Innovation in giving

YA S S E E N FA I K

RSA INNOVATION IN GIVING

â—Š RSA BRIEF

BRIEF Design a product, service or tool that will encourage or enable people to donate either their money or their time to good causes.

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Challenge and scope Many charities and not-for-profit enterprises rely on donations and support from volunteers to deliver their core services.

The UK has a long and relatively generous history of people and organisations ‘giving’ – both time and money – to good causes, but in recent years the nature of giving has been changing.

Traditional fundraising methods aren’t working as well and patterns of volunteering are shifting. At the same time increased hardship as a result of the recession and widespread cuts to state-funded services means that services provided by charities and not-for-profits are needed more than ever.

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and an increase in ‘social entrepreneurship’ (the process of pursuing innovative solutions to social problems) have resulted in some exciting responses to these challenges – ranging from crowdfunding platforms such as CrowdRise to micro volunteering initiatives such as the Good Gym – and there’s a big appetite for new innovations.

In the increasingly complex and time-pressured world we live in, how can people be encouraged to give more of their time and money to good causes?

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Rapid advances in technology

— a tool or system that enables more people to volunteer — a micro-volunteering service design Tomorrow’s — a well communicated and ingenious way of collecting money — a persuasive new way of using words and/or images to invoke need

For the purposes of illustration only, the following would all be viable responses:

— a service or campaigning system that deploys time, talent and connections in new ways

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MY CONCEPT

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The idea is to integrate a convenient and rewarding way of recycling plastics with in London and Greater London.

The scheme will be in conjunction with the London underground, more specifically the oyster card.

The Eco Oyster or ‘Ecoyster’ scheme will install 350 new machines around London, both near train and tube stations and other less congested / open areas such as London parks. All locations will be highly accessible and easy to find.

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RSA BRIEF

The Idea is to insert a plastic bottle or bottles into the machine, the machine then compresses the plastic to a fifth of its size and deposits it below the machine in a small underground storage container where it awaits recycling.

This process takes 20 seconds to complete and once the plastic is compressed its converted into eco credits (usually 2-5p per bottle depending on weight). Then simply tap oyster card or ecoyster card to update funds as if a regular cash transaction.

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The ecoyster card (green oyster card made from recycled plastic) is available for purchase for ÂŁ3 but eco credits can be used on regular oyster cards and on all London busses, trains and tubes.

Each bottle receives 2 to 5 pence depending on weight but there is no limit to how man bottles you can put in. Financial gain is slow but this makes for a more longterm and gradual integration of the scheme.

The hopes with this scheme are to I N N O VAT I O N I N G I V I N G

permanently integrate recycling into society and the younger generations everyday activities e.g commuting with convenience and reward both financial and personal for all who participate.

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RESEARCH P R O J E C T R E S E A R C H / I N S P I R AT I O N

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WEB SOURCES

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GIVING

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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GIVING

Understanding donor motivations and psychology According to recent research, the most frequently reported motivations for making donations were feeling compassion for those in need (90%), wanting to help a cause in which the donor personally believes (86%), and wanting to make a contribution to the community (80%).

Donors also give when they have been personally affected by the cause of the organization (62%).

Some donors reported that their giving was influenced by whether government would give them a credit on their income tax (23%).

This research suggests that there are a number of effective approaches to take in developing messaging for fundraising campaigns. It also suggests that eligible non-profits should clearly note the beneficial income tax treatment of donations in all fundraising requests.

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The 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP) shows that while most Canadians give in response to being asked, the minority that plans their giving in advance tend to give larger amounts. In 2007, 19% of donors reported that they decided in advance how much they intended to give to charitable organizations over the course of a year.

Understanding donor motivations and psychology

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These donors contributed an average of $797 annually, compared to $351 for those who did not decide how much to give in advance. These results highlight the importance of encouraging loyalty among existing donors by developing strong, long- term relationships between regular donors and the nonprofit organizations they support.

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Common barriers to giving Donors were most likely to report that they did not give more because they could not afford to do so (71%), or because they were happy with the amounts that they had already contributed (65%).

Forty percent indicated that the reason they did not give more was because they believed that they already gave enough directly to people, without involving an organization.

About a third agreed that they did not give more because they did not think that the money would be used efficiently (33%), or because

small percentage (11%) identified difficulty finding a worthy cause as a barrier to increased giving.

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of money (32%). A comparatively

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they gave voluntary time instead

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Of particular interest is that a number of barriers to increased giving are related to the ways in which organizations make their requests for donations. About a third of donors (34%) indicated that they did not give more because they did not like the ways in which requests for donations were made.

About a quarter (24%) indicated that no one asked them to give more and 12% did not know where to make a contribution. The 34% of donors who reported that they did not give more because they did not like how requests for donations were made were asked to indicate what it was about the requests that they didn’t like.

