How Dominic Cummings trip to Barnard Castle helped boost giving to charity

You might not realise it but Dominic Cummings trip to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight has helped boost giving to charity.

Bluefrog's research amongst donors started in March 2020. We saw the collapse in trust in Boris Johnson started on May 26th 2020 after the Downing Street garden press conference from Dominic Cummings.

People became much more likely to notice dishonesty after that point as they were keen to have doubts assuaged or suspicions confirmed.

Because dishonesty and unethical behaviour continued, trust was slowly lost even amongst Tory supporters. The fact that the whole party seemed to be engaged in ignoring or justifying this behaviour damaged the Conservative brand.

Unless you were part of the absolute dark blue core surrounded by other like-minded tories, it became difficult to ignore that you were part of an organisation with very negative associations.

The reaction against this boosted the reputation of orgs doing good, i.e. The NHS and charities (particularly 'local' ones). Amongst 'tories' it allowed you to demonstrate some 'difference' by giving, For others it offered you a concrete way to demonstrate what you believe in.

This boost in support for the charity sector has not been lost as the need to have societal 'groups' that can be trusted is very strong in the face of what the government has been doing. If you can afford it, giving reaffirms who you are and what you want society to be.

That is helping to drive generosity.

But the biggest factor in decision making about giving is seeing and responding to need - either from media reports or from being asked. Donors need to be able to have some control over matters that they care about or about the direction society is moving in.

That is why it is increasingly important to ask for help (send out appeals) and to show the impact that giving has made (send out good thanks and good feedback).

Demonstrating impact reinforces respect and empowers the giver. This provides huge emotional rewards from giving. Handled well, charities can create long-lasting levels of loyalty by tackling the donor's sense of helplessness. Donors want to do good. Our role is to show them how.

It's also worth pointing out that if Johnson hadn't protected Cummings at the time of Barnard Castle and simply sacked him, the large flag in the sand saying 'Boris can't be trusted' might not have been planted and the many smaller scandals might not have been noticed. And Johnson might still be expecting to be PM up until the next election.

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