Some of the findings in a new survey of Canadians are disheartening for charities. When asked whether they were concerned about charity fraud - individuals falsely claiming to be canvassing for charities - more than two-thirds said such frauds were more common today than ten years ago.
Yet only 5% reported being the victim of such a fraudster. That's the same proportion as when the questions were last asked in 2009. Yet in that year only half the respondents noted a fear of charity fraud.
Public confuses individual benefit, charitable cause
What's behind the growing mistrust? Kirsten Beardsley of CanadaHelps, whose organization partnered with Angus Reid on the survey, points to the huge amount of publicity surrounding the case of Ashley Kirilow (CF&P, August 15, 2010). Her false claim that she was collecting for her own cancer treatment bilked hundreds of people out of an estimated $20,000 and made newspaper headlines in Canada and the US.
It's ironic that the Kirilow case should affect Canadians' attitudes towards charity canvassers. Kirilow didn't even claim an affiliation with a charity. She clearly said she was collecting for her own benefit, and her only lie was the disease she claimed to have. (There's a lesson in that for all of us who trust people's ability to assimilate information, including the information in our fundraising appeals, quickly and accurately.)
Then came the earthquake in Haiti, followed by a wave of grassroots, highly individualized fundraising that created a fertile field for false canvassers. That's become so common, Beardsley notes, that the media cycle has become predictable: the disaster, waves of advice on how we can help, a fresh crop of single-issue websites raising funds, and media articles with questions about scams and tips to protect donors.
Careful messaging, unique props offer safeguards
Is any charity safe from what seems to be a gut-level suspicion of individuals collecting for charities? Andrew Burditt of The Salvation Army credits that organization's careful messaging for the low number of fake canvassers choosing the Salvation Army as "their" charity.
"Unfortunately, The Salvation Army has had times when people have fraudulently portrayed themselves as our volunteers," he says. "We are very specific about when we are in communities, so this is usually very easy to deal with, and we don't actually do much door-to-door fund-raising, so it's not really a problem."
Burditt agrees that the Salvation Army's most successful canvass - the Red Kettle Appeal (see Short and Smart in this issue) depends on a prop that's very hard to duplicate. That adds an extra measure of security to the tactic.
Educating donors, benefitting charities
Despite the high level of mistrust that surfaced in the CanadaHelps/Angus Reid poll, 40% of those surveyed don't verify that a charity is legitimate before considering a gift. That's why CanadaHelps is partnering with CapitalOne to educate Canadians about charity fraud and how to verify a charity's legitimacy.
Building on the fact that March is "Fraud Prevention Month," the two organizations are sponsoring a quiz with prizes going to the winners' favourite charities. Look for a link to the quiz from the Canada Helps home page and encourage your supporters to test themselves. There's a weekly prize of $1,000 and a grand prize of $20,000.
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