Julia Woodcock

It Feels Good to Give

The other morning I was watching Bill Gates on various news programmes talking about his annual State of the World letter. In one interview, he made reference to how good he feels about helping those in need.  A simple point but one that we shouldn’t forget as fundraisers.

A similar point was made at the Institute of Fundraising London Conference last year by fundraising trainer Rob Woods . In his working life he was often asked about how the most successful fundraisers did it? How did they get round that deep rooted embarrassment (especially among us reserved Brits!) about asking someone else, particularly wealthy donors, for money? He cited the example of one top fundraiser who answered that he implicitly believed that it would improve that person’s wellbeing if they donated money, therefore it wasn’t an issue and as a result they were more convincing in their ‘asks’. The donor would feel better, so he was doing them a favour.

I’m sure we can all come up with a few examples where we’ve done something good and got that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. There are many UK TV programmes honing in on that – The Secret Millionaire, DIY SOS, to name just a couple.

Embracing the feel good factor, late last year the Samaritans launched their Feel Good Friday workplace fundraising day which takes place next Friday 3 February, where employees can take part in feel good activities while raising money.

So how can we, as charities, make the most of that warm glow?

• Remind people of how they are helping.  Whether via social media channels, emails, direct mail, show them how their money has been used and how it has made a difference.
• Don’t forget to remind people of the need. It is important to get that balance right between trying to make people feel good and therefore only focusing on the positive, and focusing too exclusively on the need, which makes people feel bad. The former can lead to the donor not feeling needed; the latter to feeling they can’t make a difference.  There’s an interesting blog on this out there by Jeff Brooks.
• Create a good welcome. When people have taken that all-important first step of choosing to support your organisation, make their first experience a positive one. Reassure them they’ve made a good decision and show why they should continue to reinvest. Have a look at the Fundraising Detective blog for their top 5 tips on what makes a good donor welcome pack.
• And remember to say thank you! Sounds so simple but still astonishes me how many times I hear stories of friends who have signed up for direct debits to charities and not even received a simple acknowledgement, leaving them wondering if the payment has even gone through and less keen to renew the following year.

So go on, help spread the glow!

Right now in digital charity

Yesterday I went along to the Mobile and Digital Conference in London, organised by Fundraising magazine, to hear first-hand about how, in a fast-changing world, charities are using social, mobile and digital media to reach new audiences and raise more money. 

So what were some of the main themes from the day? 

• Use social media to mobilise and engage, not just take money. As Twestival founder Amanda Rose told us, $264,000 wasn't raised in one day by them on Twitter. Twitter was just a channel to mobilise people to give up their time to create real offline fundraising events. According to the 2011 Millennial Donors survey, 65% of people surveyed want to find guides on charity websites on how their support could make a difference and 52% want to learn about volunteer opportunities. So capture people's attention, show them how they can contribute and then show them, through video and photos, how their contributions have helped.
• Empower your staff and supporters to use social media - both David Barker of Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Bertie Bosredon of Breast Cancer Care talked about how their organisations use internal awards to encourage staff participation in spreading the word about their missions. Breast Cancer Care have also encouraged user generated content, driving people to their Flickr, Vimeo and Facebook pages to create a richer online experience
• Be bold - Charles Bosher shared how Beatbullying's virtual event The Big March took a simple concept, used strong visuals that would both appeal to their core target audience of children and be consistent with their Cyber Mentors brand and used corporate partners - from Google and Facebook to MTV to take their message wide. Not only did they achieve their goal of influencing the political agenda around bullying but raised over £200,000 in doing so. I can't wait to see next year's planned global march on UN!
• Remember to integrate your efforts. When small regional charity Acorns wanted to maximise their partnership with Aston Villa Football Club to reach that elusive male 16-24 fundraising audience, they broadcast a simple message (text donate £3 during one football match) via social media, PR activity, celebrity shout-outs, display boards, print and volunteers to create a coordinated ask that led to 2124 donations on just one day.
• Don't measure success of mobile Apps just by the £s raised. DePaul's multi award-winning and much talked about iHobo App actually raised just £10,000 in direct donations at the time, but they have taken a longer term view. They now have a rich database of new potential donors that they can engage in the longer term.
• "Play, test, learn, succeed" – those were the words of Adrian Cockle of WWF, whose organisation continually tests and evolves its fundraising approaches with intriguing results (how else would they know that giving away freebie stickers with a campaigning ask actually reduces sign-up rates!).

But perhaps one of the most thought-provoking part of the day was the panel session on what the web will look like in 2015. After what has been a decade of enormous change in the way people interact online and via mobile, all agreed that much more change is on the cards. Spring founder Steve Bridger and MissionFish CEO Nick Aldridge both predict a huge shift in expectations of future generations, with people expecting to receive tailored experiences for their specific devices and to have more direct conversational, rather than transactional relationships. So what can charities do to embrace the future? 

I think it all comes down to engagement. Focus on that first, without assuming people will donate to you immediately. Talk to your supporters, find out their interests and engage with them across their preferred channels – whether offline, online, via their mobile or a combination of all of the above.  Show the impact of what you do to keep people supportive of your cause. Finally, don’t expect to do it all yourself – unite people behind your cause and foster champion and advocates who will spread your message for you.

UK Team Joins Summit

As part of Convio’s UK team (formed through the acquisition of Baigent Digital in July this year), I am very excited to be in the US for my first Summit. What was I expecting from the experience? To finally meet my new US colleagues face-to-face, but also meet existing Convio clients and hear first-hand about their success stories. I certainly haven’t been disappointed. I can’t wait until we also have UK charities taking to the stage to share their stories. Maybe next year…