12/01/10
- PFRA aims to set up ‘core group’ of 15 charities for annual attrition/retention survey
- Survey will set an ‘unparalleled’ attrition benchmark among fundraising methods
- Third year of survey also aims to be first to look at F2F attrition overseas
The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association – the self-regulatory organisation for face-to-face direct debit fundraising – is asking for 15 member charities to commit to pooling their donor attrition and retention data for the next five years.
The call comes ahead of the launch of the third round of the PFRA’s annual F2F Donor Attrition and Retention Survey (DARS). The survey – devised and researched by Morag Fleming, head of fundraising at Scottish social care charity Quarriers, and Future Fundraising managing director Rupert Tappin – is due to go live to PFRA members in March. The results will be published in June at a special seminar following the PFRA’s AGM.
“Forty-four charities took part in the survey in 2008 and 2009, but only 10 of those participated in both years,” says Fleming, who is also the convenor of PFRA Scotland. “That hasn’t affected the quality of the results because each time the total numbers of donors of the participating charities was well over a quarter of a million, so both years’ findings were extremely robust.
“But we now want to add another layer of robustness to the survey, which we can do by establishing a ‘core group’ of charities, including some of those doing the highest street and door volumes. With these charities on board, we can be totally confident that every year, DARS will reflect the biggest players in F2F fundraising and allow us to set an attrition benchmark that is unparalleled in the fundraising sector.
“DARS is already the most robust and complete picture of donor attrition and retention across any fundraising method. Establishing the core group makes it even more so.”
So far five charities – Quarriers, EveryChild, Shelter, Epilepsy Action and Concern Universal – have already agreed to be part of the DARS Core Group. Members of the DARS Core Group will receive a rebate on their annual membership registration fees after three years and, at the end of the five-year period, they will be rebated the next two years’ membership fees and receive a year’s free membership.*
Any charity interest in joining the DARS Core Group should contact Morag Fleming via morag.fleming@quarriers.org.uk.** Any other charity that wants to take part in the 2010 survey but does not wish to commit to the Core Group should contact PFRA’s head of communications Ian MacQuillin via ian@pfra.org.uk.**
The third year of the PFRA’s DARS is also likely to be the first with an international dimension. Tappin and Fleming have been in contact with Daryl Upsall of Daryl Upsall Consulting – who is an expert the international use of F2F – about securing the input of European charities. Further details of the international element to the survey will be announced shortly. In the meantime, any non-UK charity requiring more information about DARS should contact Rupert Tappin on rupertt@futurefundraising.co.uk.
* The rebate refers to the membership registration fee and not the levy paid by PFRA members.
** The data supplied to DARS are anonymised so that neither Morag Fleming nor Rupert Tappin knows what charities are taking part. Although from 2010 onwards, the names of the Core Group members will be known, the data they supply will be anonymised and not identifiable as coming from particular charities.
ENDS
For further information or to arrange an interview with Morag Fleming, contact:
Ian MacQuillin, head of communications: ian@pfra.org.uk 020 7401 8452.
Notes for editors
The PFRA
The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA) is the nationally recognised self-regulator for all forms of face-to-face (F2F) fundraising activity – direct debit solicitation or data-capture – conducted in public spaces by charities and good causes anywhere in the UK. Supported by the Office of the Third Sector and the Charity Commission but without drawing on public funds, PFRA seeks to guarantee the sustainability of F2F with the donating public by working in partnership with local authorities, TCMs and BIDs to provide and enforce bespoke and free-to-user durable and Charities Act 2006-compliant local voluntary management solutions within the framework of the Institute of Fundraising national Code of Practice.
Our work and effectiveness is recognized by the Institute of Licensing, NALEO, and the Association of Town Centre Managers, all of whom occupy observer seats on our board of management. We were among the founder members of, and occupy a seat on the board of, the Fundraising Standards Board. We are a corporate affiliate of the Trading Standards Institute – committed to fair trading and consumer protection.
Morag Fleming
Morag Fleming is head of fundraising at Quarriers. Morag has been with Quarriers for nine years running face-to-face campaigns every year over that period. She was responsible for the implementation of a direct marketing strategy that increased income from individuals by 500 per cent over a three-year period. Morag has been an executive board member of PFRA since 2002 and is convenor of PFRA Scotland.
Quarriers
Quarriers is a Scottish charity providing care and support for children, adults and families. We challenge inequality of opportunity and choice to bring about a positive change in people’s lives.
Rupert Tappin
Rupert Tappin is managing director of Future Fundraising Ltd and chief executive of Fundraising Recruitment Ltd. He has previously established two separate fundraising agency operations: face-to-face for NTT ActionAid – now Face 2 Face Fundraising Ltd, part of the Dialogue Group; and door-to-door for Front Door Fundraising. Rupert has been an active member of the PFRA since 2002, and an executive board member since 2006.
Future Fundraising
Future Fundraising was launched in 2004 as a consultancy to help charities to either implement or improve their regular giving income streams, primarily through face-to-face and door-to-door fundraising. Future Fundraising specialises in helping charities maximize their income from face-to-face, through proactive retention management.