The digital landscape for charities has shifted from a static, ad hoc reflection of their offline marketing (Facebook ads based on your direct mail pack, anyone?), to a complicated, highly regulated environment defined by privacy walls and platform restrictions that leave us wondering where to go next.

Between 2020 and 2025, Meta and Google introduced sweeping changes that have torn up our traditional fundraising playbooks. Yet despite these hurdles, digital fundraising continues to be a huge opportunity for charities to win new supporters and raise more money, as long as we’re willing to evolve our strategies.

The new reality: platform restrictions on ‘social issues’

For years, charities advertising on digital channels relied on granular audience targeting to find new supporters. But despite the huge alarm bells around political ad bans in October 2025, Meta actually began removing thousands of audience targeting options related to health, religion, sexuality and more as far back as 2020.

This was followed by Apple’s 2021 iOS 14 update, which effectively blinded advertisers from using behaviour by allowing consumers to ‘Ask App Not To Track’.

From 2025, the restrictions have deepened significantly. Meta introduced further data-sharing limitations on any advertiser promoting “Medical Conditions” and “Religious Beliefs”, among many other areas that charities work hard to support.

Then, in October 2025, a major regulatory change led Meta and Google to ban and block what they define as ‘social issues’ advertising across the EU. This has left charities scrambling to find new ways to communicate about their life-changing work online and, crucially, to continue to find supporters in this new digital landscape.

The 2-step solution: mastering the middle of the funnel

All of these changes have meant that charity comms and advertising are getting less and less effective at the top of the funnel (awareness) and the bottom (direct conversion). The top of the funnel often suffers from high competition and a broad reach that doesn’t convert, while the bottom of the funnel is plagued by the rising cost per acquisition (CPA) caused by Meta’s never-ending changes. Charities must now master the “middle”.

In the middle, our goal is to grow our first-party data. By building a list of active, engaged supporter email addresses, which the organisation owns, charities can bring their supporters’ experience back under their control. You control the message. You own the relationship.

We call it the Mobilisation Model:

• Attract supporters in the middle of the funnel, using lead generation campaigns to reach and engage supporters at scale.
• Drive action by making it easy to give and give again, while sharing their voice and being an active member of your community.
• Grow your impact by maintaining contact: send more emails, more often, to drive long-term financial support.

By focusing on list growth, charities can acquire just as many donors, at competitive CPAs, but with the added benefit of thousands of contacts on their charity’s file who have raised their hand and said they’re ready to help create change.

Optimising your storytelling for digital

In the new digital landscape, the quality of your storytelling and your content becomes the primary driver of your success. When it comes to telling stories, many charities focus heavily on the “What”: the specific work they do. To cut through in digital, charities must optimise their storytelling to focus on the “Why”: the fundamental reason your organisation exists. This part of your story is often forgotten.

Authenticity is another big part of this storytelling shift. High-production, polished ads are often outperformed by authentic stories and raw images. Content needs to feel truly ‘social’, or audiences will ignore it.

Just like any other fundraising, tangibility plays a crucial role in conversion. The best performing campaigns will connect the dots between the urgent need, the impactful solution, and the simple, clear action that the supporter can take.

Innovation with more meaningful engagement: leads

To grow your file of first-party data, leading charities are moving beyond the “Donate” button and towards meaningful, engaging lead magnets that connect your audience to the causes they care about.

• It can be as simple as a hand-raiser: a values-led proposition that invites potential supporters to join your mission and make a change.
• Digital guides can help educate, inform or empower your supporter to bring your work to life in their day-to-day, like safe protest guides, sustainable living guides and more.
• Quizzes and games challenge your supporters to become closer to the reality of the work your organisation does on the front line.
• Charities are increasingly looking to spark conversations with their supporters through WhatsApp and chatbots, creating immersive, fictionalised experiences that bring their work to life.

So, what does ‘good’ look like?

By shifting to the Mobilisation Model, charities can move away from the volatility of acquiring ‘cold’ donors in a digital landscape that is constantly changing, and towards a more predictable part of the funnel.

Typical lead generation might see an average cost per lead (CPL) of £1-£4. Combine this with automated email journeys, and these leads can convert to donors at a rate of 0.5-1.25%, bringing in cash donors while filling the funnel with qualified leads.

While the initial media spend might result in a return on ad spend (ROAS) of roughly 0.30-0.50, the long-term value is found in digital donor retention. By sending more emails, more often, charities can maximise the lifetime value of these digital donors, and prospect the file of new supporters to give them more and more ways to be an active part of your mission.

