What lessons can charities learn from Teenage Cancer Trust’s digital transformation?

How did he do it? Social media, social media, and finally, social media

Stephen’s leadership and skills in charity digital fundraising were a huge success, and charities large and small should take note. Looking at Stephen’s success story, charity media and marketing communications teams can learn from how he’s done it:

• YouTube films helped tie the message together – As part of his campaign, Stephen released an emotional
  – it’s been watched over 700,000 times. His focus wasn’t on his tragedy, but on his positive message. His YouTube channel is fun. The videos are about his bucket list activities and media appearances, helping to generate more support for his cause.
• Use of every social media outlet possible – Stephen and the Teenage Cancer Trust made use of every major social media platform and more. Stephen’s microblog charted his personal progress and inspirational fundraising photos. Not only did he have his own blog, he used Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram to maximise his reach.
• Celebrities can be found and leveraged on Twitter - On Twitter, his feeds attracted major UK celebrities – Russel Brand, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Adlington, Stephen Fry and many others. Celebrities, in turn, came out to donate, retweet, and share Stephen’s fundraising efforts. His love of sport captured the attention of high-profile sportspeople, helping to increase his digital fundraising efforts.

Teenage Cancer Trust’s digital transformation approach

Lessons from Stephen’s remarkable journey have been integrated at the heart of Teenage Cancer Trust’s digital transformation and culture. The charity’s digital strategy is holistic and powerful, making the best use of public and private partnerships, user stories, and regular, relevant content. Showcasing its unique approach, we’ve pulled out some of the best examples of the charity’s digital marketing, communication and transformation strategies.

1. Don’t be afraid to get professional expertise – For many charities, social media digital strategy may not come easily or naturally. Devising external campaigns and internal digital transformation can require help outside your organisation. Recently Teenage Cancer Trust has enlisted the help of Yorkshire-based HMA digital agency to chart and launch a new, self-care portal for teens. The agency will help design and implement the Teenage Cancer Trust’s integrated assessment mapping, which takes the charity’s users along the self-care journey online.
2. Partnerships can enhance reach and content – Music has been a big part of the charity’s digital fundraising strategy. Teenage Cancer Trust’s Spotify public playlists go straight into the ears of teenagers – the tunes are linked to the charity’s hashtag #TeenageCancerGigs, a series of music events at the Royal Albert Hall. Big names are already lined up for March 2020 including Stereophonics and Noel Gallagher. Online content from the events is then used on social media to drum up fundraising support.
3. Use digital fundraising platforms, and lots of them – Crowdfunding platforms, JustGiving, GoFundMe, GoodBox, and mobile phone apps like Atlas Go have been used by individual fundraisers and the charity itself. Other than Stephen Sutton’s massive fundraising effort, the vast majority of efforts have come from much smaller donations. The success of the Teenage Cancer Trust has come from having a network, not of large funders, but mainly, small ones.