Ep 19 Bright ideas on sustainable fundraising _ Richard Turner

Richard Turner, a changemaker working for SolarAid, is known for his creative ideas. The Mars Mantra podcast logo, with the world upside down, was inspired by Richard's idea. He believes in being curious and paying attention to things that others may miss. Richard's journey into fundraising began with small acts of helping people and was influenced by Band Aid. He now works with SolarAid, a social enterprise that sells solar products in southern Africa, building local capacity and creating sustainable solutions. Richard emphasizes the importance of building relationships and partnerships, especially with corporates, to achieve shared goals and long-term support. Hello and welcome to my Mars Mantra podcast. Dear changemakers, hope you're doing well. Today I'm going to introduce you to one of my changemaker friend, Richard Turner. Richard works for a charity called SolarAid, and he's been working with lots of big aid agencies as well as smaller charities doing amazing work. And the way I'm going to introduce Richard is not because of his work, but because of his ideas. Some of you listeners might have noticed that my Mars Mantra podcast logo has the world upside down. And Richard's got so many ideas, he doesn't even remember that it was his idea. One of his colleagues told me that he had his map upside down in his office once. How are you, Richard? I'm really well, Ramana, and all the better for seeing you as well. Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Yeah, I still don't remember giving you that little thought idea, but good. Yes, one of your colleagues remembers it. But tell me, yeah, tell me, how did that idea came from? And now I have to put you as the copyright owner of that logo idea. Well, I think the thing you've got to always be really curious. There's this really amazing video, which some people may have come across, and it's of where you have to count the times a gorilla passes a basketball. Two teams pass a basketball between each other, but then there's a gorilla that comes on halfway. And what happens is, when you first watch it, it's a bit of a spoiler, I'm afraid, you first watch it, you miss the gorilla, because you're so focused on the ball being passed. And it's a metaphor for, it's very easy to just miss things that are passing by you every day. And it's a sort of reminder to be really curious. And I think it really encouraged me to think, you know, read something, read a magazine you've ever read before, go a different way to work. And it just opens your mind. And then it gives you springboards to ideas. So that you're reminding me, I probably need to break some habits that I'm sort of ingrained in right now, just to sort of ensure that, you know, I find myself to be that little bit more creative. Brilliant. Thank you, Richard. Yes. And I also thought about having the world map upside down, because, you know, if you're in Australia, they put Australia in the centre, and different continents put themselves in the centre of the map. And even UN map, you can see it's from the North Pole to the South Pole, although it's from a North Pole view. So I wanted to have it in a different angle, because you know, who said that the world is North and South? Who divided this idea? Because we are all gravitating toward the centre of the earth. So yeah, that was my take on your idea. So today, we'll discuss about your ideas, and also what inspired you to work in the international development space. And also, you worked with local charities as well. Tell me why you wanted to be a changemaker in a different way. And you have all these weird ideas, very interesting, but very weird ideas. So where did it all start? That's a great question. Um, where did it all start? Well, I think as a growing up, I remember there was this moment, we were staying near a beach in Scotland. And there was a gate down to the beach. And we had a, we had a little caravan, which we would park on this way down to this amazing beach in Oban. And the gate had to be shut, because there were cattle that would come through every so often. But what I figured out is that as people would drive down to the beach, they'd have to get out their car and open the gate. And so what I would do is I'd rush out our little caravan, and I would open the gate, and I would just smile at them. And quite a lot of times, people would wind down the window, and they would, you know, give me a few coins, and I earned a little bit of money. And I think that got me that sort of insight about, you know, look at the problem, and, you know, sort of lean into it, how can you help people. And there's a win win from it. But I think my sort of big transition into the world of fundraising, which is what I've done for pretty much most of my career, the big influence was Band Aid. And I know it's a very sort of old style, maybe responding to the need. And we've come a long way since then. But boy, did it open my eyes about the world out there and, and the possibilities. And when I was at university, I got involved in student rag. So rag is a quite unusual society, it began, I think, in the 19th century as a sort of prank, you know, students playing pranks on each other, and it's evolved into something where students do it in in aid of charity. But again, it allowed you to be creative in order to, to raise funds, and so on and so forth. And it opened my eyes to this world of fundraising. And so I decided not to pursue a career in engineering, electronic engineering, which is what I did my degree in, and I was really struggling. Yeah, it was hard. I got this opportunity to work for Oxfam for three months, and I was there eight years. So that's, you know, it's sort of, you know, all those little things, I think, added up about just, you know, how could I use my creativity in a way that, you know, hopefully makes the world a better place. Very interesting. I didn't even know that you're an engineer, because we know you're our friend. And you're the fantastic fundraiser. That's interesting. Because you know, this Mars Mantra podcast is all about built environment. Because my background is architecture, and I'm teaching students who are working in international development. I feel that the world is going in, in such a speed in such a direction, all these buildings, climate change, all this sustainable construction, we are trying to look for solutions to. It's just overwhelming. But it's also very promising to see young students thinking outside the box, not the same box we were educated in back in the 80s, 90s. So yeah, and I want to understand more about the work you're doing now with solar aid, because it's such a different way. Because even in your website, you mentioned about sustainable fundraising. So what does that mean? Because there are so many problems, people don't have enough money to give to charities. Yes, but what I've learned is that when people give, you're helping them as well. You know, right now, there's certainly the anxiety around climate change. And what we find is, you know, talking to people when someone donates to solar aid, we've always asked them, can you tell us why? And again, and again, people will say, you know, I was feeling anxious about the situation in the world. And I saw this, and this feels like I can do something. And so I think it's always worth remembering, when people do that, they're getting something in return. And what excites me a lot about solar aid, despite the name, we're not a classic charity, we're not giving handouts, we run what we would call a social enterprise in the communities we operate in southern Africa. And we don't give solar products away, we sell them. We build, you know, local capacity for businesses, often led by women. And, and that actually spreads faster than handouts of aid. And it's more sustainable. And then from my perspective, as a fundraiser, what sustainable fundraising, that's about the sort of income that comes in and builds and builds, you know, it's not just like a one off hit wonder. It's, it's people who will come back to you. And that needs really building great relationships, giving people great feedback, making them feel really good about their support, working with corporates where you've got shared purpose. So it's, that's the sort of income that organizations like ours really need. And we can then plan ahead. And, you know, think years ahead, you know, rather than than, you know, the next six months or so. So it's, it's all sort of part and parcel of that. That's great. You mentioned about working with corporates, and you know, the energy sector, all these sustainability sector is all related to industries. So tell me more about how you work with the corporate sector, because they're the main renewal energy source around the world. And that's what I understand. Yeah, I think what we've learned is a key thing is what's the shared purpose between you and and the company and not necessarily to go sort of cap in hand and say, Look, we're a charity. But to really actually understand their business objectives and their challenges, you know, maybe they're struggling to retain staff. And, you know, we can help bring a potential sense of purpose, or, you know, maybe there's a particular targets that they want to achieve, and we can help, we can help, help contribute to that in some way. So I think it's seeing it in that way. And then you get to know each other. And then you talk about partnerships over a period of time. And you avoid, you know, in my world, there's the classic, what we call charity of the year, where a company will invite lots of charities to apply for their charity of the year, and one gets chosen, it's a it's a bit like a beauty parade. And it's quite frustrating, really, because although you even if you get awarded it, it's only a year. And then you've got to replace that. That's not sustainable fundraising, whereas a long term partnership, where someone commits to you for three, five, possibly more years, is really great. You get to know each other. And it's a bit like friendship, isn't it? You know, the more you get to know each other, you know, what, like, you know, you know, what really sparks each other. And you can support each other going forward. And corporates also have amazing expertise and resources. And once you get to know that you can then call on their guidance, beyond, you know, them giving you a donation. We recently attended an exhibition in London, and we had a company that gave us all the help in designing the stand. They even gave us the stand to use. And it's that sort of expertise, we just don't have in the house. Tell me about this partnership, because, you know, in the past, we heard about Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. And these days, all the corporates are talking about ESG, environment, social and governance. So what's the difference? What has shifted between the corporates? Because now they're talking more about partnership rather than charity of the year. So I think CSR was a little bit of a spin. Whereas ESG is, do you really mean it? You know, is it really underpinning your business and your thinking? And I think it's starting to matter to staff as well. So it's almost getting corporates really serious, because of course, they have huge resources. And, you know, even in the context where I work with SolarAid, we realized that organizations like us are not the answer. You know, what we want to do is harness the market and really create a vibrant market for solar products across Sub-Saharan Africa. And so it's the power of our enterprise to harness. And so I think it's, yeah, there's a real potential opportunity, but it's getting that switch, because you do come across still a bit of that old style mentality within companies when they come across a charity, and it's trying to, you know, they have a little charity budget, whereas actually what you're trying to do with a partnership is say, well, look, we could really help you in all sorts