what's wrong with fundraising. iof 2015 presentation

#charityonslaught

What’s wrong with fundraising?

“Computerised letters feign personal engagement, tiny sums are cited to heal wretched lives. How callous are we to fling them in the bin?”

Libby Purves

The Times. 18 May, 2015,

“A curb on predatory charities is long overdue”

“How can we respect it when it won’t even question its own misbehaviour because it’s a “charidee” and therefore axiomatically virtuous…Big Charity is becoming a monster.”

Libby Purves



The Times. 9 January, 1885,

“Measured by money, the London charities are the

equals of several independent Governments.

Their revenues are more than twice that of the Swiss Confederation. They slightly exceed that of Sweden, and

greatly that of Denmark.”

£4,447,436


“Measured by money, the London charities are the

equals of several independent Governments.

Their revenues are more than twice that of the Swiss Confederation. They slightly exceed that of Sweden, and

greatly that of Denmark.”


£6,572,000,000(relative to total output of UK economy)


“Several thousands of trained secretaries,

assistant secretaries, and clerks have to earn a

comfortable subsistence out of the subscriptions. A vast

army of messengers, collectors, and canvassers has next to be fed before the ostensible objects of

charity are admitted to pick up the remaining crumbs.”


“We show the artisan who knows and detests the

results of misguided charity, that there is a better way. We constantly win to our side the impulsive donor,

not merely by showing her where her charity has failed,

but also by helping her to make it succeed.”

The Courier. 15 June, 1906,

“Councillor Edwards said he was requested by the local C.O.S. to provide a weekly sum towards providing a

pension for a man he knew but he resented the request to bind himself to a sort of

ground rent for an indefinite period of time. He thought

that a direct insult and refused to reply to the

letter.”


“Mr. W. H Leach said that in that particular case, Mr

Edwards was looked upon as an “appropriate source” of charity and he was sorry that he proved to be not so

(laughter).”


“Mr. J.S. Phillpotts said that if Mr. Edwards had gone to

the office he would have realised how simple the

matter really was. He would not have been bound to give a sum weekly, but could do

so as he chose. It was astonishing how people read into letters things which were not there.”


The organisers of flag days are determined to kill the fund that lays the golden egg . . . Last week we had a flag day on behalf of the Star and Garter Home . . . two or three days later there was a flag day on behalf of a home for waifs and strays. Today ladies were selling flags for the provision of YMCA Huts . . . three street collections within the space of a week tends to destroy a movement which had been splendidly supported by the public.

Liverpool Post, May 1916.

The Guardian. 3 February, 1927

“There can be no logical defence of the practice…of relying upon the average man’s fear of seeming mean to extract from him a contribution to a cause about which he may care nothing and which he might be ill able to support.”

The Mercury. 28 February, 1936

“There is always an outburst of protests against the flag day method of collecting funds for charity. ‘We are sick and tired of them’ say some. ‘There are too many.’

“A tree may have been allowed to bear too much fruit, but it is no remedy to cut down the tree at it’s roots.”

The Guardian. 4 February, 1939

Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 25 July, 1939

“The number of door-to-door charity collections has increased by 500 per cent, during the past five years, and the business has become so prosperous that residents in good class districts may receive as many as 30 calls a week.”

“In one case investigated recently, it was disclosed that only 2 1/2d out of every 20 shillings collected went to charity.”

£233 million

UK top tax rates

1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101 105 109 1130.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

120.00%

10%of household income

went to charity.

Some Statistics of Middle-Class Expenditure. Edward Grubb. 1895.

0.9%

2%

3.2%

Professor Yaojun Li. Institute of social Change. April 2013.

“The redistribution of income has radically changed the financial patterns of charities. It is by now a truism to say that contributions of thousands, or even hundreds, of pounds are almost a thing of the past. Money must be raised in small amounts from people whose traditions of benevolence are different from those of their predecessors, though no less sincere: who are less accustomed to giving a cheque to a worthy cause than a helping hand to a neighbour too ill to do her washing.”

The Guardian. 7 December, 1956

The Times. 29 June, 1969

“Whereas supporters were once numbered in tens, now they total thousands or hundreds of thousands.”

Save the World

£3 a month.

Quick sale!

Video 1The tragedy of the commons

March 2011

Fundraisingdetective.com


491 mailingsfrom

115 charities


12 Charities mailed 38% of all packs

8 are not members of the FRSB

37% packs came from non-FRSB members

70% organisations are FRSB members

63% of packs came from FRSB members

26 charities account for 46% of all complaints

793 charities reported no complaints

Fundraising Standards Board Complaints Report 2015

92 charities

No longer at this address – 35 stopped

Please stop mailing request – 32 stopped

Please stop mailing request x 2 – 7 stopped

The Times. 24 May, 2015

“Care home costs exceeded her income by some margin, and I persuaded her to abandon most of the standing orders. Many

charities continued to mail her despite being told of her circumstances on multiple occasions.”


“I sometimes wonder whether the letter 'P' in the acronym names of the RSPCA and the NSPCC, doesn't actually stand for

'prevention’…but for 'promotion' instead..”


Source: Charities Aid Foundation. UK Giving. 2014

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

10.7 12.6 11.9 10.613.0 11.211.2

2012/13

No real growth in amounts given by individuals

10.6

2014

£ billions. Numbers adjusted for inflation


56% 56% 54% 57%58% 55%56%

No real growth in number of donors

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012/13 2014

57%


2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

26% 29% 30% 31%29% 32%31%

2012/13

No real growth in people giving via direct debits

30%

2014

£70Moneysupermarket.com. July 2014

Utility bills

Mobile phonesInsurance

£13.7 bn

Why don’t you just put it in the bin?

