The World Cup of Crisps really is a thing...

The World Cup of Crisps really is a thing. It has it's own Wikipedia page and everything.

It's organised by that chap from Pointless and it's a bit silly.

In 2016 it happened over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

This year that lovely bloke from Pointless promoted Childs i as a charity those that took part could donate to as a thank you. A JustGiving page was set up and at the time of writing over £5,200 was raised. Additionally Betfair donated all losing stakes to Childs i.

But the BEST THING, the most brilliant thing is this video. It's FANTASTIC. Fun, short and full of joy.

MobileMagic: Ho Ho Ho...

Before you read on, I’d love it if you would consider supporting Child’s I with a small monthly donation. They are an amazing small organisation working in Uganda to help abandoned babies be reunited with their families. If no family members can be traced, then Child’s I find a foster or adoptive family. Child’s I are small and really passionate about what they do. I love them.

Please text PDG to 70002 to give £3 a month via your mobile phone. In return you will get updates on the amazing work you’re helping fund sent directly to your phone. Simple.

Thanks for considering a donation to Child's I. Here is the news...

I love this. It’s long. Not necessarily all about mobile but a critical read IMHO for anyone doing whatwe do. And then this response to the article from the amazing people at the Mobilisation Lab.

Device enables commuters to donate to charity with their spare subway credit. This isn’t the future of fundraising – but it’s a very good idea.

Panic button app helps teens with depression reach out for support.

Addicted to your smartphone? You need to read this. Another we’re all ‘obsessed by our phones’ angle.

3 things you can learn about online donors from #GivingTuesday. So. According to this. PC donors give in the morning. Mobile ones in the evening.

Google Helping users find mobile-friendly pages. Google will now punish you if your site doesn’t work on a mobile telephone. So you know what to do.

Walmart sees 70pc of Thanksgiving traffic from mobile. Not a Black Friday story. Black Friday is ridiculous. Ignore the Black Fridayness. The story is the continued rise of mobile traffic.

The Apps on your home screen tell your story. I like this and I’d like to see yours. Email it to me (please).

Salvation Army leverages text-to-give to drive holiday donations. It’s starting to happen on the other side of the pond…

Girl Scouts’ Digital Cookie to boost mobile sales. More stateside mobile charityness.

Tesco Tests Mobile Payments with the Lunchtime Rush. Magazine Apparently QR Codes aren’t quite dead. I even scanned one the other day.

And please consider a £3 a month gift to Child's I via your mobile phone. To set it up please text PDG to 70002. In return you will get updates on the amazing work you’re helping fund sent directly to your phone. Simple.

Mobile giving T&Cs.

You will be charged £3 plus one message at your standard network rate in the first month, and £3 a month thereafter unless you choose to skip a month. Child’s I will receive 100% of your donation. To unsubscribe reply STOP to 70002.

Just get on with it...

I'm working with Childs i Foundation to develop their mobile giving strategy.

They've made this film. It promotes regular giving by SMS, something I've been working on at Open for ages.



It's superb. One of the things I like most about Childs i (apart from the amazing work they do) is their ability to just get on with stuff. If something feels like the right thing to do - it gets done. We could all learn a lot from that attitude.

Not cool for cool's sake...

I blogged about how happy I am to be working with Child's i on their mobile giving strategy over on the Open Fundraising blog the other day. In that post is a web form so readers can sign up to a regular gift by SMS for Child's i. They are an amazing charity - I'd urge you to research them and support them.

I'm writing about it again here because Mobilise, is one of the best things I've been involved with for ages. This year has been all about innovation in the truest sense of the word and the work the team and I have done on the Mobilise platform has made me very very proud.

Enabling web sign ups is just one of Mobilise's amazing features, I love the form because like all good ideas it answers an actual client need. It's not cool for cool's sake, it helps our clients do something better. It helps them raise more money.



Digital fundraising is great, I'm obsessed by it, but its greatest problem has always been checkout. Anyone who looks at the data knows that in most cases at least 50% of the people who start the process of giving you a donation online don't complete. Staggering. So they are interested enough in you and your work to start the process - but get bored, don't have the information they need close by or just get irratated by the form.

Our job as fundraisers is to inspire people to take an action. When we've done that it's our job to make it as easy as possible for them to take the action. In this case you enter your mobile number in the box, hit the 'Set up £3 monthly gift' button and reply YES to the SMS you will receive seconds later. Then you're giving £3 a month to Child's i. No name, address, or bank details required, none of that - just decide to give, enter your number and reply to the text.