So while Meta and Google continue to ban and block charities from the traditional digital pathways to finding new donors, they have not closed the door on digital fundraising just yet. Success in 2026 and beyond requires charities to stop renting their audiences from big tech, and to start owning their relationships through first-party data and meaningful, active engagement.

Josh Leigh

About Josh Leigh

With more than 15 years of experience in digital and offline fundraising, campaigning and activism, Josh Leigh has helped NGOs raise millions in financial support and connect countless people with the causes they care about. Josh co-founded Hynt, a digital fundraising agency that empowers charities and purpose-led brands across Europe. Hynt offers a unique blend of expert training and campaign support, equipping clients with the knowledge and tools to navigate the digital landscape and achieve their fundraising goals.

Main feature image by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash

This is a key finding of a new report written by Zewo Foundation, with support from the University of Fribourg, and published in both French and German.

The report looks at trends around donations to organisations holding the Zewo certification – a standard meaning that the charity meets certain expectations in areas including ethics, governances, transparency, and fundraising and communication.

The study also estimates that total giving in the country in 2024 was 2.25bn CHF, the same figure as in 2023, as previously reported by Fundraising Europe.

The 2023 and 2024 figure is 10% lower than in 2022, but still higher than all other previous years, and represents a doubling of giving in the past two decades – the figure in both 2003 and 2004 was 1.1bn CHF.

International strength

Overall, 55% of Zewo-certified charities experienced a decline in fundraising income. This picture changes based on charities’ focus – 60% of organisations working in Switzerland experienced a decline, while for internationally-focused organisations it was lower, at 45%.

However, total income for these organisations rose by 2.7% to 5.1bn CHF. This was thanks mainly to Government funding increasing during 2024 from just less than 1.9bn CHF to a little more than 2bn CHF.

In total, 51% of Zewo-certified organisations’ fundraising income comes from public donations; 27% from other churches and other nonprofits (including major fundraising campaign La Chaîne du Bonheur); 18% from legacy gifts; and 4% from enterprises.

Digital drop

As well as showing that digital donations are typically half as valuable as donations through traditional methods, the value of online giving has fallen year-on-year.

For digital donations on Twint, the most popular digital platform among Zewo-certified charities, the average value dropped from 117 CHF in 2022 and 101 CHF in 2023 to 86 CHF in 2024. Digital donations using credit cards also dropped from 168 CHF in 2022 to 108 CHF in 2024, while PayPal gifts have more than halved in average value from 160 CHF in 2022, to 74 CHF in 2024.

Picture by myshoun on Pixabay

In an increasingly digital world, giving donors the best possible online experience is an essential part of a fundraiser’s role.

Like many charities, NSPCC is eager to increase supporter engagement, boost traffic to its product and raise more income from regular giving. To ensure supporters receive a seamless, consistent experience when they want to make a donation, the UK children’s charity has placed a greater focus on using data to drive its digital strategy, with a commitment to continuous testing and optimisation.

The result of this sharper focus on online fundraising has been a rise in supporter engagement, a big increase in traffic to the charity’s donation site, and more regular gifts with a higher average value.

So, how has NSPCC achieved positive outcomes – and how can other charities have the same success?

Project to product: a new approach to digital fundraising

Since 2023, NSPCC has moved away from traditional waterfall project management (where project phases are completed one after the other in a predetermined order) and adopted a product-led approach to developing the journeys on goDonate, the platform it uses to handle online donations.

The charity now puts more emphasis on supporter behaviour and how it affects campaign metrics. The main NSPCC website hosts a number of different services while acting as the starting point for the donation funnel on goDonate.

NSPCC’s priorities for its online donor journey are increasing overall regular donations and the amount of income gained from them. Another key area is increasing traffic to its products, thereby boosting supporter engagement and conversions. A third objective is to gain new donors while also increasing engagement with existing supporters to strengthen those relationships.

Understanding the behaviour of supporters in the charity’s digital channels provides a wealth of user-led data from Google Analytics and other sources. With this data to hand, the charity has been able to rapidly devise and run A/B testing of hypotheses.

Testing is never treated as a one-off. NSPCC runs ongoing trials, allowing it to continuously optimise campaigns and the digital journey.

