I was leafing through Campaign the other day, and something caught my eye. It was in The Internet Question section written by one Max Harrington (Campaign, 21 March). Here’s what made me stop:

“Would agencies be more efficient without account handlers?”
Eh? Come again? I thought. But he went on to say:
Why do so many agencies employ so many useless pen-pushing people called account handlers? As a client, I don’t want to have people get in the way between me and the smart and creative people. They love meetings, but never bring the people we clients really want to meet – the planners and creatives.

Ooh, I love a rip-roaring discussion. So here I go.
My opening gambit is this: Account handlers are the lynch-pin that keep every agency and client relationship going. They are the people who ensure anything gets done. But then I would say that. I am one.

But really – “useless”, “people getting in the way” of Max Harrington and “the smart and creative people”. Hang on, who is this guy’s agency? No client should ever feel like that.

This brings me to the question, what makes a really great account handler? What is the most important attribute? Is it someone who’s got great attention to detail? Perhaps someone that thinks creatively but can stay focussed on the overall purpose of a communication? Or is it someone who can bring great strategic thinking to bear on client objectives?

Well I would argue that a good account handler is all of those things. They can bring the people who are necessary to meetings and let them get on with the actual doing when they are not needed. A good account handler is the person who pulls together all the skills and talents from the agency and ensures they work to deliver the client objectives on time and on budget and on brief. I think we’re pretty good at that at Whitewater myself, but it’s true good account handlers are hard to find. Obviously Max should keep looking!

Niamh Neville

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A friend of mine replied to an email recently and added a few comments on how he was feeling about a charity he supports. He didn't expect me to post it up on our website so he didn't shy away from some fairly choice language! So choice that I'm adding it here as an attachment in case you're easily offended by bad language. Only open it if you're over 18 and able to deal with a bit of swearing. OK. A lot of swearing.

I'm over 18 and can deal with a lot of swearing

Read it yet?

The charity that my friend is referring to here is a genuine sector leader in donor care.

Giving to charity should be a rewarding and inspiring experience. Isn't it shocking how we can get it so wrong? We're so desperate to squeeze more cash out of people that we end up alienating and upsetting them. We spend so much time asking and so little time saying thanks. As a sector, we haven't even begun to understand what relationship fundraising/donor care/donor stewardship (choose your favourite) means.

But watch this space for one seriously exciting new Whitewater initiative that will start to redefine what caring for donors actually means. Or give me a call and I'll talk to you about it.

Steve Andrews

Posted by Whitewater Team at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whitewater has launched a radical new fundraising website for an innovative new charity called SolarAid.

SolarAid is a new charity that has been set up to fight climate change and global poverty. It achieves this by bringing clean, renewable solar power to the poorest people in the world.

The website puts donors and what they really want at the heart of the site.

It enables donors to contribute to a specific project, and allows them to talk directly with the charity and people in the field. Through blogs and videos, they will be able to see exactly how their money is being spent and the difference they are making. This is a website that gives donors choice and control over their gifts, making them a real partner in the work, bringing them closer to SolarAid.

To see the great work SolarAid does and the new website, visit www.solar-aid.org

SolarAid Director Nick Sireau said: ‘SolarAid’s new website puts our donors directly in touch with our programmes, giving them unprecedented access to what is happening on the ground. Thanks to Whitewater’s ground-breaking approach to digital marketing, we hope to pioneer a new form of fundraising that will change the way charities relate to their donors and beneficiaries.’

Steve Andrews, Managing Director of Whitewater said: “Solaraid’s website has raised the bar for how to put the donor at the heart of the charity’s strategy; and how to put digital media at the heart of the fundraising strategy. We expect Solaraid to be one of the great charity success stories of the next decade.”

Posted by Whitewater Team at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Although a pretty unremarkable Budget (some might say dull) in many ways, the Chancellor’s surprise gift to the sector is the three-year transitional relief scheme for Gift Aid. What this means to charities is that for the next three financial years they can still claim Gift Aid at the 22% rate, equating to 28p for every pound donated under Gift Aid. There was outrage in the sector at last year’s Budget when it was realised that the leveliing out of the basic rate of Income Tax at a flat rate of 20% at the bottom end would cost the sector around £85m in 2008-09 lost Gift Aid, and most estimates suggest that the transitional relief should be worth £300m over the next three years. So, all of you who have already printed new Gift Aid materials mentioning the ‘new’ 25p claim – oh ye of little faith!

There was other news on Gift Aid that effects small charities and the dreaded Gift Aid Audit promising a lighter touch from HMRC and to help the Government has launched a new online help service at www.direct.gov.uk/giftaid - however on checking I find that the information still points to the ‘new’ rate of 20% from 6 April 2008. This is not surprising, it seems charities are going to have to claim the Gift Aid at 20% with the transitional relief made up from a new ‘grant’ from the Treasury to make up the difference – this ‘new money’ won’t be available of course until after the Finance Bill gets Royal Assent in July.

So that’s it then, we get three more years to find out how to raise an extra £100m a year – shouldn’t be too difficult!

Kevin Kibble

Posted by Whitewater Team at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The RSPCA today flatly denied the report due to be published in Precision Marketing on Friday suggesting a review of the charity’s direct marketing agency supplier.

Brendon Elliott, Personal Fundraising Manager at the RSPCA, said,

There is absolutely no truth in this story. On the contrary, we are continually delighted with the service we are receiving from Whitewater. We have been working very closely with them, successfully growing our fundraising programmes and have no plans to review this relationship.

Posted by Whitewater Team at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)