Oxfam session to start #ioffc day 3 - @m_sherrington starts with a raw note: ‘I tweeted that this would be like therapy, and it is’
Crisis is not driven by the media storm. It started in Haiti in 2010. @m_sherrington: says @oxfamgb had unprecedented 13 day front page and TV headlines. “It was insane!”
.@m_sherrington was in Nairobi when “the shit hit the fan”. Flew back to London, straight into twice a day crisis meetings for three weeks #ioffc
.@nicola_tallett says @oxfamgb went straight into its emergency protocols. Same as it would for an international emergency #ioffc
Social media mentions went for 3k a month to over 180k. “Anyone who says any publicity is good publicity has never lived through something like this,” says @nicola_tallett #ioffc
Charity has been smashed by cancellations/attrition. @nicola_tallett says @oxfamgb had the same amount of cumulative attrition in the first seven months of the year than they usually saw over a year #ioffc
At the beginning @oxfamgb got it wrong says @m_sherrington. Says in the first days it was “utterly bewildering”. Felt that charity had done nothing wrong, was unfair. But says soon realised “no-one cares, the narrative is different and what comeback can we have?” #ioffc
The @oxfamgb media team didn’t even have all the files on Haiti. Had to go back through archives says @m_sherrington #ioffc
.@nicola_tallett says in the midst of the crisis, she had a half hour internal meeting. The results of which were up on the @guardian news pages before the meeting finished. Staff were hurting too #ioffc
It’s been an absolute rollercoaster. @nicola_tallett “I’ll be very proud of myself if I get through this without crying” #ioffc
.@nicola_tallett gives shout out to @oxfamgb’s shop volunteers and face-to-face fundraisers. Missed only a few days due to beast from the east #ioffc
.@m_sherrington had his birthday on day 8 of the crisis. Went and saw Hamilton. Had his first full day off 19 days later #ioffc
.@m_sherrington says every area of @oxfamgb has been affected. There’s been new work streams for all on top of biz as usual #ioffc
“It was mayhem but also total control. All hands on deck, including ex-staff” @m_sherrington #ioffc
.@nicola_tallett says at a point “hope became really important” to the staff. “Hope that @oxfamgb will survive. That oxfam will come back bolder and stronger” than before #ioffc
.@oxfamgb is still in something of a crisis says @m_sherrington but the crisis has been internalised to stabilise the charity #ioffc
95% regular donors have stayed on with @oxfamgb “they’ve given us the benefit of the doubt and it’s been very humbling” says @m_sherrington #ioffc
Big takeaway from that: being caught in the eye of an extended media shit storm looks awful. Would not recommend. #ioffc
