There has been a dramatic increase in public support for charities investing in their own fundraising, according to new data out today.

The proportion of the pubic (slide 2) who concede “it makes sense for charities to spend more of my donations on fundraising this year if it will increase income for future years” has grown from a third (34%) in 2007 to just under a half (46%) in 2010. These findings are statistically significant.

Leading not-for-profit sector research consultancy nfpSynergy’s Charity Awareness Monitor regularly surveys a representative sample of 1000 16+ year olds throughout mainland Britain, asking them a range of charity-related questions - including how and when they think charities should spend their income.

However (slide 2), the majority (53%) of the public still say “charities should spend as much as possible of my donation on this year's need, rather than saving it for future years.”

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

“Charities can surely take heart from the fact that more and more supporters seemingly back their investment of donations in order to fundraise and thereby generate future income – an argument the charity sector has been trying to make for some time now. Nonetheless, the majority of the public still apparently want money raised spent now, on current ‘need’ - rather than, say, being held in reserve, or invested in fundraising. So a, perhaps inescapable, tension over precisely how and when people think charities should spend their income to best overall effect will doubtless remain – something charities should be alert to, to help address and minimise potential barriers to giving. But the trend of opinion is definitely moving in the right direction.”

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MEDIA COMMENT: To interview nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton about these findings, please contact him direct on 07976 329 212 or joe.saxton@nfpsynergy.net; or, alternatively, contact Adrian Gillan (0774 086 7215; E: adrian@gillanmedia.com) for further assistance.

Note to editors:

nfpSynergy (www.nfpsynergy.net) is the UK’s only research consultancy dedicated to the charity sector and not-for-profit issues. It provides ideas, insights and information to help voluntary and community organisations thrive in an ever-changing world. Regularly harvesting the social and charity-related views of public and parliament, media and business - not to mention not for profit organisations themselves - nfpSynergy has a vast and ever-growing knowledge pool from which to extract and deliver insights.