Charities’ New Year’s resolutions shaping 2019

The time for New Year’s resolutions is getting increasingly closer and for the social sector this means preparing for 2019 fundraising goals, campaigns and activism.

Third Sector spoke to two major charities who are prepping for its new campaigns and new fundraising objectives for next year. In each, the organisations have goals to improve its relationships with the community, its staff and volunteers.

Plan International Australia CEO, Susanne Legena, said the company is moving towards balancing the bottom line to meet or exceed top line targets: “It involves us being more efficient and bringing a business mind to ensure that every investment returns value.”

Mirroring this, Animals Australia Director of Campaigns, Lisa Chalk, said 2019 will see “two ground-shifting advancements” in the animal protection space.

“There are two core areas of focus for Animals Australia,” Chalk said. “Success in 2019 would not only spare countless animals from suffering but our donors and supporters would be thrilled to have helped achieve those outcomes.”

Over 2019, Animals Australia aims to see a legislated phase out of the battery hen cage, which they say is one of the cruellest farming devices ever invented. On top of this, the organisation will look at a political decision to phase out live sheep export trade, which subjects millions of animals to “unnecessary suffering”.

Chalk said the generosity that comes from the community and from its supporters, including staff, “makes our daily work on behalf of animals possible”.

Plan International Australia has four goals moving forward – building its financial stability to “meet or exceed top line revenue targets”, maintaining its work for girls and vulnerable children, embedding its mission and brand in everything it does and catalysing current leadership to build a growth culture within the organisation.

“The goals seek to tackle our business challenges head-on and provide us with four key themes or pillars to focus our efforts in the year ahead,” Legena said.

“Our impact in the world is linked to our mission, which is to work with the world’s most vulnerable children and deliver equality for girls – we put this at the centre.”

For 2019, Plan International Australia has launched its Girls Get Equal campaign, which will be the “world’s biggest girl-led campaign for gender equality”. Legena said it comes in a year that has seen massive growth around women’s rights but despite a groundswell of social change, girls are still at a disadvantage.

Legena added: “It’s unacceptable that they are still victims of violence, and are trapped by discrimination and outdated rules that deny their power and limit their freedom. Girls Get Equal calls for a new world with new rules and urges supporters, world leaders and girl activists to unit to end the abuse, harassment and negative stereotyping of girls.”

Legena said its biggest challenge to overcome in 2019 is in sharing Plan International Australia’s story from the perspective of its staff and volunteers as they are its “biggest assets and among the best ambassadors of our work”.

“We see everyone in the organisation as a leader, which is key to unlocking their incredible talents to respond to an ever-changing environment.”