iof national convention: claire's legacy - the tragic death of claire squires and the impact on...

The tragic death of Claire Squires and the impact on Samaritans

Rachel Kirby-Rider Director of Fundraising & Communications, Samaritans

Gemma Randall Head of Charity Partnerships, JustGiving

WHAT WE’LL COVER IN TODAY'S SESSION

The background and the public response

The challenge and subsequent learning’s for Samaritans

Why did this particular event have such an impact?

Could we see something similar happen again?

22 April 2012

METRES FROM THE END…

A seasoned runner & fundraiser

Daughter of a long term volunteer

Attempting to raise £500

PRESS FRENZY

Tipping point – the response became the story

But it was swiftly

followed by what

can only be

described as a

torrent of giving

From £500 to £1,000,000

19095

32087

12016

4240 6331

1916 974 897 729 838 355 0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

23rd April - 28th April

In context...

Normal marathon period = 190,000 visits

per day from 150,000 unique users

+

+ 820,000

622,000

At it’s peak

- 8,000 page views

a minute

- 133 page views

a second

- 4,000 HTTP

request per second

to our servers

- Over 1,000,000

unique visitors

- 2,000,000 hits

over the day

- 13,500 concurrent

users

Where did they donate from?

What did people donate?

£11.68 average donation

£5000 Highest donation

46 People donated more

than once

£5 Average JTG

donation

How did people donate?

PROFILE OF SAMARITANS DIGITAL PRESENCE

Week following Marathon – up 380%

66k vs 17k same time previous year

Visits on Tuesday – up 993%

22k vs 2k same time previous year

People donating online – up 300%

Level of donation – up 400%

Social Media engagement – 80% increase

www.samaritans.org

DONOR COMMUNICATION

Initial ‘Thank you’ sent to 80,054 donors

6,341 donors opted in

6,217 donors still active

Industry standard click through rate is 21.5%

Samaritans’ click through rate is 28%

“How very thoughtful of you to send us all news of the inquest on Claire Squires.”

“It would be nice to be kept up to date with what you have managed to do with all the pennies.”

“Thanks for the update. I am still very happy that I donated on Claire's page.”

“I hope the family can find some comfort in the fantastic work that you will be able to as a result of the money raised by Claire.”

“Claire was an inspiration and I didn't even know her.”

“Her story still touches me very deeply and I hope her family are immensely proud of what she achieved in her short life.”

Establishing Claire’s fund

Public scrutiny

Demonstrate impact

Innovation not core

Samaritans still needed funds…

CHALLENGES

SAMARITANS LEARNINGS

Can’t plan for this but…

Work as a team and stick to your key messages

Don’t be afraid of making a mistake

Communication and cooperation

The power of digital

Why should you learn from this?

People are mobile, social and giving is global

– is that important?

High profile social giving is taking place with

increasing frequency

How the public responded to a tragic public incident in 1997

In contrast to 2012....

What’s changed?

1. Facebook

2. Facebook mobile

3. Twitter

4. Eurosport / Yahoo

5. Daily Mail Online

6. The Sun Online

7. Sky News Online

8. MSN News Online

9. Telegraph.co.uk

10. LinkedIn

Top 10 referrers to JustGiving the week of Claire’s page

26. 19% - from Facebook

(within this 9.7% of all traffic

came from FB mobile)

Distinct shift in public response to public events

I want to set up a page for One Fund

Boston but it isn't on the list

“I'm looking to raise money for those affected in the blasts of the

Boston Marathon. Can you let me know if there is a charity page for

this? If not, what can I do to support? Thanks, David”

Hi It there a way to raise money for the

victims of the Boston Marathon bombs

through JustGiving? Lizzy

Consistent and co-ordinated messaging

JustGiving – lessons learnt

• Reach out to the charity (or family) involved and ensure they

are aware of their options (particularly for controversial pages)

available support via JG PR and customer care teams

• Sharing and agreement on message for social media

• Keep lines of communication open at a level where

decisions can be made quickly

• Being transparent about decision making process. When the

public are being social you need to be as well - in real time.

ANY QUESTIONS…

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

Rachel Kirby Rider Director of Fundraising and Communications

r.kirby-rider@samaritans.org

020 8394 8351

Gemma Randall Head of Charity Partnerships

gemma@justgiving.com

020 7067 0925