Approaching Fundraising in a Recession – a Media Analysis

Background

The purpose of this report is to provide you with an interesting overview of the current state of the
charity industry, followed by a summary of how leading PR professionals are recommending the third
sector tackle the recession. We have also included some social media charts tracking mentions of
Comic Relief and Red Nose Day as a case study using our leading-edge analytics tools. Finally, we
conclude this report with our service recommendations.

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Industry News Wrap
Charities suffering
The impact of the financial downturn on charities has widened and deepened,
with many facing the double whammy of falling income and increasing demand
for services.
Charities ability to carry out vital work is being undermined by a huge fall in the
level of donations. More than half of them have been affected by the economic
downturn, according to data published by the Charity Commission; with a third
putting in measures such as dipping into reserves, reducing staff and increasing
fundraising. The Salvation Army has reported that this year's campaign total was
the lowest since at least 2005, blaming the shortfall on the recession. Meanwhile,
Oxfam, which derives 80% of its income from its 714-strong network of shops,
has announced a 12% fall in the number of donations being received - the first
drop in eight years. BBC News recently revealed that trustees of one cancer
charity have been forced to dissolve it because of struggles to raise money during
the recession. Cancer Care Cymru, which funds specialist cancer nurses who
work alongside NHS staff in Welsh hospitals, said: "The present economic
downturn has had a material effect on fundraising activities."
Opportunity knocks
Third Sector reports however that the recession will offer opportunities as well as
threats to charities that are prepared to make investments. According to charity
finance professionals the possible benefits of the credit crunch include the chance
to hire high-calibre staff, snap up cheap property and take advantage of lower
advertising rates. A recent paper from the Institute for Philanthropy also outlines
the ways in which philanthropists could boost charity funding during an economic
downturn; advising that they adopt a 'spend-down' strategy.
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Elsewhere, the latest figures from the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association
revealed that the number of people signing up to give to charity through face-to-face
fundraising hit its highest level last year and quoted chief executive Mike Aldridge as
stating that the figures proved face-to-face could defy the recession. Meanwhile the
number of employees signing up to payroll giving schemes has fallen only slightly,
according to the Association of Payroll Giving Organisations. The average donation
fell from £81.08 in 2007 to £78.99 last year, but Sophie Pritchard, chair of APGO, said
payroll giving was a recession-proof form of fundraising. "There are reports of a
reduction of up to a 30 per cent in charity income in certain areas, but we are
confident that payroll giving will weather the economic storm.”
Comic Relief
The news that Comic Relief had “defied the recession” to raise an updated figure of
£80 million for this year's Red Nose Day campaign was quickly picked up by several
news sites on July 2nd. In the online version of the popular tabloid, The Daily Mirror,
which attracts the highest percentage of UK users of any national newspaper website,
Comic Relief organiser Lenny Henry was quoted as stating: "What a brilliant
achievement. Everyone across the UK whether in schools, offices, homes or the
blummin' pub should be immensely proud of how much they've raised for Red Nose
Day.” Third Sector reported that this was a “sizeable increase” on previous years.
In Professional Fundraising, chief executive Kevin Cahill said: “We’ve been bowled
over by this extraordinary result. Even at a time when the British public may have
been worrying about their own situation they came together to make a real
difference.” Earlier in the month, Charity Finance Directors’ CEO Kevin Hickey said
the recent success of Comic Relief was a “good sign” for charities in The Guardian.
Social Media Metrics
Comic Relief: Trend in Social Media Coverage
40

Comic Relief announced that it would distribute

'bigger and fewer' grants overseas in the next four The charity was buoyed by
35 years and also revealed that it had issued its biggest a couple of interviews in
ever single project grant to Time to Change, a regional papers with The
programme designed to end stigma attached to Saturdays, who sang this
mental health. The charity picked up most hits from an year’s Comic Relief song, I
article in The Sun online which reported that Tom Just Can’t Get Enough.
30
Jones was set to star in Gavin & Stacey, stating: “Tom
scored a No1 hit for Comic Relief after appearing with
cast members on the hit single Islands in the Stream.”
Social Media Coverage

25

20

15

10

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PR Approach & Social Media Metrics
Expert Opinion – Media Analysis

• Mike Ash-Edwards, senior member relations manager at United Co-operatives • The PR blog stated that perception was vital to any business and “even more
and regular speaker at Charity PR conventions, said: “Public relations is just as so for charities who heavily rely on their publics for funding”. This meant that for
important to charities as other organistations in raising profile and drawing attention to charities to stay in the crucial position of “need”, they must be forever initiating new
their activities.” appeals and strategies.

