How can we rebuild trust in the charity sector? Start with what matters.

Let’s start with an uncomfortable truth:

The average charity is trusted less than the average person on the street.

You read that correctly.

There are so many misconceptions, reasonable questions, and general hesitation to donate that charities are facing a consistent uphill battle. They’re either too small to make a real difference or too big to be trustworthy with their spending.

Charities either don’t display their impact well enough or overload the potential donor with information. Sometimes both. They either don’t ask enough or ‘hassle’ people on the street with drive-by guilt trips.

For many people, the current process of giving simply doesn’t work

By simplifying this process and building trust through the key factors most affecting donors we can make an enormous impact. Currently, 62% of non-donors would give if they felt their donation would make a difference.

It’s a simple concept — people want to see what their money is doing.

Charitable giving is a difficult concept to quantify because in so many ways it is opposed to the other form of monetary expenditure — materialism. Almost all of the money donated will go toward helping those in need and almost impossible to quantify. It’s ephemeral, tangential, and distant to what we’re so used to.

Shifting focus

What if instead of expecting the average person to understand the intricate workings and policies of every single charity out there, we simplify it to the point in which people can simply give a rough overview of what they care most about, and the platform takes it from there?

The inspiration behind Affect came from the idea that we can flip the concept of charitable giving on its head. We can remove the headaches associated, increase trust, and even potentially cause a dramatic shift in how people perceive giving.

Let’s frame giving around what truly matters to us: a clearly defined impact that answers our own specific goals and interests. A platform where we know as much (or as little!) about the charities we donate to. Most importantly, a platform that curates charities based on quality, not quantity.

Full control over what we give, who we give to, and when. All without the guilt or sense of unease at whether our money is going to the ‘right place’.

Imagine a system in which the huge global charities are on an even playing field to the tiny community start-ups trying to make a difference in their own small way. Imagine giving these charities who rely solely on word of mouth and the kindness of friends and family to keep them afloat suddenly have a platform in which they see donations increase exponentially?

I feel as though if we start to reposition our views on giving to something similar to how we treat our finances in general — there could be a dramatic shift in the mindset of giving.

Changing the meaning of transactions

You spend £3 in a coffee shop and you walk out with a coffee. It’s a simple transaction that’s easy to understand. You put something in, you get something out.

This is a tricky one to navigate but bear with me: Pure altruism is incredibly rare and almost inconsequential to the daily goals we set out with. We donate to causes we care about because it makes us feel good. We give to charities that we’ve either directly or indirectly been affected by. We run the London Marathon raising money for Macmillan, Stroke Association, or any of a myriad of charities because we know someone who’s been affected by it. We want to feel that in some small way we’re doing our bit to help.

Getting back from giving in doesn’t mean we need any form of material substance as thanks. Rather, let’s approach the psychological implications of donating in much the same way we look at the serotonin rush granted by making that latest impulse buy.

Studies have shown that the emotional rewards granted from donating/giving to good causes far outweigh the fleeting rush we find in a slice of cake or a pair of shoes. The ‘reward’ we get for giving is more powerful than material goods.

We’ve been sold on the complete opposite for years. It’s easier to sell the ‘next big thing’ rather than ‘the next hit of positive thinking’. I should know, after being in the industry for 10+ years.

Today’s climate

Times are changing, however. We as a society are more aware than ever that finding meaning through positive mental wellbeing outstrips purchasing power. Through isolation, we’ve seen incredible hardships, but also enormous positives in human connection. Spending time with our loved ones, real genuine time can be so rewarding. It’s free too.

Just look at how effective charitable causes to support the NHS with the fantastic Captain Tom have been. People need something to believe in. They want to feel like they’re making a difference and supporting that which truly matters.

We also need ease of access. We want to make a difference but rely on the right options to be presented in a meaningful way. In a world filled with white noise and millions of causes all fighting for attention — how can we shape a solution that fits our requirements?

Life has been put in a cold, hard perspective — and I hope that through all of this we come out stronger and with a clearer vision of what genuine happiness can entail. We find meaning through giving and joy through impact. That’s exactly what Affect has set out to achieve.

Let’s shift away from the mindset that giving has to be a sole act of altruism — let’s instead celebrate the genuine positives and good that giving does. Not just to those helped by the causes, but to ourselves. Let’s reward those giving with clear and actionable goals — a real impact that is clear to see and easy to understand. Let’s make change possible.