Clothes collections: needing a makeover?

The fundraising technique of clothes collections may be a traditional mainstay for our sector, but has been recently having some perception issues. To donors, charity clothes collections represent a convenient way of giving away items that are no longer wanted; yet the increase in bogus collections means that members of the public can sometimes find it hard to tell a legitimate ask from an unscrupulous one.

To charity fundraisers the collection of clothes for reuse or resale can be a crucial income generator - yet it’s becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace, with donors often receiving many requests from charities to donate items in this way. Add into the mix recent sensational and negative media reports on charity clothes collections, and the public perception of this fundraising form becomes somewhat blurred.

It is heartening to see these issues being taken up at the highest level, with a Government roundtable debate on bogus collections meaning that a joined up discussion with all relevant stakeholders present and engaged took place at the end of last year. The Institute will soon be bringing its House-to-House Code of Fundraising Practice which clarifies the standards required for the charity sector and donors alike.

What is crucial in all of this is for the sector to work together in presenting a united front. We need to acknowledge that there are a range of models of clothes collections which it might suit a particular charity to employ and that there is no standard rule as to which arrangement is better. It depends on the individual circumstances and make up of the charity in question.

At the end of the day, what is at stake is the giving public’s levels of trust and confidence in charities. If there is uncertainty around techniques, what constitutes a legitimate fundraising collection, how charities use donations of clothes and the profits they keep from such gifts, people’s comprehension of the benefits of this form of giving will naturally decline.

Of course, individuals are more inclined to make judgments about a charity based on what they see of its activity first hand. Some people may have experienced the work of a good cause through being a service user or beneficiary. However, more often than not it’s fundraising that is the mode of engagement with individuals. And it stands to reason that the most ‘visible’ forms of fundraising, such as house-to-house, or face-to-face are shop windows for the rest of the sector’s income generating activity.

This all feeds neatly into the Institute’s accountability and transparency agenda; openness around all issues where fundraising is concerned – costs, salaries and required investment alike - is always encouraged. There are some basics of fundraising which should be covered off as standard by charities. One such example is the premise that money raised needs to be used by charities as intended by donors.

There are no two ways about it. The tense times we are still experiencing as a sector mean an increase in charities’ demand for funding. Crucially, it’s up to all of us to fulfill the missions of our organisations and, in all of the fundraising methods we use, engender trust in service users and donors alike.

Louise Richards, Director of Policy and Campaigns, Institute of Fundraising

Being the change we want to see...

The ImpACT coalition is shortly to launch its transparency and accountability manifesto, calling on leaders across the sector to get serious about the commitment to being honest and open about our business and how we operate.

Number 8 on the list is for organisations to agree that it is important that they publish an easily accessible suggestions and complaints procedure for beneficiaries and supporters.

I was reminded of the necessity for this only too clearly whilst visiting an elderly relative recently. She told me that a volunteer had been helping her from a local elderly care charity. Whilst the volunteer had been very successful at helping her get the benefits she deserved she didn’t like the way the volunteer often talked to benefits staff on the phone, “she was very rude to them and quite aggressive and on more than one occasion she said I was her mother, which I didn’t really like”. When asked whether she had complained her story was sadly too familiar, “I didn’t like too. She did get me the money I need; besides, I didn’t really know how… she gave me lots of leaflets about how to complain about my benefits but nothing about her organisation.”

It strikes me that we are often in the position of trying to advocate on behalf of those we work with, strengthening and empowering them, but we afford them the same view of our organisations are we are hoping they will get of the statutory services.

Morally most charities would find it hard to argue, but maybe we should also go further. What about publishing how many complaints a charity has each year? A short summary of the type of things and how the organisation plans to address them… True accountability starts at home; maybe it is time for us to take the lead in being the change we want to see…