Charities: Wake up to digital or else

Charities Wake up to digital or elseCharities are being urged to ditch their reliance on direct mail and ramp up their digital strategies to devise campaigns that tap into the shorter attention spans of the online generation or risk losing out.
The call follows the publication of a list of the UK’s most generous towns, according to data gathered by donation site JustGiving.
JustGiving compiled its list based on the number of givers and the amount donated in relation to populations.
Bedford heads the list, with 41,631 people with a Bedford postcode giving a total of £1,145,967 to appeals on the site in the year to May 2014. Bedford was followed by Cambridge, Reading, Brentwood, Woking, Aberdeen, Cheltenham, High Wycombe, Watford and Bristol.
The data highlights the importance of online donations and marketing to charities. While direct mail still remains the most popular way of donating to charity, online services are growing rapidly – especially among young people.
Matt Haworth, co-founder of Reason Digital, a group which advises charities on online fundraising, told the BBC: “If you look at the distribution of donors by their age, direct mail is most popular amongst those aged 70-plus.
“We need to replace that with new blood. We’re going to see in the next few years that the majority of income is digital. Charities really need to prepare.
“Everything’s getting shorter. You used to send your supporters a long penned letter that might go into great detail. That is now giving way to shorter messages, tweets, and text-giving.”

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2 Comments on "Charities: Wake up to digital or else"

  1. Charities told to wake up to digital or else http://t.co/FlzzfWOIeO #digitalmarketing #directmarketing #directmail #CRM #advertising

  2. Are you addressing short attention spans of the younger donor? Research says not! http://t.co/vLgvkhzq0S

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