Individual Charity Donations in the UK - Essay Example

Charity donations Affiliation: Introduction Individual charity donations in the UK make up for the largest amount of donations to charities. The amount provided by the people is dynamic depending on the individual among other reasons. Statistics indicate however that from 2012, the amount of individual donations has been slightly on the decrease and so has the amount of donations an individual provides. This has been attributed to the charity fraud which is increasing, the donor appeal techniques, accountability and transparency by the charities as well as the age group being appealed among other reasons (Oppenheimer and Olivola, 2011. pg. 65). Charities can do a lot to increase the size and frequency of the donations from individuals. Most people have been brought in traditional families which have to set a certain amount of money for donations and hence they continue with this trend. There are others who are new in the donations trend but are willing with just a little persuasion to increase their donations amount and frequency (Polivy, 2013, pg. 28). This can be changed as charities can do many things to change the size and frequency of the donations from individuals as will be discussed in detail below. Part 1 There is little that a charity can do to attempt to increase its share of donor revenue from the general public. Discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement. I do not agree with this statement at all and all this is based on statistics and research results from various researchers and published authors. There are various reasons that have made people reduce or completely stop giving donations or have been providing the same donation amounts each time they donate. These are the issues that charity organizations need to consider and appeal to when they ask for donations from people and this is likely to increase the donations amounts (Prendergast and Maggie, 2013, pg. 131). With the increase in charity fraud cases from fake unregistered charity organizations who dupe donors, individual donors have become more lax in the frequency and size of their donations as they do not know which charity is just and genuine and which is not. However this can change by finding ways to show that the charity is genuine and is registered by the government such as having documentation showing the same in the websites or government verification which can be shown to individuals when soliciting for donations among other various ways. When people distinguish the genuine from the not so genuine charities, they can start or increase their donations and this will therefore increase the donations size and frequency (Pallotta, 2012, pg. 56). People need accountability of the donations being put forward every year. They need to justifiable evidence of the amount collected in charity and what it has been used for (Saunders and Karp, 2012). The children charities for example are required to show the number of children they support how they have supported them in terms of education, food, shelter among other necessities and this will be proof of accountability. The accountability proof also needs to be according to the amount donated. The individual donors need to see that the money donated and the project the charity organizers claim to have used the money for is worth the donations. For example if the donations have continued to increase, they expect the number of children being supported to have increased as well or at least are in higher education demanding more money. Transparency in terms of making available financial documentation for the potential or existing individual donors will also be added advantage. If charities can show justifiable accountability and transparency in the donations they receive, this this persuade more donors to increase the frequency and size of donations as they become assured that the donations are really being used for a worthy cause (Ostrower, 1997, pg. 265). Charities can also start appealing from a younger group of potential individual donors of below the age of 35 years. Statistics about charities have always indicated that the majority of individual donors are from the age of 35 years and above and most are over 65 years of age. Tapping into the younger generation may also increase donations amounts as most of them are willing to give but they are not aware of the charities and some have not received persuasions or incentives to do so and hence do not bother. Research also indicates that there are young people if below 35 years who earn a lot of money but have not found charities with worthy causes in the places they visit the most such as the social media to attract their attention (List, 2011, pg. 164). They therefore spend their extra money on merry making and not spare any for the charities which can do with increasing their amount of charity from individual donors. All in all, charities can persuade people to change the amount of donations they give and the frequency of giving. They just need to carry out research from the previous donors to find out what can persuade them to part with more money for donation or how the frequency of donations can be increased (Harrison and List, 2004, pg. 1050). Some just need to be told the amount being donated is not enough to cover the expenses of the causes and they simply increase because all they lacked was information. Information about the need to increase donations needs to be put out in the open by the charities and then leave the people to make the decisions of increasing the size or the frequency of donating or both. There are also many ways for charities to increase the donations such as establishing websites where they can show they are genuine with government approval (Vesterlund, 2003, pg. 640). The websites can also contain photos and video evidence of the positive results of the charity funds as well as how the funds have been used from the start of the charity to the present times. The documentation should extend to the future proposition and plans and how much it will cost to do that or to achieve the target. Plans persuade the donors that the donations they will contribute will not be misappropriated and that the cause is worthy one. Visuals also speak louder than words and people only require seeing in order to understand the importance of increasing their donations. Taking the campaign to