Category: Charities

During economical hardship, businesses aren’t the only entities that suffer. It is during this time that the funding for charities drastically decreases, while the need greatly increases. Charities may no longer be able to reach as many individuals as they had previously. In addition, some charities may completely cease to exist due to the economical downturn.

Charities receive funding from a variety of sources. Fundraisers, personal donations, and business donations provide a great deal of funds for these operations. When businesses cut back, charitable donations may be one of the first things to go. When employees are laid off, individuals and families may not be able to give. As a matter of fact, some of these individuals may become recipients of charitable services. When this happens, it is clear that the demands for charity exceed the funding. Ultimately, many needs will not be met.

A declining economy does not only affect the soliciting of funds in the form of cash donations, but affect every sector of charity. Food banks, soup kitchens, and shelters will equally suffer. Non cash donations have steadily declined even more so. Instead of donating items, several individuals will keep what they have in an effort to utilize all resources.

Local charities may feel the blow even harder. They typically receive the least donations of all charities, despite economical conditions. Several local charities have already closed their doors and there may be many more to continue. The bottom line, charities suffer as much as businesses in this economy.

As long as they ask for money, charities are regarded with the same eyes that shy away from for-profit sales. More traditional collection methods, such as door-to-door and telecommunications, are less effective than they may have been before the average person became exposed to hundreds of advertisements every day in the modern era. Even though the home itself is loaded with junk mail and internet ads, the home is one of the safest places for a citizen to feel less like a consumer.

Technology can easily be used as an effective collection method, while remaining non-threatening to a potential supporter’s sense of self-sovereignty and security. Using technology, it becomes far easier to build credibility and professional appearances.

First of all, nothing exists in this day and age without showing up in a Google search. No one wants to get scammed into a fraudulent door-to-door enterprise, but the simple fabrication of a website is enough to establish credibility. No less, the capability of online donating is an expected convenience. Without these standard accouterments, it’s very difficult to be taken seriously by the public.

PayPal, a well-established transaction service, offers discounted fees for registered charities. Social networking sites, like Facebook, offer space especially for charities, and direct exposure to its member base. This personable and zero-pressure setting allows easily accessible information retrieval, sharing, and secure donation transactions.

Even though technology is supposedly less personable than direct contact, generations of marketing practices have already milked this fact for all its worth—to the point where direct-contact creates more of a threatening atmosphere than that of personal connection or rapport. There is a time and place for personal contact, but charities will survive much better if they first take advantage of technology to garner their support base.

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