New Supporter Promise launched as impact reaches record high
Save the Children has today unveiled new safeguards to ensure its supporters have greater control over how they give to the charity and are not aggressively targeted
The Supporter Promise is a new pledge which guarantees no cold telephone calling, no sharing or selling of any individual’s details and allows donors to choose how they are contacted.
The new charter is launched on the same day as Save the Children publishes its annual report, which shows it has achieved greater impact for children around the world than ever before – directly helping 17.4 million in 2014 and responding to 97 emergencies in 54 countries.
The Supporter Promise, implemented in the coming months, aims to ensure the very highest levels of accountability and transparency. It will guarantee: no cold telephone calling to members of the general public and allow supporters to easily and clearly choose how they are contacted – meaning we’ll never contact them if they ask us not to; no details or data will ever be shared or sold; and greater oversight – including training and regulation - of any call agency we use.
Save the Children is already collaborating with the Institute of Fundraising (IoF), the Fund Raising Standards Board (FRSB) and other charities on a review of the self-regulatory framework. Save already complies fully with the IoF’s code of practice.
Justin Forsyth, Save the Children CEO, said: “Our passionate and dedicated supporters are the beating heart of our organisation and we recognise that the way we work with them has to improve.
“We have to get the right balance between raising much needed money, with making sure members of the public who want to help us save lives and give every child the chance to learn, feel respected and valued.
“As our annual report shows, Save the Children will do whatever it takes to achieve a better future for children but to do so we need the backing of supporters more than ever as some other Governments around the world are not doing enough to respond to the unprecedented numbers of humanitarian emergencies.”
Save the Children’s Annual Report – Whatever It Takes – highlights that 2014 was one of the toughest years the charity has faced in its 95 year history, as it responded to 97 emergencies around the world.
Working at full stretch to lead responses to huge humanitarian crises like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and work in some of the toughest places on the planet like Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
The report shows Save the Children in 2014:
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Directly helped 17.4 million children and reached a further 70 million children and adults (compared with 15.4 million and 58.5 million in 2013);
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Responded to 97 emergencies, compared with 88 the previous year;
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Three million children with malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea given life-saving treatment (compared with 1.3 million in 2013);
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53,000 children helped through education programmes and work to provide family basics in the UK (compared with 24,300 the year before);
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Worked with HM Government to set up and manage the Ebola Treatment centre in Sierra Leone;
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Launched the Humanitarian Leadership Academy; and,
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Had an income of £370 million, up £27 million from 2013.
Justin Forsyth added: “Because of the tough choices we made, last year enabled us to reach more children and their families than ever before, raise a record level of income and enlist hundreds of thousands of people to support our cause.
“In a challenging year, we’re proud of what we achieved, meeting and surpassing many of the stretched goals we set ourselves.”
Save the Children has taken steps in recent years to boost openness and transparency – including publishing salaries of its CEO and whole executive board, publishing its own Accountancy and Transparency Report and complying with Charity Commission guidelines.
This year’s Accountancy and Transparency report, also published today, shows the charity responded to feedback from supporters. In 2014 complaints about fundraising activity, mailings and agencies were down 41 per cent from the previous year.
