Oxford Raise and Give charity is lagging behind its equivalents at other universities.
The total raised by Oxford RAG in 2008/09 of £24,314 is dwarfed by the likes of Loughborough, who raised £974,048.
Cambridge RAG have already raised £38,038 for the year 2009/10. This is more than double Oxford RAG’s current total of £16,000 for 2009/10.
Oxford RAG, whose name stands for Raise and Give, appears not to have the profile it has in other universities, despite such events as the RAG Ball, and the controversy which surrounded the censored Christ Church naked calendar.
Charles Bailey, who organised the RAG Ball, claimed that RAG “lacks publicity… people might not know who we are and what we stand for.”
Bailey went on to state that the college system at Oxford presents problems which other universities, such as Loughborough, don’t have. “People often prefer to go to college arranged events with people they know, for the charities they vote for.”
He added that “Magdalen in particular are very anti-giving money to RAG, preferring to give to their own charities.”
Anastasya Molodykh, the OUSU Charities and Community Part-Time Officer, agreed that the college system “is probably the reason for Oxford RAG not making as much as RAG at other universities.”
However, she insisted that “we are not trying to compete with colleges… it would be easier were the college system not there, but we have to work around the existing system to be as effective as possible.”
Meanwhile, Rachel Dedman, President of Oxford RAG, argued that actually “the college system is very useful, as we have reps for different colleges to help to organise and drum up interest for our events.”
“Being at Oxford does make it harder in certain ways, with our having shorter terms and a great deal more work”, admitted Dedman. However, she also pointed out, “We have great strength at Oxford with the amount of driven and creative people, who are genuinely excited about trying to raise money for charity.”
There are signs of improvement for RAG as the success of the RAG Ball highlights. The Ball made a profit of just over £5,000, given a £9,000 budget. It reached a full capacity attendance of around 350 people in its first year. Molodykh commented that it was a “very successful first Ball”, adding, “It will only get better as we gain experience in organising and publicising such events.”
Bailey claimed that RAG is also “getting better” at self-publicising. She highlighted the gain of Accenture as a sponsor. Their sponsorship is worth £2,300 per year, paying for publicity through t-shirts and posters.
The running total for 2009/10 is already well over half last year’s total. The money will not only go to RAG’s nominated charities ‘Emerge Global’, ‘Helen and Douglas House’, ‘Pathway Workshop’ and ‘Shelter’, but also to other individual charities chosen by RAG reps for individual events.
