Is Labour suffering from the credit crunch?

An interesting item of news is that to raise funds to meet its £24 million debt, and presumably to raise money for a future general election contest, Labour is auctioning off a range of 'prizes money can't buy' such as dinner with the X Factor judges or a game of tennis with Tony Blair. Lord Levy commented to BBC Radio 4 that "I think fundraising is cyclical. People tend to support parties they think is going to win, if they feel a party isn't going to win and are not in tune with where the party is at they tend not to want to support it ... I certainly do think that is what's happening with Labour." But is this the real reason?

Charities around the country are facing funding crises, charity is increasingly seen to begin at home. Now charity donations are usually the result of personal involvement in the charity and their work, experience of breast cancer (first or second hand) is a factor that encourages donation. So one can perhaps see, if giving money independent of the organisation is linked by similar reasons, that the problem for Labour may not simply be perceptions of electoral success but that people are unwilling to give money away. Also, within this context, would be even less likely for money to be given to Labour. Could it be more likely, looking at the polls that there is simply a lack of support for the party or what they claim to strive for? Thus, to me, it would seem more logical to stress the 'not in tune with' issue than the perception they are not going to win as sufficient reason that very few will press the donate button for a party when they are not even prepared to support charities.