Charitable choices: Using digital to cultivate support

Building meaningful connections with a public that does not easily understand or embrace a particular idea takes time and, often, a more nuanced approach to traditional strategies.

This is true even for sectors outside of charity. For instance, have you ever considered why someone might choose to work on a confined, remote, and noisy submarine?

We have. And the same blueprints can be applied when trying to raise support for your charitable cause – whether its overlooked, misunderstood, or stigmatised.

In this break down, we'll look at ways to foster trust, overcome stigma, drive affinity, and leverage digital to create meaningful experiences for potential supporters – particularly, when they least expect it.

Trust

Let’s start by thinking about trust. Sometimes, it can feel like the digital era is characterised by an absence of it. We find ourselves battling misinformation, fraud, hacking, and a lot more – every day.

When you picture a traditional bank in the UK, what do you see? Is it a large, unmovable, stone building with imposing Grecian columns?

This image is how banks used to articulate their trustworthiness: an impenetrable stone box designed to protect people’s wealth. Sheer strength.

But today, our money is not easily expressed in physical terms. Cash - if you remember it - is now abstract. It’s in our property, possessions, and pay-cheques. Or the coffee-shop loyalty scheme.  A banknote is now a symbol of a promise, much like a wedding ring. And you wouldn't accept a promise – or its symbol – from someone you didn’t trust.

Today, the trustworthy UK bank is the app on your phone. And it builds that trustworthiness through transparency and tangibility – giving you immediate access to your finances and the institution itself. The impenetrable stone box begins to lose its meaning and its relevance.

When it comes to charities, supporters want reassurance that their donations are both impactful and safe: no one wants to pay for paper clips or learn that their money has been misused.

How digital can help establish trust

As with banking, digital enables charities to provide visibility and demonstrate trustworthiness. It also simplifies the task of identifying and reaching people with different appetites for risk, by allowing us to conduct one-on-one relationships with potential supporters. Once established, we can tune that relationship based on factors as complicated as their attitude towards organisational trust.

Stigma

So, what about stigma? It is a notoriously difficult and far-reaching challenge. And while there is no single solution, it is not an immovable obstacle. Just a tricky one.

Today, people are much more likely to engage in stigmatised subjects, even if they have no skin in the game. Or, at the very least, digital media allows us to see the behaviour in action more clearly.

Consider menopause. Traditionally seen as an ‘uncomfortable’ subject, more and more people are ready to talk about it, including those currently experiencing symptoms, those preparing for their future experience, as well as partners, children, etc. And with that open dialogue, comes enlightenment – even people with firsthand experiences may be unaware of certain symptoms, their impact, and how experiences can differ depending on your genetic background. 

This willingness, and want, to engage in sensitive causes – whether they directly affect the individual or not – has been observed in even more prominent contexts: from social injustice with Black Lives Matter to violence against women with #ReclaimTheStreets.

How digital can help overcome stigma

The digital era has made it far more possible for people to find one another, share views, come together, and mobilise. For charities working with sensitive subjects, this makes it more possible than ever to find the right audience and the right support. In this era, we can empower people to tackle the stigma head on.

Affinity

How do we nurture engagement amongst supporters?

Think of an egg in a pan. These are your supporters.

In the egg yolk are hardcore supporters – people who strongly identify with the charity and its cause. In the egg white are orbiting supporters – people who don’t have a direct connection to the cause but may know someone who does, or who may passively assign value to the cause. Finally, there’s the pan – the people with no connection to your charity whatsoever, who could realistically support any given cause.

You could, if you haven't already, come up with an estimated percentage to represent the relative sizes of all three groups, as they relate to your organisation.

Here’s a common one: 10% of your total possible support base are hardcore supporters, while 30% are orbiting supporters. That leaves 60% outside of either core group – the majority of total potential supporters.

So, is this a characteristic exclusive to the charity sector and niche causes?

Let’s look to B2B for an external perspective. Current research suggests that when B2B buyers are considering a purchase, they spend 27% of their time researching online and only 5% connected to a sales rep. You might think that the solution here is simple: increase digital spending to make the most of that 27%.

But – these figures only apply to active purchasers, who account for only 5% of the market. That’s 95% of the potential market completely ignored.

How digital can help build affinity

In the digital era, people rely heavily on self-instigated research. To bring people to a cause, we need to build affinity with people we don't know and who don't know us. The real opportunity is to reach far beyond core supporters – into groups that are not currently searching for the cause and don't look anything like average supporters.

Framing the challenge and leveraging digital

Once we’ve identified our unknown potential supporters – that 95% figure – how do we reach and engage with them? Consider the three ‘A’s: Awake, Aware, Active.

How do we awake people to a cause?

The WWF is all about animal conservation. People are all about cute animals. Enter: the cute, cuddly, and at-risk giant panda. Less about the hard sell and more about finding meaningful common interests, opening people’s eyes to a cause comes from identifying a shared commonality. It’s the intersection of what you're interested in and what potential supporters’ are interested in.

How do we make them aware of the efforts of the cause?

People familiar with Richard Branson’s story – and business in general – may see risk and failure as an inevitable ingredient for innovation. Their awareness of his past failures and eventual success gives them a reason to trust. They, in turn, become proponents of his innovation – and have a place in the cause. This is, arguably, a more powerful audience than one based on hard demographics.

How do we encourage them to be active in supporting the cause?

Do you recall the ice bucket challenge? Of course you do. Because it followed the three ‘A’s. The viral 2014 campaign raised awareness for motor neuron disease (or ALS) by establishing affinity, breaking down stigma, and building trust. Once commonality and trust were established, inviting people to do something gave them a tangible means by which to measure their own impact.

So, what do you think?

If you want to learn more about the ways in which digital experience can help to generate awareness and cultivate support for your organisation, get in touch.