We are halfway through 2022 and although we are still in a pandemic, donors are welcoming the chance to take part in in-person fundraising activities. That said, the sharp rise in prices and inflation mean that both charities and donors are faced with difficult questions about their finances.
Fundraisers play a pivotal role in helping the sector navigate this, it’s never been more important to identify ways to connect with new donors and nurture relationships with loyal supporters.
To help them, our Research Roundup brings together key insights into donor behavior and charities’ approach to fundraising. Below is a snapshot of some of the most recent findings, but there are more reports that can help every fundraising team, click here to see the full round-up.
Enthuse’s Spring edition of their quarterly Donor Pulse Report helps us build up a picture of how donors are responding to the cost-of-living crisis- only 17% say they feel better off financially, whilst 36% feel about the same and 46% feel worse off. To some extent this is translating to their ability to give as 1 in 10 feel it is easier to donate than six months ago. This is echoed by CAF’s recent research with YouGov that earlier in the year, 12% of respondents had cut back on charity donations.
It is important to remember that these financial pressures are not being felt equally among the public. Enthuse also found that whilst around half of Millennials (ages 25-29), Gen X (ages 40-54) and Baby Boomers (ages 55-64) felt financially worse off, only 36% of Gen Z respondents (ages 18-24) felt the same.
Enthuse report also revealed regional disparities, although overall the net ability to donate was in the negative for every region, London is noticeably better off than other areas at –22%, 15 percentage points higher than the second highest area, Scotland. This is also considerably higher than the Southwest, East Midland and Northeast, whose net ability to donate was all lower than –50%.
Although these figures could seem worrying, for now they do not appear to be dampening donors’ motivations to give, with three quarters of respondents planning to donate in the next three months- an increase on last quarter and an 8 percentage point rise since Spring 2021. Equally, public opinion of the sector is relatively positive, with 92% saying they feel positive or neutral towards charities.
Amid the many changes in donors’ financial pressures and priorities, CAF’s Charity Landscape Report 2022 found that, generating income and achieving financial stability, as well as a reduction in government and public funding were two of their respondents’ top three most pressing challenges.
It is therefore unsurprising that for many fundraising remains a priority, with 72% of charities surveyed confirming they have introduced or a planning to introduce new ways of giving. CAF also found that just over half of charities (51%) are planning to do more campaign activity via digital platforms, including apps, websites and social media. Similarly, 2 in 5 charity leaders are adopting online fundraising methods to raise money.
Digital fundraising has been a pivotal in generating vital income throughout the pandemic and we are not seeing this change anytime soon. Below are a few of the key findings from this year so far: