Opinion

Time for charities to take responsibility

Fundraising | 1 Dec 2006

Charities should take responsibility for their fundraising instead of leaving it all in the hands of their suppliers, says  Alex Haxton.

I am concerned about how old charity donors are these days. Because they are, in the main, really quite old. And this is even more concerning given that the largest portion of unsecured debt in the UK is carried by retired people.

Yet this is exactly the demographic many charities, including my own, are dependent on for much of their donor income.

After the enormous disaster appeals of 2005, the charity sector was optimistic that a whole new generation of charity donors had been awakened and mobilised.

Even though all the millions of pounds raised were channelled through only the select few DEC charities, we smaller organisations were hopeful the giving experience shared by so many would help create a greater charitable culture among younger people.

But the swell of new, younger givers hasn't yet materialised - certainly not to the extent hoped for - and charities, particularly small and medium-sized ones, are still using lists which are weighted towards the elderly population because these are the people, still, who give.

The question is, if charities stop targeting older people will they be able to raise enough funds to continue? It's essential to find more sustainable funding streams if we?re to survive.

At WER we've been going through a long and involved process over the last year to find a new fundraising partner and fundamentally change how and from whom we raise money.

We knew we needed to change our donor base and fundraising culture. We knew what we wanted from a fundraising partner - but this seemed to surprise the businesses that tendered for us.

Fundraising is such a specialist area; it's all too easy for charities to bow to their suppliers' wisdom and experience. I've seen it happen in charities I've worked for and with, as well as more widely in the sector. It's something I've come to feel very strongly about - that charities should take more responsibility for their fundraising. Don't just stick with the status quo - look ahead, and if needs be, take some risks.

I don't for one minute want to down play the expertise and creativity suppliers can offer, but they can never have the closeness to donors those working within a charity will develop and the insight that goes with it. Ultimately we know our market better than anyone, and so it's essential any marketing campaign is the result of a happy partnership drawing on the respective skills and expertise of both parties.

In the case of WER, our fundraising tender process was extremely involved. We spent a lot of time defining our brief, and meeting potential partners - finding out about them and enabling them to find out about us, our work and our culture. Then we spent a lot of time meeting their partners and suppliers. We wanted the end result to be right so the process was long but necessary, and concluded with us hiring Cascaid.

Therefore we were surprised to have feedback that of those who tendered, it was the most involved process they'd ever had to go through with a potential charity client - which is an interesting reflection on the sector.

I felt the process we went through echoed my experiences of working within the private sector. The fact it is not considered the "norm" among charities suggests decisions are regularly being made on an informal "ad hoc" basis, which in my view means the sector is missing a trick. The choice of a fundraising partner is so fundamental that time and effort should be involved in getting it right.

For WER the time and trouble were worth it. The sheer size and presence of the super-charities means that we have to look at the long-term picture, making a proper investment in our fundraising and not being afraid to explain why. We need fundraising partners to work for us, not vice versa. So I would urge small and mediumsized charitable organisations to act now, before they expire with their donor base.

Alex Haxton is director of operations for World Emergency Relief

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