‘Too little money going to the cause’ is public’s top reason for not donating
People also very concerned about ‘how donations are spent’ and ‘high staff salaries’
"The evidence is clear; people want to know how their donations are spent. Charities should sing from the rooftops about what they spend their money on. It’s time the sector stopped huffing and puffing and bit the bullet." Joe Saxton
- People’s most common reason for not giving to charity was “too little money going to the cause” (61%) (slide 2)
- Half (50%) of people would be put off by “not being clear about how donations are spent”. 47% are put off by “too much being spent on staff salaries” (slide 2)
- Nearly half (43%) are put off by fundraisers being too persistent, with a third (34%) put off by fundraising methods that are “too intrusive” (slide 2)
- The public are torn between thinking charities should spend as much of their donation as possible on this year’s needs (51%), compared with 43% who were happy for more to be spent on fundraising if it will increase future income (slide 3)
- Next week we will be releasing our detailed data on which forms of fundraising the public find most annoying and the ways in which they are happy to donate, plus how people feel about charities campaigning to change laws
Charities are likely to lose donations from the public if they are thought to spend too little on their cause, new research suggests. The poll, carried out by research consultancy nfpSynergy, found that 61% of people gave this as their main reason not to give and it has been the top choice for three years running.
Half of people would be put off by “not being clear how donations are spent”, while 47% said they would hold back their donation if “too much was spent on staff salaries.”
The research, based on a survey of 1031 British adults, also revealed that fundraising also features prominently in people’s reluctance to give. Nearly half (43%) said they wouldn’t want to donate if fundraisers were “too persistent” and a third (34%) keep hold of their money if fundraising methods are “too intrusive”.
The study also shows a split in whether people think charities should save for the future. Just over half (51%) thought charities should spend as much of their donation as possible on this year’s need, but 43% were happy to see more spent on fundraising if it would increase future income.
nfpSynergy’s Driver of Ideas, Joe Saxton, said:“The evidence is clear; people want to know how their donations are spent. Charities should sing from the rooftops about what they spend their money on. It’s time the sector stopped huffing and puffing and bit the bullet.We recently called for an easy way to find out how much of their income charities spend on what they’re fighting and campaigning for. If charities want to increase donations and maintain the donors they already have, action should be taken - and quickly.”
Please see the attached slides for more details.
For further comment from nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton, please contact him directly on 07976 329 212 or joe.saxton@nfpsynergy.net
SOURCE: nfpSynergy’s Charity Awareness Monitor, which regularly surveys a representative sample of 1000 16+ year olds throughout mainland Britain, July 2012 wave.
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MEDIA COMMENT:
To interview nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton about these findings, please contact him directly on 07976 329212 or joe.saxton@nfpsynergy.net. If you cannot contact Joe, please contact Rob White (07512 709140; E: rob.white@nfpsynergy.net) for further assistance.
Note to editors:
nfpSynergy (www.nfpsynergy.net) is a research consultancy dedicated to the not-for-profit sector. They aim to provide the ideas, the insights and the information to help non-profits thrive. They provide a unique insight into the social and charity-related views of everyone from public and parliament to media and business, not to mention not-for-profit organisations themselves. nfpSynergy has a vast and ever-growing knowledge pool and shares this with the non-profit sector, through both paid work and regular free reports and seminars.