NEARLY a quarter of Britons who give regularly to charity and donated to the tsunami disaster appeal “will not have much more to give to other charities this year”, according to a new poll.
There has been mounting concern in the charity sector that non-tsunami fundraising efforts will suffer because of the British public’s unprecedented generosity.
The ICM poll for the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the first suggestion that these fears may be realised. It comes as the United Nations World Food Programme reported that donations to its African operations had fallen by more than a fifth since the tsunami on December 26 last year.
Donations to the WFP’s African operations dropped by 21 per cent in January to $24 million (£12.7 million) compared with $29 million in the first month of 2004.
James Morris, the agency’s executive director, said: “The challenge we now face is to ensure that a tsunami effect does not ripple across Africa, drawing funds away from humanitarian operations there and adding Sudanese, Angolan and Liberian victims to its toll.”
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In Britain Macmillan Cancer Relief and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) both told The Times yesterday that they had experienced a drop in income. Stephen Bubb, head of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, said that the impact of the tsunami on other appeals had become a serious concern for charities. The group represents more than 2,000 charity chief executives, and Mr Bubb said they were evenly split between those who fear a shortfall in donations and others who believe that the tsunami appeal will increase long-term giving.
“I don’t think there’s any point whingeing,” he added. “People were incredibly generous and now we need to work with the Government to make sure that we establish long-term giving as a habit.”
The British public has donated more than £365 million towards tsunami relief in the six weeks since the disaster and money is still coming in.
According to the NCVO, a record 86 per cent of British adults donated to the appeal. In a typical year just under 70 per cent of adults give to charity.
Tracey Beard, director of communications and fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Relief said: “We have seen a slight dip in our income in the first quarter of 2005 but we are optimistic that we will see a complete recovery. Cancer is not going to go away, after all.”
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David Brann, fundraising and communications director at the RNLI said that, excluding legacy contributions, donations for January were down 8 per cent. “That equates to a fall of about £200,000 for the month, enought to buy two new lifeboats,” he said. “I think it’s fair to put a lot of that down to the tsunami.”
The RNLI is entirely dependent on public donations for its funding and is, therefore, particularly vulnerable to a decline in public giving. “The difficult thing is to know whether this will continue through the year,” Mr Brann added.
Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the NCVO, said that it was too early to gauge the full extent of the tsunami appeal on charitable giving. Some charities had postponed fundraising drives and mail shots because of the disaster, he said.
But he was optimistic about most of the poll’s findings. He was particularly encouraged by the large numbers of people who did not usually give to charity but who had dug deep for the tsunami.
More than a third of young adults (18 to 24 years) who donated to the appeal did not give regularly to charity, but nearly one in ten said they might now do so.