Trust in charities
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Members' notes
Tracy The public is increasingly concerned about ‘trust’. As the public have greater access to information, the level of trust in institutions, including those previously regarded as experts, is declining. Traditionally trust in charities has been based on an 'inherent belief' that charities will spend wisely and effectively rather than any rational knowledge on how they operate. However, recently this trust has declined, partly due to the public reaction to some fundraising practices and an increased expectation from the public to demonstrate what their money has achieved.
What are the implications?
- Pressure on VCOs to be more transparent and adopt new mechanisms for accountability from both funders and the public (see expectations of evidence).
- Increased pressure to build trust through word of mouth and peer-to-peer networks and online communities.
- This may lead to weaker control over the communication of your messages (see ease of publishing online.)
- Greater scrutiny of VCOs from the public may lead to an increase in measurements and comparison of VCOs (for example, league tables) which may not take into account the complexity of organisational services, beneficiary needs and fundraising costs.
- Growth of movements such as the Impact Coalition in order to try and enhance transparency amongst the VCS.
- Increased media coverage of the VCS with a focus on accountability which may have implications for organisation’s reputations.
- Organisations may need to become aware of the importance of demonstrating their independence from government in order to counteract a decline in trust.
- Organisations that deliver public services may increasingly need to differentiate themselves from government.
Moving forward
- How could you build trust amongst your beneficiaries and stakeholders and successfully develop peer-to-peer networks that are out of your control?
- How could you maintain these if they produce negative reactions?
- Do you have measures in place to demonstrate your accountability and manage the risks associated with this?
All organisational staff will need to be clearer about organisational expenditure.
- Are your staff clear about your organisational expenditure and ready to explain if challenged?
Heightened public awareness of the VCS means charities need to be more aware of media attention.
- Does your organisation have a strategy in place to deal with this? Are all staff clear about organisational messages?
Want to know more?
The Trouble With Trust: Building Confidence in Institutions
Published by: BBC
Date: January 2008
Format: Web
What is it? A transcript of a speech by BBC Director General Mark Thompson about trust
How useful is this? A short and interesting speech about the relationship between the media and public institutions and the impact that has on trust, drawing on lessons from the BBC. Some of the ideas are particularly relevant to charities who, like the BBC, are relatively well trusted.
Trust: 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer
Published by: Edelman
Date: 2009
Format: PDF
What is it? This report presents useful data on public trust in a range of organisational types. It compares trust in NGOs with that in business, media and government, and contrasts the results from various global regions.
How useful is this? The report gives a useful overview of trust in the global context. It may be less useful in the domestic UK context although the discussion of trust in the media is also relevant.
Other comments:
Public trust in the sector on the rise
Published by: Third Sector Magazine
Date: January 2009
Format: Web
What is it? This article is written in response to nfpSynergy's Charity Awareness Monitor. As such, it presents key results from the CAM along with a brief discussion.
How useful is this? This provides some basic data on trust in charities. Since the CAM is not available free of charge, the articlegives a useful starting point to exploring this driver.
Other comments:
Public trust in charities: it's clear as mud
Published by: Intelligent Giving
Date: May 2008
Format: Web
What is it? This blog article discusses the results of nfpSynergy research, along with those of other research. It suggests that overly pessimistic interpretations are unreasonable.
How useful is this? This is a useful cautionary article identifying flaws in certain interpretations of data on trust.
Other comments:
Recent comments
Elizabeth
I recently went to an event organised by the Charity Commission, where they presented the findings of a 2008
Study into Public Trust and Confidence in Charities conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the Commission. This follows a first study conducted by the Charity Commission in 2005, in response to the then Draft Charities Bill.
The main objectives of the research were to investigate public trust, confidence and attitudes towards charities; and explore the key drivers for overall trust.
First of all, the study identified a number of key drivers of public trust and confidence in charities:
- the belief that charities spend their money wisely and effectively is the principal driver of overall trust;
- the belief that charities ensure a reasonable proportion of donations make it to the end cause and ensure that fundraisers are ethical and honest are also important drivers at the top level;
- the belief that charities are regulated and controlled to ensure they work for the public benefit is another primary driver;
- other positive drivers include having personally experienced what a particular charity does, and belief in the charity’s cause.
Since 2005 there have been a number of significant changes that are worth highlighting:
- overall public trust and confidence in charities has increased slightly but significantly (from 6.3 to 6.6);
- the vast majority of the public view charities playing an ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ role in society, and agree that charities are trustworthy and act in the public interest;
- the proportion of people donating time and goods to a charity has increased significantly;
- much more people recognise themselves as beneficiaries of charities and reveal that they have benefited from a charity in some way.
It is also interesting that there is a fundamental difference between what the public overtly says is the most important quality, and what covertly actually drives overall trust and confidence in charities. In fact, when asked to prioritise which quality is most important to their trust and confidence in charities, the public prioritise making a positive difference to the cause they work for.
This study was carried out on behalf of the Charity Commission before the Icelandic crisis and economic turmoil, so it was very interesting to attend the event at a time when so many things are changing. There is more information in the full report, but I wonder what the results would be if carried out over the next couple of months.
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How will this affect your organisation? Have you considered it during your strategic planning? Can you share any interesting relevant links?
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