Concern in Nordics over ‘subscription management’ & direct debit cancellations

There is growing worry about charities in Norway and Denmark losing direct debit donations due to new technologies being used by consumers.

The trend is particularly strong in Norway. An article on the website of Fundraising Norge says that several members have contacted it after noticing that regular gifts were being cancelled through subscription management apps created by companies including Minna Technologies, which is based in Sweden, and Subaio, from Denmark. They are made available to customers through partnerships with banks.

One charity has lost 1,000 direct debit donors over three months thanks to these apps, Fundraising Norge says, while others are losing 50 or more per week.

ISOBRO, an EFA member representing charities in Denmark, said it had not seen the trend on such a large scale, but is aware of the issue.

Fundraising Norge says that while these apps distinguish between non-discretionary (tax, electricity bills and so on) and discretionary spending (Netflix and other subscriptions), they put charitable donations into the same category as those discretionary subscriptions.

Siri Nodland, secretary general of Fundraising Norge, says that these services appear to have “little understanding of the relationship between a donor and an organisation”, commenting:

“We react [negatively] to the banks telling their customers that they no longer ‘need’ to support an organisation. Supporting a non-profit organisation is not something you do to meet your own needs – you do it voluntarily to help others.”

Fundraising Norge has been requesting meetings with banks, but says that DNB is the only bank that “shows an understanding” of the sector’s concerns in this area.

Nodland also says that some charities believe that supporters had accidentally or unintentionally cancelled a recurring payment. She urges Fundraising Norge members to continue to send it evidence about direct debit cancellations, and the impact this has had on services and operations.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Kamp Butzbach, secretary general of ISOBRO, said:

“We are aware that it has become a business for some companies to charge for cancelling people’s subscriptions. Fortunately, it is not something we have seen on a large scale in Denmark yet, and we must honestly say that it is surprising to make a business out of something that all donors can do themselves either directly with the organization or through their bank.”

Main image by Rupixen on Pixabay