We have some BIG news, grab a coffee...
We have some BIG news, grab a coffee and enjoy the read. It’s important information that we need to share with you….
As many of you know, Humanitas was co-founded in 2001 by our CEO, Sarah Wade, during her gap year in Romania, where she cared for orphaned and abandoned children living in inhumane conditions in state-run orphanages. Since then, all we have ever wanted to do is support and care for some of the world’s most disadvantaged children and young people who are in desperate need of a family, an education or health care. We are lucky enough to have a small but incredibly dedicated and passionate team that share the founding ethos of Humanitas and continue to work with a pro-active and passionate approach to their work.
Over the past few months we have reviewed the structure of our UK office. Following this review, we have become acutely aware that we are spending more time in the office than we are on the ground - providing support to refugees, to the children in our school in Ghana and to the orphaned children living in our Safe Homes in Romania. We acknowledge the need to fundraise, as our projects wouldn’t survive without funding, but we have taken a bold decision to change how we spend our time. Over the next twelve months we plan to go back to our roots and focus our efforts on working on the ground and not in the office.
Our decision has also been influenced by the recent shift in public attitudes to giving to charity in the UK. Many people are becoming disillusioned by the burdensome administration and operational costs incurred by charities, and are worried that their donations are not reaching the people and projects they wish to support. At Humanitas we feel this frustration and we are concerned by the amount of money that is spent on acquiring and retaining donors, when we would prefer to be focusing on helping more people.
We have a cutting-edge solution to this problem and plan to bridge the widening gap between you (our supporters) and the children and families that benefit from your generosity. By embracing a completely digital approach to communications, we aim to bring charitable giving back to basics - where you will be able to see exactly how your donation is spent and we will be able to eliminate unnecessary administration costs.
Our first step towards this new working model is to become paperless. We will no longer be printing donor welcome packs, paper newsletters or glossy annual reviews, which means more of your donation will be spent on the people who really need it. All of our updates, reports and donor correspondence will be digital. Our project managers will send quarterly updates via email on the progress of their project. We will give you the opportunity to follow our social media and You Tube updates where we will show you exactly how your donations are being spent; through live, unedited videos, real time case studies and interviews with beneficiaries and volunteers. We want to give you the chance to connect directly with the very people that you wish to help. We feel strongly that this is what charity was and is meant to be, and we are confident that there will be strong public support for our refreshing new approach
If you’re not already following us, please click on the links below to begin your journey…