How to enhance your charity’s digital strategy

• make gains operationally
• decrease costs
• aid collaboration
• increase awareness
• engage with a broader audience in new ways.

Your charity’s existing infrastructures may not align with some digital methods, so while there are opportunities it’s vital to manage the risks too.

There are both opportunities and risks for charities embracing a digital strategy.

This has been designed specifically for charities to give ‘best practice’ advice on digital fundraising and will help you identify the must-have information you need to provide to your audience.

In 2018, 52% of all website traffic worldwide was generated from mobile phones¹. Your charity’s website should be easy to use and show the relevant regulatory information on all devices.

Thanking your donors is just as important online. Make sure you follow up donations with a well thought out email or ‘thank you page’ to make them feel good about themselves and encourage future contributions.

If you use Google AdWords, you can apply for a Google Ad Grant. Fill out the application and make sure your charity’s website is eligible and you could win a grant to spend on Google advertising.

All UK charities can sign up to Amazon’s affiliate marketing service. Smile.amazon.co.uk allows Amazon customers to opt-in to donate to their chosen charity when they make an eligible purchase on Amazon. They will experience the same shopping experience, they will pay no more than usual but Amazon will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price to charity.

All charities have to do is sign up. All customers have to do is select the charity in their account options and use the smile URL when placing an order.

Most mainstream social media channels are free to use and give you access to potential donors. Skills Platform have created the Charity Social Media Toolkit which offers a whole host of useful information on topics from getting started, to growing your network.

Is there an opportunity to work with another organisation? Digital collaboration can help get ideas off the ground through the sharing of goals, responsibilities and skills. A joint approach can also spread your message further via social media sharing and promotion on other websites.

Data must be adequately protected. Your organisation should take measures to ensure data security as the first line of defence. You can read more about the steps you can take to keep your charity safe online in our charity cyber guide.

Check the GDPR requirements on personal or sensitive data to understand how you can safely manage and share data.

A data breach can cost organisations up to £113 per record in the event of a data breach². It’s advisable to purchase cyber insurance so you have financial support and advice in case of an attack.

Getting involved doesn’t always mean asking for money. Encouraging supporters to share your message will help to create awareness, generate more donations and increase engagement with your charity.

If you break down the different ways you might approach a person in the future, you may find people don’t mind an email but prefer not to be contacted by phone or vice-versa.

If digital fundraising is a new venture for your charity, it’s vital you understand the risks and address them in the first instance. Specialist insurers like Ecclesiastical can often provide tools to help you, visit our risk management hub.

¹https://www.statista.com/statistics/241462/global-mobile-phone-website-traffic-share

²IBM and The Ponemon Institute's Cost of a Data Breach study