BBC Charity Appeals - Raising Money Through Voting

Raising money for charities through voting

Voting is a popular form of audience participation, particularly for the BBC's big entertainment programmes.

Since early 2008, calls to BBC programmes using premium rate telephony have been capped at 15 pence. The only exception to this is in programmes directly related to a charity appeal, such as Comic Relief or BBC Children in Need. As before, the audience will be given a clear indication that this is happening.

The policy of having just two premium call categories – one capped at 15p for all BBC programmes and the other for any charity appeals – will make it even clearer to audiences what to expect when they interact with BBC programmes in competitions or votes.

Until recently, a number of BBC programmes not directly related to a charitable appeal, such as Strictly Come Dancing, took the opportunity to raise a small additional sum for the charities by increasing the call price, usually by 10 pence. This will no longer happen under the new policy. However, some BBC programmes with fundraising vote lines may be specifically commissioned as part of BBC charity appeals programming.

The BBC cannot itself make money from voting. But programmes which contain a popular vote, using a premium rate number, may raise money for BBC charities, such as BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief. In general, BBC charities are grant-makers, which ensures that money raised is spread across the UK and overseas and supports a range spread of charitable activities.

Voting can raise significant sums for charity – "Restoration Village" 2006 raised £500,000 for the Restoration Fund. In 2006, the Fame Academy Bursary received £416,000 from public voting on "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?" enabling it to launch a Musical Theatre Bursary. However, the amount of money varies with the programme format, the channel and the audience.

Some programmes such as News and Current Affairs use voting as a serious editorial tool, for example to gauge opinion on matters of public policy. In such cases the cost of calls are capped at the absolute minimum, with no aim of raising money.

Even where voting revenue is going to a good cause, the BBC still needs to ensure that systems are in place to ensure the vote is robust; for example, to rule out block voting which could "rig" the end result.

Many programmes on commercial television with a popular vote only give a small proportion of monies raised to charity. All revenue from BBC charity voting lines goes to charity, after costs for operator charges and tax. The amount going to the charity will vary with the operator charges. but typically, from a 25p BBC vote line, 10p will go to charity.

Voting through landline phones is the most popular form of voting; however voting via texting is becoming increasingly popular, particular for younger audiences. However, higher operator charges mean that charities do not get as high a cut from a text vote.