Charities should trust volunteers’ fundraising expertise
Howard Lake | 8 November 2014 | News
The fundraising expertise of thousands of volunteers is being overlooked by charities, according to research presented at the 2014 ESRC Festival of Social Science.
The majority of charities in the UK (53%) have no paid employees, while a further 30% have fewer than 10. Therefore, 130,000 charities around Britain rely on untrained volunteers to raise money.
These volunteers must be doing something right in terms of fundraising to keep so many charities operating.
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Dr Eddy Hogg, a researcher at the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, said:
“Many small charities cannot afford to hire fundraisers, or can only do so for short periods of time.
“This means that staff rely more than ever on the expertise of volunteers, many of whom have volunteered for decades. Volunteers know what fundraising methods work best in their area, they know the shops to put collection tins in, they know the pubs that will enjoy a good raffle.”
However, when he asked volunteers, fundraisers, trustees and charity staff in Kent what issues they faced when trying to raise funds, he found that volunteers were often not trusted with responsibility. They also felt that they were not asked to give their time and skills to the relevant aspect of the charity, or not asked in the right way.
Dr Hogg commented:
“Charities need to be having the right conversation with volunteers to understand what their skills are and what they would like to do.”
He added:
“Giving volunteers ownership and responsibility over what they do in terms of fundraising and event organisation is important. Charities could support volunteers with training and education if necessary, to make them feel confident in planning and delivering a campaign or event.”
Tensions between trustees and fundraising volunteers
Dr Hogg also found that volunteers often felt that trustees were not on ‘their side,’ and did not understand the need to invest in fundraising or develop a comprehensive strategy.
The 12th annual Festival of Social Science took place from 1-8 November 2014 with over 200 free events nationwide. Run by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Festival provided an opportunity for anyone to meet with some of the country’s leading social scientists and discover, discuss and debate the role that research plays in everyday life.
You can download the report Fundraising for Small and Medium Sized Charities: the views of East Kent charities from the Centre for Philanthropy.
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.