20/06/12
More new donors were signed up to charities in 2011/12 than in any previous year of the PFRA’s history.
There were 863,407 new Direct Debits taken out to charity in the last financial year, an overall increase of 18.2 per cent on 2010/11. While most donors (625,134, or 72 per cent) came through doorstep F2F fundraising, the resurgence in street – which increased by almost 40 per cent to to 238,273 new Direct Debits (its highest level since 2003/04) – is perhaps most notable.
PFRA has speculated previously that the decline in street F2F was probably precipitated by the move into administration by professional fundraising organisation Dialogue Direct in 2009 and sustained by uncertainty surrounding the review of the Charities Act 2006.
However demand has continued to outstrip supply with charities wanting to recruit more donors than agencies could supply.
The increase this year could to be due to agencies having taken on more fundraisers to meet this demand, working in sites that at other times have been empty. For example, the Grade C sites in London (those sites that can accommodate fewer fundraisers on fewer days) were used far more last year than in previous years.
It could also be because some fundraising agencies have returned to the roving team model, visiting towns that don't usually get fundraising visits.
Another factor could be that more and more charities are running their own in-house teams, meaning they don’t have to rely on agency capacity to find their donors.
Download the press release for the full figures.
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