1. Versus Arthritis -
supporter centred
digital communications

2. Who we are

3. • Four years into a project to transform our approach to supporter journeys,
with support from More Onion
• Organisational wide support and recognition of the importance of integrated
supporter journeys
• Key strategic priority for the charity over the next 5 years
• Recently launched a new regular giving product with over 400 new regular
gifts in the first 8 weeks
Where we are in 2023

4. 1. Give an overview of the key milestones in the project and
the strategic approach we’ve developed
2. Share some of the insight we’ve gathered along the way
3. Share how we’ve been able to use this project to drive
cultural change at an organisational level
Today we will

5. • Recently merged charity, with a new brand
• New Mass Market Fundraising team, and new strategy
• Big brand marketing and lead gen campaigns
• No retention or engagement strategy for new leads
• Low rates of second action
• High rate of lapsed contacts
• Poor donor conversion rates
Where we started

6. We needed a journey
We needed a way to build a relationship with supporters that
would broaden and deepen support
To do this we needed a supporter journey strategy that
would;
1. Provide a rewarding supporter experience
2. Build understanding – both ours and our supporters’
3. Keep our supporters actively engaged

7. In 2019 we approached More Onion to deliver a supporter
journey workshop for all teams responsible for supporter facing
comms (fundraising, campaigns, services etc.)
1. Create a shared understanding of what we mean by
supporter journeys
2. Get buy-in from all teams on the importance of
supporter journeys
3. Draw upon the experience and expertise of experts
How it started
Tip 1
External resource, training or case studies can be effective ways
to get buy-in from colleagues

8. The start of the project
In October 2019 the organisation was planning a major
brand campaign, with a target of 30,000 new leads
• We approached more onion with a brief to;
1. Develop a welcome journey strategy for new leads
2. Support the creation and delivery of that welcome
journey
Tip 2
Start with a small and discrete project with clear boundaries, and a
clear end-point

9. Our initial aim
To pilot an integrated email journey to build a
relationship with supporters by focusing on
engagement (taking trackable actions) to
convert them to donors

10. What we wanted to learn
Our focus was to use these journeys to better
understand our supporters: who they are,
what are their needs, how can we better
support them, how do they want to support
us, what motivates them to do this.

11. Our Hypothesis
An audience-focused journey that
includes a wide range of content and
actions will improve engagement,
increase activation, and convert people
into donors - meeting fundraising,
campaigning, and organisational
objectives.
Engagement
Donations
Audience
-focused
content
Tip 3
Measure meaningful objectives that are linked to strategic
objectives of journey. All learning is good learning

12. What we mean by a journey
Supporters’
needs, views,
behaviours and
experiences
Organisational
objectives
Supporter
Journey

13. What we mean by a journey

14. results
36%
of new leads made at least one
trackable action in the first 6
months
2.7%
of new contacts made a donation
within the first 6 month
80%
of donations were made as
part of an engagement
action

15. Key learnings
1. Strong link between campaigning and fundraising – people who took
campaign actions were significantly more likely to donate
2. Recognition, empowerment and relevance were key drivers of support
3. Empathy is not a key driver of support for our audience
4. Surveys are a really great way to engage our audience
5. Integrated journeys are essential to maximise engagement from our
audience, and to maximise our return on investment
6. Lots more to learn!

16. Evolution of the pilot project
Welcome
journey for
pledge
takers
Ongoing
journey for
pledge
takers
Welcome
journey for
petition
signers
Integrated
journey for
campaigns
network
Ongoing
journey for
all
supporters
Tip 4
Find your allies and share insight

17. Ways of working
“Journey
Manager”
More Onion
• Strategy and journey
design
• Content development
“Journey officer”
Freelance support
– Debby Boon
• Implementation
• Data management
• Data analysis
• Content development
Fundraising, campaigns, marketing
Regional teams, Media and PR, Research, Physical activity, Services

18. Our Narrative and Tone of Voice
1. Personal and conversational
2. Community-focused: the power and strength of coming
together to support one another and push for change
3. Centring the voices and experiences of people living with
arthritis
4. Focus on the community, not the organisation

19. Journey design principles
1. Aim for a balance of campaigning, fundraising and service sign-posting
2. Seek opportunities to co-create with supporters whenever we can
3. Be flexible and reactive
4. Segment and personalise emails in response to supporter behaviour
5. Be consistently present in supporters’ inboxes, but only with relevant
content
6. Continually review and optimise based on results

20. Always Writing for Our Audience
1.Living with, or have a very close relationship
to arthritis
2.Experience of living with arthritis is wide
ranging
3.Key drivers of support: relevance,
recognition, empowerment
Example
Think: “Versus Arthritis
is my charity.”
Feel: “I am part of a
community.”
Do: “I’m making a
donation as it’s going
to make a real
difference to me and
my community”
Tip 5
Take inspiration from other charities but
develop a content strategy that is tailored
for your audience, based on insight

21. Creating a new organisational model
Integrated email engagement programme
Welcome
journeys
Product journey Product journey
Welcome
journeys
Welcome
journeys

22. How integrated
communications paid off
for us

23. Key results
Non-financial engagements are the most effective way to drive
financial actions
6%
average conversion rate of
daisy-chain donation pages
3x
more likely to give via a daisy-chain
ask than a direct email ask
4.6x
Newly recruited supporters
who took a non-financial
action were more likely to
make a cash donation (and
vice versa).

24. Key results
There is a clear correlation between
campaigning and fundraising impact.
Supporters who take part in campaigns are
more likely to donate, and with a higher average
gift.

25. Key results
Supporters in an integrated journey are more likely to
donate and fundraise, and have a higher average gift
51%
More likely to make an
optional donation when
purchasing from the shop
32%
higher average gift from
community fundraising
activity
31%
More likely to bank income
when taking part in
fundraising activity

26. What we learned
1. An ongoing, integrated journey for all supporters is the most effective
way to build an engaged community of supporters
2. We would need dedicated resource to lead on journey strategy, content
and delivery. Not a service delivery team!
3. Our portfolio of income gen products wasn’t optimised for our audiences
needs and expectations. We would need more relevant propositions to
convert at scale.

27. Quick poll

28. Making the case for investment
Results Stakeholder
buy-in
Combined
numbers
with stories
Tip 6
Build your business case for investment
and document everything

29. What we’ve now been able to do
• Spot gaps in our income generation
• Create products for our audience rather than
attempt forced cross-selling – with direct input
from our community
• Introduce campaign actions to a much wider
group of engaged audiences
• Give more opportunities to our community to
shape our work

30. Practical take-aways
Tip 5
Take inspiration from other charities but
develop a content strategy that is tailored
for your audience, based on insight
Tip 4
Find your allies and share insight
Tip 3
Measure meaningful objectives that are
linked to strategic objectives of journey. All
learning is good learning
Tip 2
Start with a small and discrete project with
clear boundaries, and a clear end-point
Tip 1
External resource, training or case studies
can be effective ways to get buy-in from
colleagues
Write the paper! Bring the story together
with the evidence/financial modelling
Be resilient and persistent (despite/because
of organisational change)
Tip 6
Build your business case for investment
and document everything