Creating high-performing charity campaigns can be challenging at the best of times. Making sure your campaigns are generating income and awareness is key to driving successful donations and achieving your charity campaign goals.
In this article, we will look at 5 tips & tricks you can use to make your next Charity Campaign a success.
1.Develop mini-guidelines for your campaign
Campaigns can often require large amounts of campaign assets and deliverables. Taking the time at the start of your campaign to develop a clear brand style and message can streamline a lot of your conversations further down the line. When designers, freelancers and agencies are working on your materials, having a clear guideline/cheat sheet to work off means all of your campaign deliverables remain on-brand, on-message and consistent.
2. Leverage existing supporters and supporting networks
In the search for new donations and support, your existing network can often go under the radar. By using tools such as direct mail, email campaigns and direct outreach, you can leverage your existing network into not only supporting your campaign, but also attracting other potential supporters in their network (more on this later!).
3. Use Social Media to amplify your messaging
Due to its sometimes low conversion rate, social media can sometimes go under-recognised in the success of a campaign. Social media is a powerful tool for amplifying key campaign messages. While the conversion rate for social media might not match the success of your other channels it can be a great “light touch tool” meaning people will become aware of your campaign, then convert via a different channel. Often users/potential supporters need 2–3 touch points before converting into a supporter and social media can be a great way to raise awareness and drive conversions.
4. Review your donation/conversion pathways
Making sure your “conversion event” is as streamlined as possible is key to converting interested viewers into converted supporters. Making sure your form is only asking relevant questions, is using clear, concise and easy to understand language and provides a consistent feel to the rest of the campaign (to ensure trust remains through the process) is key to making sure you maximise your conversion rates.
It is important to test your forms and payment gateways, below are some things to consider when doing this:
- Test on both mobile and desktop
- Does the checkout include a compelling message about “why” the user should complete the journey.
- What payment options are included? Are any missing (e.g. Googlepay/Applepay).
- Any areas for improvement/areas to go the extra mile?
- How is the user thanked? Do you need a thank you page/follow up email? \
5. Turn supporters into advocates
Once a user has converted into a supporter, you can leverage them into a vocal advocate of your campaign. This might be by encouraging them to share their donation on social media, refer a friend or contribute further to the campaign via regular giving or volunteering. Making sure you have a clear next-step campaign can be a great way to maximise your supporters who convert as well as driving ROI through the roof!
Summary
There are plenty of ways to make a charity campaign a success, but ensuring the campaign is smooth, easy to understand and consistent should be at the heart of everything you do. A scattergun approach can feel successful as you are creating lots of touch points, but this can often be expensive, damaging to your brand and not the best way to achieve the results.
If you are planning a campaign and would like support in campaign strategy, branding, messaging or assets, get in touch with the team at Oyster and we will be happy to help.
