This is according to The Deloitte Fundraising Report 2024, produced by Fundraising Norge and Deloitte. The report is based on the finances of 57 of the country’s largest charities, including Stiftelsen Flyktninghjelpen (The Norwegian Refugee Council), with income of NOK 8.1bn for the year, a 5% yearly increase.

Grants from Norwegian authorities to charities rose by 18% to NOK 8.2bn during the year – with around half of that going to the Røde Kors (Red Cross) and Stiftelsen Flyktninghjelpen. However, disregarding donations relating to Ukraine, this income fell by 3%.

Funds from EU, UN and other international bodies also grew to NOK 7.8bn, a 13% year-on-year rise.

The amount of income received from regular donors was NOK 2.55bn in 2023, a 2% rise during the year. This was due to a 14% increase in the number of new regular donors recruited during 2023 versus 2022, while average donations rose very slightly, from NOK 2,158 in 2022 to NOK 2,169 in 2023 – but still slightly lower than the 2,177 figure of 2022.

Income from occasional donors dropped by nearly a quarter, from NOK 985m in 2022 to NOK 777m in 2023.

Contributions from the business world dropped by a similar margin of 27%, to NOK 918m in the year.

The survey also shows that email is now the most used marketing and fundraising channel among Norwegian charities, taking over from Facebook, ahead of the platform winding down its fundraising tool in Europe in 2024.

Looking ahead, nearly one in five (18%) of respondents suggested they would like to use crowdfunding as a fundraising method in future – in addition to 44% who already have done so.

Almost all (95%) of charities in the survey use payment platform Vipps.

Fundraising Europe reported earlier this year that, according to a Vipps survey, Norwegian charity donors have a more pronounced gender split than in other Nordic nations, and were also less interested than their neighbours in environmental causes.

Photo by Christoffer Engstrom on Unsplash

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

Key figures for gifts Q3 2023 shares statistics on regular gifts, one-time and other gifts from the public to Giva Sverige’s member organizations. The one-off gift total for the third quarter is also lower than the corresponding quarter in 2021, although the number of gifts is greater.

Organizations with collected funds over SEK 100 million show the clearest loss in gifts and contributions from the public in terms of regular gifts. While the total from regular gifts has risen by 0.2% over the past year, if inflation is taken into account, this represents a real loss of 7.4%. However, one-time gifts for Q3 2023 compared to Q3 2022 are 2.1% higher in absolute terms, mainly due to a high number of gifts per organization and Q2 2022 being a relatively weak quarter to compare to.

Charlotte Rydh, secretary general of Giva Sverige comments:

“The gift statistics show that regular giving slows down further with fewer gifts, while disasters such as the earthquake in Morocco and the flood in Libya have nevertheless mobilized more people to give one-off gifts. However, the fact that the gift amounts are decreasing is a clear signal that the household’s financial situation is beginning to affect giving, and it is of course worrying considering that many organizations have also seen reductions in public funding.”

Organizations with annually collected funds of SEK 25-99 million have had a more positive 2023. Looking over the last year, the regular giving total has increased by 2.4% and the number of gifts is also rising. However, the total for one-off gifts is 17.6% lower than Q3 2021, which appears to be due to lower average gifts.

The lower giving to the large organizations is also reflected in the forecast for 2023, where 70% of large organizations now expect a decrease in public giving compared to the previous year, and 60% a decrease in corporate giving. For medium-sized organisations, significantly more forecast increased giving from the public.

The monthly Gift Index (FMI), which is based on responses from all Giva Sverige member organizations regardless of the size of income from gifts, contributions or collaborations, showed in the latest survey that smaller organizations with 0-25 million kroner in collected funds are more positive than the large organisations for the first time since the survey started. Both the Gift Index and Key figures for gifts thus give relatively clear signs that the large organizations are finding it more difficult to maintain and increase giving right now based on the state of the economy and the poorer household finances.

Against the backdrop of the Ukraine invasion and with 2 million people having already crossed the border to seek refuge in Poland, visibility has surged of NGOs and their role in providing critical aid and infrastructure. Aware of this unique opportunity to capture public interest as charitable needs continue to rise, the Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation (FAOO), the Polish Donors Forum and the National Federation of Polish NGOs have united with nonprofits across Poland to educate the public about the long-term benefits of regular giving and appeal for support.

