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Article from The Fundraiser 28th August 2017

New rules mean the way charities use data has to change, but how we can ensure we still get the information we need for effective donor acquisition? Kirsty Stephenson explores the issue

As donor acquisition becomes increasingly more challenging we can no longer rely on traditional models, nor on traditional thinking, when it comes to fundraising.

Ben Oliver from face-to-face fundraising agency Appco Group Support says, “response from the public to fundraising has become less favourable and sadly as a nation we have developed a ‘heard it all before’ attitude. This doesn’t bode well for the future of our crucial charities. Never has it been harder to recruit a new donor and as such costs have increased.”

Upping our game

So, things have become harder, but charities still need the money to do the good work they do. How do we all up our game? I still stick by the old adage “if you don’t ask you don’t get”, but it is what you ask, how, why and when, that matters. While there is still a place for push tactics, if you want to develop a long-term relationship with your donors then 

1) building empathy with your cause, 

2) forming a connection with your donor and 

3) developing a mutual respect

are all key ingredients.

The general data protection regulation (GDPR) imprinted on the minds of fundraisers in recent months has sent waves of fear with regards to the tricky balancing act between a charity’s legitimate interest in furthering their cause, while not overriding the rights of the individual.

But ultimately, if we respect each donor’s wishes from the very first encounter, then in the longer term both donor and charity will benefit.

Making giving easier

Technology is an enabler to initiating as well as maintaining these long-term relationships and although the charity sector has been embracing digital for some time, most are limiting their organisational focus to the standard digital portfolio (website, online donation form, fundraising profiles, email newsletters and scheduled social media posts). But now, more innovative thinking is required – for example, we know that initial sign-up and payment mechanisms need to change to make giving easier and fall in line with donor expectation. Very few people have the time or inclination to fill out long forms, or listen to odious scripts in order to make a donation to a cause they are interested in. Charities and agencies must evolve their own technologies to comply with new regulatory rules, and adapt to public expectation.

The agency Open Fundraising embraces the concept of making giving as easy as possible – take for example their fundraising success (with the British Red Cross) at the recent One Love Manchester benefit concert for those affected by the terrorist attacks in Manchester. In their blog post about the event they state that, “By the end of the night we’d helped to raise more than £2 million from over 400,000 people who sent a text”. This is incredible - 400,000 all donating £5. A one-off donation from all of those people, no names attached, no address details, just a mobile number and a donation. 

Reversing the trends of declining acquisition

We have become accustomed to pushing the average gift up, to finding out as much as possible about our donors, to bombarding them with standard one-size-fits-all email newsletters asking them for more and more until they give up on us. Then, a few months after we eventually notice they’ve cancelled their direct debit and unsubscribed from our newsletters, we call them to try to persuade them back again. How about we reverse the trend – push the average donor gift down, but inspire them to stick around longer?

As donor habits change, as donors demand new ways of thinking and doing, it is our job as fundraisers to innovate and to rebuild an industry-wide mutual respect. If a donor doesn’t want to hand over their personal data with that crisp £5 note, then it should be their choice.

We can only do that by understanding what our donors want. How much data they want to share, how they choose to communicate with us (and vice versa) and the kind of relationship they are looking for.

Using open data

A lot of this information is available without the donor actively handing over the family jewels. There is a vast array of analytics available – organisational analytics, as well as the big data. Crunching the numbers could enable charities to have a greater impact.

As an example, let’s take George and the Giant Pledge, a small fundraising initiative set up by parents whose 4-year old boy George was diagnosed with childhood cancer at the beginning of this year. Every day without fail mum or dad update their Facebook page with the day’s events. Supporters have followed George through chemo, proton therapy and the highs and lows of being a “cancer family”. The storytelling is real and compulsive. Every day as I react to their latest post – thumbs up, sad face – one of my friends with a 4-year old, 5-year old, 6-year old … reads the same post and follows the same story as me.

Looking at the standard data available on George’s Facebook page will give a pretty clear picture of those following their story – I’m guessing parents, predominantly female, aged 25-44? But what if you linked that data to other (open) datasets, like ….., to make the information more valuable to and provide greater context? What if that data was mapped to statistical information held by central government or NGOs? 

According to this now reasonably dated Open Data and Charities report from the Nominet Trust, “Many organisations are unaware of the open government data resources that are now available to them." I suspect that is still the case.

Where to begin

However, before diving into the data, you’ll need to start with the organisational questions. Get back to the what, how, why and when, and then work out where you can find the information you need, and what use the results would be in providing those key ingredients of building empathy with your cause, forming a connection with your donor and developing a mutual respect.