By Paul Ridgway, MD Reach Fundraising (Direct)
For years face-to-face fundraising was largely judged by one key metric: volume.
How many sign-ups? How many teams? How many venues? There was a clear appetite for numbers and a drive for growth.
But the latest sector benchmarking (CIOF 2025) suggests that model has fundamentally shifted.
It’s a change that the teams at Reach Fundraising have been championing for years. And that’s why our attrition rates are industry-leading.
Face-to-face fundraising is no longer about scale for scale’s sake. It is about smarter targeting, tighter compliance, stronger training and sustainable income.
That isn’t decline. It’s evolution.
Stability, not collapse
Recent sector data comparing 2019, 2022 and 2024 gives us one of the clearest snapshots of post-pandemic fundraising performance.
Total sign-ups were:
- 2019: 696,327
- 2022: 759,728
- 2024: 685,150
At first glance, 2022 appears to represent growth but we all know stats can be deceiving. In reality, the hike was a post-lockdown anomaly fuelled by redeployed budgets, rested venues and renewed public openness to in-person conversations. It was a very different time.
For those reasons the more meaningful comparison to the state of fundraising today is 2019 versus 2024.
And here the picture is clear: face-to-face fundraising has stabilised close to pre-pandemic levels, however the structure of performance has changed.
That’s a real positive given the world we live in and the financial challenges faced by many.
Door-to-door leads the way
Pre-pandemic, private site regular giving dominated delivering 348,342 sign-ups in 2019.
By 2024, the channel mix had shifted:
- Door-to-door: 283,539 sign-ups
- Private site – regular giving: 237,464
- Private site – lottery: 129,029
- Street fundraising: 35,118
Street activity now sits at roughly half its 2019 level driven the demise of the High Street. Meanwhile, door-to-door has emerged as the leading channel.
This isn’t underperformance. It’s strategic reallocation.
During the 2022 bounce-back, many teams moved to doorsteps – the first face-to-face channel able to restart – and many have stayed there.
The sector has adapted to where performance is strongest and there’s no additional cost for site rental. That’s precision in practice.
That said, CIOF stats don’t necessarily paint the full picture.
Attrition rates door-to-door can be higher than all routes to market. So can complaints from consumers. At Reach we are highly strategic when we employ D2D tactics using it more for specific regional projects; not national campaigns. Duration of a supporter is paramount and is always part of our strategy.
Efficiency Is the Real Growth Story
The most important shift may not be volume at all; it may be efficiency.
Some charities are now running smaller operations than pre-COVID while achieving comparable supporter numbers. And that’s thanks to better venue selection and a more analytical, data-led approach.
Technology is reinforcing this shift:
- Ai-driven campaign monitoring
- Improved reporting and performance management
- Faster processing and more strategic supporter acknowledgement
The result is a stronger return on investment, improved data security and a much richer supporter journey. The era of blanket coverage looks to be over. And the era of targeted execution has begun.
At Reach Fundraising we have exclusive access to proven venues nationwide that consistently deliver high quality supporters. We are driven by data. We win when our charity partners win.
Compliance as competitive advantage
Oversight across the sector is tightening with updated guidance and strengthened codes of practice coming into effect from late 2025.
Accountability is sharper.
This isn’t a constraint. It’s a service maturing and listening.
In a public environment where trust can be fragile, organisations that prioritise compliance, accountability and supporter experience will strengthen both reputation and long-term sustainability.
High standards are no longer optional. They are the infrastructure.
The Human Advantage
Despite the growth of digital channels where Reach Fundraising leads the way in volumes and cost per donor, face-to-face remains one of the fastest and most effective ways to recruit regular givers. Supporters recruited in 2024 are projected to give over £50 million in their first 12 months alone.
Why?
- Because people remember people
- They remember the conversation
- They remember the passion
- They remember the fundraiser
Authenticity in a world of Ai is gold. It should be every charity’s buzzword for 2026.
At Reach Fundraising we go the extra mile.
Let’s take the work we do for our partner The Veterans’ Foundation. Integrated into our face-to-face teams are those that have served in the armed forces. This commitment to honest storytelling has delivered sector-leading sales and low attrition. That’s why you need to put authenticity first.
What This Means for 2026
If the era of precision-led F2F has begun, charities should respond accordingly:
1. Invest in insight before expansion. Optimise regions, analyse channel ROI and integrate F2F data into wider CRM strategy.
2. Treat compliance as brand infrastructure. Strong oversight is now a growth lever, not just risk management.
3. Develop F2F as a talent pipeline. The skills built in face-to-face — communication, resilience, authenticity — are long-term assets for the sector.
Face-to-face fundraising is not shrinking.
It is sharpening.
The organisations that embrace that shift will lead the next phase of sustainable fundraising growth.
Source: Chartered Institute of Fundraising F2F Fundraising Benchmarking Report 2025