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Reimagine Individual Giving

“The future can’t be predicted, but it can be invented”, Dennis Gabor.

For fundraisers, the curve-balls of 2020 require careful consideration if we are to reimagine how Individual Giving may evolve. There is an opportunity to look within and outside of the sector for inspiration to make your organisation’s Giving more rewarding, exciting, sustainable, and efficient.

Looking beyond lockdown, GOOD has identified 7 key predictions for the future of IG:

Charities monetise education

Over the next 10 years, one of the greatest commodities is going to be education. The DaVinci institute predicts that by 2020 the biggest company on the internet is going to be education based. This is backed up by the Covid-catalyst which saw 1.2bn children worldwide learning online during lockdown (UNESCO) and a 640% increase in enrolment in online Coursera courses.

The opportunity here is for charities to monetise an offering – as independent experts in their field. To do this, charities can offer education and self-development products that fit their higher mission. ShelterBox has already done this by creating a book club that encourage readers to learn about the cultures they work within. Another example is Sense Sign School, who encourage audiences to learn to communicate with disabled people by teaching sign language via video lessons.

Desktop mock-up of Sense Sign School website

Less supporters giving more

There will be a need to consider the how and why donors are targeted. Charities will move away from low cost, high volume channels to more sustainable, high value products that are meaningful for those who give. It is more sustainable to have people giving because they are passionate about the mission rather than because they want to win a prize or were stopped by a nice person on the street.

So, does this mean than Individual Giving will become a premium rather than a mass market product?

We believe we will see a rise in membership-based products – these might be more expensive to recruit and deliver, but can provide a small number of higher value prospects who love the cause and are less likely to defect.

Smart impulse asks

PWC estimates that Artificial Intelligence is going to play a greater role in all of our lives – adding 10% to the UK economy by 2030.

For charities, this is going to lead to the death of the question ‘What is the ask?’. There will no longer be a one-size-fits-all ‘ask’ but instead 10,000s of intelligence-based asks based on our mood, behaviours, demographic profile etc.

Whilst we’ve talked about less supporters giving more, there’s also still going to be a huge amount of impulse cash giving. But not necessarily from people who really care about the cause – it’s going to be about hitting the right people in the right place in the right mood at the right time.

Examples of this happening in 2020 are Action for Hunger partnering with restaurants so people give when they’re thinking about food – or Deliveroo raising money for NHS meals through lockdown take away orders.

From appeals, to big moments

In the new world one of the scarcest commodities will be attention. For brands and charities, there will be a greater need for more cut through to be noticed.

To get cut through and value for money it’s going to be more important than ever to integrate comms and fundraising in topical big moments that help each other in a halo effect. Having one ‘big’ idea or moment and sending this out to different audience groups via different channels, with bespoke ‘asks’ will help organisations maximise efficiencies.

Creators, not case studies

We already know today that User Generated Content is 20x more powerful in influencing than crafted media. We expect this to continue to rise by 2030.

For charities, there is a huge opportunity to give people a more immersive experience to empathise with a story. This will also give so-called beneficiaries more power to tell their own stories – making them content creators rather than case studies. We love Plan International’s DRTV ad that gave a school of sponsored children a camera to create their own ask.

Cross discipline teams

Fundraising is going to need to provide more services, with less. 93% of charity leaders say their staff skills are going to dramatically change over the next 10 years. And, from the above trends, it is already becoming clear that the role is going to be a lot broader – working with tech, education, services and brand.

Charity and commercial ‘convergence’

As we’ve already witnessed during lockdown, people are looking to businesses to solve social issues, especially younger givers.

There has been a rise in demand for commercial products that both meet an audience need and a higher social mission. There is also a need for corporate partnerships that aren’t just about giving money but are mutually beneficial and meet a societal mission e.g. Virgin and Scope pioneering an employment access programme for disabled people.

To understand how best to take advantage of these 7 trends, please get in touch with hello@goodagency.co.uk.