Public fundraisers prompted 864,500 people to give by direct debit last year
Melanie May | 12 December 2018 | News
Public fundraisers prompted 864,500 people to sign up to give a direct debit to charity in 2017/18, according to a report by the Institute of Fundraising.
The report, Achieving excellence in public fundraising, reviews progress made in the raising of public fundraising standards following the merger of the PFRA and the IoF two years ago, and the launch of the Self-Certification Programme last year. Forty public fundraising organisations have now completed with another 11 provisionally certified.
Breaking the results down, the report found that of the 864,500 direct debit sign ups:
- There were 365,000 sign-ups in 2017/18 via door-to-door fundraising
- 93,500 people signed up through street fundraising
- 406,000 supporters signed up through private site fundraising
- 92% of local authorities believed their Site Management Agreement had been either very effective or effective
Check out our new report on #PublicFundraising – 864,500 people signing up to give a direct debit and standards in fundraising improving YoY, show how excellent #fundraising delivers fantastic results. https://t.co/05gZKNAHep pic.twitter.com/pE9eubTDSs
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— Chartered Institute of Fundraising (@CIOFtweets) December 12, 2018
The report also found that 71% of the organisations that are part of the programme believed that it had improved their understanding of compliance issues in public fundraising and would recommend it to others. The majority – 66% – also said that the fundraisers and staff that work for them had developed a better understanding of their public fundraising responsibilities since taking part.
Dominic Will, IoF Trustee and joint Managing Director of HOME Fundraising, said:
“Connecting supporters with the causes they care about is something the public fundraising community is immensely proud of. With over 800,000 people signing up to give a monthly gift and millions of positive interactions generated through Face-to-Face and telephone-led campaigns, it’s a reminder of the ongoing importance and significance of the dialogue channels. In a changing environment there remains much to do to support best practice and innovation, however I’m pleased to see the research reflect the ongoing work the IoF and the fundraising community are doing to deliver excellent fundraising.”
Alex Xavier, Director of Membership, Compliance and Professional Development, said:
“I’m delighted that across the sector progress is being made to deliver excellence in public fundraising. The positive impact being made through conversations at doors, on the street, private sites and by telephone cannot be underestimated, and I’m hugely encouraged at how charities and their partner agencies are challenging themselves to reach higher standards against the Code of Fundraising Practice, whilst also delivering valuable funds for fantastic causes.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.