Andrzej Pietrucha, fundraising & marketing consultant the Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation, says:

“Poles have shown their philanthropic spirit in recent weeks, rushing to help in every way possible and often taking guests into their own homes. But the scale of the crisis in Ukraine and the number of refugees coming into the country means that the need for charitable services is greater than ever.

“We’re all too aware that people can’t continue to help like this indefinitely – we need to be able to deliver a more coordinated approach over the long-term, and that means building regular income from private donors.”

He explains that a humanitarian crisis of this scale has not been seen in Poland since the fall of communism in 1989, saying that: “a new approach to philanthropy is necessary.”

“Currently in Poland, regular giving is rare. But this is crucial if we think about long-term support and planning. Moreover, we can assume that commitment and interest in the crisis will decrease slightly over time, so we need to act now to build on the public’s desire to help.

“If we succeed in building regular donations, NGOs will be able to plan ahead, and to to react faster and better to those in need, now and in the future.”

The appeal highlights the key challenges faced by NGOs, with guidelines on where to find information about organisations in their area and how best to support them. It also emphasises the significance of professionally prepared staff.

To date, the campaign has reached more than 2 million people across the country, achieving widespread media coverage and with the hashtag #JakPomocPomagajacym (how to help the helpers) shared widely on social media channels.

The campaign founders believe that by capitalising on the current interest in helping others they will be able to educate the public about the role of charitable organisations in Poland and the value of long-term, intentional philanthropy.

Pietrucha adds: “I believe that what is happening in our country is a decisive moment not only for Polish humanitarian organizations, but for the entire charity sector engaged in supporting the largest wave of refugees in Europe since WWII. It is necessary to call for sustainable funding of NGOs and recall the role of independent organisations as a part of the aid system. A new approach to philanthropy should be the shared responsibility of individual and institutional donors, including companies, governments and private grant makers.”

Main photo by Anna Liminowicz

These figures, by About Loyalty in their weekly Public Sentiment Tracker, identify a spike in people’s concerns about meeting day-to-day living costs as Covid fears diminish but worries about the economy and employment grow, indicating many more people are likely to need direct support from charities, such as foodbanks and welfare services, in the months ahead.

However, the tracker also reveals that people’s confidence in charities is high and that they believe charities are more important now than they were before Covid. Net trust² in charities has remained strong throughout the pandemic, rising 34% from +30.5% to +40.9% over the past four weeks. This is in contrast to trust in other organisations and institutions, with trust in the Government currently sitting at -9%.

Net importance of charitable causes has risen by 72%, growing from 18% when tracking began in April 2020 to 31% in September 2021. The perceived importance of charities varies considerably by cause type, with local, environment and NHS charities gaining considerable ground since the start of the pandemic. Early on in the pandemic, the environment scored very low but has recovered steadily.

Over the past four weeks, as news headlines have been dominated by the surge in Covid cases, the unrest in Afghanistan, and the Paralympics, the public’s recognition of the importance of the armed forces (up 18%), health (up 13%), support for those living with disabilities (up 10%) and overseas aid (up 9%) have all risen significantly. And in the last week alone, the relative importance of local causes has increased by almost 8%.

Richard Spencer, director of research-based consultancy About Loyalty, says: “Once more charities are facing a double-edged sword where some supporters will inevitably have to cut back on donations as they seek to manage their finances, while there will be even greater strain on charities when it comes to service delivery.

“It’s so important for fundraisers to be aware of the increased pressure on people’s purse strings, their worries, health and wellbeing at times like this; to understand what’s likely to be keeping them awake at night, and what their current priorities really are. With this knowledge, charities can resonate, ensuring their communications are relevant, spark interest and genuinely engage.”

Richard adds: “While increased financial pressure will never be good news for charities, it’s at times like these that the public really connects with organisations that support those in need. People believe charities are important and trust is high, both key foundations for growing loyalty and regular giving.”

The figures have been released by About Loyalty 18 months after the weekly tracking study was first launched at the start of the pandemic with the intention of monitoring public sentiments around COVID-19 and a broad range of issues that can directly impact charitable support. The research team continues to monitor consumer attitudes to giving and related issues. Find out more here.