Understanding the importance of continuous optimisation

Getting the donation journey right is the key to greater engagement and conversions. Industry statistics show that only around one in five users who click the ‘donate’ button on a charity website actually make a donation. While that figure is frustratingly low, it also means that even small incremental gains in conversions can make a big difference. For example, if a charity raised £500,000 in one year through its online donation forms, increasing the conversion rate from 21% to just 23% would provide an additional £50,000 in income.

This highlights the importance of optimisation – and there are several tactics that can be used through online donation platforms to improve donor journeys. Each tiny, testing-driven tweak can make a big difference. From optimised form layouts to frictionless payment options and emotionally resonant messaging, the goal is to make the giving experience as intuitive – and inspiring – as possible at every stage. For example, by tapping into known donor motivations with compelling headlines, copy and imagery. This is an impactful way to build emotional engagement, but it’s vital to ensure all campaign messaging and content is consistent across channels.

Ensuring the charity shows up in the same way across the journey builds trust and transparency, which is as crucial when it comes to online donations as it is in e-commerce. Supporters are reassured they’re still interacting with the organisation they want to give money to because the branding is consistent: they’re in the right place.

How testing led to big donation uplifts through NSPCC’s site

To uncover real-world challenges and opportunities, NSPCC conducted usability testing with small supporter samples. One surprising insight gleaned was that when people were prompted to donate after watching a TV advert, most searched for ‘NSPCC’, clicked the first donate button they saw, and didn’t scroll.

They wanted speed, clarity and emotional connection. However, consistency in imagery, such as using the same photo of a child across ads and donation pages, was key to triggering emotional recall.

Two other successful tests by the charity have made a measurable difference:

• Simplified hero banner – Replacing donation prompts on the landing page with a single, clear call-to-action led to an increase in clickthroughs to the goDonate donation platform of just over a fifth.
• Removing a mandatory attribution field – Eliminating the question, “What prompted your donation?”, which was prone to unstructured responses and offered little insight, boosted conversion by 4%.

These successes prompted the charity to innovate further. NSPCC is now experimenting with new features designed to emotionally connect with supporters, including a ‘giving slider’.

Instead of choosing an amount, supporters can now state how many Childline calls they want to fund. The donation value adjusts automatically, linking gift size directly to impact. Early tests show donors give more when they can visualise the effect of their donation.

Meanwhile, after making a one-off gift, supporters are invited on a ‘thank you’ page to convert to a regular gift with a single click.

Online donation optimisation tips for charities to consider

In a digital world crowded with choices, every second and each click counts. NSPCC’s commitment to data-driven testing, user-centred design and innovative giving options reveals how charities can elevate their online fundraising without huge budgets, but with smart decisions.

The results are a case in point:

• 37% rise in average regular gift value
• Significant uplift in income from the direct debit upgrade campaign platform
• Hundreds of new monthly donors added through a post-donation upsell feature, generating additional annual income

The benefits of testing and optimisation, following a data-driven approach to online fundraising, are clear. Regardless of size or existing revenue any charity can also significantly boost donations through their website. Here are six tips for success.

1. Streamline the journey: Keep donation forms short. Ask only essential questions. Reduce clicks.
2. Use emotional and visual cues: Consistency in imagery and copy builds trust and boosts response.
3. Optimise for mobile: Mobile accounts for 60% of donation; ensure your forms work well on smaller screens.
4. Offer modern payment methods: Digital wallets like Apple Pay and PayPal can significantly boost conversions.
5. Personalise where you can: Personalised donation pages, which display the supporter’s name, for instance, are proven to improve conversion by up to 21%. Delivery via email or QR code are particularly impactful.
6. Test, learn, repeat: With usability studies and A/B testing you can refine your hypotheses and prove what works.

Lee Bellingham

About Lee Bellingham

Lee Bellingham is a digital product manager at the NSPCC, where he plays a pivotal role in enhancing the charity’s online fundraising efforts. With extensive experience in digital strategy and user experience, he is dedicated to improving donor engagement and maximising online contributions for the organisation. At the NSPCC, Lee oversees various projects that leverage data-driven insights and innovative tools to optimise the online donation journey. His expertise in A/B testing and user-centric design has been instrumental in implementing successful strategies that foster deeper connections with supporters.

