April 2016
Featured in this insight: Charity & not-for-profit, IT & telecommunications
Charity survey uncovers the media’s impact on fundraising: According to a survey by Third Sector, the media’s stories and articles about methods of fundraising have resulted in 22 per cent of people slightly or much less likely to donate to charity. As well as this, the media’s portrayal has made 33 per cent of the public think less of charities.
The researchers spoke to 2,065 individuals as part of the survey, all of which were over the age of 16 and weighted for age, gender and location.
The survey revealed that the percentages were higher amongst the respondents who were over the age of 55. Of this demographic, 35 per cent said that they were less likely to donate and a further 49 per cent said that they thought less of charities.
Of the respondents who said that they could specify the topic of the stories that they had read in the media (25 per cent), the percentages were 41 per cent and 62 per cent.
The top four topics that the respondents could recall reading were being hounded by phone (17.5 per cent), targeting elderly people (17 per cent), being hounded by mail (13 per cent) and the suicide of an elderly person (12 per cent).
73 per cent of the survey participants said that they has not heard of the Fundraising Regulator, however, 51.5 per cent of the respondents said that they would be either extremely or somewhat likely to register with the Fundraising Preference Service. The Service facilitates people to opt out of all communications relating to fundraising from charities.
Of the respondents who said that they would be likely to register with the Fundraising Preference Service, 69 per cent said that they would maintain a total ban on all fundraising communications.
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