#alexswallow

It was a couple of months ago now that Alex Swallow from the Small Charities Coalition wrote the blog post "Some frogs are princes - or why size isn't everything" but Christmas is a good time to remind ourselves how important it is to spread the goodwill further than just the charities with big advertising budgets.

It astounds me how many small charities and voluntary organisations there are in the UK and 97 per cent of registered charities get under £1million in income per year. 

I'm on the committee for our local village pre-school which itself is a charity. 

What strikes me is how creative the team are at raising money. They keep the daily fees low (outside of the 15hrs per week Government funding) to ensure this local resource is available to all families in the area. Income is generated by a continuous flow of fundraising initiatives and events (that most often include the children). Be it £1 to enter the sunflower competition, framing the children's pictures and selling them in an art gallery, printing and selling Christmas cards or the big annual fundraiser, the money drips in. And the drip eventually fills the bucket.

The result, the staff are paid and our children thrive in an environment where staff, children and parents alike are involved and able to make a difference to the day-to-day learning of their child's early years education.

I think it is fair to say small charities are less likely to be complacent than bigger organisations. Every £1 raised really does count - "micro payments" to big charities are simply welcome donations to their smaller friends.

I think if you really want to make a huge difference to a cause dear to your heart this Christmas, take the time to seek out a small charity and make a "micro payment" - or something larger - you could change a life rather than help fund a meeting.