Vicky Reeves

About Vicky Reeves

Vicky Reeves is founder and CEO of goDonate, an online donation platform supporting UK and global charities. With more than 20 years’ expertise in digital fundraising and the technology that drives it, Vicky focuses on helping charities to maximise online donations through smart tech and exceptional UX. She was a trustee of the charity arm of the British Museum for eight years, helping the organisation to maximise its online fundraising and use technology to drive digital donations. She has been a finalist in the Digital Champion category of the Third Sector Awards, and was shortlisted for the Fast Growth Business Awards Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

The UK’s DMA, backed by 19 charities, wrote to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on behalf of its members last November, asking for soft opt-in to be extended to charities in the current Bill. Analysis referenced in the letter has estimated that this could lead to an extra £290 million in annual donations for UK charities. EFA member the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIOF) has also engaged with government ministers and House of Lords peers on the matter.

Current rules

At the moment, under the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) soft opt-in can only be used as a basis for contacting people with email and text marketing by commercial organisations, under strict conditions.

The exemption

The amendment (which can be found on p5 of the Bill) will mean that if someone shows an interest in what a charity is doing at the point of an email address capture (such as donating, or signing a petition), and is given the opportunity to opt out, the charity will be able to email them about something else, if it is to help further their work. This could include asking them to sign up to give regularly, or leave a legacy. The option to opt out will have to be given every time they are contacted, and there must be no sharing of data with a third party.

Announcing the news on the CIOF site, director of policy and communications Claire Stanley said:

“This is a significant win for the sector and will finally put charities on a level playing field with commercial organisations which have benefitted from soft opt-in since the introduction of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations back in 2003.

“Crucially, it shows a willingness from the government to listen to the sector at a time when it is facing multiple challenges to deliver services amid rocketing demand. This will allow charities to communicate more widely with supporters and share the vital work they are doing.”

Picture by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

This is a significant increase on the 35% that were using AI tools last year. However, 45% are using them informally and only 11% are using them across their organisation with a further 5% working towards this. There is also a marked difference depending on the size of the organisation: 53% of small charities are using AI in their day-to-day work, compared to 78% of large ones.

635 charities took part in the study, which also found that a third (34%) see using AI tools as a priority this year for their organisation. These results, the report says, suggests that a lot of staff are testing AI tools but that organisations are not adopting them formally at this point. In addition, only 22% currently feel prepared to respond to AI opportunities and challenges.

Overall, less than 1 in 5 are putting in the building blocks needed for AI use such as developing an AI policy (16%), reviewing data protection and security (15%), and improving data maturity and capability (9%). More large charities are focusing on these, with 34% developing an AI policy and 25% reviewing data protection and security.

The annual research also found that half of UK charities now have a digital strategy although only 14% feel they have embedded this in their organisation and are advanced with digital. 76% feel they have made digital progress this year but 41% say they are poor at digital fundraising, and another 25% don’t do it. At the same time, 52% say it is a key priority for their organisation this year.

Lack of funding a key issue

However, three quarters of those polled said they need funding to create time and capacity to work on organisational development and digital strategy. Organisational finances are the biggest barrier that 68% of charities now face in moving forward with digital. This has risen considerably from 2023, when only 27% said the cost-of-living crisis was affecting progress.

For almost half (45%), lack of digital funding is their biggest barrier, and among small charities 72% say they are struggling digitally due to squeezed organisational finances.

Nissa Ramsay, founder of Think Social Tech and co-author of the report, noted:

“We can see the impact more on smaller organisations, of which two thirds are at an early stage with digital (64%). For example, 53% of small charities are using AI tools in their day-to-day work, compared to 78% of large charities.

“Funders can make a radical difference by developing more inclusive funding practices. As it stands, only a quarter of charities were able to access funding that covered any digital costs this year. Both large and small charities need funders to recognise digital costs are vital core costs. It’s striking that 73% say their biggest digital funding need is time to work on organisational development.”

This year’s findings also revealed that among black-led charities, 65% are struggling to find funds to invest in devices, software and infrastructure, and that 41% of black led charities in the UK struggle to find a funder who will support a digital project. This is higher than the report’s main sample (21%), all small charities (25%) and charities led by other specific marginalised groups. There is also a slightly greater prioritisation of digital inclusion support among organisations tackling racial injustice. A third (33%) say this is a key priority for their organisation this year and 29% say this is a key need for funding.

Commenting on the findings, co-author Zoe Amar, founder of Zoe Amar Digital, said:

“This year’s results show charities are struggling with increased workload, significant financial pressures from inflation and budget cuts and little headspace for innovation. These pressures are definitely delaying digital progress and much of the sector seems to be in a holding pattern. Yet, despite the many barriers and challenges faced by charities, the appetite is still there and it is promising to see half of charities are now approaching digital strategically and 80% see digital as an organisational priority.

