Roadmap delay & Delta variant could impact donations as public optimism falls
Melanie May | 17 June 2021 | News
With public net optimism falling again according to About Loyalty’s latest COVID-19 Sentiment Tracker, the fundraising research agency has warned that there could be an impact on charitable donations.
While About Loyalty‘s weekly public sentiment tracker suggests that the public are now more comfortable engaging in-person with charities, most of all with charity shops, the findings also suggest that the newly confirmed delay to the roadmap and fears around the Delta variant could have an adverse effect on donations.
At the start of January 2021, when another lockdown came into force, the public’s net optimism dropped to the pandemic’s lowest point of +4.4%. Moving into lockdown-easing in Spring, net optimism lifted and by May reached +40%, its highest level since the pandemic began and only five percentage points below pre-pandemic levels. However, since news of the Delta variant emerged, infection cases started rising again and the recovery roadmap fell into doubt, this has changed again, with a new decline.
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Richard Spencer, Director at About Loyalty, commented:
“We’ve seen this pattern consistently since we started tracking in March last year. Anything affecting optimism, such as delaying the recovery roadmap, could also impact giving.
“Over the past week alone, as fears emerged that Covid restrictions would be extended and cases of the new Delta variant rose, net optimism has fallen by 4.1 percentage points – a decline felt across all age groups. At the same time, the number of people donating to charities has fallen by 2%. There appears to be a strong link with the way people are feeling and their propensity to give. While net optimism is down, the Tracker shows us that more than half of the public (54%) are yearning to reconnect with those they have lost touch with during the pandemic, to talk and socialise with those they care about.
“Our advice to charities is to create simple opportunities that enable people to reconnect with friends and family. So, for charities with retail outlets, visitor or community centres, this might mean creating events or activities that fit within the current restrictions, but can help fulfil some of that need to engage. What’s more, when staff and volunteers are friendly, sociable and helpful, this really can be a critical part of the supporter journey, building loyalty.
“Charity shops remain crucial as both a form of fundraising and awareness-raising for supporters and prospective supporters alike. There is a real opportunity for charities with retail outlets to make the most of direct conversations and engaging shoppers with other ways to support.”
About Loyalty’s COVID-19 Sentiment Tracker launched in March 2020 and surveys 2,000 people, including 1,150 charity donors, every week. Questions range from overall sentiment towards the coronavirus and its impact on their lives – including finance, work, families – to the role of charities, attitudes to charity engagement and charitable support during the pandemic. To measure optimism, all respondents are asked the following question: “Please click below to indicate how optimistic you are feeling about life in general at the moment.” Responses are captured on a five-point scale from very optimistic to very pessimistic. The net score is the percentage optimistic, less the percentage pessimistic.
Research from Pro Bono Economics, the Charity Finance Group, and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, also released this week, highlighted more income-related issues for charities with over half of those surveyed saying they do not expect to fundraising events to return to pre-pandemic levels this year. This is due to less demand from the public, as well cost constraints, uncertainty about future restrictions, and furloughed staff, which have forced more than one in five charities to reduce their spending on fundraising activities in the past year.
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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.