NDCS has hired most of EveryChild’s in-house face-to-face fundraising team after the international development charity decided to cease the practice in the UK.
NDCS, a charity supporting deaf children, now has an in-house face-to-face fundraising team of 30 - its first in-house team - but will continue to work with agencies around the country. It intends to ‘go live’ with the in-house team this month in London, Birmingham and Leeds.
NDCS' move to in-house street fundraising is part of a wider trend, reported in the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association's annual figures on face-to-face recruitment, which found that half of all street fundraising sign-ups last year was the result of an in-house team - up from just one in four in 2011/12. This increase was against a general fall in street fundraising sign-ups to a record low.
A spokesman for EveryChild told civilsociety.co.uk: “As part of a change in long-term strategic direction, EveryChild has decided to cease face-to-face individual supporter recruitment in the UK. We are delighted that our timing has coincided with NDCS's decision to develop an in-house team and that so many of the team have joined them.”
Everychild would not comment on how many staff were working in its in-house team, nor what this new strategic direction entails.
Mike Wade, NDCS director of fundraising and communications, said that the decision to snap up the EveryChild team was informed by the need for his charity to increase income, and the lack of capacity in face-to-face agencies to take on more work. “The pressure was on,” he said.
“Having reviewed the marketplace, the creation of an in-house face-to-face team was the obvious choice to increase our sustainable, long-term income.
“When EveryChild decided to discontinue its face-to-face fundraising in the UK, we were fortunate in being able to recruit a number of their experienced staff and field recruiters. Both charities work to support disadvantaged children around the world, to help them to reach their potential, so there was a natural fit.
“We remain committed to working in partnership with face-to-face agencies; they have given us fantastic service and will continue to do so. But the addition of the in-house team gives us the opportunity to expand, which the agencies could not offer.”
