Looking ahead into 2024: What can we learn from 2023?

The last 12 months have been challenging for many UK charities. With the Cost-of-Living crisis still impacting living standards, homelessness rates and food poverty in the UK, several international crises took place through out 2023, stretching charitable donations further.

From the devasting earthquakes in early February 2023 demolishing homes in Türkiye and Syria and claiming thousands of lives, through to the floods in Libya, earthquakes in Morocco and Afghanistan, hostilities in Sudan, continuing brutalities and oppression in Gaza, to the ongoing plight of the Syrian people, famine in Yemen, droughts in Somalia, deeply-embedded poverty in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan and more : the world is in turmoil.

For INGOs, those charities who operate internationally, 2023 held an unexpected level of global crisis requiring immediate rescue and response. Emergency appeals, live fundraising, an influx of donations and queries meant all hands-on-deck to deliver aid to regions experiencing chaos and danger.  Beyond the emergency response, long-term sustainable aid solutions are now needed in many areas to recover; in Türkiye and Syria alone, it is estimated that it will take decades to rebuild what has been lost.

Careful Fundraising Appeals

When a disaster hits, charities spring into action, working all hours to release appeals and gather vital funds for emergency response as quickly as possible. As we all know, the first 48 hours are often crucial, and a lot of charities draw upon existing pools of funds for the immediate aid delivery. However, in a year with so many emergency situations, these funds often deplete quickly due to the scale of need.

Launching a fundraising appeal is vital to raise awareness and funds but in the fast-pace of response, charities must be careful to ensure their appeals remain accurate and transparent. Clearly stating how you will deliver aid to a war-stricken region, through field offices or established partners, and how funds will be spent, is essential. The Charity Commission warns against raising funds for specific causes but not using them for the intended purpose.  Therefore, it is important to ensure that charities raising money for countries can verify how they will deliver funds and are clear on the range of aid projects that the funds will pay for.

Donor Fatigue

Appeals to donors hit a new high in 2023 but this unfortunately means that the threat of donor fatigue is real. Despite the huge generosity of the Muslim community and others in the UK, the upset and turmoil across the globe can feel very overwhelming.

Many people report that they feel guilty for experiencing comfort and shelter when millions across the world are suffering. It is not uncommon to feel the scale of need is just too immense to make a difference.  Donors report not knowing where to give their money, caught in a dilemma of where it is needed most, even though each and every crisis is worthy of support.

To avoid donor fatigue in your communications, its important to ensure that communications are measured and the frequency of your ‘ask’ is balanced with useful content and information. Concentrating on  a ‘where the need is greatest’ appeal and the motivators for your donor giving, as well as acknowledging their emotional response to global crisis, will prevent donors from feeling disengaged.

Personal Stories Make An Impact

When the numbers of lives affected is in the millions, it can be easy for donors who are not directly involved in response, to be unable to see the personal impact and reality of emergency situations.

Personal stories, words, video and photographs from families (who consent to their imagery and details being used) remain one of the most effective ways to provoke giving action.

Balancing your reporting to combat negative media messages and showing the human reality of a crisis can be effective in ensuring that awareness and understanding remains high.

Giving Remains A Priority

Despite the unprecedented level of global crises in 2023, our latest research report ‘British Muslim Charitable Giving II: The Impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis’ showed that the majority of UK Muslim community intend to give the same amount and more than a quarter aim to give more in donations in 2024.

This encouraging statistic is a reason to remain optimistic and to know that charities whose main audience is from the British Muslim community, will continue to receive funds.

Despite this, it’s important to realise that the community is experiencing its own pressures within the UK with 29% concerned about their job security and more almost 60% worried about how they will pay monthly bills.

Diversifying Income Is Still Essential

Although giving remains a priority, branching out to new avenues of income for your charity is important. As we saw during the Covid19 pandemic, giving can drop due to unforeseen circumstance and we do not know what 2024 will hold for the world. If your charity does not already explore and secure grant funding, this is a strong stream to investigate in 2024, particularly if your charity delivers domestic aid. Check out our grant funding page and resources to help you get started.

Show Your Impact

Finally, with the world’s attention turned to so many injustices and disasters, donors are continuing to question how their money is being spent. Donors are emotionally invested in causes as information about the realities on the ground spreads quickly through social media. It is therefore as important as ever to ensure that personalised feedback, case studies, transparency and most of all – impact – are relayed to your donors to maintain the relationship that has been established. Whether one-off new donors or those who have made the commitment to you of regular giving, each donor relationship needs to be nurtured and is equally important. Showing your donor the impact of their donations is vital to ensure that they continue to support your programmes.

As we move into the next 12 months, we do not know how situations around the globe will play out. But for those of us fortunate enough to not be caught in crisis and disaster, wanting to help and feeling part of a solution by making a tangible difference are some of the main motivators for people to give in increasingly challenging times.

At MCF, we are here to support, connect and represent the sector. How is your charity preparing for 2024? Get in touch to let us know and find out how we can support you at [email protected]