Charity budgets and the credit crunch…

And another comment on the current state of banks from IanLivesey on Flickr.com:

No guidance John, but a rare glimpse of humour on the subject of Icelandic banks in the form of this image on Flickr.com from Andy Beez:

Well, I can not see how innovation or new techiques can equal any fall in major donor giving. In the 80:20 principle is true and in many cases it is - then a charity would need a whole lot of innovation to make up the gap in the income. Plus, in my experience innovation and new creativity (often provided by DM agencies) does not come cheap!

However, although some charities might be picking the fruit of their new innovations my advice to the rest would be to pick the 'low hanging fruit' - in other words to stay focused on making the most of their direct mail to those steady ordinary donors John talks about in his blog and to keep an eye on their renewal and attrition rates.

Find out how many of your multi-year donors and first time donors from last year have renewed their support to your charity this year? How many donors have lapsed in the last six months?

Think of ways of reactivating these donors with warm and personalised mailings - even refering to the economic crunch and reminding them that charities exist to help other people in crisis.

If you have to invest in creativity do so in developing a regular giving programme if you haven't got one going yet - it is a lot easier to get people to give £5 or £10 a month and keep them giving than to ask them to make larger one off gifts...

And perhaps you can take a leaf out of Age Concern's book who are encouraging their supporters to host a lunch at their home, invite friends who are willing to pay for their lunch with all the proceeds and gift aid going to the charity... some events like this where donors can participate and get others to give to your cause also can make up for decline in direct mail giving.

Redina Kolaneci
Senior Fundraising & Stewardship Consultant
McConkey/Johnston International UK
www.mcconkey-johnston.co.uk

Adam Rothwell at Intelligent Giving has mused on just how much budgets might have to be cut if charities had money in Icelandic financial institutions, for example.

In Has your charity gone to Iceland?, he suggests that, since the UK charity sector has over £75 billion in investments (£15 billion of which belongs to the Wellcome Trust), "it's a safe bet to say that some of those charities will have deposited cash in Icelandic institutions".

While individuals' savings in Icelandic banks might now be 'safe' or at least reimbursable, it's not clear if organisations such as charities enjoy the same protection, nor whether other investments in Icelandic institutions are safe.

Iceland and hot water... by lmrush on Flickr.com