Related feature: Why reading the room is essential for supporter loyalty

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

For at least three decades, the charity sector been exploring the concept of relationship fundraising and working out how best they can put supporters at the heart of what they do. But it’s during the past year – with a pandemic shaking up the world around us and with nonprofits facing critical funding shortages – that we’ve seen some of the most exceptional and inspirational examples of supporter care.

In this feature, we round up four campaigns where organisations reached out to supporters to communicate how important they are. With no ask for funds and no expectation, the RNLI, DEBRA Ireland, the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially-Sighted and Mercy in Action Onlus put supporters front and centre, uniting their donor communities with authentic heart-felt messaging.

At a time of great uncertainty, charities enabled supporters to feel connected, valued, inspired and empowered; that they are fundamental in transforming lives and making the world a better place. Considering what more can be done across the sector to build and grow donor loyalty, Roger Lawson of About Loyalty and Francesco Ambrogetti of Unicef share their insights at the end of this feature.

RNLI: Making supporters feel part of our crew

The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) has a clear mission; to save lives at sea. With lifeboat stations spread across the UK coastline, the organisation has a strong presence on the beach and in coastal areas. Already deeply connected with those communities, when the pandemic hit in 2020, the RNLI made a conscious move to increase its strategic focus on engaging with supporters and communities.

Rory Stamp, strategic content manager at the RNLI, says: “At a time when people were feeling alone, we wanted to reach out and show them that we really cared. If people were on our database, we knew they had done something for us. This was our opportunity to show them how much we value their support.”

The charity launched a campaign thanking donors for being part of the crew. Its message was simple: no matter who you are or what you do, you are all part of our crew and we will look out for each other. The RNLI gave as much focus to the creative for this ‘thank you’ message as it did its appeals.

RNLI: Crew members look out for each other

The campaign resonated with supporters and the RNLI continued to convey this message throughout the year, culminating in its Christmas campaign where families of the crew thanked supporters for bringing their loved ones home. The charity ran fundraising appeals at key points over the year, but the emphasis was on reaching out and thanking everyone at the front end of the chain.

Jayne George, director of fundraising, marketing and media, says: “There was a lot of talk in the sector about whether it was right for charities to carry on fundraising during the pandemic. We decided that it was appropriate if you’d earned the right to ask. We needed to earn that right and we continually strived to do that with more reaching out and more impact reporting, thinking of how we can address supporters’ needs.”

Stamp explains: “We’re heavily inspired by psychological theory – the idea that humans have some essential needs, including the importance of feeling connected with people, feeling competent and feeling in control. All those things were blasted out of the water when lockdown hit. People were struggling to cope with their environment or to go about things in their usual way, they couldn’t see family and they certainly weren’t in control because of the restrictions.

 “As charities, we can help to address those needs. To connect with people, to make them feel empowered – that they are helping to save lives. We can help give them back the feeling that they have some control over the world. Through our campaigns, our reporting, we can show people that the donation they gave, the legacy they pledged, that was the right decision and it has made a difference.

“We know we couldn’t do what we do without our supporters and that’s why we thank our donors as well as our crew members for every single rescue. From our volunteers to our crew, their families – whose time is disrupted by lifeboat callouts – to our supporters and the people in our shops, our goal is to look after them all so well that all feel that they are part of the RNLI family; our crew.” 

DEBRA Ireland: Turning GivingTuesday on its head to say thank you

Working to support families living with EB (epidermolysis bullosa) – a rare and painful genetic skin condition, DEBRA Ireland has long relied on its events and community-driven activities for income. With both these income streams heavily restricted during the pandemic, the fundraising team knew they had to transform their approach, setting out to build their donor engagement programme and enhance their digital fundraising.

DEBRA Ireland

With little budget or capacity, it was all hands on deck for the DEBRA Ireland team, who redoubled their efforts to communicate with supporters via direct mail, telephone and digital. Throughout the year, the charity focused on ‘donor love’, thanking and reporting back with simple, warm and authentic messaging.

Donors rallied when the charity asked for support in a Covid appeal, with a 24% response rate to their direct mail campaign.  In just 10 months, €359,000 was brought in through direct mail, an entirely new source of fundraising for DEBRA Ireland.  Despite the extraordinarily challenging year, DEBRA Ireland exceeded all their expectations, bringing in fundraised income of €1.5 million.

