Charities must improve transparency to boost engagement
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Charities must find new ways to engage with supporters and keep up with changing attitudes towards donating if they are to survive, according to a study by Cancer Research.
The charity claims that the third sector must improve transparency over how funds are spent to counter declining trust in the sector, and invest more in grass-roots projects to build advocacy and increase their supporter base.
Cancer Research also identified eight types of donor and the key factors that influence them to give to charity. The findings are part of a segmentation study, carried out by Spring Research, to help it better understand consumers’ relationships with charities and drive “every aspect” of supporter engagement.
The charity says that the “life stage” is a key driver of charitable giving. Young people are more apathetic towards donating money to charity because it is not seen as “the norm” as it is by older people.
The research comes as several charities launch mobile fundraising to tap into the growing use of mobile devices as a new channel to engage with supporters.
The Charities Aid Foundation and TxtLocal’s SMS fundraising services and the smartphone app “Giveonthemobile” are all designed to appeal to younger supporters by making it easier to donate money to larger or small charities using mobile devices.
The platforms allow charities to quickly set up fundraising campaigns in response to emergencies as well as build it into ongoing supporter campaigns.
YouGov Insight:
The Ethical Consumer
- 7 out of 10 shoppers say they like shopping with companies who ’visibly give something back to society’
- 81% of UK consumers say that they do not like buying products from companies they disapprove of.
- Only 30% say they manage to buy solely from companies that conform to their ethical standards
- Half of UK consumers say that they would like to buy from companies that have a strong Corporate Social Responsibility programme in place.
- 61% of consumers say they hear a lot about Corporate Social Responsibility but ’nothing of any substance’
Click here for more information on this YouGov market report
Readers' comments (2)
Dawn Rowley | Thu, 2 Dec 2010 11:18 am
Mobile and text messaging has real place to play in charitable giving, however, always be aware of where the money can be going with shortcodes http://www.mediaburst.co.uk/blog/why-charities-shouldnt-use-text-messaging/
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Pete Stevens | Fri, 10 Dec 2010 4:15 pm
For charities targeting young donors I think mobile is key and more important than apps. Providing a mobile version of your website with compelling content and an easy-to-use donor process may be more beneficial than an app.
This blog post explains why. http://www.gossinteractive.com/charity-mobile-web
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