crowd funding - andy harris - action for children

Digital Fundraising

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My Action for Children

What we are going to cover….

Crowd funding can be one of the simplest ways to raise funds for specific projects in the community and really make your supporters feel that they are making a difference to that cause. Since its launch in 2011, Action for Children’s myactionforchildren.org.uk has raised over £500,000 for the 94 projects on the site, and that figure is growing every day. In this session, Action for Children will share their learnings and experiences of running the site, from the initial stages through to 2012’s comprehensive upgrade and their exciting plans for the future.

You need a crowd to talk about crowd funding!

“A crowd is a large and definable group of people, while "the crowd" is referred to as the so-called lower orders of people in general (the mob). A crowd may be definable through a common purpose or set of emotions, such as at a political rally, at a sports event, or during looting (this is known as a psychological crowd), or simply be made

up of many people going about their business in a busy area”

•Andy Harris, Director of Fundraising •Joe Howes, Head of Partnership Fundraising •Gemma Buttimer, Head of Fundraising Appeals•James Robinson, Head of Individual Giving

A little about Action for Children

One of the largest children’s charities…

We work with 157,000 children, young people and families

Offering a wide range of services…

Disability, Services for Young People, Supporting Families

and Children in Care

National reach…

Over 500 projects in the UK

Centre of communities….

80% of the UK population live within 10 miles of an Action for

Children project.

A lesson from history

Mr. Stephenson…

In 1869 NCH was established

With the help of two friends…

One very cold night they went for a walk...

“Do what you can for us, Sir”

The Children’s Home, 8 Church Street…

They each gave £20 directly to start our first home.

Inspiration from across the pond

9th February 2011 we launched My Action For Children

Crowd Creating – Culture Changing

•Action for Children has over 500 projects across the UK

•The crowd around each one of them

•An opportunity to harness this crowd power

Early Days – Before my.actionforchildren

• Projects were raising funds locally, with no communication with the fundraising team

• There was no real ability to restrict income to low cost, single items

• No process behind signing off local asks • Classic project visits• A loss of trust in the fundraising team

Key Driver to Change

• Choose how and where

• See the difference

An online and an offline tool – a game changer

•Draw the crowds in•A profile on every Action for Children project•Creation of a tiered restricted income process•Local money supporting local tenders – a key asset to our Children’s Services colleagues•We know what our supporters want to fund•Projects trust us more

So how did we expect the microsite to perform?

• This was an innovative project with little to compare it to.

• We knew that donors wanted to donate to more tangible things. Many wanted to support local causes.

• So this was a test project rather than a short term quick win.

Active Commitment = LovePassive Commitment = Inertia

Performance

• Long-term 5 year approach to judging the income success

• Mixture of community fundraising and online donors

• Small percentage transition of donors from warm DM to online supporters

• £699,124 raised so far in first 18 months

What have we learnt?

• This works

• More promotion needed - If you build it they won’t just come

• Redevelop site – stage two

• Improve journeys to Direct Debit conversion

• Thank you from projects – video / audio

The Next Phase…Releasing the Power of the Crowd

Big Decisions1. Should this be a microsite or built into our new

main website?

2. Can we link the new site to Raisers Edge?

3. How do we convert cash donors to regular giving? Donations still go to their local project?

4. How automated should we make the site for users? (Will we lose control?)

5. How do we get the projects to engage fully to provide video, audio, email content to show progress?

6. Do we employ a member of staff to manage MAFC and develop content and conversations?

7. How best to promote this? Big relaunch or smaller targeted spend?

Summary

Be a charity that fundraises not a charity with a fundraising department!

Content is the King and Queen of Hearts

Improve constantly or risk being eaten!

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the

fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It

doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

Promotion, promotion, promotion

Summary…

• Be a wally and create a crowd• Content is the King and Queen of Hearts and

Wallets!• The sun is coming up…don’t be a Gazelle• Get your donors active and shouting about it

Big Decisions1. Should this be a microsite or built into our new

main website?

2. Can we link the new site to Raisers Edge?

3. How do we convert cash donors to regular giving? Donations still go to their local project?

4. How automated should we make the site for users? (Will we lose control?)

5. How do we get the projects to engage fully to provide video, audio, email content to show progress?

6. Do we employ a member of staff to manage MAFC and develop content and conversations?

7. How best to promote this? Big relaunch or smaller targeted spend?

Questions…

gemma.buttimer@actionforchildren.org.uk

james.robinson@actionforchildren.org.uk

joseph.howes@actionforchildren.org.uk

andrew.harris@actionforchildren.org.uk