So, when GivingTuesday came around, the charity took the opportunity to give back, turning the campaign on its head to thank all their supporters for their kindness, care and generosity.

“We were so grateful and humbled by the extraordinary support that people had shown during the year – one that was so difficult for many. Using this moment to say thank you just felt like the right thing to do,” says Michelle Reynolds, head of fundraising & marketing.

“It was a really simple campaign – probably a little cheesy and from the heart – but that’s us! We sent out a thank you letter written by one of the parents that we help. There was no fancy creative and no reply device. We had no expectations of a giving response from donors, in fact we had put no income target against the campaign, it was just a very real and honest letter showing them what they had made possible.

 “We wrote personalised cards to our board members too, drawing on the specific things each of them had done to help. Our CEO organised little gratitude notes and token gifts for each of the staff. And on social, we shared a compilation video featuring the staff and board members, support workers and some of our EB families too, each voicing their own thank you message. Everyone in the office got stuck in – we all wanted to show how grateful we are.”

 “The response was overwhelming. We received a 12% response rate on a mailing that wasn’t intended to create income! And we had the most gorgeous notes back from donors. We were so moved by their response.

“We’re a small team and our donors genuinely mean the world to us. We want them to know that, so we do all we can to make them feel special. Whenever we can, we send handwritten thank you notes, personalise our messaging, or pick up the phone. I really feel that if we put supporters at the heart of all we do, the rest comes naturally.”

Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially-Sighted: Friends like you

A continuous and dedicated focus on values-based supporter relationships enabled the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (Norges Blindeforbund) to grow both its income and supporter base during 2020, with a ‘no ask’ mailing in March kickstarting that growth.

During the height of the pandemic, the team reached out to supporters by mail and email to share how grateful they are to have ‘friends like you’. Articulating how the pandemic had made life all the more difficult for those with visual impairments – many of whom rely heavily on their sense of touch to move around safely and independently – the charity conveyed how supporters’ gifts had been instrumental in helping beneficiaries navigate these new challenges.

Fundraising director, Leif Wien Jensen, says: “Our focus was on communicating with supporters as we would our best friends. We want them to see how important they are to us and what we can do on the back of their work. And, as with any friendship, that means talking with them honestly about what what’s going on; how life has changed for people with visual impairments, what we can do to help them and the importance of what they do for us.”

“Although we had decided not to ask for money with our first mailing, our supporters were hugely responsive. They sent through gifts – often much bigger donations than we ever would have dreamed of. And when we called to thank them, they gave even more. We really weren’t expecting anywhere near that level of generosity.”

The association followed up its initial campaign with a direct mail appeal, which more than doubled its fundraising target. When the charity called supporters to follow up and invite them to become regular givers, the team was inundated with positive responses from supporters. During March and April of last year, over €2 million was raised across all fundraising channels, a 25% increase from the same period in 2019.

Jensen adds: “The campaign set the tone for our work throughout the year. We’re not after one-time donations, we’re looking to cultivate relationships. The aim is to talk to people face-to-face or on the phone so we can get to know them, prioritising the channels where we can speak one-to-one. We haven’t been able to do street or door-to-door most of the year, but direct mail has helped with our acquisition and the telephone has been crucial for relationship building.

 “None of this has meant a particularly big change in our approach – we’ve been heavily focused on supporter needs since 2001 – but it reinforced how important it is to have a values-based supporter model, where we have a relationship with our donors and where we constantly strive to meet their needs. We’ve definitely been reporting back more over the past year and supporters have responded well. The big picture is that donor loyalty is up and, of course, we need those supporters now more than ever.”

The association has recorded its highest ever supporter retention rate (at 78%) in 2020 and a 7% annual increase in the number of monthly donors.

Mercy in Action Onlus: We are far but united

A small nonprofit based in Palermo (Italy), Mercy in Action Onlus brings education and health services to vulnerable people in Africa. With a turnover of around €110,000 annually, the charity is almost wholly reliant on voluntary donations.

In April 2020, when Italy was in the full throes of the pandemic, Mercy in Action launched the #distantimauniti campaign, meaning ‘we are far but united’.