“AI is definitely seeing the biggest positive shift in the sector, with ambitions high, however for many charities it can lift the lid on old digital challenges and shine a light on the skeletons in the closet. If you still have issues with gathering high quality data, AI is not going to solve this. You need the right infrastructure and governance in place otherwise the sector runs the risk of being left behind in the AI revolution.”

Picture by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay

Carlos Molina, analyst and writer for MultiVersial.es newsletter, will discuss trends and innovation in digital business and how it will impact the NGO sector.

Jimena Tormo, head of gaming and interactive IPs by DeAPlaneta Entertainment, will share innovative examples of how XR and gaming can transform fundraising and take a look at the tools needed to change marketing and communication strategies to attract more donors and partners.

Frederic Bardeu, Simpolon.co co-founder, is going to talk about how to introduce AI into activism and fundraising, and taking advantage of new opportunities whilst at the same time minimising the risks that AI brings.

All news and registrations are available on the Digital Fundraising Hub website.

Commenting on the event, Fernando Morón, director of the AEFr, said: “Digital Fundraising Hub offers a valuable space for Third Sector professionals to learn about the latest trends in economics, marketing and digital fundraising.”

Picture by mikoto.raw Photographer on Pexels

In Germany, there is a clear generational split in this trend, according to analysis of a 5,000-person survey for the Deutscher Fundraising Verband (DFRV).

It shows that while 58% of baby boomers (born 1946-64) use bank transfers to donate, only 18% use PayPal. Meanwhile, for Generation Z (born 1996-2010), the numbers are near equal – 35% using bank transfer and 39% using PayPal.

In addition, while 9% of Gen Z are using Apple Pay, Google Pay or Garmin Pay to donate, this has only been taken up by 1% of boomers. Apple, Google and Garmin were also used by 2% of Generation X (born 1965-79), and by 5% of Generation Y (1980-95).

Commenting, DFRV managing director Larissa Probst said:

“Today, we are even more able to offer people their favourite payment options. This is important because offering more donation methods almost always means more donations.”

UK uptick

At the end of April, UK donation platform goDonate reported that 57% of the £25m total donations via goDonate in 2023 were made using a bank card, down from 61% in 2022, with the rest coming from digital wallets.

Specifically, 29% were from PayPal (down from 31% in 2022), 12.2% Apple Pay (8.8% in 2022) and 2.1% Google Pay (1.7% in 2022).

Digital wallets were also used in 16% of regular gifts.

Vicky Reeves, managing director of goDonate, commented:

“It is vital that charities offer the widest possible range of payment choices within their donation journeys.”

French preferences

Another report, analysing €369m of donations in France via iRaiser, said that mobile donations accounted for 24% of donations on the platform last year, up from 17% back in 2023, although their average value has declined from €113 to €95 in that period.

Over the same period, the proportion of donations using a bank card dropped from 85% to 83%, while PayPal giving rose from 7% to 10%. ApplePay accounted for 2% of donations in 2023, versus 1% in 2022.

Apple Pay average donations were €112, while card donations averaged €159. While PayPal gifts were considerably smaller at €99, they have grown by 10% since 2019, versus 8% growth for all iRaiser donations in that period.

iRaiser’s report also shows an increase in use of another relatively new payment method – the SEPA scheme available to EU members. It accounted for 23% of regular gifts on iRaiser in 2023, up from 19% in 2022.

Main picture by Freepik

Digital technology in the charitable sector is a bit like the Loch Ness monster: it’s exciting fodder for discussion, but nearly impossible to spot in action. While most charities are aware that they need to develop their digital culture, they don’t know how to handle the “beast” due to a lack of training and skills.