Video 2This morning. 1 July 2015

“...the stark nakedness and simplicity of the conflict with which humanity is oppressed - that of getting angry with and wishing to hurt the very person who is most loved.”

John Bowlby

50%20%

25%5%

50% 20%

25%

Not afraid of entering in to relationships or being abandoned

Positive view of others, but low feelings of self-esteem. Seek high

levels of closeness. Blame themselves when things go wrong.

Positive view of themselves but a negative view of others and close

relationships. They guard themselves from pain or

abandonment by avoiding relationships.

Negative view of themselves and others. Protects self-esteem. Are

often needy but also fearful of being close to others. Often suppress own feelings because of need to please.

5%

“Behavior in which attempts to promote the welfare of another, or others, results instead in harm that an external observer would conclude was reasonably foreseeable.”

Distinguishing pathological altruism

• The distress in the other is not sufficient to warrant the costs or risks to the actor.

• The actor will complain about the consequences of their altruism.

• The values or needs within the altruist that motivate the behaviour may be irrational.

• The specific benefit of the altruism is of no real benefit to anyone and a reasonable person would have foreseen this.

Give me a place to stand, and I will move the earth.

Men don’t buy soap.

How to use insight

Video 3Old spice ad

Note: Graph shows appeal funds secured (as defined in the Ross-CASE survey) over time, with recurring gift values projected over 1 year. Week one of each appeal is counted from the date of the first appeal gift, which may not reflect the date the appeal began.

2004 Oct Appeal

2007 May Appeal

2008 May Appeal

2009 Jun Appeal

2009 Jul Appeal

2010 Mar News

2010 Sep Appeal

2010 Sep News

2011 Feb Appeal

2011 Oct Appeal

2012 May Appeal

2012 Jul Reminder

£0

£20,000

£40,000

£60,000

£80,000

£100,000

£120,000

£140,000

£160,000

Gross Income over time

£

Some people psychologically

struggle to say no

What charities could do…

• Be open and transparent with donors.

• Work together for the benefit of the voluntary sector.

• Promote tax-reliefs to their donors at every opportunity.

• Invest in major gift fundraising.

• Invest in the training and development of trustees.

• Engage young people.

“How can we respect it when it won’t even question its own misbehaviour because it’s a “charidee” and therefore axiomatically virtuous…Big Charity is becoming a monster.”

Libby Purves



Four characteristics of charities

• We must be respected as…• We must lead the sector…• Our approach is most effective because…• Our voice must be heard…

Why narcissistic CEOs kill their companies

Don Hambrick. Penn State

• Entitlement – I insist upon getting the respect that is due to me.

• Leadership/Authority – I like to be the center of attention.• Superiority – I am better than others.• Self-absorption/Self-admiration – I am preoccupied with how

extraordinary and special I am.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

-4000

-2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Donations, gifts and unrestricted grantsLegaciesFundraising costsDonations - FR costs

Action on Hearing Loss

Rebrand

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

DonationsLegacies & In-memFundraising expenditureProfit

Parkinson’s UK

Rebrand

The reason for the rise in voluntary income was "going back to good, old-fashioned fundraising".He said the charity had put an emphasis on interacting with its existing donors by holding face-to-face meetings, contacting them by telephone and sending out "really good" thank-you letters."We put a lot of time and energy into really thinking about how we welcome, support and involve our supporters," he said.

Third Sector. 30 September, 2013

Paul Jackson-Clark, Director of Fundraising

The rules of branding

• Changing the logo generally has no financial impact.

• Changing the graphic standards or visual identity has a small negative impact.

• Changing the organisations name leads to a 25% to 50% loss of revenue.

• Changing the cause identification leads to a 20% to 30% loss of revenue.

AVG £30,000+

AVG £20,000+

Doubled IncomeROI: 2.3

Highest grossing issue since 2009

Hit target in three weeks

£510k gross income

Branding AcquisitionInterruption Fashion

Disgusted or Delighted. NFP Synergy. 2004

RoI in 1st Year

£1 pack Insert0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Pre-nurseryPost-nursery

30% drop

16% increase

“Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

2%£100,000

The auditOnce a year, all current and a sample of lapsed donors must be given the opportunity to rate how they think they have been treated.

The recipients can also flag up charities who they feel have acted improperly.

All recruitment packs, calls, texts, emails, personal solicitations must offer the donor the chance to email or call with opportunities to complain and have their name added to a stop list.

Results are published in the charities annual report. The best performing receives an award.

dontaskme.com

Recognise best practice

Best 5 year growth rate

Best attrition

Best ROI

Best innovation

Best implementation of the promise

We will not put undue pressure on you.

If you do not want to give…we will respect your decision.

If you tell us that you don’t want us to contact you in a particular way we will not do so.

We take care not to cause unreasonable nuisance.

The Fundraising Promise

The Fundraising Promise is a key part of our scheme. It outlines how our members

will behave when doing their fundraising and ensures

fundraising is legal, honest, open, transparent and

accountable.

Salvation Army

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 £-

£10,000

£20,000

£30,000

£40,000

£50,000

£60,000

LegaciesTotal donations (members and public)Fundraising (exp)‘0

00’s

#charityonslaught

What’s wrong with fundraising?

what's wrong with fundraising. iof 2015 presentation

Presentations & Public Speaking