More people would give to FSB member charities
Howard Lake | 11 October 2006 | News
Almost six in 10 people would be more likely to give to a charity if they knew it was a member of the Fundraising Standards Board (FSB).
A survey conducted by Which? and YouGov on behalf of the FSB revealed that almost one in five would be much more likely to donate.
These findings were released on the same day that the FSB launched its Fundraising Promise – the successor to its original Donors’ Charter. Some charities had been unhappy with a clause in the Charter which promised not to use excessive emotional arguments to persuade people to donate as this was seen to be too subjective and very difficult to qualify.
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After a consultation period the Fundraising Promise now asks members to sign up to six promises: to be committed to high standards; to be honest and open; to be clear; to be respectful; to be fair and reasonable; and to be accountable.
Director of fundraising at the British Red Cross, Mark Astarita said the Fundraising Promise was “much improved” and that he was “much more confident” about the document. The Red Cross has not yet signed up to the FSB, but Astarita said it wants to participate and is currently waiting to approve the contract.
At the beginning of September the FSB put back the launch of the self-regulatory scheme until the new year, saying that not enough charities had signed up. So far 98 charities have actually signed on the dotted line, and chief executive Jon Scourse said he was still confident of meeting the magic 500 number although whether that will be on1 January or a bit later, we’ll see, he said. We feel a bit like pioneers, said Scourse. We are not going to get it exactly right all at once, but we have made enormous progress since February.
The FSB is just about to launch in Scotland and is working with the Charity Commission and Guidestar to reach 45,000 charities by email. The supplier contract is now ready and Scourse said the Board was hoping for a good response.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.