Harnessing the power of the online world to maximise donations to your charity — why your organisation needs a digital strategy
You probably know about things like Facebook, Twitter and the prevalence of the internet — you’re reading this post on an online blog for one thing, for another, you’re a human alive in 2018. BUT do you know how beneficial a digital strategy could be for your charity?

According to Tech Trust’s 2017 ‘No charity left behind: the need for a digital third sector’ report, 58% of charities have no digital strategy. Just let that sink in. More than half of the charities that Tech Trust surveyed just last year had not put any significant thought into how their organisation was reaching its supporters online.
Conversely, of the 42% of charities that Tech Trust surveyed who said they did have a digital strategy, almost all of them (92%) said they expected to increase their measurable impact in 2018.
The above statistics are particularly shocking when placed next to another: The Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving 2017 report found that 26% of people had donated to a charity via an online method in the 12 months prior to the study being carried out.
Many charitable organisations appear to be missing out on many supporters’ willingness to donate digitally.
Fear not, however, if you’re sitting there soaked in the lukewarm coffee you just spat all over yourself, realising that your charity would have been among those having to admit to being without a digital strategy, had Tech Trust come along and asked. We at Donr are here to help. Here are a few things to think about:
You need to make sure your supporters can donate online quickly, easily and safely. You need a page that looks professionally designed with well-written content to inspire their confidence in your cause and you need to be able to guarantee that their money is being donated via a secure online payment system.
You then need to think about how you engage with supporters online. Social media is perfect for this — you probably use it all the time in your personal life and now it’s time to take your organisation into the world of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the rest too.
This does not, however, mean creating an account for your charity across every social media platform you’ve ever heard of then leaving them blank. That would create a terribly unprofessional-looking online presence. Similarly, we do not mean creating a social media account and reposting any pictures of cats you find online during your lunch hour — no matter how cute.
Think about the social media platforms that are available and decide which are most appropriate for your charity. Do you want to be able to share lots of images of events your charity runs? Do you want to post quick text-based updates on what your charity is up to? Try creating a checklist of what you want to do with your social media account then select the most appropriate platform(s) for your organisation.
Congratulations — you’re well on your way to having a highly productive digital strategy. However, we know how hard it can be to curate a buzz on social media — charities in the UK often struggle to find the time or the people with the skillset to push their online presence to the next level. That’s why our Online Marketing team can advise on the sort of content you should be putting out online to promote your new bespoke Donr crowdfunding page. They can also help you monitor the measurable impact of social media posts on your charity’s Donr crowdfunding page, so you can see the effect your new digital strategy is having.
Fundraising online can seem daunting but the reality is supporters are increasingly turning to their laptops and smartphones to make their charitable contributions. At Donr, we hope our digital expertise can help charities harness the potential that a good online presence represents for the UK’s charities.
