After a troublesome year consisting of negative stories about how charities conduct their fundraising, a new study shows the real impact this could have on their ability to raise money. 42% of people surveyed say that negative stories in the media have made them less likely to donate, and 47% of respondents say charities contact them too regularly.
The suicide of 92-year old Olive Cooke brought the issue of ‘aggressive fundraising’ to national media attention, after it turned out she had been contacted thousands of times by different charities. Her family made it clear that her death in fact had nothing to do with charities, but the reputational damage had already been done. Older people seem to have been affected the most, with 59% of over 55s complaining that charities contact them too much. This is in comparison with 39% of the 18 to 54 year age bracket, which in itself is still a large minority.
The survey was completed by YouGov on behalf of REaD Group, who are the UK’s largest independent Data Communications Group. Chief executive, Jon Cano-Lopez said, “It seems rather naive to target one segment time after time after time … If you only ever target the recent donors or fixed groups, such as females over 55, you are creating a self-fulfilling model that will eventually reach saturation and by definition ignores the rest of the population.”
In the internet based, information driven world we live in today, it is hard for a single charity to stand out from the crowd in any particular way. Because of this, it should not come as much of a surprise that charities are increasingly focusing on their core base of supporters – the older generation are less likely to be online. However, if charities want to stay competitive into the future, they will need to find inventive and exciting ways to appeal to the younger generation.