Seven deadly sins are preventing organizations from achieving digital maturity:

• A short-sighted, ROI-based approach, preventing organizations from fully investing in a digital long-term transformation. Usually this is due to a lack of resources, expertise, time and talent. Interestingly, a good long-term decision often yields disappointing short-term results.
• A lack of digital expertise on boards of directors, leading to antagonism between directors and employees over digital’s place. Directors often fail to show leadership on this subject, and don’t understand the resources and skills required. Digital campaigns are often treated as one-offs, which – unless financial results are positive in the short term – renders any attempt to invest in digital superfluous.
• Major internal discord caused by a lack of understanding about the opportunities offered by digital marketing and how to use the tools.
• Digital goals that aren’t linked to any strategy. In most cases, these goals are not formally presented in a strategic plan, let alone an action plan. Without precise objectives or performance indicators, organizations often make do with “quick wins”.
• Absence of a budget dedicated entirely to digital, which means organizations work on a piecemeal basis, and digital projects are budget lines within other budget items with no way to easily manage the digital budget as a whole.
• Data analysis is lacking with topics mostly limited to viewing statistics, open or click-through rates. Generally speaking, organizations don’t know their conversion statistics, and are under-equipped with the tools and knowledge to do so.
• Too much siloing between different organizational functions, particularly between fundraising, marketing and communications activities. This is a considerable hindrance towards growth, as failure to ensure communication between all the building blocks of an organization’s ecosystem prevents the adoption of a cross-functional and iterative approach.

These major pitfalls are accompanied by challenges that cannot be met with half-truths or half-measures. It’s becoming vital for many organizations to move out of reactive mode and into proactive mode ­­– future generations of donors are 100% digital.

The other major challenge is to remain visible in a hyper-competitive and disrupted market, marked by hyper-choice and the arrival of new trusted third parties. Knowing how to communicate one’s promise and value proposition online is a minimum requirement for existence nowadays. Becoming a media brand is an undeniable asset. Successful organizations know how to continuously tell their story to stay top of their audience’s mind.

Case in point is The diary of Louise by Relief. To raise awareness of its services, the organization created an online platform featuring the fictional Louise, who lives with anxiety and shared her ups and downs every week for a year. Brand content is definitely a powerful ally for digital projects.

Grant-making foundations will have a decisive role to play in this conversion, by providing adequate funding to accelerate the sector’s digital transformation. The cost of inaction is all too often overlooked, and will likely be even higher with the advent of artificial intelligence.

The rise and pitfalls of AI

In the space of a few months, AI has become the talk of the town with the arrival of ChatGPT making its impact on our lives and businesses tangible and concrete. We’re entering a civilizational revolution that’s as exciting as it is terrifying, and the challenge will be to strike a balance between innovation and the preservation of human dignity.

The philanthropic world is no exception to this technological tsunami, and those involved must seriously consider the risks and opportunities of integrating algorithmic tools into their practice. Here are the 10 commandments to take into account:

1. Conduct an impact analysis before implementing AI.

It’s important to identify the upstream consequences of a major organizational change on teams, operational processes and even corporate culture, to ensure adoption is accepted and understood.

2. Define the place and function of AI within your organization.

We all agree automation of repetitive, low value-added tasks is desirable, but what about the generation of text and images? If you’re looking to stand out from the crowd and add heart and spirit to your content, humans will do a better job. On the other hand, ChatGPT can be a great help in developing personas and marketing strategies. Tasks based on information retrieval should also be treated with caution. Doing trend monitoring or researching potential donors can be less risky than informing customers via a chatbot equipped with AI.

3. Adopt a policy for the responsible and supervised use of AI.

Use this to guarantee the protection of donors’ privacy, stating the nature and scope of the tasks entrusted to it, and ruling on the type of data that can be submitted to AI. This must be drawn up in collaboration with the employees responsible for applying it, and made public and accessible to donors, in the same way as a confidentiality policy.

4. Gauge your relationship to the dispossession of your content.

Everything you inject into AI no longer belongs to you. If you ask it to put itself in the shoes of a donor and give its opinion on your brochure or communications, the elements submitted will certainly clarify your request, but also train the tool and feed future answers to other people’s questions. Google has said that any content made public on the internet could to be used to feed its AI assistant Bard, including websites, social networks and YouTube videos. It’s plausible that organizations will have to prioritize the content they distribute, from the most generic (and copyable) to the most differentiating, according to the degree of exclusivity they wish to have. It’s a safe bet that audio content formats, which are harder to copy than text, will become increasingly popular.

5. Learn to avoid bias and utilitarian criteria.

Using algorithmic tools that are faster and more efficient than humans in terms of execution and data cross-referencing doesn’t mean you don’t need to think critically. We need to be more practical in our approach to AI, entrusting it with workflow optimization rather than decision-making. Take the case of a community foundation seeking to analyze several hundred grant applications within a tight timeframe with an external selection committee. Going through each application individually, entering the essential information in a pre-established criteria grid, is a colossal task. To escape the manual hell of cut-and-paste, the combination of AI and automation tools is a lifeline.

