Charitable consumption: innovation in compassion in Britain, 1870-1912
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Arts Languages and Cultures
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Roddy S
(2015)
Humanitarian accountability, bureaucracy, and self-regulation: the view from the archive.
in Disasters
Roddy S
(2015)
The Charity-Mongers of Modern Babylon: Bureaucracy, Scandal, and the Transformation of the Philanthropic Marketplace, c.1870-1912
in Journal of British Studies
Roddy S
(2014)
Henry Mayhew at 200 - the 'Other' Victorian Bicentenary
in Journal of Victorian Culture
Taithe B
(2016)
History, memory and 'lessons learnt' for humanitarian practitioners
in European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire
Taithe, B.
The Humanitarian Handbook
| Description | The objective of the study was to identify how charities used consuming, promoted by advertising, as innovative fundraising techniques, and produced empirical knowledge to stimulate donations from the public to humanitarian causes, 1870-1912. Achievements: 1. New knowledge The vast majority of existing scholarship focuses on voluntary action, the dynamic between donations and civic status, single organisation histories and the 'scientific' distribution of welfare to recipients. The major achievement of this project is its new emphasis on charity as a competitive marketplace that not only appropriated developing patterns of consumption and enterprise but actively innovated too. The outputs from this project therefore make a major contribution to an area of scholarship that is often considered familiar. 2. Major collation of research resources The project collated extensive empirical data from charitable organisations, missions and disaster funds in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. These ranged from one-off fundraising campaigns for extraordinary disasters (domestic and global) to small, localized charities to larger organizations with a global reach (such as Barnardo's and the Salvation Army). We also surveyed the personal papers of major donors and key philanthropic personnel of the period. This was supplemented by data from newspapers and periodicals pertaining to fundraising campaigns but, also, commentary on the contested politics and ethics of fundraising. We believe this is one of the few studies on charity in this period to draw on such extensive data from so many diverse organisations. 3. New research questions One of the principal innovatory achievements of this research is its focus on financial data (fundraising targets, techniques, receipts, invoices, individual campaign accounts, end of year audit reports etc.) in the context of broader material concerning organisations' aims and personnel, donor and recipient markets, fundraising literature and so on. Likewise, the project specifically analysed charities' bureaucratic practices, especially evaluative processes. Notably, the most dynamic organisations at a regional, national and international level developed robust cultures of evaluation and accountability. Although existing scholarship has drawn attention to the role of the Charitable Organisation Society in policing inefficient and, sometimes, fraudulent organisations, our project draws attention to the agency of charities in exposing suspect organisations as a means of self promotion and authentication. The project's focus on the competitive marketplace highlighted how organisations developed a notion of 'compassion fatigue' (the late-twentieth century term for the public's increasing disaffection from perpetual demands on their purses for humanitarian causes) and produced innovative strategies to combat it. We identified a thriving culture of constantly updated branded merchandising (often piggybacking on broader consumer trends), schemes that rebranded 'giving' as 'consuming' whereby the donor received products or experiences in return for their donation, and the exploitation of dramatizing narratives in the press, periodicals, theatrical spaces and visual culture. A major achievement in this research was to include insofar as possible 'failed' charities and unsuccessful fundraising strategies in our data to effectively map the dynamism of the market. 4. New networks We have historicized issues of direct relevance to NGOs today (accountability, authenticity, compassion fatigue) leading to productive exchanges. |
| Exploitation Route | In the absence of an established scholarship on charitable enterprise, we developed innovative analytical frameworks. We anticipate sustained engagement and feedback from the academic community on how successful these frameworks are and in response to the multiple new research questions our project posits. The sheer volume of data collated will generate outputs beyond those projected in the initial application. Several sub themes in the book warrant development as essays in their own right; others will be developed as standalone projects. The RA has generated a bid examining the social meaning of money in a migrant charitable context; the PI will develop a project on the difficulties of fundraising for the socially excluded. We have consistently shared our research findings informally with NGOs through the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute and published research findings in a practitioner journal. We will apply for an Impact Acceleration Award to generate a series of workshops on themes of direct relevance (compassion fatigue, accountability and strategic innovation) to NGOs (eg., Save the Children and the Salvation Army). We are currently in discussion with Manchester University Press about developing a three-volume handbook co-written by academics and practitioners historicising key issues in contemporary humanitarianism. Taithe has been elected to the steering committee of the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Other |
