Digital Fundraising

Why non-profits need a smart strategy on digital fundraising

Back in the early 1990s, Daryl Upsall was a pioneer of online/digital fundraising whilst leading Greenpeace’s fundraising worldwide. At that time there was no social media, few websites, no Google, most people did not even know what “www” or “internet” even meant and most people did not have an email account.

Daryl Upsall International was an early promoter of the “internet”, as that was almost all it was back in the early 2000s, as the “future of fundraising.” Upstarts such as Amazon, then just selling books, and airlines such as EasyJet selling air tickets “online”, we argued, were signposting the direction of non-profit fundraising.

Two decades later, as Michael Dixon  from the International Rescue Committee, joins along with Bertie Bosredon as Senior Digital Consultant at Daryl Upsall International, much is changing in the non-profit sector embraces digital media into its fundraising mix. As Michael comments:

“Over the last decade, social and digital media have rapidly evolved, opening up cost-effective ways for organizations to reach vast audiences and raise significant funds. However, the wider digital landscape is undergoing another transformation, and revolutionary technologies like Web 3.0 and A.I. are poised to shake up the sector even further in the years to come. To take advantage of this new era in digital fundraising, organizations must start thinking ahead and investing in innovation and testing now. Those who seize this opportunity will reap the rewards and stay ahead of the curve.

Non-profits have to invest into their digital fundraising strategy

Non-profits must invest time and money to put their key audiences at the centre of their strategy and work across teams to map out personalised digital journeys where fundraising is placed at the right time, on the appropriate channels. This also means investing in proper tools and processes to manage acquisition and increase the focus on retention. As Bertie states:

“Digital and, especially, social media have become an integral part of people’s lives (of all ages). Successful non-profits are putting in place a digital transformation programme: rethinking their digital governance, bypassing internal siloes. They identify their key audiences and prepare personalised fundraising journeys. They invest in digital engagement tools to manage acquisition, conversion, and retention. They also equip all staff with essential digital skills to ensure that projects are optimised, and impact is measured.”

Daryl Upsall International is ready and equipped to meet the challenges and needs the of non-profits for digital readiness and to embark on a real digital transformation in their fundraising strategies. Emily Bracken, CEO Consulting at Daryl Upsall International, states:

Digital fundraising is an important growth area for many organisations, but it is extremely difficult to have strong results without the right strategy, implementation, and robust back-end systems and processes.  We are ready and eager to help more organizations achieve success in digital with the deepening of our capability to support clients in this specialist area.”