6. The tool must not become an avatar of magical thinking for charities in need of everything (resources, talent, time).

Using ChatGPT as an ace up your sleeve, yes. Making it the master of your strategy, no. AI is a skill that comes on top of business expertise, and it’s essential to have that beforehand. Otherwise you’ll be undercutting AI’s full potential for your organization.

7. Playing the transparency card to preserve trust. 

The last thing a donor expects is for “love of humankind” to be embodied in artificially infused exchanges. At a time when we’re already worrying about the influence of AI on human relationships, isn’t it better to reveal the contexts in which we use it? Who knows, we may one day see the appearance of a “Not generated by AI” label.

8. Only use AI to do better than before.

The tool must provide you with a leap in growth or productivity. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time.

9. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Over-reliance on third-party applications and services can limit your ability to function without them. AI is said to be the new electricity, but there’s no guarantee against blackouts. Once mass adoption and dependency have set in, the rules may change to our disadvantage, such as increasing subscription costs.

10. What to do with the “time dividend”?

That’s the question every organization climbing on the AI bandwagon needs to answer. Productivity gains are good. Knowing what to do with it is better. The time saved in production can be invested in creation, iteration, training or simply in maintaining human relations through a donor experience strategy.

DXD (Donor Experience Design) reinvented

DXD, also known as Donor Experience (DX), takes its inspiration from Customer Experience (CX) by focusing on the design of a positive and meaningful experience for donors to build loyalty, further engage them and encourage them to support our cause on a regular basis.

In its early 2020s version, DXD is marked by a shift from audience to community. The difference between the two is engagement. The case study that best illustrates this trend is Team for the Planet (TFTP), with the exception that donors have been replaced by the company’s own nonprofit investors. Its aim is to raise a billion euros by 2030 to finance around a hundred innovations to combat greenhouse gases. TFTP excels at communicating its value proposition and mobilizing its associates to form a highly effective taskforce. The company ticks all the community-building boxes, enabling it to raise nearly $24 million euros in just three and a half years.

Canadian entrepreneur and Internet community builder, Greg Isenberg, developed the T.R.I.B.E. test to find out whether an organization (TFTP in our case) has created a community:

Togetherness — people have a space to be together. Collective intelligence is one of TFTP’s core values. Important decisions, such as which innovations to finance, are taken at the Annual General Meeting with all shareholders, enabling everyone to contribute in addition to their financial participation.

Rituals — people can participate in routines. With TFTP, associates are regularly asked to relay TFTP posts on social media using a turnkey kit.

Identity — people feel they’re with like-minded people. Many people connect on LinkedIn because they have TFTP in common, implying they share the same values of preserving the planet.

Belonging — people feel they’re part of something bigger than themselves. TFTP shareholders display their participation in the project on social networks with an “I joined” banner. They also list it as an additional position in their LinkedIn CVs.

Engagement — people consistently adding to the conversation without need for the brand. It’s even more powerful when the content is memorable. To celebrate the 100,000-associate milestone, TFTP released the first rap video for the climate which caused quite a stir on social media.

The charitable sector has plenty of good ideas to draw on from TFTP to assist in reinventing the donor experience in light of the major generational and behavioural transformations underway.

In a nutshell, nonprofits are caught in a double race against time: the inevitable catching up of their digital transformation in an ever-shortening timeframe, and preparing to leap into the AI vortex while there’s still time to have their say on ethics and usage. The great challenge for charities in the coming years will be to navigate the complex and ever-changing environment that sits at the intersection of virtual and real worlds.

About Charlène Petit 

Charlène Petit debunks and vulgarizes philanthropy through her podcast FILantropio and her monthly newsletter Vitamine G. Based in Montreal since 2013, and after an eight-year career as a fundraising professional, she founded Facteur Digital. Her mission is to support charitable brands (nonprofits, foundations, NGOs) in their digital growth strategies and brand awareness by offering growth marketing consulting and brand content production services (podcast, storytelling, copywriting).

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Taking place on 19 & 20 April, the online conference offers two days of best practice and innovation, practical campaign concepts and case studies, and global debates on big ideas in tech like the ethics of AI and the dark side of social media.

Workshop sessions with speaker Q&As on topics from digital mobilisation and online movement building to crowdfunding and text generation will be presented alongside #FROFringe, a live discussion and collaboration space.