| Description | The impact associated with this project (at Sept 2015) falls broadly within three categories: training and practitioner-based workshops with international humanitarian and aid agencies; fundraising guidance for the Catholic church; specific market/ donor based research with a regional charity of national importance. Publications and other impact are ongoing. In brief, the project examined the late 19th and early 20th century relationship between charitable fundraising and capitalism. It was exceptional as an historical study of 19th and early 20th century charities in the breadth of its data set: we researched the archives, personal papers, publications and artefacts of regional, national and UK-based international charitable organisations and personnel to give a unique overview of charitable fundraising and management practice. It examined the appropriation by voluntary organisations of 'enterprise' as a mode of fundraising and the introduction of financial auditing and authentication in charitable structures. This has direct relevance to a variety of NGO and fundraising organizations in the light of the recent (21 September 2015) parliamentary report on charity fundraising (https://www.ncvo.org.uk/images/documents/policy_and_research/giving_and_philanthropy/fundraising-review-report-2015.pdf). The bulk of the interaction with international humanitarian organizations was facilitated by ongoing research co-production taking place in Manchester. The University hosts the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute with 4 pillars to its research and teaching: Medical humanitarian action, Humanitarian Studies, Disaster Management and Peace Studies. The CI is director of HCRI and the PI is a member. HCRI delivers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in these areas. Many students, especially at PG level, are seconded from NGOs. Both the PI and CI have used the research from this project in delivering teaching at UG and PG level. HCRI has a research partnership with major world leading non-governmental organisations: UKMed (a major DFID funded NGO hosted by HCRI see www.Uk-med.org), Médecins sans frontières (MSF), Save the Children (SCF), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), International Alert (IA), Mines Action Group (MAG). This research has also fed into publication in practitioner - focused publications and contributions to international and European humanitarian workshops addressing the following issues from a long view: how NGOs and aid agencies create a 'brand' identity; how they market their 'cause'; how they innovate in fundraising; how they audit and authenticate donations. The 'impact' dimensions here revolve around putting current issues at the heart of NGO fundraising practice into historical perspective. Prime examples are twenty-first century agencies' concern over payment of executive salaries, management and auditing of finance, brand identity and fundraising techniques. For instance, the recent debacle over Kids Company financial management should have been foreseen - not only from warnings in the months preceding the charity's collapse but from the very structure and market profile of the organisation. Kids Company's rise and fall shows striking parallels with large charitable organisations in the late 19th century that enjoyed public support but suffered chronic mismanagement, scandal and often collapse that left beneficiaries in dire straits. The research project suggests a) models for locating current issues in a longer view to understand the genesis of and responses to recurring problems; b) models for anticipating difficulties in fundraising and management issues; c) models for training practitioners in awareness and response to recurring fundraising and management issues. This area of impact has a broad and ongoing remit. A second area of impact is through dialogue with the Catholic Church and fundraising organisations on fundraising practices and ethics throughout the Catholic diaspora. The RA for the project has developed the research we completed on Catholic fundraising to work with Catholic charitable practitioners and the Catholic Church. This has also developed into an independent ESRC Future Research Leaders project working with practitioners and the Catholic Church: Visible Divinity: Money and Irish Catholicism, 1850-1921. Finally, the project has generated a specific Impact project in Manchester to work with Wood Street Mission, a major Manchester charity founded in 1869 that continues to provide poverty relief for children in Manchester and Salford. WSM formed one of the major case studies in the research. This project is in partnership with Wood Street Mission and Trevor Johnson, the creative director of Manchester based design company, Havas. WSM had a turbulent 20th century in terms of resourcing and reach, encouraging a rethink of the charity's scope and mission in a shifting political, social, economic and increasingly secular context. WSM faces ongoing challenges as it approaches its 150th anniversary (2019), not least because 'austerity' has increased demand for its services while placing its donor market under pressure. The WSM brand is strong among its traditional donor base (including UoM) but it could - and arguably should - have a bigger presence within the city region and without (and the concomitant donor base). WSM has made an important shift in this direction with its current exhibition, 'Queues, clogs and redemption' (PI involved) and the launch of a WSM 'real Victorian ale' by local Marble Brewery. The Pilot Impact project is in its infancy but will facilitate key research into the role of heritage in the WSM brand and a survey of what WSM (broadly conceived) sees as the key challenges in sustaining traditional donor patterns while accessing new donor markets. The ESRC project brought the benefit of comparative histories - notably with Barnardo's and The Children's Society - charities that bear striking similarities to WSM in service delivery, longevity and brand recognition and their respective use of heritage as a marketing strategy in a context of local, national and international competition. In summer 2017 we worked with Wood Street Mission to produce a special exhibition at Salford Art Gallery and Museum on the history of the charity and, in particular, its historic relationship with regional businesses and strategic fundraising to provide holidays for children in poverty. We provided a talk at the