Despite the official end of the recession - and despite fundraised income holding up better than expected - anxiety is the main theme of the latest Managing in a Downturn survey produced by the Institute of Fundraising, the Charity Finance Directors’ group and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The new report identifies an increase in anxiety levels amongst fundraising directors since the last survey in May 2009. In particular, fundraisers are said to be anxious about major donors, and perhaps unsurprisingly this fear is most keenly felt in smaller charities where such donors are responsible for a disproportionate amount of funding.

According to the authors of the survey, and in an echo of the findings of the latest CAF report, strategies for tackling these fears centre on investment in fundraising such as providing better donor care, exploring different fundraising methods and being more persistent in asking for support. Interestingly, the surveyed charities also report greater enthusiasm for making the most of digital media in order to reach new audiences and communicate more widely. The rise of such techniques is covered in-depth in Philanthropy UK’s March 2010 newsletter (subscribe here).

Lower-tech methods of raising funds are found on every high street, where charity shops turn other people’s unwanted goods into gold. According to the Association of Charity Shops, the charity retail sector generates £120m a year for good causes. Yet veterinary charity the PDSA reports that donations to their shops have fallen to their lowest-ever level, with donated stock in the last twelve months down almost a quarter on the previous year. Recession-chic, which made it acceptable to wear fashion for longer than a season, is blamed for the drop in donated clothing, so the charity shop sector has come out fighting with a new campaign called ‘Donate, don’t waste’.

Further inventiveness in fighting recessionary impacts is evident in Celina Ribeiro’s latest blog posting, which asks if the time is finally right for a campaign to persuade people to donate at least 1% of their income. There’s nothing new about the idea of earmarking a percentage of income for good causes, from religious-inspired tithing to Joel Joffee’s laudable attempts to rally richer people to commit to giving away a couple of percent, leading to the admirable headline: ‘Could you afford to live on 98% of your pay?’.

Yet the difficult economic climate is now coupled with a resurgent Conservative party which has an expressed goal of bringing the level of giving up to a ‘social norm’ of 1%. Ribeiro suggests now may be the perfect time to run a mass-marketing campaign for a concrete figure, “Something like the five-a-day fruit and veg campaign, maybe. Every time you eat an orange you mentally tally up a mark on your five- a-day target. Perhaps a concerted effort to get people to give 1% could have people stopping to have a conversation with a chugger, dropping an extra couple of pounds into a collection box or responding to a newspaper insert as part of ‘their 1 %’. You will always get people who do things like count potatoes as one of their five, or who dump their broken toaster off at the local charity shop, but, on the whole, at least it gets people thinking about what they should be doing.”

Finally, as we report in today’s bulletin, there has been a recent proliferation of manifestos from philanthropy support organisations, setting out their hopes for whoever forms the next government after the anticipated general election in May. These documents contain many interesting ideas around new initiatives, incentives and legislative changes, which are arguably needed in these difficult economic times now more than ever. Yet we may have forgotten that one of the best buttons that governments can press is simply to endorse and encourage donors, preferably in a believable and sincere way.

The latest step taken from the White House is a class act in showing how this can be done. Barack Obama’s background as a community organiser and his obvious sympathy to the philanthropic sector, lends credibility to a short but sweet letter he wrote in support of Corporate Philanthropy Day. It reads:

“I send my warmest greetings to all those observing International Corporate Philanthropy Day. Today’s challenges demand solutions that come not just from government, but also from entrepreneurs and business leaders around the world. Through their skills, ingenuity, financial support, and dedication, corporate philanthropists and their employees have answered the call to serve, giving back in meaningful ways that help those in need and improve our communities. Their efforts reflect a generosity of spirit and broad vision, and remind each of us of the role we can play in building a brighter tomorrow. I wish you all the best, Barack Obama.”

In these anxious times, as we step tentatively into post-recession territory, we could do with some equally credible and authoritative endorsement for philanthropy in the UK.