Gift introduces PDA on the street
Published Thu 01 May 2008
Prospecting teams for Oxfam, Unicef and Cancer Research UK are using hand-held PDAs to collect information from potential donors on the street. F2F agency Gift Fundraising introduced the devices for all its prospecting from 21 April, and plans to extend them to its face-to-face teams this summer.
The devices, which are linked to a secure server, provide instant Postcode Address File (PAF) verification, and mean the charity will receive next-day reporting and data exports of sign-ups. A pilot with Oxfam increased PAF verification from 87 to 100 per cent.
Milly Ahmed, director of Gift Fundraising, said it was still testing how the PDAs could be used for direct debit sign-ups. “It’s still in the development stages but we envisage donors giving exactly the same kind of details they would give if they were signing up using a form. But in this case we will be able to confirm that the bank details are indeed correct there and then.” Gift is still looking at the legal issues on what kind of receipt the donor would then need to receive.
Meanwhile, the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association announced at its annual general meeting on 10 April that it would increase the levy it charges members for each direct debit donor recruited, from 70p to 75p this year. The PFRA plans to use the increased levy “more creatively” to enhance quality control of its members. It is also currently considering how the levy could be extended to cover prospecting activity, which looks set to come under the PFRA’s remit when the Institute of Fundraising publishes its revised code of practice on face-to-face fundraising this summer.
Gemma Ware
May 2008