An interview with Localgiving

A Good Thing has recently started working with friends Localgiving — who provide small charities with digital fundraising platforms. We caught up with Luke Upton, Head of Communications to find out more about the fundraising partner.

Can you describe what Localgiving does in just a sentence?

Since 2012, we have helped charities and grassroots organisations do amazing things by connecting them with digital fundraising platforms, access to grants, resources, support and more!

How long have you been involved with Localgiving?

Luke Upton

I joined Localgiving as Head of Communications in Spring 2022 and it’s been a very enjoyable and busy eighteen months – the time has flown!  During this period, we’ve rebranded, relaunched our website, done a lot of work on making our donation process and fundraising pages more effective and launched lots of new parts of the site – stories, insights, a community noticeboard to name just a few changes.  I worked in alumni fundraising in my last year of university, and after 15 years working in news, editorial and content roles in business media, it’s fantastic to have come full circle back into the world of charities and fundraising.

What is one of the most impactful stories or campaigns you’ve heard about since working for Localgiving?

It’s a real privilege of the role that every day I get to read, hear and speak about amazing community projects all over the country. Some are major investments in big projects, others small and hyper-local. One thing that always strikes me though is that even the smallest amount of money can make a big difference. A few pounds could help pay for time with a counsellor, food pack, coaching session, or equipment – to name just a few examples – and make a huge difference to someone’s life.

Devastation caused by Swansea explosion. March 2023

To pick just one story is difficult. But I’ll go with one from earlier in the year from my hometown of Swansea. We were part of the fast response to a fatal gas explosion, setting the fundraising platform with a local partner, helping promote the emergency fund and co-ordinating with external partners. We had to start from scratch, but the team worked super hard and within 48 hours of the tragic incident, money was being raised. The target was £20k, but the total raised exceeded £33k, thanks to a mix of a generous local community, a major fundraising concert and a significant donation from Amazon, a major local employer. It was wonderful to see what some view as ‘old fashioned community spirit’ allied with modern fundraising to deliver much needed help to a devastated neighbourhood.

How do you see A Good Thing benefiting Localgiving’s members?

The moment I first heard about A Good Thing, I thought it was a fantastic idea. We need to move towards a world without waste, and it's essential we find new ways of thinking about what happens to things we no longer need. For many businesses, it’s shameful that it's cheaper to throw things away than re-sell or recycle them, so offering them a route into needy charities and community groups creates a win-win. For the Localgiving community, who are fizzing with energy and ideas, the resources that A Good Thing makes available help them do even more amazing things and enable precious money to be spent elsewhere. We’ve been very happy to encourage all our network to look at what A Good Thing can offer them.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing UK charitable organisations right now?

Fundraising is never easy. But the ongoing cost of living crisis, and all that comes with it makes it even harder. The cost of utilities for venues has risen hugely, making some unsustainable, especially when stock, supplies and equipment are also rising in cost. When you match this, with the lowering amount of disposable income for most of us, it means that without changes, hard choices are inevitable. Beyond the obvious issue of money, there’s also a challenge in recruiting the right skills for your charity, either in a paid role, or as a volunteer. New opportunities need new skills and these are not always easy to find, especially for smaller, grassroots charities, which feels a real shame. 

How do you see the role of businesses in the UK in relation to charitable organisations, and what are the opportunities?

I think the continued development of corporate foundations and trusts is very interesting. There’s an expectation by many that business should exist for more than just profit. And there’s a great opportunity to make a real positive impact through supporting charitable causes. But I think it must be genuine and significant for large companies – there’s a reputational risk if it isn’t. For SME’s there’s also a chance to do real good and I think some of the ways that we see them do this, A Good Thing is one example but also in volunteering and skills donation as well as straight-up fundraising we are seeing some fantastic examples of them making a great impact. With a squeeze on the economy over the next few years, I think we’ll all want to see a lot more of this!