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was the tone of the requests (reported by 43% of those who indicated that they did not like how requests were made). About a quarter (24%) indicated that they did not like the frequency or volume of requests from organizations and 15% did not like receiving multiple requests from the same organization.

Just under half of donors (44%) said that they disliked some other aspect of the request. (See also our post on the most effective fundraising channels for more insights into fundraising barriers and opportunities).

This suggests that non-profits would benefit from crafting the tone of their requests more carefully, and that an analysis of multiple-flight campaigns should be undertaken to weigh the cost-benefit of making multiple donation requests each year.

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Common barriers to giving

The most frequent issue identified

PLASTIC

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WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT RECYCLING ...

HOW IS PLASTIC RECYCLED?

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Plastic is one of the most popular and useful materials of modern times. However, its popularity is part of the problem: we now use about 20 times more plastic than we did 50 years ago. However, we can optimize the lifespan of plastics by reusing and recycling items as many times as possible.

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Plastics are: sorted shredded washed melted pelletised

It is a two-stage process: Sorting is mainly done automatically with a manual polish

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Plastic is either melted down directly and molded into a new shape, or shredded into flakes then melted down before being processed into granulates

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◊ Plastic is a popular, useful material but we use a lot of it. However, by optimizing the lifespan of plastics by reusing and recycling items as many times as possible, i.e. by recycling used plastic bottles into new ones, we can reduce our need to create ‘new’ plastic, thus:

Conserving non-renewable fossil fuels (oil) Reducing the consumption of energy used Reducing the amount of solid waste going to landfill

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Reducing the emission of gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

ISSUES There are many different types of plastic in use, some of which we can recycle in the UK and other types – including that used to make yogurt pots and margarine tubs for example - that require new technology which is not currently available here, to recycle it efficiently. This means that some plastic still goes to landfill, some is incinerated and some shipped abroad for recycling and foreign manufacturing reuse.

There are currently huge investments being made in Britain into plastics recycling technology to help our domestic recycling facilities cope with the variety of plastics in use and it won’t be long before we operate a more efficient recycling system for all different types of plastic packaging.

In the meantime we can all do our bit to improve things now. Recycling plastic bottles is an easy way. These are usually made from two easily recyclable plastics – PET and HDPE – and can be recycled by most of us via our kerbside collection scheme or local recycling centers.

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There is a wide range of products made from recycled plastic, including: Polyethylene bin liners and carrier bags Plastic bottles Flooring and window frames Building insulation board Video and compact disc cassette cases Fencing and garden furniture Water butts, garden sheds and composters Seed trays Fleeces Fiber filling for sleeping bags and duvets Variety of office accessories

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The American Society of Plastics Industry developed a standard marking code to help consumers identify and sort the main types of plastic.

The main types of plastics are:

Polyethylene terephthalate Fizzy drink bottles and oven-ready meal trays

High-density polyethylene Bottles for milk and washing-up liquids

Polyvinyl chloride Food trays, cling film, bottles for squash, mineral water and shampoo

Low density polyethylene Carrier bags and bin liners

Olypropylene -

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Margarine tubs, microwaveable meal trays.

Polystyrene Yogurt pots, foam meat or fish trays, hamburger boxes and egg cartons, vending

cups,

plastic

cutlery,

protective packaging for electronic goods and toys

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Biodegradable plastics

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These should break down cleanly, in a defined time period, to form simple molecules found in the environment such as carbon dioxide and water.

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The predominant mechanism which decomposes biodegradable plastics is the action of micro-organisms which produces:

carbon dioxide

methane

water

inorganic

compounds

biomass

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â—Š Disposal of degradable and biodegradable plastics These plastics will not degrade effectively in a landfill site and could potentially hinder the quality of recycled plastic if they enter a conventional plastics recycling system.

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Similar schemes...

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B re e i j p cy in bo ay cl g in tt su ing tr le b w b o s ay an duc cr ks es ed th it at s fo r

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Beijing’s vast army of plastic-bottle scavengers will get an automated rival later this month, when the city introduces its first reverse vending machines that pay subway credits in exchange for returned containers.

More than 100 recycle-to-ride devices will be installed in an attempt to reduce the environmental impact of the informal bottle collection business and improve the profits of the operator, which works in an industry thought to be worth billions

Recycling firm hopes to improve profits by bypassing informal network of bottle collectors

of dollars.

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The firm currently processes 50,000 tons of bottles a year, most of which it buys from informal collectors who roam the city’s streets looking for discards, which they pack on to carts and bicycles.