Martina Venzo, director of programs at Mercy in Action Onlus, says: “The health crisis in Italy was all around us. People were frightened and alone. We wanted to find a way to keep connected with our supporters and volunteers, reminding them how important they are to us and uniting them.

“We launched a simple campaign on email and social media, asking our supporters – many had visited our missions in Ethiopia and Uganda – to send pictures and a story of their trips. We shared these over the next 40 days on Facebook. The campaign reached more than 5,000 people, with 1,200 clicking through to find out more about our work. This was a huge reach for us.”

The campaign carried a dual objective; to keep supporters connected, and to ‘open the window’ beyond the health crisis to the wider world where people still need the charity’s help. Digital channels, WhatsApp, YouTube, the telephone and its newsletter really helped it get that message out there.

“Our director also called supporters to keep in touch, checking how they were, with the focus very much on their wellbeing. We know that our supporters are so much more important than money. We need them to be there for the long-term.”

The campaign inspired a strong sense of community across the organisation’s supporter base.

Venzo adds: “When we launched our fundraising appeal #unsaccodimisericordia (a bunch of mercy) to raise money for food for vulnerable people in Africa, the response was wonderful. We reached 5,000 people – ten times our initial target – and raised €4,000 to distribute food.

“Thanks to our growth in supporters, digital communication and frequent social media interactions, this campaign allowed us to create engagement, strengthen supporter connections and truly galvanise our fundraising dynamics.”

Building donor loyalty 

Each of these charities are deeply connected with their supporters. The campaigns are reflective of an organisational culture that cherishes those relationships, aiming to earn and inspire donor loyalty every step of the way. And across the sector, the dial seems to have shifted over the past year with greater emphasis on delivering better and more consistent supporter care.

Francesco Ambrogetti, senior coordinator of supporter engagement at UNICEF and author of Hooked on a feeling, believes that the sector has come a long way, but that there is far greater potential, saying: “So many charities don’t yet understand why it’s so important or how to make it happen. There’s recognition of the need to invest in mass marketing for acquisition, but few are willing to put anywhere near this level of investment in retention.

“The sector is wonderful at inspiring people to donate. We need to be able to build on that experience in a meaningful way if we are to form long-term relationships that will fund long-term solutions. Saying ‘thank you’ as part of a formulaic response is not enough. The approach has to be authentic, human and ultra-personal.”

Roger Lawson, founding director at About Loyalty, agrees that there is far greater potential for building supporter loyalty, saying that charities need to keep ‘reading the room’ to determine what supporters need or want from charities. He adds: “What’s right today won’t necessarily be right tomorrow. If we go back 12 months, everyone was scared, confused and feeling isolated. And yet there was also a tremendous amount of good feeling created as communities came together to support and care for each other. There was a genuine feeling that we should support one another, and while many things changed very fast, one thing didn’t – the desire to help. Many charities saw record responses to their appeals.”

Expanding on his views in a blog for EFA, he encourages nonprofits to be flexible with their messaging to reflect what’s happening in the world, to anticipate that some donors will be experiencing hard times and to make them feel great for all the ways they have helped.

Above all, Lawson stresses the importance of charities in giving people hope, particularly in difficult times. He says: “Always offer hope. People still need it, and we can offer it like no other sector. When you’re asking for money, show the difference the donor can make. When you’re thanking them, show them what has happened because of their gift. When you’re sharing stories, show them the progress you’re making. Fill that void and your donors will love you for it.”

Related feature:

Roger Lawson: Why reading the room is essential for great supporter loyalty

Further reading:

Book: Hooked on a Feeling, Francesco Ambrogetti

Well before the pandemic struck, we were becoming more and more aware of the importance of donor loyalty. In the UK, media scrutiny and nonprofit scandals had damaged public trust, while ever decreasing donor acquisition returns had made it impossible to recruit donors in the volumes we used to, and GDPR had forced the fundraising sector to see the importance of donor data and consent and appreciate that this doesn’t come easily.

And then the COVID-19 pandemic shut off many of the donor acquisition channels that were left.

It’s never been so important to look after our supporters. As Tracey Pritchard said to us when she was executive director of engagement at Prostate Cancer UK last year, “It’s our warm supporters that will pull us out of this. If we get the experience wrong for them now, then we’re dead in the water.”

