The future of
fundraising
Challenges, issues and ideas
December 2015
Page 2
“There’s too
much larking
about in
today’s
fundraising”
“Just give me the
money and no
one gets hurt...”
Page 3
EVERYBODY STAND UP
Sit down if...
You reckon this is all going to blow over
You’ve written 3 or more papers for
trustees on the crisis in fundraising
Gone to 2 or more meetings about...
You’re forecasting individual income to
be down next year
Page 4
“The Olive Cooke story ran and ran, not because it
was true, but because people believed from their
own experiences that it could be. They empathised
with feeling hounded by fundraising. We need to
minimise the aggravation.”
Joe Saxton NFP Synergy
Page 5
The world has changed around us
“The web is the biggest evolution in communication since
the invention of print. It is not merely a new
communication vehicle but represents a fundamental
change in the rules of engagement...In the old marketing
world a business would pay money to interrupt what we
were doing and shout its message at us...Previously, we
were prepared to put up with the shouting and unwanted
messages because they often proved to be a useful
source of information.”
Stickier Marketing, Grant Leboff 2014
Page 6
The world has changed around us
“However, today this has changed. We have plenty of
access to information...These communications, therefore,
have become a major inconvenience....because they no
longer provide value, they now, for the most part, have
become irritating...Any form of direct communication – for
example email, direct mail, telephone calls – that can be
considered intrusive by a prospect and has not been
requested, will damage your brand. Of course, there will
always be exceptions to the rule. However, it is an
extremely tenuous marketing strategy to spend valuable
resources attempting to be one of the exceptions.”
Page 7
Trust
with
data
varies
Page 8
So, what we have done to respond
to the crisis in fundraising...
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Actions taken include:
• Stopped activity - lots of it
• Internal Audit investigation
• Reviewed all telephone agency scripts, fundraiser guidance and
training materials
• Developed a new Fundraising Policy including specific chapters
on
• Vulnerable people
• Solicitation statements policy with clearer more channelspecific guidance for fundraisers
• Policy and process for third party agency management and
supervision to including: pre-contract checks,
monitoring/mystery shopping and contract review.
• Set new contact frequency rules by channel
• Refreshed sign-off procedures
• Reviewed data protection statements, opt outs and “how to
contact us” in all communications.
Page 12
360,000
2012 - Nov
2012- Dec
2013- Jan
2013- Feb
2013- Mar
2013- Apr
2013- May
2013- Jun
2013- Jul
2013 - Aug
2013 - Sep
2013 - Oct
2013 - Nov
2013 - Dec
2014 - Jan
2014 - Feb
2014 - Mar
2014 - Apr
2014 - May
2014 - Jun
2014 - Jul
2014 - Aug
2014 - Sep
2014 - Oct
2014 - Nov
2014 - Dec
2015- Jan
2015 - Feb
2015 - Mar
2015 - Apr
2015 - May
2015 - Jun
2015 - Jul
2015 - Aug
2015 - Sep
2015 - Oct
Decline and rise and fall of Oxfam
regular givers
Unrestricted GB
395,000
390,000
385,000
380,000
375,000
370,000
365,000
Page 13
Actions taken include:
• Stopped activity - lots of it
• Internal Audit investigation
• Reviewed all telephone agency scripts, fundraiser guidance and
training materials
• Developed a new Fundraising Policy including specific chapters
on
• Vulnerable people
• Solicitation statements policy with clearer more channelspecific guidance for fundraisers
• Policy and process for third party agency management and
supervision to including: pre-contract checks,
monitoring/mystery shopping and contract review.
• Set new contact frequency rules by channel
• Refreshed sign-off procedures
• Reviewed data protection statements, opt outs and “how to
contact us” in all communications.
Page 14
Actions taken include:
• Changed all contracts with Oxfam fundraising staff to make acting
in line with the IoF code a condition of employment
• Set up formal quarterly reviews of performance of all large
fundraising campaigns
• Commenced a more structured training programme for all
Fundraising staff on IoF codes.
• Completed thorough review of all marketing consents on our
database and put in place rules to ensure that we are compliant in
particular with ICO clarification on TPS
• Reviewed complaints procedure and monitoring especially
involving our external agencies.
• Added compliance related risks to our Fundraising Risk Register
• Put in place 24 hour ‘cool off’ period for all 2 stage fundraising
campaigns
• Checked all web-forms for compliance and briefed all changes.
• Begun re-tender of telephone fundraising agencies
Page 15
What do you need to do now ?
1) KEEP FUNDRAISING
2) Are you and your teams clear about how your
organisation – selects agencies, monitors their
activity, how you construct solicitation statements,
manage complaints, establishes TPS consent?.
3) What is your policy on how fundraisers are paid?
4) When did you last return a donation to a vulnerable
person or identify someone who is potentially
vulnerable?
5) Do you have a crisis media plan in place – when was
it last tested? Are you prepared to speak to the
media?
