WPNC IN CONVERSATION: WHAT’S BEHIND A GREAT IN MEM INITIATIVE?

According to our recently published?Online In Memory Report 2022?12% of donors named in-memory giving as their top motivation for supporting a charity.

This is an increase from 10% in the previous year, revealing the growing popularity of in-memory giving, and tribute funds as a whole.

WPNC advises many leading charities on in-memory strategy. With this in mind, we discussed the growth of this area of fundraising with Vicky Reeves.

Vicky Reeves is Managing Director Digital for WPNC, and also Managing Director of goDonate, which has built?goDonate inMem. The platform enables organisations to offer supporters online tribute funds and event fundraising with a delightful user experience, helping supporters to remember their loved ones while raising money for charities’ vital services.

Here’s what Vicky had to say about in-mem strategy.

Gail: Let’s kick off with your experience, Vicky. How long have you worked on in-mem products and campaigns?

Vicky:?Eight years sounds about right. I started working with Diabetes UK on tribute funds. I’ve also worked with Mind for a long time. How about you?

Gail:?I’m afraid I’ve beaten you! It’s about 30 years for me. I started with Help The Aged. Charities used to include ads in newspaper obituary columns: “Please don’t send flowers - make a donation.” I don’t think it was popular with florists!

Between us, then, we know in-mem has been around for a while. But how important is it today?

Vicky:?It’s grown significantly in the past few years. The act of remembering a loved one by doing something proactively - like a challenge or, event, or simply donating - can give people comfort within their grief. Feeling like they're supporting a charity at the same time is definitely becoming more popular.

Gail:?Absolutely right. Legacy Foresight data backs that up. Its insight shows donors are now three times more likely to leave a legacy than they were in the past.

Vicky:?Yes, Legacy Foresight also?estimates that around ￡2bn is given annually through in-mem initiatives. That's a big number. It’s obviously making charities focus. Digital channels are a big reason for this. During the pandemic, we saw a lot more funeral collections being taken online, because people weren't able to attend?in lockdown. Many more people also created an online page in memory of somebody during that time. That trend hasn't declined since.

Gail: How important is the donor experience or journey to in-mem fundraising strategy?

Vicky:?Really important. That’s because of the emotional state of the person who's creating a page or donating in memory. You have to offer the best user experience. If you're in a heightened emotional state of grief, having to fill out lots of forms on a website might make you think, “I can't manage this right now, I won’t do it.” Instead, a positive experience at that particular time will be something that people remember

Gail:?It’s interesting that some organisations have shied away from in-mem. Bluntly, they think it's ambulance-chasing. But I read some donor research from a hospice and it showed that many next-of-kin want to do something positive in that moment. They can't bring their loved one back, but they can help others who either need the care or knowledge of a charity in the future. That idea of turning despair into hope is critical.

Let’s change tack. With your digital donations hat on, what advice do you have for charities?

Vicky:?It’s vital to give people a place?to commemorate?a loved one - upload memories, and so on. But they also respond well to the option of sharing their donation and encouraging others to give to charity.

It goes without saying that charities should make it really easy for the person to be able to donate. That means offering a choice of different payment types: Apple Pay, Google Pay, other digital wallets.

I’d also say capturing donor motivation is key. It often doesn’t go through donation forms correctly. The charity will lose out on being able to connect with donors to keep the conversation going.

Gail: Can you mention some of the in-mem work you've been part of at WPNC?

Vicky:?I've helped to set up a number of tribute funds online for charities using our in-mem platform. I've been fortunate enough to work across large and small charities, and different causes. Health charities but also animal welfare charities, which have been really interesting. We're definitely seeing growth with charities that were loved by someone in life being supported online.

Gail: That’s true. And are there any great examples of in-mem initiatives you've seen?

Vicky:?I'm going to be cheeky and name one of ours! We worked with Mind to create?a digital concept called?Everlasting?Forest. It's a great little microsite which launched in summer 2022, where someone can plant a virtual tree in memory of a loved one and leave a dedication. But they also need to give a gift. It's been hugely successful so far. Not only with people who want to dedicate and give in memory through a specific personal connection to the charity, or mental health - it's been wider than that. Some people without a connection have just found it a really nice space to pay tribute. I also like the?RNLI campaign, Launch A Memory, which is a lovely concept.

Gail:?I must be on the RNLI database as an in-mem giver. A friend of mine died recently. His wife set up a fund and I received a mailing to launch a “memory lifeboat”. You can even put the name of the person in lettering on the boat.

So, last question: how do you think in-mem will evolve in the future?

Vicky:?The number of in-mem job roles available has definitely increased. I think we'll see more investment in it generally. In terms of campaigns evolution, there’ll be more tailored virtual offerings, like Mind’s Everlasting?Forest. The key thing is that in-mem campaigns will begin to connect strongly with the charity?brand?as a whole.

Gail:?Yes. And in my view, because?people - even younger age groups - have suddenly been faced during the pandemic with death in ways they weren’t expecting, they will be more open to talking about it. This could impact how in-mem develops. Charities should still act sensitively, but people will consider tributes and in-memory giving more than they might have done in the past.