Donors will receive between 5 fen and 1 mao (about 1p) on their commuter passes for each polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle they insert into the machine, which then crushes them to a third of their original size

With the machines, the firm hopes to collect directly from the public and generate extra revenue from government subsidies and sales of advertising shown on the machine’s screens.

Incom says it plans to approach Coca-Cola and other beverage retailers.

and sorts them according to colour and type.

“It will be as easy to use as an ATM,” said an employee of the operating company, Incom, who declined to give her name. “We hope to put one at every station on the route [subway line 10] and later expand to other lines, bus stops and residential areas.”

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The machine in use

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I N N O VAT I O N I N G I V I N G

MY

IDEA

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The idea is to integrate a convenient and rewarding way of recycling plastics with in London and Greater London.

IDEA

The scheme will be in conjunction with the London underground, more specifically the oyster card.

The Eco Oyster or ‘Ecoyster’ scheme will install 350 new machines around London, both near train and tube stations and other less congested / open areas such as London parks. All locations will be highly accessible and easy to find.

The Idea is to insert a plastic bottle or bottles into the machine, the machine then compresses the plastic to a fifth of its size and deposits it below the machine in a small underground storage container where it awaits

â—Š

recycling.

This process takes 20 seconds to complete and once the plastic is compressed its converted into eco credits (usually 2-5p per bottle depending on weight). Then simply tap oyster card or ecoyster card to update funds as if a regular cash transaction.

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â—Š

The ecoyster card (green oyster card made from recycled plastic) is available for purchase for ÂŁ3 but eco credits can be used on regular oyster cards and on all London busses, trains and tubes.

Each bottle receives 2 to 5 pence depending on weight but there is no limit to how man bottles you can put in. Financial gain is slow but this makes for a more longterm and gradual integration of

RSA BRIEF

the scheme.

The hopes with this scheme are to permanently integrate recycling into society and the younger generations everyday activities e.g commuting with convenience and reward both financial and personal for all who participate.

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H O W D O E S I T WORK?

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TA P Y O U R O Y S T E R A N D E N J O Y Y O U R J O U R N E Y

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The environmental benefits of recycling plastic are vast.

Plastic is a very popular and commonly used material, which serves a number of purposes.

By optimizing the life span of plastics by recycling it and reusing them, we can lessen the need and demand to create and manufacture new plastics and further drain the planets natural recourses (oil).

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ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL BENEFITS

By recycling plastics, by integrating the eco oyster scheme into daily life we will be making an effort to conserve nonrenewable fossil fuels, reducing the consumption of energy, reduce the amount of solid waste going to land fills and reduce the emissions of gas like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

â—Š I believe if we all join as a community of people and integrate the eco oyster system into everyday life and as part of a regular traveling routine and unite in an effort to recycle more, the social benefits will derive from this. Both the personal satisfaction people receive by giving back to the earth and doing a good deed (or recycling plastic) while being rewarded for it (eco credits), as well as living in a more environmentally conscious and cleaner city.

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Green acrylic See through plastic front

Screen

Tap oyster

Wooden legs

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How does it look...

Larger hole

Smaller hole (for children)

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Financially this project would be costly to carry out. The manufacture, transportation and instalment costs would

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themselves be high. For the eco oyster scheme to have the best chance at success around 350 machines (or enough machines to cover all underground stations and major parks) in to effect, in order to create a convenient and accessible platform for people

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to give.

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C o m m e r c i a l a w a r e n e s s a n d

f i n a n c e

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The final cost to consider would

machines, the overall costs would

be electricity, if the machines

be dramatically cut but at the

them selves take a vast amount

convenience of the commuter,

of power then recycling plastic

this in turn would lead to a

seems redundant when so much

higher chance of the scheme not

energy is being wasted.

becoming popular.

Once the initial costs are taken

Solar powered machines might

care of and the machines are

be an eco friendly alternative.

installed and functioning,

With the right funding and use

occasional servicing and

of the system the project will

maintenance will have to be

overall enhance the quality of life

carried out which will add to the

in London in the long term and

over all cost. Not to forget the

create positive social benefits for

underground storage units filled

all commuters.

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By placing a fewer number of

with the plastic will have to be removed, treated and recycled regularly.

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To provide a long term sustainable solution to recycling plastic, helping optimize the life span of plastics will lessen the need to create new plastics which intern will help reserve natural recourses such as oil and The aim is to integrate the eco oyster scheme into people’s lives by making the machines conveniently placed, easy to use and rewarding, both personally and financially.

Financial gain however is slow, each bottle receiving 2-5p in eco credits depending on weight.

This gradual collection of eco credits gives the machines a longer period of time in which to be used, and the longer the machines are around the more likely they will become a part of everyday practice and travel routine.

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will produce less solid waste.

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OVER ALL AIMS

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CARD DESIGN

THE ECOSTER

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