Page 16
What does your team need?
1) Resilience – you can be a beacon of positivity but you
have to choose to be so
2) Information – what’s happening, what’s changing,
what don’t we know
3) Supportive organisation – senior management,
trustees, media and PR team
4) Honesty
5) Time to think
Page 17
Be the master of your
own destiny
1) Make an opportunity out of a crisis
2) What is your vision for the future of
fundraising in your organisation?
3) Where can you diversify and innovate – new
products, new markets, new channels
4) Help your organisation understand and
contribute to new ways of engaging with
supporters
5) From the supporter’s shoes
Page 18
What is our new world?
“Academic research
suggests that amid a
complex range of internal
motivations and external
influences, asking is an
important part of the
decision to give to
charity... altruism and
reciprocity are motivating
factors, but these
nevertheless require both
awareness of need or the
cause, and the external
trigger to give. The ask to
give that is the core of
fundraising practice is a
necessary one...”
Page 19
PROUD TO BE A FUNDRAISER
Page 21
Thank you
Questions?
Page 22
Individual Giving
Conference 2015
Headline Sponsor
Excellent fundraising for a better world
Sponsor
#IoFIG
Improving public trust in
charities
Vicky Browning, director
CharityComms
@browning_vicky
About CharityComms
Our vision
Our vision is for effective and inspiring communications to
be at the heart of every charity’s work for a better world.
Our purpose
We improve the standard of communications and champion
its role in the sector. We represent, support, inspire, connect
and inform our members and the wider charity
communications community.
The Understanding Charities Group
Our goal is to secure public support for the charity sector
in the long term based on increased public trust and
confidence in the sector.
Four strands of work
• Narrative
• Media
• Engagement
• Evidence and research
How the UK public thinks charities work
How (large) modern charities
actually work
Why does this matter?
There is a disconnect between public perception and reality
• Lack of understanding of the scale, scope and
diversity of the sector
• Lack of understanding of how we operate
• Suspicions about money spent on salaries, admin
and fundraising
• No full appreciation of the contribution charities make
• Polarised media stories: heroes or villains
Why does it matter?
• Loss of trust
• Loss of support
• Loss of income
• A direct impact on our ability
to deliver our vital work
What can we do?
• Sort out the issues causing concern
• Improve the way we tell our stories
• Improve our understanding of how the public
engages with and understands charities
• Improve our understanding of what drives trust
and confidence
• Be more transparent and responsive
• Be better at influencing/balancing
media coverage
What does success look like?
What is the media strand doing?
Two key areas of work
• Rebuttal
• Improving generic coverage
What does the narrative need to do?
We believe in order to have trust and confidence,
people need to have a good knowledge and
understanding of charity
Telling a better story about charities
• Charity is about people making a difference to the problems
in the world they care about, and want to help solve.
• Charities can help them do that.
Narrative: key messages
• Why charity exists – the need:
We live in an imperfect world, an unfair world, a world of
problems.
• Why charity happens – beliefs and motivations:
There are things we can’t accept and have to act upon.
People share a basic humanity, and have a charitable
instinct, to care enough to want to help.
With passion, drive and expertise people can change the
world. They want to join in and be part of it.
We have already changed the world for the better in many
ways. But there is still so much to do.
Narrative: key messages
• What charity hopes to achieve – vision and ambition:
A fairer and better world, now and for future generations.
• What difference charity makes to individual people –
benefits and impact:
Charity touches all of us in many ways, often unseen. It
makes our society richer and warmer. We all benefit from
that, though those most in need benefit more directly.
Narrative: key messages
• How does charity make a difference?
People with passion and commitment come together to
make things better for others. Charities can harness and
organise the passion, skills, voluntary time and professional
expertise of committed people, to make a difference.
Narrative: key messages
• Why us – what makes charity and charities special?
We understand the challenges, and we share a common
humanity. Charity is “of, for and by the people”; an
expression of people’s will to come together to make a
difference, to do things that no-one else can or will do.
Charities are the vehicles they choose to do that, fuelled by
the same motivations, and their desire and responsibility to
do the best they can makes them want to be professional
and expert at what they do.
• Why you – why should you feel good about charity and
charities?
Because you’re part of it: we can only achieve this together.
Who is our audience?
Our ultimate audience is the British public
We will reach them via the sector:
• Trustees
• Chief executives
• Communications professionals
• Fundraising professionals
• Other charity staff
Who is our audience?
Through our charity audience we will reach:
• Volunteers
• Beneficiaries
• Other supporters
(eg donors, campaigners)
• Media
• Other key influencers (eg politicians)
When will our work be done?
What else is happening?
Thanks for having me!
Any questions?
[email protected]
@browning_vicky
charitycomms.org.uk
@CharityComms
Individual Giving
Conference 2015
Headline Sponsor
Excellent fundraising for a better world
Sponsor
#IoFIG