We know what creates donor loyalty. Commitment to the cause (or a passion for the goal that you are seeking to achieve); satisfaction (or being happy with your communications and feeling valued by the charity) and trust. And we know that loyalty leads to more giving in the future – our own analysis shows that for every one-point increase in donor loyalty, 5.2% more donors go on to give again the next year.

But in difficult and changing times it’s vital to read the room – what’s right today won’t necessarily be right tomorrow. If we go back 12 months, everyone was scared by Covid-19, confused and feeling isolated. And yet there was also a tremendous amount of good feeling created as communities came together to support and care for each other. There was a genuine feeling that we should support one another, and while many things changed very fast, one thing didn’t – the desire to help. There was a tremendous outpouring of goodwill towards others, and for donors this meant that they continued to want to help the causes that were still important to them. Many charities saw record responses to their appeals.

This is why it’s so important to read the room. People wanted to give. We saw this in several big campaigns – most noticeably Captain Tom’s raising of £30m for the UK healthcare organisation NHS Charities Together.

The important take-out is that asking people to give is NOT contrary to providing an excellent supporter experience. People care… passionately! And when they do they want to do something about it. And that’s where we come in. Done well, charities offer donors the chance to live out their values, to make a difference in the world and to feel good about themselves. If we want donors to feel good then we need to offer them a chance to help the things they care about.

Of course, it’s all about how it’s done.

Asking is important, but so is thanking – Research in the UK by John Grain shows that donors remember the thank you more than the appeal. A genuine, heart-felt thank you to a donor will make them feel valued. And in turn they’ll want to support more in the future.

Telling the donor what they have achieved is vital – It gives the donor a feeling of competence (one of the drivers of well-being). And it shows that you value how important they are.

Something else that charities did really well last year was to provide hope. It was vital that charities provided their donors some hope in dark times. In fact, research has shown that it is vital for a donor to believe that progress has or can be made towards a goal before they will give.

Looking Forward

Circumstances can change quickly, and the most successful charities will be those able to move fast. In the UK, we are seeing the end of lockdown with lower coronavirus cases, the vaccines making people feel safer and some growing confidence in the financial future. Of course, many parts of Europe are in a different situation, but this will be seen elsewhere too, over time.

It’s vital to keep these changes in mind – to keep reading the room. Perhaps one of the big questions to ask and monitor is whether people want to return to what they knew before (the old normal), or whether they want to see the pandemic used as an opportunity to create change and a new normal – to Build Back Better as the UK government puts it. As things start to pick up, it’s time to review and ask if can you inspire people behind a new vision? Can you give them a new hope?

Perhaps the key thing is that everyone will be in a different situation. Our UK research shows that, despite the general and significant uplift in mood and optimism, around one in five people are showing signs that it will be years before they feel safe again. And we’re seeing that half the population believe that they won’t be affected by a recession while the other half believe that they will be massively affected. This leads me to suggest three specific recommendations:

Be flexible with your messaging – Reflect what’s happening and try to appeal to people across these divides. Try not to exclude people, such as supporters who still care passionately about your cause but happen to be in a difficult financial situation just now. Talk to people who can give, but not in a way that excludes people who can’t. Tell people about your shops opening up or events, but don’t make people who are scared to go out feel under pressure.

Resource your fundraisers accordingly – Make sure that everyone is ready to speak with a donor who is experiencing hard times. Remember they may not want to stop supporting, but they might have to. Enable your fundraisers to offer them alternatives (payment holidays, non-financial ways to support etc). But most of all, make supporters feel great for the change they have helped you make rather than making them feel bad for having to stop. Then they’re more likely to come back to you.

Always offer hope – Hope is so important to us all, and we can offer it like no other sector. When you’re asking for money, show the difference the donor can make. When you’re thanking them, show them what has happened because of their gift. When you’re sharing stories, show them the progress you’re making. Fill that void and your donors will love you for it.

Roger Lawson, About Loyalty

About Roger Lawson

Roger Lawson is founding director of About Loyalty, a researched based fundraising consultancy in the UK, which specialises in the science of charity supporter loyalty.

