How working from home may impact fundraising

At the start of a New Year, it is time for charities to reflect on the year gone by. The UK started off 2021 in lockdown due to COVID-19, working from home and doing everything online, and 12 months later, the charity sector is still taking on the lessons we’ve learned during that period. 

Fundraising platform Enthuse has fortunately been setting these lessons out for us clearly over the last 18 months, gauging the UK’s giving habits in a tumultuous time and identifying fundraising trends that charities can capitalise on. 

The Winter 2021 edition of Enthuse’s Donor Pulse report is no different. And there is plenty of reason for optimism as we head into the new year.  

The report, which surveyed more than 2,000 members of the UK public about their attitudes to charity and willingness to donate, revealed that, broadly speaking, confidence among donors is high, with seven in ten respondents donating to charity over the last three months – the highest level of donations for a year.  

The research showed that 93% of people feel positive or neutral towards charities, with 28% of people feeling more positive in the last three months. The same period also saw the largest amount of donations going through a consumer giving platform, rather than a charity’s own website, a trend attributed to the London Marathon and its partnership with Virgin Money Giving.  

However, the average donation via consumer giving platforms is £34.46 – the report showed that people gave on average 21% more (a difference of £8.17, or £42.63) when donating directly to a charity.

Returning to remote work

The return to offices over the last few months likewise had an impact on driving fundraising, with nearly half (45%) of respondents saying they had received a request from a friend, colleague, employer, or school to donate in the last quarter. This number rises to 62% for under-40s – the demographic most likely to have returned to their offices after working from home – while only a third of over-40s said the same.   

This should give charities a little pause now the UK has been urged to return to remote working in the wake of the Omicron variant. It may be worth considering what effect this might have on fundraising in work environments in the future.  

The report, the sixth conducted by Enthuse since its launch in 2020, found that Christmas was likely to be a tough period for many. This could have had a detrimental impact on charity Christmas campaigns, despite nearly three quarters of respondents saying they were planning to donate to charity over the Christmas period.

More than two in five (43%) expected it would be harder to find the money to donate at Christmas. Only one in ten (11%) believed they would find it easier. 

Gen X – those born between 1960 and the early 1980s – are the worst affected, according to the report. More than half said they will find it harder to allocate the money to donate at Christmas this year. Gen Z, on the other hand, are divided – 36% say it is harder to find the money to donate, but 27% say it is easier. The report points to higher employment and the reopening of the hospitality as possible reasons for this ability to donate.

Striking while the iron is hot

The report also emphasised the importance of the news agenda in getting people to donate to a cause. Over the last 18 months, charities that work with the NHS, mental health, poverty, and research into disease were among the causes receiving the most donations.  

Yet the report found that there was a surprising downturn in donations to environmental charities over the last three months, despite talks at climate conference COP26 dominating the headlines. 

“This may be down to environmental charities focusing on campaigning rather than donations focused appeals, as well as supporters waiting to see what happened at COP26,” the report suggested. 

There was a similar downturn in support for overseas aid organisations, which Enthuse linked to less coverage on crises such as that being experienced in Afghanistan. The report therefore advised charities to make sure they keep their appeals timely and relevant to issues dominating the news agenda in order to maximise their fundraising reach. 

Finally, the report noted that, while the holiday season is an important time for charities, donors should be for life, not just for Christmas. Nearly two in five respondents said they were averse to opting into marketing communications, providing quite a barrier to charities looking to deepen their relationship with their supporters.  

“This is an important area for charities to consider with so many members of the public likely to donate over the Christmas period – turning them from one off donors into longer term relationships could be critical for fundraising,” concluded the report.