Brief 1: Research (My thoughts on how charities operate/ could operate)

Drawback 1:
The first problem with charities is that you wonder where your money is going, whether it's actually going to help people or is just going into the CEO's back pocket. In some cases all people see for the most part is a direct debit coming out every month, although it may briefly feel good, they don't always see the impact that it's doing; instead only money being deducted from their account.

'The report calls on charities to tackle two main areas of underperformance identified by donors: the charities' evidence of impact and explanation about how donations are used.' (The Guardian)

Possible Solution:
Create something to assist charities in visualising where exactly the money goes so it gives peace of mind to the donator that they're doing some good. Realtime updates (weekly/ bi-monthly/ monthly) showing the donor who/ what they've helped towards doing, making it a little more personal with names possibly.

Drawback 2:
Issue is that people want to donate to multiple charities but can't afford the set donation price for each individual charities, e.g. £8 per charity adds up to £20/£30 a month. Also some charities also don't allow payments to be re-occurring, but instead have only off payments which creates inconsistencies between the charities.

Possible Solution:

Create a platform for multiple charities to operate within. Maybe some people would like to donate to multiple different charities per week/month e.g. 50p a week to 4 different charities rather than £2 just to one charity per week. 50p to Autism trust, 50p to Cancer Research, 50p to RSPCA etc.

The individual would be bale to change amounts accordingly, pick and choose what they donate. People are naturally want to do good and give, donate, help change/ save lives but realistically can't afford £30/40 a month on donations. But maybe if more people donated less to one single charity, but more to multiple charities of their choice. It would be like a monthly giving, knowing you're helping out 4 charities at once rather than just 1/2.

Drawback 3:
Part of the issue is also, well if I'm donating what difference does it make? Who else is doing it? Who else is making a difference? At the moment with most charities the whole donation process seems very individually done, feels much less significant and people start to question what difference is their small donation making (could potentially put people off donating in the future).

Possible Solution:
To solve this I would create a social network aspect to this potentially platform where people can connect with their friends/ family or even strangers with similar philanthropic mindsets. This would be useful in helping donors see what difference others in your social circle are making. Ultimately making it more of a community/ social effort which would create more significance and meaning. Also shows collectively (maybe based on local/ national donations) the difference people as a whole have made/ what your community has done to help change people's lives.

Drawback 4:

Local charities aren't as well known/ get less publicity than those bigger, hence people aren't aware of them and ultimately they could get less support.

'Fundraisers have said the lack of training for small charities in asking for donations holds the groups back' (The Guardian)

Possible Solution:
Bring awareness to these smaller charities by creating a level playing field between the charities, regardless of their size. This could be done through creating a platform for them to all be a part of and to have equal chance of access & opportunities to donations and involvement within events. The platform could also help to categorise charities based upon location or sector, e.g. if someone wants to help donate to help animals they could view both local and national trusts.

Drawback 5:
Some people want to help out charities and those in need but don't always have the money or means to do so which is a missed opportunity on both ends of the process.

Possible Solution:
This idea of a platform to connect charities could also help to connect people, whether they are already existing friends/ family or complete strangers with similar ideas in mind that want to help in other ways with their time/ possessions etc. This opens up opportunities for those people to potentially set up events locally to raise money/ donate etc.

Drawback 6:
Sometimes the legibility of charities can be questioned by some people based upon previous experiences of charities being frauds, so they are a little more cautious/ reluctant to donate.

Possible Solution:

The platform could have a code to follow by to make sure it's legit and gives the donors peace of mind e.g. Unipol Code for student housing ensures all landlords are legit and avoids any issues arising in the future about their integrity.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2014/sep/29/poverty-porn-charity-adverts-emotional-fundraising

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/14/charitable-giving-survey-donor-information

Brief 1: Research (How do charities currently operate?)

This brief is based around charitable giving, focusing mainly on the way charities are viewed by the public and how people feel towards giving to them. I feel like there are multiple things that are problematic with the way most current charities operate and I think that this brief could be an opportunity to bring light to/ a solution to these issues, to ultimately benefit the charities in multiple ways.


All charities operate in different ways but I feel that there are a lot of things that some charities would benefit from having access to that they may not already maybe due to their size/ funding etc.

Ultimately charities are there to help out those in need, whatever that need might be and to hopefully better people's lives in one way or another. Charities can and usually do cover a wide span of areas such as poverty, education, health/ saving lives, animal welfare etc. Most of these non-profit organisations operate in a few different ways most commonly with workers distributed out on city streets to communicate the charity's message in the hope to attract people to give/ help out in some way but also through other means such as adverts on the TV, through their website or through word of mouth of others. Some of these ways are more effective than others but sometimes these methods of communication can fall short of being effective enough to be worth their while.

"In a world so saturated with adverts, we often switch off at the best of times, never mind when we are being asked to eradicate poverty in the whole of the Southern Hemisphere for just £3 a month."

“The third sector needs to modernise and mature a little in terms of how it represents the people is supporting and supposedly helping.”

The explanations for charitable giving fall into three broad categories, from the purely altruistic – I donate because I value the social good done by the charity. The “impurely” altruistic – I donate because I extract value from knowing I contribute to the social good for the charity. And the the not-at-all altruistic – I donate because I want to show off to potential mates how rich I am. Regardless of why or how people donate, I feel that charitable giving, on the whole, falls short of how effective it could potentially be.


'The report has sparked fresh concern that charity leaders are failing to prove the effectiveness of their work; the British public, it appears, would give an estimated £700m extra a year in income if they were more convinced their donations were doing good.'

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2014/sep/29/poverty-porn-charity-adverts-emotional-fundraising

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/14/charitable-giving-survey-donor-information

Brief Outlines

My manifesto underpinning my briefs this year is based around 'doing good' in the most simplest of terms. By this I mean creating socially conscious design which either revolves around social issues or at least is responsible in both it's concept and execution.

Brief 1 (Internal Collaboration)

Charity hub/app. Working on the issue of charities’ ways of communication & ways of giving and bringing them through into the modern era.

This brief is based around charitable giving, focusing mainly on the way charities are viewed by the public and how people feel towards giving to them. I feel like there are multiple things that are problematic with the way most current charities operate and I think that this brief could be an opportunity to bring light to/ a solution to these issues, to ultimately benefit the charities in multiple ways.

Time Scale: 3-6 Months

Brief 2 (Starpack Live Brief - Internal Collaboration)

Selecting from one of the following categories - bakery, convenience food-to-go or fresh produce – create a plastic pack that is recyclable or made from recycled content and helps reduce food waste by the consumer. Printed graphics on card or paper labels can be used to enhance the pack and help educate the consumer.

Time Scale: 1-2 Months

Brief 3 (Secret 7")


Create a 7” vinyl sleeve design for one of the 7 proposed artists.
Time Scale: 3 days

Brief 4 (Hellmann's food waste)


Combat throwaway culture and cut food waste with a device, publication or service from Hellmann’s.
Time Scale: 1 months

Brief 5 (The Problem of Plastic)

With plastic consumption at an all time high, explore ways in which to highlight the problem which is currently affecting our environment.
Time Scale: 1-2 Weeks

Although the recommended amount of briefs to have is 10, I will aim to gather a few more briefs together overtime so that I have a wide range of work for my portfolio.