Studio Guest – Birgit Kern, Expert in Fund Raising

Our studio guest Birgit Kern is an expert in Fund Raising. She lectures at the Fundraising Academy and works for the German Foundation For World Population DSW. DW-TV: How do you teach people to ask for money? Birgit Kern: We teach them mainly methods; what to do with donations when they come in, how to deal with the donor, how to make statistics, how to value the money and how to make plans for the next 3-5 years to come. Most of all we teach them respect for the donor. DW-TV: Does fundraising come easily to Germans? Birgit Kern: I think to some, yes, of course, but not to others, which is the same in other countries. But even to Germans it comes easily so long as you're convinced about what you're asking for money for. If you're convinced that your non-profit organization is a good one and the right one. DW-TV: December is cash cow month for organizations that depend on donations. We have a graph here. We can see that giving spikes at the end of the year. In 2006, 434 million euros were donated to charities and other organizations in Germany. How can people tell the difference between a good and questionable charity? Birgot Kern: First of all I must say that there are few questionable charities in Germany - only a handful. You can tell the difference if you inform yourself about the organisation you want to give money to - via neighbours, via the Internet...you can ask for annual reports and you can look at how much money they're spending on the organisation and how much goes into the projects. DW-TV: Organizations need money to operate. How much of the money donated actually goes to the people who need it versus covering the costs of running the charity organization? Birgit Kern: In Germany there is a standard: this portion should not be more than 20 percent of donations should go into administation. DW-TV: Organizations need money to operate. How much of the money donated actually goes to the people who need it versus covering the costs of running the charity organization? Does size matter when it comes to an organization when it comes to getting the money to the people who need it. Is my money better off going to smaller charities or bigger ones? Birgit Kern: You can't say. Smaller organisations are working at a grassroots level and are usually very effective. Larger ones do have the same value in their work. It depends on what you want: do you want to give money to a kindergarten or a senior citizens home - or do you want to do something for developing countries. (Interview: Brent Goff)

DW-World | December 18, 2007

Tags:. .actually. .course. .cant. .mainly. .level