So it's really good and I'm really proud. Lots of people are tuning in to mobile in the fundraising space, which is great for the sector. In 2013 my colleagues and I at Open are determined to push the boundaries of mobile and fundraising even further - while we aren't arrogant enough to think we've cracked single or regular mobile giving - we are going to spend time figuring out what next, we've got a clue what it is and can't wait to move the market on some more.

The legal bit. If you set up a Mobilise gift, you can Stop at anytime by replying STOP. If for whatever reason you don’t want to give, reply SKIP to your monthly text and you will skip a payment. This service only works for UK mobiles, at the moment.

'Thank you from The Three Robbers' a guest post from Stuart Glen

Stuart wrote this great piece and asked if he could post it on my blog. I've never really thought about guest blogs before, so wasn't sure. Then I read it, it's really good. So I said yes. Hope you enjoy.

A chance discovery in a museum on a family vacation in New England leads to a wonderful example of personalised donor care from Child’s i Foundation? Stuart Glen explains, 

With two wee boys – one aged six and the other two – a visit to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art was top of our to-do list in Massachusetts last summer. It’s refreshing to know that America can deliver attractions like The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art – not all attractions need to be crammed full of rollercoasters and fast food franchises. We spent a magical afternoon at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, marvelling at the artwork on display, completing a treasure hunt and taking part in a storytelling session. The unexpected bonus was an additional exhibition of the work of Tomi Ungerer, a French artist, illustrator and author, who’s work until then I was unfamiliar with.

Six year Mackenzie’s personal tribute to the museum scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

The museum provided me with a magical memory that I will treasure until the day I die. I sat in the Tomi Ungerer exhibition with my two year old on my lap and read to him an exhibition copy of The Three Robbers. First published in 1959, it’s a charming tale of three robbers with tall black hats who use their plundered bounty to buy a castle in order to look after the abandoned children of the land. Exquisitely illustrated, it’s a tale that stands the test of time. The sentiment seeping through the story struck a chord with me as I sat in the museum cuddling my two year old. I immediately thought of the wonderful Child’s i Foundation – a charity extremely close to my heart.

Child’s i Foundation are awesome. Their Baby and Family Centre in Malaika, Uganda provides short-term care for up to 24 at-risk babies; and the tenacious Lucy Buck, the founder of Child’s i Foundation is constant source of inspiration to me. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Lucy now on a couple of occasions – I invited her to speak at the Institute of Fundraising Scotland Conference 2011 where she delivered an unforgettable and emotionally charged closing plenary. Not a dry eye in the house, or was that just me? Lucy has a penchant for making me cry.

As a thank you to Lucy, I presented her with the copy of The Three Robbers that we bought in the museum. This was a huge wrench for me – this book conjured up images and emotions of a magical moment. Of course, I had to ask both the boys’ permission first. But the charming tale reminded me of Lucy and her amazing journey with Child’s i Foundation.

I know Lucy realised the significance the gift.

When she returned to Uganda I received an email that reduced me tears. Again. It’s a picture of Lucy reading The Three Robbers to one of the children in the Malaika Baby and Family Centre.

From Lucy’s email, “It is a beautiful book and I must admit I keep it in my office as I don't want the kids to damage it but it is becoming a bit of a favourite!”

Lucy’s email was heartening but on Christmas Eve, Child’s i Foundation delivered a level of personal donor care that I believe can only be demonstrated by a small charity in tune with their donors. On Christmas Eve I received a handmade, hand-written Christmas Card. No design agency was involved. No clever creative or call to action. Instead, a thank you. The card design featured the hand-print of eight month old, Liam [as a parent I know how much fun was had making that hand-print] and inside a hand written message from Lucy. It read,

“Thank you so much for all your support this year and believing in me and Child’s i Foundation… “

I’ve done nothing. My £2.50 a month is not going to change the world, but Childs i Foundation make me feel like I’m genuinely making a difference. I believe Childs i Foundation when they say, “The personal contribution of each and every participant makes as they support Child’s i Foundation – whether through time, money or love – is something we recognise and value highly.” I buy this.

The innovation Child’s i Foundation have demonstrated online is well documented. There is a strong community online supporting and advocating their work. But this magical personal touch really does strengthen the bond with their donors. The proof is in the pudding – this evening, I’ve doubled my monthly contribution to Child’s i Foundation. Perhaps Lucy should don a tall black hat?

Stuart Glen is Fundraising Manager at Kilbryde Hospice. He writes this article in a personal capacity. Follow Stuart on Twitter - @stuglen.