News & blog
Why it’s vital to think digital for fundraising this #charitytuesday
We recently teamed up with Giving Tuesday to present a webinar on how
charities can utilise digital channels to fundraise since we generally carry a lot
less cash than we used to.
When we commissioned YouGov[1] to look at how much cash the nation holds
on them, we found that 70% of us hold less than £30. Enough for emergencies in
this day and age. This has seriously impacted upon charitable giving in terms of
the traditional donation bucket, instead we need to find more convenient ways
to take spontaneous donations.
We know that total charitable giving in the UK is £9.7 billion, and that £18 is the
median donation.[2] We also know that in 2028 cash will be as unloved as VHS
machines*. 37% of all payments will be made via contactless cards, and in that
same year, only 9% of all payments will be made with cash.[3]
Charities across the UK are having to look at increasing their digital fundraising
channels as a result of these predictions.
So as a heads up here are the three main giving channels, and where and when
they work best[4]:
- Contactless (Card, Apple Pay and Android Pay) – Great for passing traffic in places
like train stations, festivals and hospitals. - SMS (Text donations and raffles) – Ideal for large crowds at festivals, conferences
and sports stadiums, particularly where announcements and keywords can be
given to the crowd to encourage donations. The donation levels are £1, £3, £5, £10
and £20. - Mobile and web (donations and auctions) – Perfect for private audiences, such as sit
down fundraising events, and auctions as they really do thrive in a crowded and
genial environment.
At present, 63% of all donations that the National Funding Scheme handles are
via SMS, showing just how powerful text giving can be[5]. On the webinar we
took a look at some great case studies, like the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation,
which raised over £25,000[6].
Another of the topics we discussed at the webinar was Gift Aid, and how it works
best via mobile and web giving as we tend to have more time to read through the
charity’s information and build up an emotional connection to the cause. Gift Aid
is a great way of fundraising as it can also be collected via DONATE® on event
tickets and auction sales.
Our DONATE® digital fundraising platforms are easy to set up and are campaign
specific, as you will choose a memorable keyword unique to your individual giving campaign. To kickstart your campaign, become a partner organisation
here: https://www.nationalfundingscheme.org/become-a-partner-organisation/
[1] NFS/YouGov research, May 2016
[2] CAF Online
[3] 2018 UK Payment Markets Summary
[4] https://www.nationalfundingscheme.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/11/donate-channelchoice-infographic.pdf
[5] https://www.nationalfundingscheme.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/10/DONATE_Giving-Tuesday_2019_October-
webinar.pdf
[6] https://www.nationalfundingscheme.org/better-giving-in-
action/%E2%80%8Bmy-name5-doddie-foundation/
*don’t quote me on that – but I think it’s a fair prediction.
