Individuals provide valuable resources to third sector
organisations - from loose change thrown into collection buckets by
members of the public to monthly direct debits from your
committed supporters and major gifts from leading
philanthropists.
According to UK Giving, an annual survey of charitable
giving behaviour in the UK during 2011
- £11 billion was given by individuals
- Average (mean) monthly amount donated is £31 (however, this
figure is skewed by a small number of major gifts)
- A more useful indicator of the 'average gift' is the
(median) which is £11
- Those most likely to give are women aged 45-64 and people in
managerial and professional occupations
- Most common method of donation is cash
- Digital giving is increasing although still much less common
than other methods
- Medical research is the most widely supported cause, followed
by hospital/hospices and children/young people
Here you will find out how to develop relationships with your
supporters and increase individual giving. Any third sector
organisation can develop an individual giving programme. It doesn't
need huge investment but what is certain is that success requires a
strategic approach.
Donor recruitment
The recruitment of new donors is one of the major challenges of
developing an individual giving programme. You should see it as a
long-term investment. If you cultivate successful
relationships with these donors, that initial investment is repaid
and additional income is generated over time if the donor continues
to give.
Methods of recruiting donors
- Direct mail- refers to sending letters - or other marketing
materials - by post and remains the most common method of donor
recruitment even though it has become far less cost-effective in
recent years
- List swaps (reciprocals)- third sector organisations often swap
names of supporters for use in recruitment campaigns. These
lists are often more responsive than 'cold' lists. In order
to comply with data protection legislation names can only be
exchanged if donors have had the opportunity to opt out
- Advertising campaigns- are generally expensive and often the
returns are lower than the costs but it can be a useful means of
attracting new supporters to your cause
- Inserts- Some charities successfully make use of inserts in
magazines and newspapers to recruit new donors
- Face-to-face fundraising- where you employ a Professional
Fundraising Organisation to recruit donors either on the street or
door-to-door. It is expensive in the short-term but in the
long-term is a good source of income as once signed up to direct
debits most do not cancel them. The profile of donors
recruited face-to-face tends to be younger than those recruited,
for example, through direct mail
- Telephone- is becoming an important means of fundraising
whether to recruit collectors for house-to-house collections,
provide a donation line, or to convert one-off donors to committed
givers
- Digital- the internet and other digital media such as e-mail
and mobile text messaging are providing increasing opportunities
for fundraising
Top tip - keep an eye out for what other
charities are doing. Gather examples of direct mail, inserts
and adverts. Think about who the target market is for these
and, if you are the target market, if it works.
Donor development planning
Charities have to invest in the recruitment of new donors, but
existing donors will always be the most cost-effective source of
donations. Donor development is therefore needed to maximize
the profitability of every relationship.
An effective donor database is key to donor development to
identify different types of donor and their actual and potential
value to the organisation. In developing a donor database you
will need to ensure that you comply with Data Protection
legislation. The Institute of Fundraising suggests that
fundraisers might find the following rules of thumb useful:
- Do not retain any information on a donor or a prospect that
your organisation would not be comfortable sharing with that donor
or prospect
- Do not use information in a manner that a donor would not
wish
- Do not share data in a manner that a donor would not wish.
For further information see their Code of Practice on Data Protection.