Fundraising needs a digital reboot
The third sector is facing a reputational crisis in fundraising. When the heads of four of the UK’s major charities appeared in front of MPs during an investigation into dodgy practices earlier this month, they blamed the unscrupulous tactics of outside agencies.
Whether this sticking plaster holds has yet to be seen. When we are appointed as a supplier to any of our clients we endeavour to act with the same decency and integrity they’d expect from their own staff, so why do charities continue to employ these (potentially) reputationally toxic organisations?
Because everybody else is. In a sector in which any marginal differentiation or competitive advantage can’t be ignored, keeping up with the Joneses is paramount. But it shouldn’t be.
With the government increasingly relying on the third sector to pick up the slack in delivering services that it can’t afford to fund - and supporters ever more selective about who they give their hard earned ￡’s to - those who panic face a crisis. Operating in an increasingly competitive field shouldn't mean operating in an increasingly aggressive one.
Many – and I count myself among their number – simply won’t give money to those known to use dirty tricks in their fundraising endeavours. Ethical use of resources used to be the byword, as charities clamoured to have the highest number of pence per pound invested in services. Discerning supporters will now consider ethical collection of resources in their decision-making process.
This year, the UK will became first country in the world where half of all ad spend goes on digital media. We need to be careful that in addressing the issue of hounding folk offline we don’t simply shift the problem into becoming an online one. Digital advertising spend - whilst fantastic for marketers in terms of measurement – can often have a painfully low ROI, much like door stepping. We need to be careful that we don’t replace one ineffective (and, as it turns out, harmful) numbers game with another.
Instead, let’s be more innovative. Let’s find interesting ways to capture peoples’ imaginations.
The message needn’t even be solely about supporting charities. Many young people (and yes, despite the prefix I’m still counting myself among their number) donate to support a friend or relative doing something special – which happens to be for charity. Altruism takes many forms these days, and the successful fundraisers will be those who cut through the noise to genuinely appeal to supporters in ways that have meaning for them.
Check out our award-winning work with WaterAid which uses new approaches to gifting, celebration and fundraising to engage new audiences in a guilt-free way. And get in touch if you’d like us to do some something GOOD for you.