Now is the opportunity to learn from failure – will you take it?
Howard Lake | 13 July 2015 | Blogs
Unless you have been living in a cave, you will have seen the onslaught from the Daily Mail on the charity sector last week.
Is there any truth in it? Perhaps; after all no one and nothing can be 100% perfect all of the time.
That is not to say that it is acceptable for donors to feel overwhelmed or bullied or any of the other allegations we have heard. It is of massive importance that charities are legal, open, honest and respectful to not just their donors, but also their volunteers, suppliers, employees and beneficiaries.
I’m saddened if it is the case that donors have had bad experiences, because without donors charities could not do their work. Donors are partners in driving change, and it is vital that charities strive to do everything they can to ensure the experience of giving to a charity is a good one. Time and time again.
Why the onslaught?
There have been rumblings about lack of public trust in charities for a long time, exposes on charity bad practice and the recurring debate about Chief Executives pay has also fuelled the anti-charity fire. The sad death of Olive Cooke in May was the catalyst for the latest round of charity bashing.
The sector’s response has been that it will try and do better by revising the codes of fundraising practice and regulation and ensuring that they are enforced.
It is right that codes are reassessed, and if there is bad fundraising there must be procedures in place to ensure it is stopped. But in this storm lets not forget that charities exist to drive change because there is an urgent and important need. We simply cannot do our work without the support of donors. Therefore I am perplexed as to why, with so much criticism that charities are not showing more pride in the work they do. The purpose of fundraising is to raise money, with donors help to change something for the better that both the charity and the donor care about. Why are we not bolder about how fundraised income makes a significant difference to the world? Whatever happened to #proudfundraiser? (And equally, if we are not proud of how we fundraise then I would question if we should be doing it.)
It feels that the sector has had a ticking off and is sat on the naughty step thinking about what it has done. I can’t help thinking there is more we could be doing.
Stand up for your tribe
It feels that the charities that have not been singled out in the latest b*****king are relieved that its not them and the ones that were, are battening down the hatches preparing for the next round.
Charity leaders could be working together better to stand up for their work and help people understand a different side to the story. Where are the donors, supporters, suppliers, employees and beneficiaries who have been part of life changing projects talking about their experiences that will help give a balanced picture of how and more importantly why we fundrasie? If charities are not the champions these groups of people then who is? Are we not letting them down by not being bolder?
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Is this onslaught an opportunity?
Can anyone else see the irony, that in a effort to cut costs, which I suspect is part driven by fear of criticism about spending on ‘overheads’ and the need to deliver short term ROI, charities find themselves in a Walmart ‘stack them high, sell them cheap’ business model for donor acquisition, and because of this short term approach, some agencies are then accused of bullying tactics in the pressure to meet their targets. If you cut ‘overheads’ and investment in fundraising the quality of your fundraising will inevitably suffer and this will have an impact on your donors experience and ultimately on your bottom line.
This wake up call could be an opportunity to reassess fundamental approaches to fundraising.
If, because of lack of public trust due to the latest charity criticism as well as the revision of the fundraising codes, charities will be able to mail less people less frequently it is likely to have a negative (although yet unproven) effect on giving. Charities will be forced to rethink their fundamental fundraising models.
They will need to find new ways to fundraise to make up this potential deficit because the problems they exist to solve are not going away any time soon.
This criticism must be seen as an opportunity to help the public and our donors understand how charities work. We must be prouder and braver about why we work with telephone agencies, why we employ face-to-face fundraisers, why we send letters in the post asking for money. Its not for fun or to harass people its because the money is needed to solve urgent and important problems.
It is also an opportunity to rethink about what best practice fundraising looks like. Depending on what sector you look at the figures vary, but essentially it is far more expensive to acquire new donors than it is to look after the ones you have. How many charities have all loyal supporters that they need already if they took time to identify them, understand them and serve them well?
The biggest risk to the sector is that we do nothing for fear of criticism.
I don’t think that it is the lack of opportunity to ask people for money imposed by the changes proposed to the Code that is the biggest problem for fundraising. Nor is it the impact it could have on public trust of charities. I think the biggest risk is the fear that has gripped an already risk averse sector. If charities were cautious about, standing out, taking risks, investing in testing new ways to generate income and signing off on long term investment before, they sure as hell are now.
There is enough talk about innovation and learning from failure in the sector. Here is the chance to walk the walk. Accept the criticism where warranted, learn, and bravely move on. The opportunity is now.
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.