Trends in high value fundraising worldwide - Sharon Jackson

Editor's Notes

• #7: New research from The Charity Commission shows people are placing increasing importance on knowing how charities spend their money and what they achieve; 42% of people now say ‘ensuring that a reasonable proportion of a charity’s income reaches the end cause’ is the most important single factor influencing their trust. They want transparency, and are willing to challenge and go out there and do the digging themselves. This includes a willingness to examine every aspect of a product; ethics, credentials, pricing etc.The public is becoming more discriminating about financial management in charities, and are demanding more transparency from the sector Examples: New research shows that people are placing increasing importance on knowing how charities spend their money and what they achieve. This is closely linked to the social trend of consumers expecting more from organisations than ever before. Implications for Fundraising…Donors at higher levels are becoming more demanding in terms of reporting and demonstrating the impact of our work. They are also being more restricted in their giving and have higher expectations around level of engagement and involvement with the charity • One sub-trend of transparency in the charity sector is to make products and services that have been hard to pin down more tangible. Rather than give a donation to a village in Africa, buy them a cow.
• #8: (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100006882/charity-tax-reliefs-break-1bn-barrier-are-you-doing-your-bit/ )Examples: There is growth in the number of countries who are offering tax incentives to donors (individuals and corporates) to encourage philanthropy There is growing pressure across Europe for donors to be able to benefit from their countries tax incentives even when they give to organisations in another European country (recent rulings from European court have set strong precedents that this barrier to cross-Europe giving must be removed).Implications for Fundraising… Legal and tax barriers currently hamper the cross-border activities of voluntary organisations. According to HMRC, the total value of Gift Aid donations in the UK in the year to April 2005 was £2.82bn but that had risen to £4.57bn by 2009. Better still, because individuals who tick the ‘Gift Aid’ box when they help good causes enable them to reclaim basic rate tax relief from HMRC, the tax authorities made total charitable donations of just over £1bn last year.
• #9: The global recession is re-shaping giving practices.Examples:The growth in charitable giving in the UK slowed during the last recession, prompting concerns recently among many charities. Individuals have generally given more money as national wealth has increased, although in recent years there have been fluctuations. According to a report in the Guardian, big value donations, of £1m or more, have fallen far more than other donations in the recession. Implications for Fundraising… The impact of the recession on charitable giving is debateable….however, if we look across our existing markets there is no doubt its having an impact, but what do we do about it? Some sources are claiming that payroll giving is less affected than other forms of giving, and that charities seen helping people in difficult times are the ones people give up luxuries to support. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7937183.stmhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2010/mar/05/banker-bonus-charity-donations
• #10: Most emerging markets- especially in Asia – will outpace the developed economies Growth in all the emerging regions will recover in 2010 and, with the possible exception of Emerging Europe, will outpace the USA, Europe, and Japan. Non-Japan Asia will be at the forefront, with GDP growth of 7.1%. Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will see gains in the 3 – 4% range. The laggard will be Emerging Europe, which will expand only 1.7%.Top Ten Economic Predictions for 2010 – NarimanBehravesh, IHS Chief EconomistImplications for Fundraising… There is a need to move fundraising investment to where the growth is, so we don’t only grow where we already are. We need to act quickly to maximise the potential for income in the long term… Building income takes a long time and early market leaders continue to lead and grow.
• #11: Research:Communities & Local Government Citizenship Survey: 2009-10Institute of Volunteering ResearchAlthough figures don’t vary drastically from previous years, the study does show a firm commitment to volunteering and charitable giving in difficult times. Volunteering currently adds huge value to our economy and the charity sector in general- estimated contribution is £22.5billion and 1.9 billion volunteer hours Volunteering England , April 2009Furthermore, 76% of Volunteer Centers reported volunteers to a have high level of interest in using their experience of volunteering to find employment. (Institute of Volunteering Research)
• #13: http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/...lists over 2340 celebrities and the charities they support
• #14: Recent research from the Ireland Funds identified 70 million people worldwide claiming Irish descent, a single example of the 248 nationalities in the world today with the endless subset ‘tribes’ that people would see themselves as part of.http://www.thinkcs.org/2009/10/diaspora/
• #15: According to Nielsen, the average number of mobile calls we make is dropping each year, after hitting a peak in 2007. And our calls are getting shorter. In 2005 they averaged 3 minutes – now they’re almost half that.Calls and face to face calls in particular (through Skype and new mobile telephony like FaceTime) will be reserved for the sort of deep discussion that the medium does best.
• #16: Viral ticketing article:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11643405Further potential for emergency appeals? / events posted through facebook/twitter/you tube etc…donate/pass it on…)The microsite for AA’s Tesco viral spoof in 2008 (www.actionaid.org.uk/5p/) generated 67,000 hits within the first 48 hours of launch.