# Study finds off-the-page fundraising didn't mention the recession

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/05/10/study-finds-offthepage-fundraising-didn039t-mention-recession/
- Published: 2011-05-10T08:56:54+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The fourth annual review of off-the-page fundraising, The Tick Box Report 2011, 
has found that many charities have not used the recession and its impact as a theme
in their adverts, loose inserts and mailshots during 2010-2011.

The Tick Box Report 2011, published this week by advertising, marketing and communications
consultant Andrew Papworth, studies current practice in the use of the techniques
in direct, off-the-page fundraising. The first such studies were carried out in 
1990 and 2005 and they have been annual since 2008. The new report is based on an
analysis of 185 ads, loose inserts and mailshots which appeared during 2010-2011
from 93 organisations.

“I was amazed” said Papworth “that there was not a single example where a charity
had made the case for extra support because public sector cuts and the squeeze on
disposable incomes had increased the need for their services whilst reducing their
income. It’s as if the recession hadn’t happened and the Big Society con-trick was
just a nasty dream.”

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The only possible evidence he could find of charities responding to the tough economic
climate was a tendency to reduce the entry point of the amounts asked for but to
reduce even more sharply the tops of the ranges of asks. He acknowledges that reducing
the entry point makes sense, but not the top range asks: there are plenty of people
around, he argues, who have either been untouched by the recession or have prospered
and could well afford to be more generous – perhaps even to assuage feelings of 
guilt.

Papworth conceived the Tick Box reports having noticed that while “fundraisers agonise
about a creative concept, a headline or a graphic… the business end of the communication
goes through on the nod – on a ‘same as usual’ basis.” He believes that quite small
changes to the coupon, the ask or the response options can make a significant difference
and that in order to make rational, systematic decisions about these issues it is

necessary to understand fully the range of possibilities and to appreciate what 
other charities are doing.

The 150-page 2011 edition features analysis of one-off gifts v. regular giving; 
sponsorship and membership; methods of payment accepted; donation amounts asked 
for; use of menus; ranges of asks; response methods, inclusion of Gift Aid mandates;
types of telephone numbers used; use of FREEPOST; user-friendliness of reply forms;
use of celebrity endorsements; use of incentives, gifts and rewards; saying ‘thank
you’; asking for donor data; data protection opt-outs, and other topics.

It includes charts, tables, illustrations, data, commentary, interpretation and 
opinion.

The Tick Box Report 2011 is published this week and costs £70 (postage free within
the UK and Republic of Ireland).

www.andrewpapworth.co.uk

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