Related feature: Special focus: Donor love – Charity campaigns that give back

Main photo by Jarosław Kwoczała on Unsplash

[Fundraising Europe] Can you tell us a little about the work of DierenLot and your approach to fundraising?

[Jan Krol] Having started out in 2005 with a focus on animal welfare, DierenLot is a relatively young charity. Since 2013, we’ve really focused our investment and fundraising strategy on growing our supporter base, achieving annual growth of around 20 to 25%. And in many ways, 2020 was no different. We’d already set aside our budget for donor recruitment and fundraising, so we continued with most of our planned activity and it turned out to be a particularly strong year. By the end of 2020, our supporter base had risen by 25% (to 214,000 givers, most of them regular – a huge number for the Netherlands) and income by 33% to € 13.3 million.

What did you do differently in 2020 to achieve such growth?

DierenLot’s Magazine, #samenvoordieren (#together)

The truth is that we didn’t change that much. We made a few tweaks mainly around our messaging, but the main thing was that we didn’t hold back – we continued to invest in fundraising. We found that there were a lot of people who had saved money over the year and they really wanted to put it towards a good cause. And because our response rates were so good, we actually decided to spend a little extra.

We used a wide range of channels; everything from television (see DierenLot TV programme – Samen Voor Dieren) and radio to outdoor advertising, direct mail, door drops of our animal welfare newsletter and social media. While each channel performed well, income from direct mail went sky high. Our newsletter was filled with puzzles to bring together our older audience with younger family members and that was quite popular during corona times. Even our Christmas Challenge raised four times as much as it did in 2019. Legacy donations and gifts in kind increased too.

We’re fortunate of course that we’re not hugely dependent on events. We missed meeting with people face-to-face and giving them the opportunity to see first-hand what we do. This face-to-face contact may not have a big impact on our immediate donation levels, but it’s so important for relationship-building. We put a great deal of focus on our supporters and in growing the number of donors, particularly regular givers.

Why is there such a heavy focus on the size of your support base?

Right from the start, we knew we needed to build a substantial number of supporters. Animal welfare isn’t a particularly popular cause here in the Netherlands, so if we wanted to change things, we’d need a large audience. A lot of donors to support our work and even more voices.

We’re very active on social media – one of the top 5 charities nationally with 400,000 followers – and while we don’t find the channel particularly effective for donor recruitment, it’s been great for building a base of people who are interested in what we do, a place to share stories and to deliver practical advice for supporting birds and animals in the wild and for preventing cruelty.

Having a large supporter base has a huge impact on our income and continued ability to raise funds. But it’s not just about the money. We need to have large numbers of people who support our goals; those who are willing to learn and to make changes to improve the lives of animals and those who will tell their friends about us. This gives us far greater sway, meaning that politicians have to take us seriously. It also makes us less vulnerable of course too.

Why do you think your approach resonates so well with the public?

It’s a combination of things. We don’t ask for a huge amount from our supporters – we ask for a small gift and build loyalty from there. Usually, supporters choose to give more than we ask for, but the main thing is that they join us.

We have several ambassadors for the charity, including the founder of a bird and wildlife sanctuary, a well-known vet who hosts a TV programme and an animal activist, all of whom relate to different supporter groups and this can be really effective.

Ultimately, our fundraising isn’t campaign-led, it’s all part of a consistent long-term strategy to build supporter engagement, updating them on our work and how they can support us. Over the past year, we’ve made some changes to our messaging to communicate the impact of the pandemic on animals and what we were doing to help. But the goal is the same; to get people involved, whether that’s by regular giving, supporting us in their Will, donating animal food and supplies, or volunteering for one of the local organisations in our network.

We work closely with many local animal groups, lending out our ambulances, knowledge-sharing and training up local animal welfare teams through our academy. This is quite unusual and our supporters really like how we share our resources, training and equipment with other animal welfare professionals.

If there was one lesson to share with your peers, what would that be?

The nonprofit sector always seems to be on the lookout for the next big thing – whether that’s direct response, face-to-face or social channels. But there really isn’t one holy grail for fundraising and I think many organisations waste time trying to find it.

Different things work for different charities. It all comes back to the basics of good fundraising – you’ve just got to ask for it, and to do that well. For us, that means taking a multi-channel approach, offering a range of ways to support the charity and really focusing on growing our supporter base. Always test and adapt your fundraising to make sure you know what works and will appeal to supporters.

