STRICT EMBARGO - WEDS 22/10/08

Public dramatically overestimate charity admin and fundraising costs
- but are more tolerant of the latter

• Marked increased in public willingness for charities to invest in fundraising to boost future income
• “Charities need to better explain the true level of, and rationale for, all their costs,” vies Saxton
• “Charities should talk about ‘necessary management’, rather than ‘administration’,” Saxton adds

The public are dramatically overestimating charities’ admin and fundraising costs but are more tolerant of the latter - according to new research out today (see the figures by clicking on the link -  CEMJuly08MediaEdit1.pdf (82.39KB) )

Public think that, on average, it is acceptable for a charity to spend twice as much of its income on fundraising (23% of income) than on admin (11% of income). However, they falsely believe that, on average, over a third (35%) of a charity’s income actually goes on fundraising and a shocking 40% on admin, when true figures for average-sized charities are likely to be far lower than this – not least regarding admin.

Leading not for profit sector think tank and research consultancy nfpSynergy’s Charity Awareness Monitor has tracked a representative sample of 1000 16+ year olds throughout mainland Britain for the past decade, uncovering donors’ attitudes and habits as well as what they think of charities’ fundraising strategies and tactics.

Encouragingly for fundraisers, the fact that the gap between perceived actual and acceptable average spend is much smaller for fundraising (35% - 23% = 12% gap) than for administration (40% - 11% = 29% gap) suggests that public are happier for charities to spend money on fundraising, and are thus less likely to think that charities “misspend” their income on this activity.

Moreover, compared with last year, there also seems to be a greater public willingness for charities to invest in fundraising to boost future income, with 2 in 5 (41%, July 2008) now agreeing that “it makes sense for charities to spend more of my donations on fundraising this year, if it will increase their income for future years” – only a third (34%) having thought the same last year (July 2007).

nfpSynergy’s Driver of Ideas, Joe Saxton, said:
“The public appear to significantly overestimate what charities spend on their fundraising and their admin costs, and show especially low tolerance towards the latter. This should prompt charities to better explain the true level of, and the rationale for, all of their costs. Greater relative public acceptance for fundraising, plus an increased willingness to invest in fundraising to boost future incomes, suggests this educational task vis-à-vis costs may be slightly easier in relation to fundraising than admin. All the more urgent, then, for admin to be positioned as ‘necessary management’ – no wasteful burden, but rather an essential lubricant without which the very wheels of charity would not turn.”

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MEDIA INTERVIEWS: To interview nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton about the significance of these latest findings or the Charity Awareness Monitor itself, please contact:
Adrian Gillan, T: 0207 6 22 99 11; M: 0774 086 7215; E: adrian@gillanmedia.com

Notes to editors:

• nfpSynergy
nfpSynergy (www.nfpsynergy.net) is the UK’s only think-tank and research consultancy dedicated to the charity sector and not for profit issues. It provides ideas, insights and information to help voluntary and community organisations thrive in an ever-changing world. Regularly harvesting the social and charity-related views of public and parliament, media and business - not to mention not for profit organisations themselves - nfpSynergy has a vast and ever-growing knowledge pool from which to extract and deliver insights.

• Joe Saxton
As well as being Driver of Ideas at nfpSynergy – the leading not for profit sector think tank and research consultancy he founded back in 2002 - Joe Saxton was until recently chair (2005-2008) at the Institute of Fundraising; and is currently chair at student environment and development campaign group, People & Planet, as well as chair of CharityComms, the new professional body for not for profit communicators.

Named by The Guardian (2003) as one of the 100 most influential people vis-à-vis UK social policy, Joe was voted the most influential person in UK fundraising by Professional Fundraising magazine in 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008. The Evening Standard named him one of the 1000 most influential people in London in both 2007 and 2008. In 2008 he was also named as one of PR Week’s 500 most influential people in the UK communications sector.