Fundraising: Premium-rate phone services: time to take another look?

By John Plummer, Third Sector, 5 March 2008

Last year's TV scandals were a blow to phone services already viewed with scepticism by the sector. But with healthy forecasts for the industry, is it time to bury the past? John Plummer reports.

Charity fundraisers tend to give premium-rate phone services a wide berth. Text-to-donate campaigns, premium-rate phone competitions and add-ons such as ringtones and updates have never been regarded as the most efficient forms of fundraising, because too many people get a slice of the pie. To make matters worse, the reputation...