For our pilot, it was great to work with agile teams with all key stakeholders participating. We also had really great community engagement and thus, received valuable feedback. Nevertheless, it was challenging to find a market that was ready to complete the pilot with us – oftentimes, when undertaking new projects, it is difficult to have access and engage with new audiences. Thus, we had to pivot and work with cold audiences instead of warm audiences.

Feedback

“I loved taking part in this as it tells me and teaches me what is going around the world. This makes my mind think that I need to grow up and help as many people as I can.”

“I have enjoyed taking part. I found the information given and the discussions around some topics very interesting and feel like I have learned a lot.”

“I believe that the pilot was extremely informative and offered personal insights. It also gave us the ability to customise our experience and offer our feedback.”

“It’s nice to get to see a new approach to charity giving and the team were really good at keeping us up to date and accepting feedback positive and negative.”

Additionally, the majority of the audience (87%) felt part of a community. 

As we were in the MVP pilot phase of this project, we have not seen any significant results when looking at ROI.

What we would do differently

The main thing that we would have done differently with this  is changing the way we interacted with the key demographic. Given our target was younger audiences, we relied too heavily on email communication. In hindsight, we should have recognised that this demographic hardly engages through email and so we should have prioritised platforms and channels where younger audiences were the most active and responsive such as social media and/ or messaging apps.

How the pilot interacts with out long term fundraising strategy

When looking at our long term fundraising strategy, this pilot has significantly demonstrated the importance of iterative testing and adaptability we are now actively expanding into non-Anglo Saxon markets through our Givify 2.0 pilot, while simultaneously optimizing the original proposition based on the insights gained from pilot 1.0 in an Anglo Saxon context. The ongoing iterations have enabled us to refine and strengthen the concept continuously. Given the positive indicators from these tests, we are now evaluating how to effectively scale the prototype, ensuring the business case is compelling and viable organization-wide.

Reimagining the pilot in a changing fundraising landscape

In reference to the changing fundraising landscape, we would change the pilot in two main ways if we were to implement it again:

• We are now exploring non- Anglo Saxon markets and so it is important that we recognise cultural nuances, linguistic adaptations and local giving behaviours. We also need to ensure that we are tailoring messaging to reflect authentically with diverse audiences.
• Meeting our audience where they are most active. Given that this proposition targets younger demographics such as Gen Z, recruitment via traditional channels like email can be challenging if the audience isn’t active there. Leveraging platforms popular among these groups can lead to greater success.

 Advice for Reimagining Fundraising Members

Our advice for other Reimagining Fundraising members is to embrace experimentation even when concepts are not fully polished. This honesty invites genuine interaction, fosters community, and encourages meaningful feedback. The insights gained through peer learning and candid feedback are invaluable for refining and scaling successful fundraising initiatives.