Charities must illustrate donation impact

A DMS product story

Edited by the Marketingweek Marketplace editorial team Feb 5, 2009

Research by DMS has revealed that 37 per cent of high-value donors want charities to provide greater accountability and focus on the impact their previous donations have made.

A quantitative survey via CCB FastMap's online panel with approximately 1,000 active donors was carried out to understand who is more and less likely to cut charitable donations in 2009, which giving methods are likely to be more and less affected and what charities can do to keep people giving during the recession.

The findings indicate 15 per cent of people intend to give less to charity in 2009 while seven per cent intend to give more.

However, the latter group are more likely to be on a higher income and donors who are already giving larger amounts to charity.

In terms of keeping donors giving through the recession, the survey said 39 per cent of people want charities to give donors ways of supporting them other than just straight financial donations, such as buying charitable goods or taking part in raffles or prize draws.

Steven Dodds, head of planning at DMS, said: 'Supporters want to be shown that their donations are really making a difference.

'This research shows that they are increasingly looking to charities to create greater value, impact and accountability for their donation.