About Jan Krol

Jan Krol, DierenLot

Jan is CEO of the animal welfare foundation DierenLot with co-founder Peter Helmer. Founded in 2005, DierenLot supports local and regional animal rescue organisations and their volunteers in The Netherlands. Before that (1982-2005), Jan was managing-partner of PSI Direct, an agency that specialised in consumer direct marketing for charity lotteries and charities. He was co-founder and managing-partner (2004-2012) of Vakblad Fondsenwerving, the Dutch magazine and congress on fundraising. He also served in the board of The Resource Alliance as Co-Chair, Vice-Chair and Chair (2007-2014).

Since 2004 he has also been involved in educating fundraisers in The Netherlands, as a business partner of the 3F-Academy that offers courses and workshops to professional fundraisers.

Donations worth €1.69 million were collected over the course of the year – a 26% increase on the amount given in 2019. This takes the total amount donated since the scheme was first introduced in 2015 to over €5 million.

2020 saw 27% growth in the number of companies offering commission-free salary donation schemes to employees. 655 employers now make payroll giving available to their staff, enabling over 446,500 employees to give directly from their salary.

Currently, the large majority (70%) of companies that offer payroll giving match their employees’ donations, boosting the total amount given by between 100% to 300%.

As a regular giving mechanism, donation levels continued throughout the pandemic year, but microDON cautions that growth has slowed in the number of companies joining the scheme.

Lauriane Muraire, project manager at microDON, says:

“The payday donation continued during this somewhat hectic year 2020 since it is a device that is constant. On the other hand, we noticed at microDON a slowdown in the companies that could join the system this year. And then for the employees, we also identified a great mobilisation on the associations which responded to the various emergencies that we could see in 2020.”

Nonprofit organisations benefitting from payroll giving

176 nonprofit organisations received donations in 2020, with environmental charity Planete Urgence collecting the highest amount at over €180,000. Over a quarter of nonprofits benefitting from the scheme work in the field of health and wellbeing (28.5%), with almost a fifth tackling inequality (19%) and 13% supporting quality education. All benefitting charities align to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the UN.

View the 2021 barometer report and key findings here or listen to Lauriane Muraire in this interview with France générosités [in French].

Photo by Freddie Marriage on Unsplash.

According to figures from UK charity payments specialist Rapidata, the average cancellation rate was consistently under 2% during the five-month mid-pandemic period of May to September, with a record low of 1.32% seen in July, compared to 2.45% in July 2019.

Scott Gray, Rapidata lead and head of payments for The Access Group commented:

“While the very low cancellation rates of the past few months can be largely attributed to lockdown stalling acquisition activity – because the majority of cancellations happen immediately after sign up – more positively, it also shows a steady trend that committed supporters are continuing to give to the causes they care about.”

While fewer regular givers cancelled their Direct Debit donations than usual, the number of people signing up as new regular givers also fell during this time: dropping by just over a quarter (26.6%) compared to the same period in 2019, reflecting the pandemic’s impact on fundraising acquisition activity such as face to face. However, regular giving donations set up online saw a 37% increase compared to the same period in 2019.

The findings are the focus of a Rapidata research report, Regular Giving Update & Recommendations: Autumn 2020. According to Rapidata’s analysis, the cancellations rate for Direct Debit regular giving donations rose steeply in March, at the beginning of the first pandemic lockdown in the UK, but swung back toward the usual trend line in April. UK charities then saw this unprecedented drop in donation cancellations over the summer. The report also shares practical recommendations for protecting this income stream during the second wave of the pandemic.

This news comes as the Chartered Institute of Fundraising releases a new booklet designed to guide charities through the pandemic by increasing their focus on the supporter experience. A free resource, Fundraising in the Time of Covid-19 has been produced with its Supporter Experience Special Interest Group, and outlines six principles and suggested actions to help charities and fundraisers build on the public’s desire to give during the pandemic through a great supporter experience. It shares successful case studies on how charities, such as Child Rescue Nepal and GUTS UK, have used the principles to make a difference to their fundraising.

Image credit: Photo by Alaur Rahman from Pexels