launch on the relationship between the charity and local businesses and also a public engagement event on WSM's relationship with seaside businesses through their holiday provision. |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | CRASH conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A talk on establishing norms of accountability for NGOs in the 19th century generated discussion on how the historical context for issues of accountability can inform policy decision making now Submission of paper to MSF for use in taking forward policy and decision making |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Charitable Consumption: Empowerment and the Purchase of Compassion |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Paper delivered to Consumption and Inequality Workshop, June 6, 2013 - this was hosted by the Inequality, Social Science and History AHRC network. University of Cambridge The paper generated discussion on research methodologies, especially how the extensive empirical reach of our research facilitated a new comparative framework for thinking about different kinds of charitable organisation and, in consequence, was generating a new set of research questions. Following from the paper, we received several requests for a hard copy of our presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Humanitarian summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk generated questions and discussion on NGOs need to be accountable, how this is achieved and what the historical perspective brings to bear on current policy and decision making processes. Generated requests for further information and access to our forthcoming article in Disasters, a practitioner journal. Taithe subsequently was elected to the steering committee of Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Imposter! Fraud and the Development of Commercial Practices in the Charitable Marketplace |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Conference paper at the British Association of Victorian Studies international conference on the transformation of charities into models of commercial enterprise. Examined the role of fraud and scandal in precipitating charities adopting business practices of auditing and accounting. This paper shared information from the project research on the agency of charities in policing and regulating a 'virtuous' charitable market. The paper generated discussion and questions pertaining to how we develop frameworks to examine the financial history of charity. It is difficult to measure 'impact' in the context of academic discussion but... discussion highlighted surprise that the financial / bureaucratic line had been largely overlooked in scholarship; feedback suggested that this wasn't an area of 'charity history' that those present had encountered; questions suggested interest in how these issues fed into contemporary debates in what is generally termed 'intelligent giving'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Making Compassion Material: Charity, Money and the Church |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Paper on the relationship between compassion, money and charity; seeking to share information that locates charity beyond the 'social' and religious context into a commercial and consumer context. The keypoint here was that most histories of charity have missed the primary material object at the heart of giving - money. The paper unpicked the social meaning of money in a donor/ fundraising context. Material Religion in Modern Britain and her Worlds, University of Glamorgan, Cardiff As with our other academic papers, audiences expressed surprise that the financial and bureaucratic history of charities were largely overlooked. The paper generated questions and discussion pertaining to research methods (accessing financial accounts etc) and the ethics of giving ('intelligent giving') and NGOs accountability. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Public performance lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A performance lecture on seasonal fundraising and donation patterns - performed at Plymouth Arts Centre in December with a seasonal theme. Following the performance, the public were invited to discuss the issues raised: a large audience led an animated discussion on 1) the difficulties of discriminating between 'good' and inefficient charities 2) the sentimental and religious motors underpinning giving at Christmas 3) the ethics of who we give to and why/ why not 4) the ethics of charities appropriating consumer strategies to generate giving. This discussion mapped the historical context onto contemporary issues of giving and highlighted to us just how pertinent the issues of accountability and authenticity are to a 21st century public. Comments following discussion in informal context of Arts Centre suggested that the performance lecture tapped into public anxieties about charity but the event also highlighted for the audience the tools with which to investigate individual charities' status. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Wood Street Mission Special Exhibition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Strange and Roddy worked with Wood Street Mission to produce materials for a special exhibition at Salford Art Gallery and Museum on the history of WSM, it's relationship to local businesses and its delivery of holidays for children in poverty. We provided a talk at the launch of the exhibition on the relationship between business and charity and staged a performative engagement event in collaboration with two actors on the history of the WSM holiday. The purpose of the exhibition and associated events was to raise awareness 1) of the long standing relationship between local and regional businesses and charity and 2) the life chances work of WSM and where opportunities to holiday fit within that. Both events took a long view of contemporary challenges and WSM's work. We also used University of Manchester funding to generate a short documentary film on the history of Wood Street mission in the last 150 years. The film became part of the exhibition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |