Do donors still trust charities?
Steve Andrews, director of charity marketing at the Direct Marketing Group, a British company, says he has noticed that people are increasingly skeptical about how charities operate.
And that is making it similarly difficult for fund raisers to win the support of donors.
Mr. Andrews, writing on the blog Professional Fundraising, points to a recent British survey that found a 17.5 percent drop in public trust of charities from September 2006 to July 2007.
“It turns out that only 42 percent of the British public now trust charities,” he writes. “Admittedly this is more than trust the BBC, the Royal Family, the Church or the banks, but that is surely a small consolation.”
He blames several possible causes — too many direct-mail pitches, too many tales of excessive executive compensation, and the notion that some charities look too much like businesses and not enough like organizations that are working to cure social ills.
But rather than merely identifying causes, Mr. Andrews also suggests a possible cure.
He suggests charities should take the following steps to earn the trust of donors:
- Provide real information about how their money is being spent.
- Explain to donors why you do what you do.
- “Stop sending mail to dead people and to people’s old addresses.”
- Develop tangible programs for people to support.
- Use third-party endorsements.
How does your group establish trust with donors? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
