01: Charity - Research - Charity Giving Intial thoughts

Initial thoughts with Elliott

We felt that there was a number of problems one being is that you are not always 100% sure where your money is going. Whether it's actually going to help people etc. Create something to assist charities in visualizing where exactly the money goes so it gives peace of mind to the donator that they're doing some good.

Issue is that people want to donate to multiple charities but can't afford the set donation price for each individual charities, e.g. £8 per charity adds up to £20/£30 a month. 

Some charities also don't allow it to be re-occuring, instead one off payments - e.g. malaria charity

inconsistency between the charities - bringing charities together giving them all the same access & opportunities

- Creating a platform for multiple charities? Maybe want to donate 50p a week to 4 different charities rather than £2 just to one a week. 50p to Autism, 50p to cancer research etc etc.

Part of the issue is also, well if im paying what difference does it make. who else is doing it? Who else is making a difference. Seems very individually done, feels less significant.

- To solve this the platform would create a social network aspect to it within it where people can connect, to arrange to help out little bits at a time etc. and also to see what difference others in your social circle are making. Making it more of a community/ social effort creates significance.

Local charities aren't as well known/ get less publicity than those bigger, hence people aren't aware of them and ultimately they could get less support.

- Bring awareness to these smaller charities

- Also based on local area to help those close by

Could also be category based.

- Has to have a code to follow by to make sure it's legit

- Looking into companies matching donations. Maybe donating certain percentage of what you spend in store/online to go towards charities. 5% goes towards cancer research

- Can change amounts accordingly, pick and choose what you pay. People are naturally want to do good and give, donate, help change/save lives but realistically can't afford £30/40 a month on donations. But maybe if more people paid less, but to more charities of their choice. It would be like a monthly giving, knowing you're helping out 4 charities at once rather than just 1/2.

- A platform to show how you can physically help out also. Events going on near you etc.

Current state of the non profit industry. 

• In the UK, overall giving rose 2.8% in 2016, with online giving up 2.2%.

• 7.2% of overall fundraising in 2016 came from online giving. The non-profit sector is now lagging behind consumer trends for online activity. As the world becomes increasingly dependent on digital, non-profits need to make sure they keep up.

• 10% of online gifts in 2016 were $1,000 or more and 41% of non-profits received at least one online donation of $1,000 of more, meaning that even major donors are moving to online channels.

• 17% of online donations in 2016 were made on a mobile device. This is up 8% since 2014. Being mobile friendly is no longer optional for non-profits. Without a multi-step approach including mobile-friendly emails, websites, and donation forms, non-profits will miss out on more and more gifts from savvy supporters.

• The average age of donor in the US last year was 62, so non-profits need to find more ways to reach out to Millenials. You can read the first part of Blackbaud's blog series on Engaging Millenials here.

https://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/guidance/research/uk-online-giving-trends/

Questionnaire results 

"I am not registered to give as I cannot afford the regular costly payments. This puts me off as it is a commitment and I'd feel guilty if I could no longer afford it. I am also not certain where my money is going or how it is helping. People who try and register you in the streets are very pushy." - people on the streets actually putting people off donating in the future. also links to intial thoughts, this seems like an outdated way to approach people. 

"You hear so much about charities not being legit and then being scams" - Lack of information this links to intial thoughts. 

I don’t think that all that money goes directly to the people who need it

Can't afford to (2), Don’t feel like I have enough of a disposable income to give money., Limited disposable income

I give my time by doing charity events such as sponsored runs or stoptober etc. - This made me think maybe there is a range of diffrent ways you could give.

To see what difference i am making would make me want to give - This confirms some of our thoughts 

Personal experience with a particular charity. If charities weren't too pushy in getting people to sign up. - This again is similar to what we was saying about people approaching on the street. Maybe its about building personal relationships. 

If charities were less pushy and more respectful of how much you can give (not bombarding you with emails all the time) - Agian similar to above 

If big charities gave a higher percentage of donations directly to the cause rather than large amounts on marketing or CEO's salaries.- This made me think maybe if the app was based on trust. So charitys must put alll finaical figures on for givers to see. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14_DA_dRCD0cg_QwLLtTIuxtmgnxMl8q6eqKV75NfAYM/edit#responses