London Marathon

Excellent marathon yesterday - well done to all the runners that took part.

The weather was fantastic however the downside of this was that there were many cases of heat exhaustion and runners collapsing.

One thing that did stand out, was the number and diversity of charities that stood out.  Numerous as the runners there were so many charities from YMCA, McMillan, Naomi House and 100's of others.

All charities use marketing in order to promote themselves ranging from websites (which are consistently updated) promotional literature, banners (as there were at the London Marathon) and PR.


PR for charities is a big area of marketing as they need to generate exposure and awareness for their cause.  Also, to make themselves heard above the other 200.000 charities in the UK

Giving money to charities is great, it gives you a feel good factor which all humans crave (as the bible says it is better to give than receive (Acts 20:35)).

The problem is that charities spend so much money on marketing, the thought of your donation going to a website designer or advertising agency does not sound right.

Also, the larger the charity (Oxfam for example) the higher their fixed costs (cars, office rental, staff costs, expenses, marketing, TV campaigns) therefore for every £1 donated a large promotion goes to the running costs of the charity machine.

What is the answer - well there is really no simple answer, charities need marketing, marketing costs money and that money comes from only one place - you, me and other generous donors.