Black holes in databases put fundraisers at disadvantage
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Charity watchdog Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) has warned the bodies it oversees to improve their use of data after seeing complaints about direct mail jump by 86%.
The watchdog’s research reveals that poor data leads to one sixth of all complaints against fundraising communications and adds that the number of complaints against direct mail from charities rose to 9,462 last year, despite a 27% drop in the number of appeals sent through the post.
The annual survey also reveals that 76% of all complaints about email fundraising campaigns were around data protection.
Most direct mail complaints were also to do with poor data, such as mail sent to people who had died, followed by the frequency of appeals and tone of voice.
However, street fundraising continued to receive the most complaints as a percentage of activity at 0.17%, compared with 0.006% of direct mail and 0.03% of telemarketing appeals receiving complaints.
FRSB chief executive Alastair Mclean says: “Although fundraising complaints topped 18,000, this figure is a low proportion of overall fundraising activity.
“As a sector, charities need to ensure that the same care and attention is given to the use of email addresses as a donor’s telephone number or address.”
The watchdog made its first ruling against a charity in 2010 after it failed to resolve complaints about its cash collection practices.
The FRSB’s 1,237 members include major charity brands such as The Samaritans and NSPCC.
YouGov Insight:
Charity Shops
- Charity shops are widely supported by UK shoppers with 73% buying from charity shops.
- However, purchasing by many is likely only to be occasional as 36% of adults had not purchased from a charity shop in the last six months.
- The most popularly bought items are books (24% purchase penetration) and clothes (18%).
- 90% of adults state that they donate to charity shops but 22% indicated that they had not done so in the last six months.
- The most popularly donated items are clothing (62%), books (38%) and footwear (30%).
- In all categories more people donate than buy implying that demand is unlikely to outstrip supply.
Click here to read the YouGov Charity Shops Report.
Readers' comments (1)
Lara | Wed, 1 Jun 2011 10:24 am
This is why targeted personalised marketing is so important. Undestanding your visitors (and being aware that they are still alive!) is absolutely vital in providing excellent and accurate customer service and in the case of the charity sector, repeat donors.
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