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Using digital media in the fundraising environment
Sarah Webb, Digital Fundraising Manager, British Red Cross
Introductions
Agenda
> Getting buy in to digital fundraising > Getting an organisation ready for digital> How does it work at the British Red Cross?> How do you decide where to go?> Where do you focus your efforts?> Results, future plans> Questions?
Getting buy in to digital fundraising
Getting buy in to digital fundraising
> If your senior management team don’t recognise the importance of investing in digital yet, then you have your work cut out!
> Many big charities have been fundraising online for many years
> Some charities rely entirely on online recruitment and have ceased to recruit offline
> Online fundraising will continue to grow
Getting buy in to digital fundraising
> Highlight recent fundraising successes online such as Haiti
> Show them how much money can be made online> Show them the figures> Explain that not all returns will be monetary or
measurable> Explain why you need to be in the online space as a
brand – just because you aren’t there doesn’t mean that no-one will be talking about you!
Getting an organisation ready for digital
Getting an organisation ready for digital
> This is an ongoing and long term process
> Get the right people in place with the right skills
> Do you need technical skills in-house or can you use agencies?
> You need someone with drive willing to take up the challenge of driving this area forward
Getting an organisation ready for digital
> It is helpful to show some quick returns to keep the organisation interested and impressed with results
> Communicate what you are doing with the rest of the organisation - demonstrate how it can support other offline fundraising efforts
> Show them the stats! Show them case studies! Be enthusiastic! Have ideas!
How does it work at the British Red Cross?
How does it work at the British Red Cross?
> We have two digital teams - one in Communications, one in Fundraising
> Digital Media in Communications focus on the main website (SEO, accessibility) and our online brand
> Digital Fundraising is based within Individual Giving in the Fundraising Division
> Our focus is to maximise the income that we generate online
How does it work at the British Red Cross?
> In 3 years we have grown from just me, to a permanent team of 4
> We have our own expenditure budget and are accountable for bringing in income each year from single cash donations and regular gifts
> We are part of Individual giving but support all fundraising teams in their online fundraising activity
How does it work at the British Red Cross?
> We are guardians of the ‘Donate now’ section of the website
> We manage the online donation process and regular giving forms
> We ‘own’ the organisations email marketing system and support others that wish to use it
> Broadly, what we do can be split into online recruitment, building relationships online and website development that supports these areas
How does it work at the British Red Cross?
This includes;> Google grants and paid search> Online advertising> Affiliate marketing> Virtual giving> Mobile marketing> Email marketing> Social media > Off to online
How do you decide where to go?
Start with the basics
> What is the organisation doing currently?> SWOT analysis – what do you do well, less well?> What stage are you at?
– Do you need to get the basics in place? Can you take donations online, are you sending emails, are you using social media?
– Or are you more sophisticated and just need polishing?
Digital Fundraising tools
> What digital fundraising tools do you have? Are they fit for purpose?– Web CMS– Email broadcast system– Tracking system – are you able to track online
activity effectively?
How do you decide where to go?
> Are you currently doing anything to drive traffic to your site?
> What happens when someone makes a donation?> Do you thank them? Follow up?> It’s useful to make a flow chart of the user journey
Where do you focus your efforts?
Where do you focus your efforts?
> So where do you focus your efforts?> Don’t be overwhelmed – especially if you are just
starting out and have limited resource and budget available
> Remember that online – everyone’s shop front is the same size
> Focus on a mixture of quick wins and some longer term developments that will help shape your future digital capabilities
Quick wins
> Test small scale online recruitment campaigns – see what works for your organisation
> Send a monthly e-newsletter – keep in touch and start talking to your supporters online
> Send thank you and welcome stewardship emails> Improve your donation form - make sure that
people can give easily online
Quick wins
> Use the free tools available to you if you haven’t already – there is no cost to you to set these things up– Google Grants– Google Analytics– Social media
(Facebook, Twitter)
Longer term development
> Look at what concepts work for you offline or elsewhere in the organisation – don’t reinvent the wheel
> Integrate with offline recruitment and warm activity – put url’s on mailing packs, inserts, door drops
> Test different methods of recruitment – see what works for you, don’t spend your budget on pretty, exciting stuff to impress your peers unless you know that it will bring you a return
> Build an online communications plan alongside your offline activity
Results, and future plans
Results, and future plans
Think3 steps ahead
Be bold
Don’t forgetyour ROI
Have a vision
Keep your eyesopen
So what can be achieved?
> From 2007 – 2008 we achieved a 48% increase in online income for the BRC
> In less than 3 years I grew my team from me, to 4 permanent staff and a rolling internship scheme
> After the recent Haiti Earthquake disaster we raised the most income ever for an emergency appeal online since the Tsunami at just under £3m and 30% of the appeal total
> Our email database has grown from 40k in 2007 to more than 250k today
> In 2009 we sent out 5.5 million emails
Thank youAny Questions?
Sarah Webb, Digital Fundraising Manager, British Red [email protected] 0207 877 7150Twitter: @swebbyLinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sarahwebb