Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Europe (SOCAPiE) blogs

Why do not-for-profit organisations have to show evidence of impact?

Judith Davey — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:55:56 +0000

Not-for-profit organisations are required to show public benefit - we take action and raise money in pursuit of our charitable objects and mission. This means that we are accountable to a number of different stakeholder groups for the impact that we have and for our effectiveness and efficiency in achieving that impact. ActionAid’s primary accountability is to “rights holders” - people living in poverty, injustice and discrimination.

is there a difference between supporter care in the not-for-profit sector and customer service in the private sector?

Judith Davey — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:50:30 +0000

There are some essential differences between private and not-for-profit organisations. Although the situation is changing in relation to private businesses, not-for-profits are subject to much greater public scrutiny than the private sector.

Why do charities need to market themselves?

Judith Davey — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 15:11:09 +0000

As Professor Adrian Sargeant describes in his very excellent book, just as the origins of marketing can be traced back to the earliest forms of trade, non-profit marketing goes back in time. 14th century monks at a Cistercian monastery in Austria wrote a marketing and fundraising handbook that even included 22 model letters explaining how to apply the approach.

So how many are complaining?

Peter Hall — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:26:45 +0000

Is there a proven formula whereby you can say that if, for example, an organisation receives 10 complaints in a month, then in fact x times that number of customers have actually received poor service?

The importance of feedback

Michael Hill — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:29:06 +0000

Yet again I have been busy getting new features added to the SOCAP in Europe website. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of a development site so - although we try to be careful - sometimes this create challenges ....and problems! A few weeks ago, we updated our CRM system that integrates with the website and also provides the online event management system for us. I thought that the upgrade had gone smoothly and booked myself onto a couple of upcoming events without any difficulty. Therefore, I assumed everything was okay...

New Linked In group

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:43:11 +0000

We've continued to press ahead over the last few weeks with developing the SOCAP in Europe presence on the web and social networks. We now have a SOCAP in Europe group on Linked In (group: SOCAP Europe) and are making more use of our Twitter account (socapie). You can use the new Linked In group to engage in discussion and debate and also to find out about upcoming events and other updates. If you are a LinkedIn member, join our group now!

Keeping the needs of the public at the heart of public sector budget cuts

Judith Davey — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:44:09 +0000

Traditional approaches to cutting costs in public services won’t work. We need to move to more rational, evidence-based approaches that keep the needs of public at their heart.

Easier said than done? It’s do-able given grit and determination…

Adding a touch of 2.0 to SOCAP in Europe

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:50:13 +0000

I've been spending the last few weeks overseeing the implementation of SOCAP in Europe's new website and integrated CRM system. The objective has been to provide online features for some of the more 'admin heavy' tasks such as event and membership sign-up and, of course, to make everything work that much better for our members!