The National Center for Non-Profit Sector Development has issued new guidelines for institutions and civil associations to regulate media campaigns for fundraising, calling for the adoption of a professional media discourse that reflects the sector's maturity and focuses on highlighting its developmental and humanitarian impact, away from excessive appeal to pity or inciting donors' emotions.

The non-profit sector is witnessing rapid growth and increasing institutional development.

The Center explained, in a circular seen by Akhbar 24, that the non-profit sector is witnessing rapid growth and increasing institutional development, which necessitates elevating the media discourse to enhance the trust the sector has built and contribute to achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for the Non-Profit Sector.

It emphasized that media messages of non-profit organizations not only reflect their programs and initiatives but also shape the mental image of the entire sector, making the quality and balance of media discourse an essential part of their institutional and social responsibility.

The Center called on organizations to shift from focusing on presenting need to highlighting developmental impact and community partnership, while preserving the dignity and privacy of beneficiaries, committing to obtaining necessary approvals before publishing any images or identifying data, in addition to considering cultural and social privacy, and presenting realistic cases without exaggeration or excessive emotional incitement.

The circular stressed the need to avoid media practices incompatible with the sector's mission, such as excessive appeal for pity and begging, reducing charitable work to scenes of need, publishing images that violate beneficiaries' privacy, using expressions that undermine their dignity, or focusing on helplessness instead of highlighting opportunities for recovery and empowerment.

It also warned against including messages containing unverifiable promises about the impact of donations, using psychological pressure tactics on donors, or including messages unrelated to the institutional mission of non-profit entities.

At the conclusion of its circular, the Center affirmed that enhancing trust in the sector depends not only on the quality of work but also on the quality of media discourse, supported by transparency and disclosure of impact, thereby contributing to raising community awareness, enhancing the sector's standing, and enabling it to fulfill its developmental mission.