Digital Fundraising Summit 2024
09:30 - 16:15
Online
The future of fundraising
Registration for this event has now closed. We are looking forward to welcoming all attendees on the day!
Calling all charity sector employees - Charity Digital’s Annual Digital Fundraising Summit is back!
For the sixth year in a row, we are bringing back an action-packed event of Digital Fundraising insights from across the charity and tech sectors. The new and revamped Digital Fundraising Summit 2024 is a free, one-day, online event, with informative webinars and interactive workshops, and plenty of time for networking!
The Digital Fundraising Summit 2024 will offer charities a chance to consolidate those fundamental elements of fundraising, while discovering opportunities to innovate and develop for the future. We will explore fundraising trends and fads, and how to spot the difference; examine the impact of AI and where it can help with fundraising; investigate how we can make fundraising more accessible for donors; and much, much more.
Is this summit for me?
The summit will be particularly beneficial if you have a fundraising, marketing, communications, or a digital innovation role. We will have sessions for all seniority levels.
Previous job titles include:
- Senior Partnerships Manager
- Head of Marketing
- Digital Marketing Officer
- Giving and Engagement Manager
- Project Assistant
- Digital Lead
- Fundraising and Engagement Lead
- Regular Giving Manager
- Head of Commercial Development
- Senior Digital and Social Media Officer
- Chief Executive Officer
- Head of Education and Training
- Community Fundraising Coordinator
Highlights from the Digital Fundraising Summit 2023
In November 2023, the Digital Fundraising Summit 2023 addressed the future of fundraising" and informed attendees on emerging digital fundraising ideas empowered charities to try new things.
The event comprised of eight sessions and workshops, with 15 speakers and hosts - with the overall event experience rating reaching 4/5 stars and an NPS rating of +37.
The event hosted speakers from Alzheimer’s Research UK, CAST. Charity Excellence Framework, CAF and Greater Change to name but a few.
Questions? Email events@charitydigital.org.uk and a member of the Charity Digital Events Team will get back to you.
Work at a charity and want to speak at this event?
We’d love to hear from you! Contact the Events team with your pitch.
Digital Fundraising Summit 2024 Headline Sponsor
Digital Fundraising Summit 2024 Sponsors
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ON-DEMAND!
Find all the slides, recordings and useful related articles from the Digital Fundraising Summit 2024!
- Skip to: A spotter’s guide to fundraising fads (specialising in Crowdfunding) - She Beasts
- Skip to: How to get more donors from social media for less than £1 per sign-up - Rachel Collinson
- Skip to: Harnessing AI for fundraising: Trends and strategies for non-profit teams - Microsoft
- Skip to: Trends in user journeys in 2025 - Redfox Research
- Skip to: How to fundraise using social media in 25 minutes a day - Feel Good Do Good
- Skip to: Creating lasting connections: Cultivating stronger donor relationships through personalised video - Buffalo Fundraising Consultants
- Skip to: How to write a fundraising bid - Charities Aid Foundation
- Skip to: Panel Discussion, sponsored by goDonate - How to simplify donor journeys
- Skip to: Panel Discussion - sponsored by EMMA Live - The evolution of event fundraising
- Skip to: Panel Discussion - Gaming for Good
- Skip to: Champion Your Cause: Maximising your impact through collaboration with Public Interest Registry
- Skip to: Panel Discussion, sponsored by Funraisin How to protect and optimise social giving in 2025
This expert-led AI Readiness session will offer nonprofits a structured approach to assess their AI readiness and implement a strategy aligned with their mission. Designed to support organisations at every level of AI experience, the session includes foundational concepts, practical tips and advice based on where you are on your AI journey, and actionable steps to create an impactful AI approach.
Stream One
A spotter’s guide to fundraising fads (specialising in Crowdfunding) - She Beasts
She Beasts explore fundraising fads over the last few years and what future trends might look like, and, crucially, how charities can best respond.
How to get more donors from social media for less than £1 per sign-up - Rachel Collinson
In this session, we’ll look at how moving to ’Values Driven Fundraising’ has meant falling costs and higher engagement on social media for various causes. We’ll see how this can work for you even if your cause is seen as hard to raise money for.
Unanswered Question from the Session
Question
How would you recommend setting up a Meta advertising campaign for direct fundraising, for example a Christmas Appeal?
Answer
This depends on your audience. Are they a warm audience? For example, visitors to your website, people on your email list, followers of your Page or people who have interacted with previous ads? If so, go for the ask straight away. If you use Facebook’s donation tools, you will get more donations, but you won’t get their email address or phone number. If you send people to your website, you will raise less, but you will get the details of people, and you then have them on your email list and can stay in touch, which means you don’t have pay to reach them via Facebook.
If your audience is cold - for example, you want to reach a new audience with your donation ask, and your brand isn’t well known, then you have to go about it more cautiously. For somebody to donate to you, they have to trust that their money is going to do good. That means at least some prior communications. So you would need to put out several ads that chime with this audience’s values but don’t ask for anything. Then you can consider them a warm audience. Even better, put out a sign-up mechanism that incentivises people to get on your mailing list.
