time

Mugs / papercups / plastic cups  - thanks to +John Nolan 

Charity Hack Revisited - ACT for Meningitis

What happened after Charity Hack?

We've been asked by lots of people what happened to the organisations after the first Charity Hack?

Did it make a difference?

Was it all just a big waste of time?

+Laura Ryder returned to the charities to see how the Charity Hack experience impacted them

Here she speaks to Siobhan Carroll from ACT for Meningitis.

“You need to go in with an open mind, and be ready to take negative and positive comments on board.”

ACT for Meningitis CEO Siobhan Carroll came to Charity Hack with a big plan - to create a national one day awareness campaign. She went away happy with an entirely different plan - working towards the national stage community by community.

ACT for Meningitis is a very personal charity created in the wake of tragedy. In 2008 Siobhan and Noel Carroll lost their precious four year old daughter Aoibhe to meningitis, and in 2011 they established ACT for Meningitis.

The Galway-based charity’s aim is twofold - to raise awareness about meningitis countrywide and to support those who have been affected by it.

The charity’s obstacles - as Siobhan saw them in the lead up to August’s Charity Hack - were a lack of loyal donors, no government funding, higher costs than larger charities and no real presence in the charity sector, with the problem of presence the most pressing issue.

“Our big plan was to launch a one day national campaign,” she told me when I caught up with her this week, “but by the time we were finished we’d decided to work on more community-based projects.”

Allowing yourself to buy into an alternative plan isn’t the easiest thing to do, particularly when the cause is so close to your heart.

“You need to go in with an open mind, and be ready to take negative and positive comments on board,” Siobhan warned.

Moving the focus from national to local has really worked however, and is something Siobhan is delighted about now.

“I’m a lot happier,” she explained, outlining local projects including community awareness talks, remembrance walks and a fight night that have already taken place.

“The idea was to go to small communities to do awareness talks and let people find out about the charity,” Siobhan explained, adding that the hope is for word to spread to a more national arena one community at a time.

“It’s been really successful,” she added. “People really want to work on that level with us and we have plans to go to more counties in the New Year.”

What’s putting a smile on Siobhan’s face right now is the structure Charity Hack helped put in place for the organisation, which she says will really help them to move forward. “We’re just seeing what works locally and then we’ll take that national,” she said.

The ACT for Meningitis team really bonded with their dedicated hackers on August 10, though tough love definitely played a part in the day.

“Their advice was invaluable,” Siobhan says of hackers. “I definitely would recommend any charity to go and spend the day there. It really is an experience that will stay with you. You learn so much in such a short space of time. Without a doubt it is not to be missed. It really can make such a big difference.

ACT for Meningitis

www.actformeningitis.ie

www.facebook.com/ACTforMeningitis

@ACT4Meningitis


You can read Laura's pre hack interview with ACT for Meningitis here and watch James Keatings video of their experience on the day here