To engage supporters and plan great campaigns fundraisers need to understand how the public experiences and responds to the various methods they use - whether that be direct mail, TV adverts and so on.
Fast.MAP and the Institute of Fundraising have released a new report – Fundraising Media DNA 2016/17 – which looks at how individuals perceive and respond to various fundraising methods. The research, which is based on views of almost 3000 donors and nearly 120 fundraisers, shows that there is a mismatch between what fundraisers believe and the public think.
1 Direct mail
Fundraisers underestimate its popularity among people aged 18-34 and 35-54
As you might expect, the report shows that fundraisers are well aware that older members of the public have a high level of engagement with direct mail. But what fundraisers failed to appreciate were the relatively high levels of engagement for younger people too from direct mail fundraising campaigns. This suggests that fundraisers could be doing more to use direct mail approaches to reach out to younger members of the public.
2 Telephone
Fundraisers underestimate the likelihood that people would share or research in response to a call from a charity
Fundraisers anticipate that many people contacted by phone who support a cause will choose to donate on the call. But what is surprising from the research, and fundraisers surveyed didn’t expect, was that many people receiving a call will go on to share information or research the issue on the back of that call. In fact, more people were likely to share information following the call, than were likely to donate straight away.
3 TV advertising
Fundraisers underestimate how much the public engage with charity TV ads
While fundraisers underestimated the levels of engagement with TV adverts across all age groups, they correctly predicted that, as age increases, engagement increases. TV ads were reported by the public as being known for their attention-grabbing, memorable and interesting attributes, as well as many seeing them as trustworthy and authoritative.
4 Door to door
Fundraisers underestimate how much people will share the information they receive
You might expect that having a personal conversation with someone who supports your charity is likely to result in them donating to the cause. However, the findings of the report suggest that there is a high likelihood that members of the public will also share the information they hear about, and go away and research the issue.
These are some of the ways that charity fundraisers underestimate the impact various fundraising methods, and the ways in which the public engage with them. For effective fundraising that gives the public a great experience and builds support for the causes charities work on, we need to truly understand how to work most effectively through the mix of various fundraising methods.
You can download the Fundraising Media DNA report here. The report is free for those reading this site using the code: GUAR16 (usual price £50).
Content on this page is paid for and provided by the Institute of Fundraising, sponsor of the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network’s fundraising hub.
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