£100,000-a-year bosses driving cold-call menace
I’M A PROFESSIONAL BEGGAR
SMIRKING for the camera, Mark Astarita of the British Red Cross shows off his fancy dress costume to a gathering of charity bosses.
The Executive Director of Fundraising for the British Red Cross wears a post box, covered in charity appeals and the sign: ‘No junk mail ever’.
His outfit appears to ridicule the notices put up by desperate homeowners plagued by begging letters and cold calls.
Mr Astarita was voted by his peers as the most influential person in fundraising in the UK for the past three years – and describes himself as a ‘professional beggar’. But he now faces serious questions about tactics he employs to hit his targets.
After the suicide of Olive Cooke, 92, who had been hounded by charities, Mr Astarita cautioned against over-reaction, claiming recommendations to tighten regulation could cost the British Red Cross £2million per year.
Mr Astarita, 55, lives with his partner Angela Carver, 51, in a gated £1million Essex mansion with an indoor heated pool.
He earns a basic salary of £111,742 and is credited with raising almost £1.5billion pounds during his 20-year career. In 12 years at the British Red Cross he is said to have trebled donations. Earlier this month, Mr Astarita was awarded the OBE.
The Red Cross’s income from direct marketing last year was £93.4million, out of a total of £2 1.8million. It spends £180.7million on charity work – and 29.5 per cent of income on non-charitable activities.
MR 10% GROWTH
The Acting Director of Fundraising James Phillips is lauded for ‘driving growth’ of ten per cent in income for Macmillan every year. Mr Phillips, 44, lives in a £750,000 home in North London.
He previously worked at the Department of Health and at The National Deaf Children’s Society.
A picture posted on Twitter shows confessions he made to say sorry to his mother – including ‘bringing the police home that night’ and ‘for going to Kashmir when the embassy said “no”’. He has been in charge of fundraising for Macmillan since September last year. He believes his success is down to four principles: ‘Ask more; work as one team; use research and insight to drive decision-making; and be completely supporter-centric’.
Macmillan’s income from direct marketing last year was £47million out of a total of £ 218.4million. It spends £151.7million on charity work – and 31.5 per cent of income on non-charitable activities.
THE CAREER FUNDRAISER
PAUL FARTHING, director of fundraising at the NSPCC, has worked for big name charities such as Age UK and Cancer Research UK. He has a salary of £130,000.
But on the side he finds time to be a director of his partner Pippa Carte’s charity fundraising consultancy business, which is registered to their £800,000 detached house in Surrey.
Mr Farthing, who also writes part-time for the Guardian newspaper, has spoken to the media about the importance of repeatedly pushing a charity’s message to potential donors.
Asked what the most significant lessons he had learned from his work were, he said: ‘I’ve learned how important it is to keep giving people the key messages you want them to hear and to be consistent - as it can take time for them to get across.’
The NSPCC’s total income last year was £125.9million. It spends £97.9million on charity work, and 21.3 per cent of income on noncharitable activities.