Cuts to child benefit payments to the rich could provide a challenge to charities trying to fundraise from this demographic, but it's not the end of the world, says David Burrows.

The government’s plan to cut child benefit to higher-rate earners doesn’t apply until 2013, but I wonder if many prosperous families, facing the prospect of losing over £100 per month, will start looking to reduce their financial commitments now.

Apologies for the pessimism but this could mean committed giving acquisition becoming even harder to parents in their forties. How many people will take out new financial commitments to help the world’s children when they feel that money is going to get tight at home? We need to watch both acquisition and retention rates carefully over the next six months.

So what should charities do? 

Well, we need to keep recruiting because the pessimism may be misplaced. After all, most families are not in the higher income bracket and won’t be affected. There are three years to go before this cut is made (assuming there is no political climb-down) and who knows where interest rates and the economy will be then? 

But as well as crossing our fingers we need to work harder. Charities that offer genuine involvement and more satisfying relationships – like child sponsorship, for instance – are likely to fare better than those who take the direct debit and do little to engage the supporter. We also need to find ways to engage older audiences in regular giving (which may not mean monthly direct debits).  

The result is the usual fundraiser's dilemma – as the budgets get tighter the need to test and take risks becomes even greater.  Digital fundraising may throw us a lifeline here – email, the web and video allow us to communicate with supporters at very low cost compared to print and post. We have the technology to involve and engage people in our work – we’ve now got to break down the barriers within charity organisations that keep fundraisers (and therefore supporters) at arm's length from ‘the good work’ and make it happen.