How to diversify your fundraising

It was lovely to see lots of new faces on February’s Charity Meetup to look at our chosen topic ‘Diversify your Fundraising’ which looked at Facebook, Instagram and trading merchandise.

We kicked off with a preamble on what Charity Meetup is all about, followed by the group posting introductions in the chatbox. It was great to see so many charities and roles represented and everyone was encouraged to download the chatbox at the end of the event so they could connect afterwards.

Next the mixing game… everyone loves to draw, and the group were challenged to create a money tree in just three minutes! There were some interesting interpretations, and some included huge cheques and smiley suns. Well done to our winners Carole and Alison. We hope to see you next time with your free winners’ ticket.

Session one - expert speaker

First up we met Leah Lewis of Civitas Consultancy in our expert slot. Leah is highly experienced in supporting community fundraising income streams for small and local charities. Leah is also the creator of the Community Fundraisers Network, a community of over 1.3k charity fundraisers who come together to share ideas and challenges.

Leah’s talk focussed on some top tips for fundraising across social media. Let’s explore what she discussed:

·??????Whether you have 100 or 10000 followers, it is important to understand who that audience is and what they look like. Are you using the insight tools available to you? Do you know the demographic of your followers? Remember, you can develop basic profiles on your audience using the existing tools on each platform. You could also consider surveying your audience. Set some polls out asking specific questions to help you build a picture of your following i.e. where are they based – are they local or national? What is their link to the charity – are they a fundraiser or have they benefitted from the charity’s help? Get to know them and find the hook to get them engaged.

·??????Choose the right platform for your organisation to fundraise. Is your following more active on Insta? If so, you could use the fundraising sticker and add it to your stories and grid. You can also add your relevant links in your bio. REMEMBER you don’t have to use every platform. Choose what works for you. Do your flowers engage more with visual content? If so, maybe focus on Insta. If you are new to social media fundraising, test the theory first. Leah suggests adding a case study with a donate button. It is important to start to build trust with your followers and give them a guide as to where their money goes. Finally, balance your posts. Make sure there is a mix of case studies, event information, good news and fundraising stories - don’t hit your followers with fundraising asks all the time.

·??????Think about what your social media fundraising activity should be i.e. once a month put a post out to encourage people to hold a birthday fundraiser on Facebook. We’ve all seen (and probably donated to) these fundraisers which have become very popular in recent years. They are super easy for supporters to do. Use the functionality of Facebook to tailor your request to make it more engaging and less generic.

·??????Celebrate your social media fundraisers whether they raise ￡50 or ￡5,000. Remember 20 followers raising ￡50 each will reach a wider audience than 1 person raising ￡1,000. Encourage people to share and tag their posts and give them tips on how to push fundraisers on their socials.

·??????Create an online community. This could be a simple hashtag that your fundraisers can use but remember to keep it short and snappy. Longer hashtags are more prone to spelling mistakes and are less memorable. You need to create something that online followers want to be a part of.

·??????Use influencers. They don’t need to be a big personality in the media, it could be an ambassador or CEO who can endorse your fundraising activity. Look for someone with hundreds of followers who can share your message regularly. This could be a business so talk to your corporate fundraiser and events team. ?Someone of influence can encourage a wider network which is key to spreading your message.

·??????Make sure that your content is encouraging, emotional and eye-popping to draw people in but it is also important that your message has a positive angle. For example, rather than talking about the detrimental effect the pandemic has had, look to the future and what raised funds could help to achieve.

·??????Be mindful of timescales when using social media. Stories are only active for 24 hours and both Facebook and Insta recommend that you post no more than twice a day.

·??????Finally, be creative with the way in which you say thank you - make it visual. You could try using reels to draw people in – these are great fun! Popular sounds in the background will help you get traction. Be thankful and give them a reason to come back.

If you want to connect with Leah, you can do so here:

Twitter: @civitas_consult

Insta: @civitasconsultancy

Facebook: @civitasconsultancy

FB group: Community Fundraising Network

LinkedIn: Leah Lewis

Newsletter: www.civitasconsultancy.co.uk/newsletter

Session two - sector showcase

Next up was our sector showcase and we met with Charlotte Schofield, Director of Fundraising and Natasha Burton, Fundraising Officer for the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity (UHBC). UHBC support four of Birmingham’s largest hospitals and the Birmingham Chest Clinic. They have established a trading arm in recent years to raise more funds.

Charlotte began by sharing how hard trading has been during the pandemic and how UHBC has been one of the worst affected charities throughout. Without footfall from visitors, trading became very difficult. Charlotte explained that pre-pandemic, UHBC had set up two trading hubs inside its hospitals. These hubs were manned Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, and sold merchandise including hoodies, cycling vests, pens, bags and more. In addition, hospital visitors could go in and buy gifts or items that would be of benefit to patients such as activity books. The hubs were always stocked with seasonal items with regular refreshes depending on what sells.

Pre-pandemic, these trading hubs were raising around ￡50k per year. UHBC are hoping that once hospitals fully re-open to visitors, this footfall will return and there are plans to create another two trading hubs later in the year.

Management of these hubs is kept simple and UHBC use iZettle for payments which is perfect for the size of trading. Despite the hubs shutting during lockdown, UHBC fundraisers all have their own iZettle card readers so they can easily sell merchandise when they are out and about. An online shop is also stocked so supporters can continue to support the charity and buy goods.

Natasha then talked to us about the UHBC Christmas campaign which consisted of Christmas cards and flashing badges. They recommended that charities seek out their card suppliers early in order to get the best price (FYI before the end of May!). Natasha explained that they did a mailshot before Christmas with an online catalogue showcasing their Christmas cards and virtual gifts i.e. a supporter could buy a toy for a child having cancer treatment for ￡15 or a selection box for ￡5. Supporters like to feel they are buying something tangible rather than just putting money in a big pot.

The flashing badges (who doesn’t love a flashing badge, right?!) were used to reach out to wards, wellbeing hubs and corporate partners to name a few by inviting people to sell what they could. You can get these types of badges for as cheap 30p per badge and with a suggested donation of ￡1, they give a healthy profit. UHBC also reached out to the community and got Starbucks in Birmingham involved. After selling the badges in store, Starbucks has now gone on to support UHBC with other fundraising activities such as selling heart badges for transplant patients, and they are even planning their own fundraising event.

Charlotte concluded by summing up the huge opportunity that is available to charities with trading. It is also a fantastic way to get your brand in front of the public who know nothing about your charity.

Find out more about UHBC:

Website: hospitalcharity.org

Facebook: @UHBCharity

Twitter: @UHBCharity

Instagram: @UHBCharity

LinkedIn: @UHBCharity

Wow… that was a great meeting! Summed up at the end with our attendees sharing the value of the connections they have made and the benefit of sharing campaign stories during the breakout networking session.

We hope to see you all at our next event, Amplify your Corporate Fundraising on Tuesday 08 March 2022. You can find more details HERE