Broad charity concern over cheque abolition revealed 2

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 6 May 2011

As the Treasury Select Committee prepares to review the Payments Council proposal to phase out cheques by 2018, a survey by nfpSynergy and Fundraising has found that a significant proportion of the charity sector is extremely worried about the impact this could have on their income.

In an online survey which garnered more than 640 responses, two out of five charity respondents rated their concern level about cheque abolition as ten-out-of-ten.

A further third ranked their concern at the impact on their revenues as either eight or nine-out-of-ten.

The survey was launched just after the Committee announced that it would reopen its inquiry into the cheque abolition proposal. Its consultation closed today.

Two-thirds of charities believe the abolition of cheques in 2018, as has been proposed by the Payments Council, would have a significant or very high impact on them, especially on the level of donations from existing donor appeals. More than half think it will have the same disastrous effect on securing donations from new supporters.

At present, 40 per cent of charities say they earn between 80 and 100 per cent of their income from appeals from existing donors via cheque and a third get at least 90 per cent of their major donor income paid in by cheque.

Some of the comments submitted to the survey verged on the apocalyptic; “If cheques are abolished, so too is the voluntary sector” said one respondent, though others were more accepting of the need for charities to “move with the times”.

Respondents also supported cheque use for providing a clear paper trail, and as means of building relationships with donors, particularly those that feel writing a cheque is a more significant action than approving a bank transfer or similar.

The results of the research, revealed exclusively on Civil Society, will be submitted to the Committee today in order to provide a sense of the strength of sector feeling regarding the proposal.

The charities represented in the survey were generally small. Half have voluntary income of less than £500,000 a year, but medium and larger charities were also well represented, with 18 per cent of respondents falling into the £1-£5m voluntary income band and 8 per cent reporting donated income of £21m or more.

Click here to read the full submission by nfpSynergy and Fundraising to the Treasury Select Committee inquiry.

Directory: nfpSynergy

Place a comment

Louise Evans
development worker
Southampton Voluntary Services
9 May 2011

It's not just 'donor' income. Many small organisations raise money through shows, film nights and other events. Cheque is the favoured manner of payment for multiple ticket sales, it means individuals and groups do not have to carry or handle large amounts of cash and there is an audit trail. Groups should be praised, recognised and supported in their efforts to diversify their income through raising direct funds, which incidentally increase team working, raise the profile of their group and widen fiscal responsibility within their community

[Reply]

Jill Gaul
CEO
Norwich Door to Door
6 May 2011

I agree with the comments made, the vast majority of donations to our charity come as cheques through the post. It's an easy way for older people to operate, they like their thank you letters by return post and they are assured that they and the donation are appreciated. We do not see our core supporters using plastic or trusting of standing orders or direct debits.

[Reply]

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.