of ways, which actually means you should be accessing their marketing budgets or their human resource budgets or things that really add value to their business. And that's where true partnership lies. And I think this area of ESG fits really naturally with a lot of NGOs, because, you know, we're totally immersed in this, aren't we? And we're really trying to think, how can we make an impact and there's real expertise and understanding and impact measurement and so on and so forth. So I think it's a really interesting time. And, yeah, and absolutely, I was at a talk only this week, where the guidance was that, yeah, there's a, you know, ESG is a huge opportunity for for nonprofits like ours to engage the corporate world. That's interesting. And also, because of this UN sustainable development goal, although half of we are halfway there near 2030. Everyone is speaking in the same language for the first time, the government, the private sector, as well as the charities and aid agencies. So which is good, but we don't have enough time in terms of the time of, you know, the global clock is ticking in terms of climate change and other problems big, especially because solar works more in Africa. And we've seen so many conflicts out there, and there is not enough funding. So what is your reflection on that? Well, I think the first thing about that common language is great, isn't it? Because we can point to that deadline, that 2030 deadline, and a lot of people are aware of that. And, you know, the fact is certainly from the SDG for energy seven, we're way behind track. And, and the people who will benefit the most from renewable energy, you know, they're the least likely to gain access to it. And that's something we want to change. And, you know, and we think it can, you know, we think the solutions are there. And I think it's, it's, that's where the opportunity is, isn't it is showing that, you know, if we're really serious about this goal, that there are some remarkable innovations, and it's leaning into it. And making that change, changing that narrative. And I truly believe it can happen. You know, we just got to lean into it. This is it, you're such an optimistic person. But now tell me what makes you unhappy? What makes you frustrated? The challenges you feel is really difficult to get by? Um, gosh, what makes me unhappy? Well, I, I think it's, I think there can be an expectation, particularly in my world to results now, you know, deliver tomorrow, raise the income, you know, and even a year is not a very long period of time. You know, if you think about your own financial situation, and you're obviously, maybe you're earning income, or you've got some investments, but it takes time. And so it's having the time to to really do that and do it, you know, sustainably and, and having that pressure put on you, which I've had many, many times in my career can, can be extremely frustrating. And the irony is, of course, if you really want to make a leap, you know, it actually means you're going to have to embrace a bit of innovation. And that means the F word, that means the failure word, and you've got to be willing to fail and have permission to fail. And that's only through that, that sometimes you have amazing insights and leaps that you have the breakthrough. But it's, it's so it's that sort of balance that is really, really hard to achieve. And so that's what can really frustrate me and have done. But you know, this is it, Richard, even when you're talking about your frustration with such an optimism. I don't think I've ever seen you unhappy. You're talking about with frustration with so much positive vibe. It's amazing. So in terms of reflecting back, because you mentioned you studied engineering, and now you work in a totally different world. But when you look the full circle, you are working with the energy providers, you are using somehow some of your engineering qualification, I'm guessing. Yeah, well, engineering is all about constructing something and bringing something new into the world. And I think, in a way, what what I do as a fundraiser is I connect people, I connect people from perhaps two different worlds and trying to bring them together. And there's a real desire on both sides to, yeah, to sort of, you know, make something better as a result of it. And I think that's magic. I think that's, that's humanity, isn't it? At its best. And right now, you know, we're seeing some pretty poor acts of, you know, we need something where people can come together and solve a problem. And I think it's there for the taking. Yes, you have always that sunny smiley face. That makes a big difference. So I want to ask, what is your personal resilience? How do you stay positive and stay calm? Do you have any Mars mantra? Well, personally, you know, I think exercise, you can never get enough of it. I like to take time on things. My latest thing is making sourdough, you can't rush it, you've got to take time to produce something. And I think that's, that's a clue to my mantra is, take your time, but make progress every week, you know, take one step forward at a time. And often, the fastest way I've learned is slow, but steady progress. And I've come to appreciate the tortoise actually has, you know, that that little fable of the hare and the tortoise, the tortoise is quite smart. And, and if we were to do that, if we were all to make steady progress, every week, every day, then, then actually those impossible dreams, you know, are achievable. Thank you, Richard, do you have anything else you want to add for our listeners? No, other than it's a pleasure to be talking with you. And yeah, I've really enjoyed, you know, sharing a few anecdotes and stories. Yes, and I've also enjoyed looking at your smiley, sunny face. Although the weather is very dull and grey today. The sun is out just beyond me. There are some clouds, but there is some sun out there. Yes, that's why you are the solar man. Thank you so much, Richard, and have a good day. Yeah, you too. Thank you.