Direct debit sign-ups, and defaults, rising

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 1 Jul 2009

The number of direct debit donors has increased significantly, but so too has the number of donors defaulting on their commitments, according to new figures.

Direct debit donor levels are 600,000 higher than 2007, according to figures from automated payment processor Bacs Payment Schemes, which has labelled reports which claim direct debit cancellations are on the rise as "misleading".

But while the number of donors has increased, the number of direct debit donations failing because the supporter has insufficient funds in their bank accounts has also risen. The number of unpaid direct debit donations, combined with actual donor cancellations, has nearly doubled since 2007, from 18,000 to 33,000 in the last year.

Michael Chambers, Bacs managing director, said that the rise in the unpaid donation levels should encourage charities to offer their donors more flexible payment dates.

"Quite often, people can struggle with a direct debit just because it lands in their bank account at, what is for them, the 'wrong' time," he said.

"The sector is clearly growing but while charities are gaining more direct debit donations than they’re losing, there’s still a job of work to be done in dealing with those payments which are not honoured."

Bacs bases its figures on information from 30 top UK charities over the period from April 2007 to April 2009.

Who's Who: Celina Ribeiro

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.