Digital Fundraising's Day in the Sun

Our Communications & Membership Executive, Christy Vickers, joined the recent Digital Forum. He discusses the insights he gained from the forum and learns more about what the future holds for digital fundraising post-pandemic.

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Digital fundraising’s most ardent proponents have long predicted a stratospheric rise in importance within the fundraising mix. Its detractors are still waiting for the needle to significantly budge. The reality is probably more nuanced.

Stripped back of buzz words, digital fundraising is the use of digital means to raise money. Simplistic, yes, but important to remember for a channel with an ever-changing landscape, plenty of jargon, and a plethora of tools to use. Like any other channel it exists to provide much needed funds to aid a charity’s beneficiaries.

So, how important is digital fundraising in the fundraising mix, how can it be done well, and will it retain its importance post-pandemic? I joined the Charities Institute Ireland (Cii) Digital Forum to gain some insights.

The forum itself is designed to bring together those from Cii member charities who are responsible for online marketing, communications and/or fundraising to share their experiences, to talk about successes (and failures), and vent about their frustrations. The chairs Carla Ankiah (Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland) and Andrew Parle (Irish Red Cross) were kind enough to allow me to participate in January’s session.

Out of necessity (and perhaps aptly), the forum has taken place online since May 2020. Unrestrained by room size and owing to the sudden curtailment of many other fundraising channels the forum has almost tripled in attendance. In fact, it is only surpassed in size by the Direct Marketing Forum – another fundraising channel largely unaffected and continuing to see great success during the pandemic.

Digital Fundraising has never been more in-vogue, but forum co-chair Carla Ankiah has long been an advocate:

“I recognised that digital offered the opportunity for the organisation I work for to compete with bigger charities with a lower initial investment than other more traditional methods of fundraising. You don't need a big budget or a huge number of volunteers or staff to reach big audiences digitally. It can be an incredibly resource efficient way of fundraising and communicating.”

Nick Burne, CEO and Founder of GivePanel (a platform which integrates with Facebook Online Giving Tools), joined the forum to speak about just how successful charities can be when Facebook giving is approached correctly. And he has the figures to back it up:

“We're seeing charities large and small having huge success with Facebook fundraising. The powerful combination of Facebook ads, combined with Facebook groups and Facebook's fundraising tools have helped multiple Irish charities raise seven figure sums in 2020.”

It’s clear that those who are getting it right are benefitting hugely from the channel. The question then becomes how can other charities achieve similar results? As the newest fundraising frontier, the digital space is ever changing and awash with countless metrics to measure and the next ‘shiny new thing’ to try. The forum itself plays a role in cutting through the noise. Members can share their experiences with what has worked and what hasn’t, and with a diverse range of charities in the room it’s an effective medium.

According to Ankiah herself the trick to success is simplicity and to remain user-centric:

“You don't need all singing, all dancing web features, apps or content to succeed at digital and I always ask myself 'Is this going to make it easier for someone to donate?’[…] As a user we embrace digital when it makes things simpler or easier, we dislike roadblocks being put in our way. We have come to expect this as consumers, when we use digital socially and so, as donors or fundraisers we also expect this.”

So what lies ahead for digital fundraising post-pandemic? As the Danes say: it is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. The current crisis certainly forced organisations’ hands and sped up the importance and progression of digital fundraising (much akin to working from home) but whether it has changed its trajectory or just pushed it faster along its path is harder to know. Ankiah certainly agrees that the progress has been swift:

“Before the pandemic I felt the sector was about a decade behind where it should/could be. Now I feel like we are halfway there.”

Byrne thinks along a similar line and believes the learnings will help shape other fundraising channels post-pandemic.

“In 2021 we'll see even more shift into digital and Facebook as more charities realise the power of fundraising in this way during the ongoing pandemic. And when the pandemic is over, the lessons learnt from this digital transformation will be applied to traditional fundraising events and other channels."

Whatever the progression of digital fundraising during 2021 and beyond, the Digital Forum will be there to dissect, discuss, debate, and knowledge share.

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The Cii Forum Network takes place three times per year and includes forums on Communications & PR, Community Fundraising, Corporate Fundraising, Digital Fundraising, Direct Marketing & Individual Giving, Events & Campaigns, Face to Face Fundraising, Grants & Trusts, Major Gifts & Legacy. You can sign up for forum updates here.