Bear in mind that advertising on Facebook during December is a lot more expensive than at other times of year. This is why I encourage my clients to build up their mailing list during the year and then make their Christmas appeal ask directly over email or the phone. Doesn’t hurt to run ads alongside it to a warm audience, though.
More on this method is explained in detail in my book here.
Harnessing AI for fundraising: Trends and strategies for non-profit teams - Microsoft
In the rapidly evolving landscape of nonprofit fundraising, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Join us for an insightful session where we delve into the latest trends in fundraising and explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way nonprofits engage with donors, optimize campaigns, and drive impact.
To learn about Microsoft 365 Copilot – including pricing, discounts, and features click here.
Trends in user journeys in 2025 - Redfox Research
Redfox Research explore some of the key trends we can expect to see in donor and supporter journeys in 2025, and share advice on building in the perspective of both current and future supporters as you design journeys.
Stream Two
How to fundraise using social media in 25 minutes a day - Feel Good Do Good
In this session, Digital Consultant, Jen Lowthrop will explore 10 tangible things you can do in 25 minutes to move your fundraising forward.
Creating lasting connections: Cultivating stronger donor relationships through personalised video - Buffalo Fundraising Consultants
This session highlights how educational charities are successfully utilising personalised videos through ClipConnect to deliver a range of communications, from thanking donors, promoting events, making an ask, to delivering impactful project updates.
How to write a fundraising bid - Charities Aid Foundation
In this session Charities Aid Foundation, (CAF), talk through the fundamentals required on how to write a (successful) fundraising bid.
Panel Discussion, sponsored by goDonate - How to simplify donor journeys - Vicky Reeves, Managing Director at goDonate, Ashley Hickman, Head of Supporter Experience at Scope, Kwesi Afful, Executive Director of Digital and Marketing at Scope and John Ward, Digital Specialist at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
Unanswered Questions from the Panel Discussion
Question
Is there still a place for SMS donations, or has this largely been superseded by online donations?
Answer
Yes, there is still a place for SMS donations particularly with DRTV commercials or televised appeals where a short text code is easy to copy and remember in a short space of time.
Question
Does goDonate work seamlessly for international givers also?
Answer
Yes, goDonate can work for international donors and also be used in other countries and currencies.
Related Article - Six essential steps for optimising your online donation form - sponsored by goDonate
We share advice for charities on how to enhance their online donation form, boosting the amount they fundraise and making the giving process simpler for donors.
Panel Discussion - The evolution of event fundraising - Adam Stanier, Co founder and COO at EMMA Live, Lorna Poultney, Special Events Lead at Parkinsons UK and Fazal Ahmad, Director of Operations at Humanity First
Unanswered Questions from the Panel Discussion
Question
What tends to raise more money? A silent auction or a non-silent auction? A consultant told us recently a non-silent one might be better as it’s more dramatic/theatrical, and also suits the older generation more. There is also the option of a hybrid auction, but that seems complex?
Answer
There are a multitude of considerations regarding whether Live or Silent Auction raise more money the three key elements are:
• The audience
• The event set up
• The items that you have available
In general, we see high value items being pushed through a Live Auction (hands in the air) and lower value, but usually a higher volume of items being run through Silent Auctions, both have their own place and usually work in harmony with each other at an event. There is nothing worse than a flat live auction, where guests are clearly not wishing (or able) to participate.
Question
Have you seen any really effective, different fundraising mechanisms at events outside of the traditional auction, raffle etc.?
Answer
We see everything from karaoke pledges, art auctions, decorated egg auctions and reverse pledge moments all run through our platform. Match funding is certainly a more progressive way to get peers to donate, knowing their funds go twice as far.
Related Article - How to boost your fundraising in 2025 - sponsored by EMMA Live
We explore the future of fundraising, looking at the evolution of events, the shift towards mobile-only formats, and the need for charities to focus on warm leads.
Panel Discussion - Gaming for Good - Tom Downie, Director of Strategic Philanthropy EMEA at Tiltify, Rachel Henderson, Community Fundraising Lead at Samaritans and Will Robinson, Head of Fundraising at Become
Champion Your Cause: Maximising your impact through collaboration - Megan Waters at Public Interest Registry, Andrea Johnson, Executive Director at Green Empowerment, Bridget Rundquist, Director of Partnerships & Community Engagement at Share Our Spare and Alice Corrigan, Trustee and Fundraising Advisor at Pachamama Project
Related Article - Artificial intelligence: Responsible use for charities - sponsored by Public Interest Registry (PIR)
We explore how charities can prioritise the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their organisation, with a checklist from PIR.
Panel Discussion - How to protect and optimise social giving in 2025 - Victoria Read, Senior Customer Success Manager at Funraisin, Jess Burden, Virtual Fundraising Events Manager at British Red Cross and Chiara Creates, Digital Fundraising Manager at Sands
Related Article - Virtual fundraising – is it dead? - sponsored by Funraisin
We explore how virtual fundraising has changed and whether or not it is worth investing in social media fundraising tools in 2024 and beyond (spoiler: it is).
