# Regulation changes contributed to 6% drop in 2016-17 charity text donations, says PSA

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/08/04/regulation-changes-contributed-6-drop-2016-17-charity-text-donations-says-psa/
- Published: 2017-08-04T08:00:26+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Regulation changes and the move to ‘hard opt-in’ were causes of the 6% drop seen
in text donations in 2016-17, the Phone-paid Services Authority has said.**

The [Phone-paid Services Authority](http://psauthority.org.uk/) (PSA) revealed in
its [annual report](http://psauthority.org.uk/blogs/2017/july/annual-report-2016-17)
last month that charity text donations had dropped to £115m in the last financial
year, from £122m in 2015-16. However, despite the 6% fall, it remains the largest
market sector, with charity text donations accounting for 16% of the overall market.
The next largest market sector online is competitions at £70m. The charity sector
also scored the highest level of consumer satisfaction at 74%, followed by music
and video content at 66%.

In its newly published [Annual Market Review](http://psauthority.org.uk/-/media/Files/PSA/News-and-Events/News/2017/Annual-Market-Review/AMR-1617.ashx?la=en),
its independent view of the phone-paid services market, conducted by [Mobilesquared](http://www.mobilesquared.co.uk/),
the PSA attributes the decline in text donations to regulation changes, and the 
move to ‘hard opt-in, stating:

## Advertisement

_“Wider regulation introduced by the Fundraising Regulator had a negative impact
on charity donations, which experienced a 6% decline year-on-year. The enforced 
migration from the soft opt-in model to a hard opt-in reduced the number of one-
off donations. This was largely offset by an increase in broadcaster donations via
telethons as a result of the successful introduction of the £20 donation point.”_

However, charity donations are expected to return to growth following their decline
in FY2016-17, as drop off in one-off donations are increasingly converted into monthly
subscriptions, the review says. The PSA estimates that charity donations will account
for 19% of spend (from projected donations of £124.4 million) between FY2016-17 
and FY2017-18.

Jo Prowse, Chief Executive of the Phone-paid Services Authority commented:

> “The report highlights that people like the convenience of paying for goods and
> services through their phone bills. The continued popularity of donating to charity
> by text highlights the convenience and trust people have in phone-paid services
> when they are delivered well.”

 * **[The People’s Operator to raise funds for new marketing strategy & to pay off debt](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/12/13/peoples-operator-raise-funds-new-marketing-strategy-pay-off-debt/)**(
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 * **[Giffgaff customers choose to donate a third of goodwill fund to charity](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/12/19/giffgaff-customers-choose-donate-third-goodwill-fund-charity/)**(
   19 December 2018)
 * **[28% of consumers prefer mobile donations to traditional methods, research suggests](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/01/21/28-consumers-prefer-mobile-donations-traditional-methods-research-suggests/)**(
   21 January 2019)

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