Credit crunch or something else? – What is really impacting your fundraising
Howard Lake | 7 November 2008 | Blogs
How is the credit crunch impacting your charity’s fundraising? – is one of the questions everybody in the sector seems to be asking.
The response from the Christian charity sector, according to a recent survey conducted by FICO (Fundraisers in Christian Organisations), showed that:
12% of those surveyed have experienced increase in their giving
32% have experienced no change
12% of those surveyed have experienced a decrease of 5% in their giving
18% have experienced a decrease of 10%
26% have experienced a decrease of 15%
What do you make of this data? Where is your charity’s giving in this spectrum?
The majority of those surveyed (56%) stated that their giving has decreased. But the question I have for them and you (the reader)is: how much of the decline can be explained by the credit crunch and how much can be attributed to other factors?
For example, in direct mail fundraising how much of the decline can be explained by factors like the popularity of the cause/programme with your supporters, the weakness of the cause concept or a poorly presented ask, etc?
The credit crunch is real – but is that the major reason why some aspects of our fundraising are not succeding?
So, next time you want to say that the credit crunch is impacting your charity’s giving – take a look at other factors too, examine the data and take the right steps to strengthen your fundraising.
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.