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People favour being asked to give via adverts and street collections

• More than half of people are ‘very annoyed’ by doorstep fundraising (54%) and telephone fundraising (51%) (slide 2)
• A third (36%) get very annoyed when approached on the street by a fundraiser (slide 2)
• Despite this, 37% are happy to be asked to donate to collection tins and only 9% find it annoying (slide 3)
• More modern fundraising methods are still very annoying to people, with 33% saying that about text message giving and 20% for email (slide 2)
• Despite high levels of annoyance with fundraising methods, people do understand that some are effective ways of raising money. These include radio (40%), newspaper/magazine adverts (42%), online adverts (37%), mailing appeals (31%) and collection tins (35%)
• When asked for their preferred way to be asked for money, TV adverts (32%) cash collections (28%) and newspapers adverts (18%) led the way. Just 2% would choose being asked on their doorstep and 1% on the telephone

More than half of people find it ‘very annoying’ to be asked for money on their doorstep or the telephone, new research shows. People also object to being approached face-to-face on the street, with adverts their preferred way to be asked to donate.

The research, published by consultancy nfpSynergy, revealed that 54% of people are find doorstep fundraising very annoying, while 51% feel the same about being asked on the telephone. A third of people (36%) get very annoyed when they’re approached by a fundraiser on the street. More modern methods of fundraising are also unpopular, with 33% irritated by text messages and 20% unhappy with receiving emails.

The new data, based on a survey of 1,000 British adults, did show that some fundraising methods sit well with the public. Over a third were happy to be asked to donate via collection tins and online adverts, while around a quarter find face-to-face, radio and TV approaches acceptable.

Despite the high levels of annoyance, people said they did understand that some methods are effective ways to raise money. These included newspaper/magazine adverts (42%), radio (40%), collection tins (35%) and mailing appeals (31%).

People were also asked about their preferred method of fundraising. Adverts were a frontrunner, with TV (32%) and newspapers (18%) featuring prominently. Over a quarter prefer being approached by a street collection, while just 2% want to be contacted at home.

nfpSynergy’s Driver of Ideas, Joe Saxton, said:

The Holy Grail in fundraising must be to maximise the money raised and minimise the aggravation it causes. This data gives a good indication that we are not winning this battle.

We as a fundraising sector have to start working out ways of reducing the annoyance from some of our most effective and successful methods. Charities must ensure people can opt out of telephone calls and being badgered on their doorstep and they have to look at their direct marketing. It’s no good thinking that people are happy with certain methods and leaving it at that if those are not the ones that can raise the big bucks.

Please see the attached slides for more details.