• Behind the Spin states that PR is about communicating effectively to key publics
and creating a “mutual understanding” to gain corporate sponsorship, or creating
excellent media relations to ensure good press coverage of fundraising activities,
adding: “There is also vast scepticism over how funds are used and whether they are
actually benefiting the cause. It follows that a key role for PR is to communicate to
both potential and current donors how donations are being spent and to highlight past
successes. By publicising the information, charities can seek to gain this mutual trust.”
Comic Relief: Social Media Coverage by Media Type
3%
3%
13%
14%
• Missing Persons Helpine spokesperson Sophie Woodforde said the lesson
from the Tsunami appeal was that charities should try to promote themselves in a
bigger and better way and this is where PR can help.
• Make Poverty History founder Richard Curtis recruited a large number of A-list
celebrities using his contacts and relations with the people to ensure their
involvement. This created a media frenzy, and Make Poverty History procured a
huge swathe of free media coverage and publicity.
• About.com lists seven tips to beat a recession:
1. Don’t become or sound desperate
2. Prove that you are responsible
3. Don’t give up on your corporate or core-raising activities
4. Diversify your funding sources by identifying all types of financial support.
5. Put your fundraising programs under the microscope

67% 6. Don't pull the plug on major campaigns, but do slow down
7. Keep up your marketing and PR.

Blogs Twitter Forums Videos Mainstream Online News

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PR Approach (continued)
Expert Opinion – Media Analysis
• On Traffic on Maine, PR consultant Bob Maine states simply: “Cease the
conversation and you cease the relationship.” He goes on to offer the following
advice for fundraising in a recession:
1. Marketing to a simple, well thought plan and not acting on impulse or being
paralyzed by fear.
2. Replace high cost marketing activities with more accountable options such
as structured word of mouth marketing, referral and alliance marketing, direct
mail and communicating through digital media. These may be less
glamorous than glitzy events, glossy publications and the glories of TV
advertising but in the end they are likely to prove more sustainable and will
certainly be less expensive.
3. Measuring all your outreach efforts so you can accurately calculate the return
on investment (ROI) for each marketing tool you use. Starting now you need
hard data to make conscious, well thought out decisions about where your
effort and money (now both in short supply) should go.
• Turner PR account director Ian MacQuillin said: “You often hear people at
conferences say that the sector needs to educate the press to write better stories
or make them understand they should be more positive. It’s complete rubbish.
The media have their agenda and they’re not going to change it to fit in with you.”
• Gill Dandy, chair of Fifth Estate, the non-profit sector group at the Chartered
Institute of Public Relations stated: “Every department needs to be singing
fromthe same hymn sheet, regardless of the audience. Whether it’s community
relations, corporate relations or donor relations, the PR messages should go all
the way through.”
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• nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton added: “Charities can’t just go away and say they’ll come
back in 20 years time when they have the kind of coverage they like. The challenge is
to understand the kind of stories the media want to run and see where that can benefit
the charity.”
• In a recent article in The Independent, Mary Portas, a retail adviser and presenter
of the TV series Mary Queen of Charity Shops, claims that "our cultural G-spot has
moved; it used to be greed, but now it's giving," while Naomi Levine, director of the
NYU Center for Philanthropy, believes that young people are increasingly willing to
donate their time or money to charitable causes.
• The article goes on to describe how those who spend time on social media
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace will regularly be asked by friends to
donate to nominated good causes at sites like justgiving.com, adding: “Charities are
beginning to catch on to the persuasive power of online communities to give
consciences a nudge.”
• Jonathan Wilson of Red Bee Media believes that social media forms an integral part
of any modern promotional work, and that peer endorsement is crucial to success: "A
television advertisement is never going to be as powerful as, say, your friend enthusing
about something – and if they're enthusing about a charity, you're less likely to respond
cynically to that message."
• The Independent concludes that “when personal recommendations are transplanted
into the fast-moving, almost dizzying world of social media, thousands of people can –
at least in theory – be reached in the space of a few minutes”.
Media Analysis – our services

Possible areas of media analysis

 Split by Media Type
 Publication Tracker
 Journalist Tracker
 Reach/Circulation
•Professionally presented reports,  Media Value/AVE
easy to interpret
 Target Audience Penetration
 Region
 Corporate Partner
 Key Message
 Peer Group Tracking
 Proactive vs Reactive
 Campaign Analysis
 Topic/Issue Tracking
 Call to Action
•Example of our daily dashboard
 Spokesperson mentions
 Sentiment Analysis

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Media Analysis – our services
What We Evaluate
 All media whether sourced by Precise, another monitoring agency or by the client

 If required, we can evaluate from key sources only as defined by the client

How We Evaluate
 Rigorous media analysis performed by highly skilled analysts to client’s bespoke requirements

 The largest in-house media analysis team in the UK

 Sector-trained analysis teams ensure familiarity, relevance and industry expertise

 Results clearly and simply communicated with commentary to provide context

When We Deliver
 Same day spotlight reports delivered on the day of media coverage

 Weekly, Monthly and quarterly reports delivered within 3-5 working days of reporting period

 High-quality, boardroom ready analysis reports delivered in PDF, PowerPoint or Word format

 Online analysis tool available that integrates seamlessly with monitoring website

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