Recent national surveys have painted a fairly bleak picture. Public trust in charities and specifically in fundraisers is falling and this probably does not really surprise us.
We have probably all heard. or even offered, criticism of charities and there is a widespread perception that money is wasted or poorly used, particularly by larger organisations and big fundraising campaigns. High profile charity ‘failures’ like that of Kids Company have not helped, neither have stories of over zealous street ‘chuggers’ or target driven telephone fundraisers.
Such criticism is more rarely aimed at smaller organisations, who are seen as more accountable and connected to their supporters. Yet, those of us who work in the smaller charity sector cannot take this relative positivity for granted.
Trust, as they say is hard-won and easily lost and there are also plenty of examples of small local charities who have spectacularly lost the trust of their supporters. Such trust is not often based on objective analysis, rather more often it is the product of a gut feeling or a reputation picked up from others. Therefore, whilst it can be painfully obvious when you have lost it, it is not always so obvious why and how it happened.
Small organisations cannot afford to spend vast sums to build or maimtain public trust but they certainly cannot afford to ignore the possibility of losing it.
If you would like to explore how to build or maintain trust in your organisation, or if something has gone wrong, then please contact me