Tickets are £50 and the Resource Alliance is offering an exclusive £10 discount for EFA members and Fundraising Europe readers right up until the conference date. The discount can be accessed through a special link here.

The Resource Alliance still has some speaker slots available and is particularly interested in hearing ideas for interactive, discussion-based #FROFringe sessions to run alongside the main programme. Ideas can be submitted here.

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Digital donors are a growing demographic, across generations and genders, but often the channels legacy fundraisers use to reach them are homogenous. Our research has shown that different digital channels have different roles to play when it comes to legacy fundraising.

While social media and paid digital advertising are good at raising awareness and generating leads, video is a great medium for storytelling, and email works well in developing relationships with supporters – keeping them updated on the vital work of the charity and any news or events.

And things change, for example Facebook as a platform has become crowded and costs have risen, so charities need to think creatively to maximise budgets and standout. The constant stream of new technologies and platforms offer new opportunities for charities to give their messages cut through and cultural relevance but rather than jumping on every new technique and platform, it’s about focusing on the right things.

Inspiration from the sector

Corporate and consumer brands have been experimenting with new platforms and using social media in an innovative way right from the start – they often have the budgets to do so.  But charities are innovative too. It may be that the total audience will be smaller than can be reached through a more mainstream medium, but if there is a strong link between the message being delivered, the audience and the communications environment, the overall campaign can have more relevance and resonance and greater cut-through.

Examples of charities harnessing new channels and platforms in interesting ways include:

– UK children’s hospital Alder Hey used smart speakers to harness the potential of voice activation to encourage new supporters to request a legacy pack. When considering new platforms and technologies, it’s important to keep in mind the objectives of the communication, the message being communicated and the audience you are talking to.

– Virtual/hybrid supporter legacy events are here to stay despite the end of lockdowns, and videos and VR offer supporters preferential access to the people, places and events that embody your charity – at a low cost and flexibility you cannot manage face to face – for example global charity UNICEF’s behind the scenes tour of their warehouse in Bangladesh.

– International charity Greenpeace was presented with a gift when the HBO TV series Succession had a storyline about legacies. Greenpeace jumped on the storyline, and went viral, generating a record number of likes, shares and hits on the UK legacy web page (10x the daily average). Charities can look to the wider world and think more tangentially about other stories, events and opportunities to piggyback on with a legacy message.

Measuring impact

With so many charities online and advertising costs rising, it can be hard to achieve cut-through and measure efficacy. Digital is immediate, and legacy has an inherent time lag. Unlike signing up for an event or responding with immediate donations, ROI is difficult to measure.

Engagement, open and click through rates can be used to give a steer as to how well a legacy campaign is cutting through and attracting new prospects. However, wider brand metrics like brand awareness, consideration and likelihood to support in the future also need to be factored into the equation. Legacy prospects aren’t amending their wills on a daily basis, so they may see communication but not act on it immediately or only request information at a later date when it’s more relevant to them.

It’s vital to remember that brand communications, fundraising communications, and legacy communications are interconnected. All activity helps people feel close to the charity and drives loyalty, connection and long-term support and essentially ‘paves the way’ for a legacy ask or an ongoing stewardship journey.

Supporting our people – all of them

Some great strategies and tools to help you and your teams continue learning are:

– Organisations such as Media Trust, Digital Europe, and Google Digital Garage, which offer some fantastic training, for free, so people can stay on top of their game.

­– Undertaking CPD (continuing professional development) once a month is essential, as the digital landscape is always changing.

– Having regular brainstorming meetings where you pool creativity is valuable for coming up with new ideas.

– Keeping abreast of the media and news stories so you can ensure that any communications are topical can be really helpful to stay relevant.

– ­Read! The EFA website is packed full of useful insight and information.

But most important is communication. Mutual understanding between legacy, digital and comms teams is vital – putting digital skills, channels or teams into silos can be very harmful. By thinking about how they can be integrated into a broader stewardship journey, and investing in digital training and development for fundraisers across Europe, we will be able to harness the power of digital much more effectively.

About Anna Turner

Anna Turner is head of research & insight at Legacy Foresight, part of the Legacy Futures group. Over the past two years, Legacy Foresight has collected evidence on the scale and shape of digital legacy fundraising in the UK, carrying out research projects in conjunction with a learning circle of 38 leading legacy charities. Anna also has over 20 years’ experience in advertising and communications, having worked on leading brands, charities and government organisations at Ogilvy, one of the biggest global agency networks.

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