the social media where they can attract the younger generation is also another strategy of ensuring that they not only increase the donations but they gain scores of other potential donors in the process. Similar to their websites, their social media accounts and advertisements should have photo evidence of the dire situations their worthy cause needs to assist for example the hungry children, homeless animals in need of shelters among other causes. This form of solicitation and campaign is likely to not only increase the donations but gain frequent donors in the long run (Kent, 2000, pg. 112). Part 2 With reference to your answer in Part 1, analyse a real-life case of a charitys campaign to attract donations from personal givers. What techniques did the charity employ to increase revenue? How successful do you consider the campaign to have been? Save The Children is one of the most renowned charities in the world and they use various forms of campaign to raise revenue for the millions of children they support all over the world. It continually manages to raise millions of pounds every financial year globally which are distributed all over the world. Its revenues are from individual donations and gifts through various channels that it continually campaigns for. The first is through walking, running or joining several other tackling sports challenges where one pays to participate and the money goes to charity. This is also a form of fundraising event as some people just donate for the sports events but do not get to participate but the money used for the donations (Save the Children, 2014). They have also started online shopping where people buy gift cards for themselves and their friends to be redeemed in shopping gifts later but the money from the shopping goes towards charity. There is also the monthly appeal to donors to be giving the monthly contributions or whatever amount for the charity cause in order to ensure a steady flow of money for continual support and running of the organization. The Save the Children charity organization has also taken their appeal for donations in the various social media gaining several thousand followers. They have also collected large amounts of donations through this channel from the young people and they hope this trend will continue with their continual activity in the social media. They have a very detailed website with information ranging from the various ways people can participate in saving the children’s lives through different donation channels to what they have so far done in their accountability and transparency reports as well as numerous photos of destitute and suffering children all over the world who need various forms of assistance. One of the captivating things is that they have indicated how the money one donates is used. They have indicated that for every pound one donates, 88 p go towards the charity to benefit the children, 11 p towards channels of advertising and advocating for more assistance and the remaining towards administrative costs. Their greatest success so far has been on giving personalized stories of children suffering by mentioning their names, what they suffer from in which country. This has touched people more than their other general campaigns as it appeals to the emotions of the people more than their heads. It is a heart campaign that has seen them raise thousands of pounds in the campaign. This campaign is a global one not only in UK. This campaign has been taken to all forms of media from radio to television to the internet and even the social media and the results have been immense returns in donations, volunteering in the Save the Children Campaign and other programs to raise donations as well as pledges and gifts for more donations monthly and in the future as well (High, 2010, pg. 176). The campaign has also increased the number of activists for the rights of children all over the world as they seek children whose rights are violated and help them in not only social but legal measures as well even going further ahead and looking for foster homes and children’s homes for them to live in. This has especially become a common phenomenon in the war torn areas of Africa and Middle East where the war is leaving many children orphans as well as separated from their parents hence becoming homeless. The campaign has also extended to young girls and women to assist them save their own children’s lives by taking proper health precautions and observing nutritional diets in order to prevent one of the causes they advocate for in children which are malnutrition and starvation. Conclusion Most of these charities just need to change strategies of how they appeal to people for donations and increase the campaign even more (but not to the level of bugging or annoying people) and this will increase not only their number of individual donors but their amount of giving and the frequency of giving as well. Reference Harrison, G. and List, J. (2004). “Field Experiments.” Journal of Economic Literature vol. 42(4), pp.1013–1059. High, W. (2010). Grants for Christian Ministries and More. London: Xulon Press. Kent, D. (2000). Conducting a Successful Capital Campaign. California: Jossey-Bass. List, J. (2011). “The Market for Charitable Giving.” Journal of Economic Perspective, Vol. 25(2), pp.157–180 Oppenheimer, D. and Olivola, C. (2011). The Science of Giving: Experimental Approaches to the Study of Charity. Washington D.C: Psychology Press. Ostrower, F. (1997). Why the Wealthy Give: The Culture of Elite Philanthropy. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Pallotta, D. (2012). Charity Case: How the Nonprofit Community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Polivy, D. (2013). Donor Cultivation and the Donor Lifecycle Map: A New Framework for Fundraising. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Prendergast, G. and Maggie, C. (2013). "Donors experience of sustained charitable giving: a phenomenological study,” Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 30(2), pp.130 – 139. Saunders, L. and Karp, H. (December 7th, 2012). “Fiscal Talks Spur Charitable Giving.” The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323717004578159514028827 092 Save the Children (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/ Vesterlund, L. (2003). “The Informational Value of Sequential Fundraising.” Journal of Public Economics vol. 87, pp.627–658. Read More