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#BeMoreDigital Fundraising Day: How supporters can shape your strategy
05 Oct 2020by Aidan Paterson
These three sessions from the upcoming #BeMoreDigital Fundraising Day will explore the role supporters will play in the future of digital fundraising strategy
Back in November 2019, we took our first foray into the world of virtual events with Digital Fundraising Day. At that time, we had no way of knowing how important both digital fundraising and virtual events would become to the UK charity sector.
The event returns for a sophomore edition on October 15th, 2020 - as #BeMoreDigital Fundraising Day - with digital fundraising as the hottest topic in the sector.
With traditional fundraising avenues either closed or made logistically difficult by the longer-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, charities throughout the country have turned to digital methods to make up vital revenue.
Initial forecasts of the pandemic’s effects on charity finances were dire, with the NCVO forecasting a £4 billion shortfall at the beginning of the crisis. In practice, digital fundraising has provided a lifeline to many charities, with almost 70% reporting positive fundraising results during lockdown (Blackbaud status of UK fundraising report). But what can be done to help the other 30%?
The pandemic has led to fundamental changes in the ways charities raise funds. Engaging audiences online is now a necessity. As the general public spends more time online than ever before, charities must engage with supporters through their preferred digital channels.
For many charities, this will require a total rethink. In order to meaningfully connect with your donors in their preferred digital spaces, you need to first establish a sound understanding of who they are and what they want. You can then tailor your messaging and identify the right platforms to deliver it through.
Working backwards to move forwards: User-centric fundraising design
One way to kick off this change is by applying a user-centric model. This approach has been pioneered by AWS, and involves building your approach around what you know about your supporters and their preferred channels.
This ‘working backwards’ model will be the basis of one of #BeMoreDigital Fundraising Day’s key sessions, as experts from AWS join us to explore how the model can help charities to diversify income using data and digital experiences.
This donor-centric method of fundraising can allow charities to build unique solutions based on their own fundraising achievements and challenges. While there’s no one size fits all fix for this, adopting a process that works backwards from your supporters can help organisations to face fundraising challenges in a new and dynamic way.
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Building a digital community: People-first fundraising
The change to a user-centric model isn’t something that can be tacked on to an existing strategy. It requires building from the ground up. But the results can have benefits beyond the traditional charity fundraising model - as charities have a chance to grow and empower their own supporter communities through increased understanding.
Lockdown saw an increase in the prevalence of community fundraising, as charities tapped into their supporter base to spread their messages and encourage donations through user-generated content.
By engaging your supporters on their preferred digital channels, charities can benefit from their enthusiasm and creativity. Who better to spread your message than those who believe in it most?
This seminar will unpack how international development and emergency relief NGO, All We Can, embedded a digital fundraising strategy focused on people, as well as and how embracing a digital culture enabled the charity to develop new digital fundraising opportunities and record levels of online income during lockdown.
Is Community Fundraising the future of fundraising?
So what is community fundraising? How does it work? And what does it mean for the future of the charity sector?
These questions and more will be explored in this session led by fundraising experts from Mind.
The rise of community fundraising represents a marked shift in how charities attract donations. Instead of focusing on attracting new donors, charities are looking to mobilise their existing supporters. This means ensuring that long-term supporters, corporate donors and beneficiaries get involved from the start, contributing to decisions about fundraising and spending.
For some charities, community fundraising represents a cultural and organisational rethink. Traditional donor-based fundraising focuses on making new supporters feel good about their giving. But, this can sometimes leave beneficiaries feeling disenfranchised with the decision-making process.
Community fundraising taps into the experience of a community of supporters and beneficiaries. They are already invested emotionally and financially in a cause, so are ideally placed to take a stronger lead in raising funds.
COVID-19 has accelerated the rise of the community model in the UK charity sector. We examine whether community fundraising is the future of fundraising - as well as how this shift in strategy is likely to impact the charity sector long term.
Using examples from Mind’s multi-million-pound community fundraising team, this session will share how charities might use community to secure support now and in the future.
About #BeMoreDigital Fundraising Day
#BeMoreDigital Fundraising Day will help charities navigate this new era of digital fundraising.
The event will consist of 10 sessions across 2 streams, all designed to empower charities with the knowledge of how other organisations are successfully adapting to the new fundraising environment.
The day’s programme will provide specific information on the tools and tricks charities are using as well as guidance on how they have overcome obstacles to digital fundraising.
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Aidan Paterson
Aidan Paterson
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