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Enhancing digital literacy, online communication and fundraising skills
Online payment platforms
Online payment platforms
Statistical data
Hungary
Trends in the country about the topic
Online payment platforms are generally used among Hungarian CSOs to raise funds.
More and more organisations have a contract with a bank or financial platform directly, and donors can start donation with information provision and selection of the sum on own website of the organisation. Those CSOs, of which transaction volume are relatively lower, or does not have high capacity for web development, use service of NIOK, which provides online payment platform through the biggest bank OTP right now, integrated into the donation portal www.adjukossze.hu, formally www.adhat.hu.
Some of the payment platforms offer regular donation facility, but not all of them. Most of the banks require installation fee (cca 100 EUR), and transaction fees vary between 1,7-2,2 %. Some organisations are still using Paypal, which works with more expensive transaction fees, but installation is free and easier.
Unique feature of the Magnet community bank is the free of charge installation for NGOs being customers of the bank, with low – 1,5% transaction fee. Donation button is also provided for emailes besides website. www.magnetbank.hu
Inspirational examples
The proportion of organization based on how much money was collected
Online fundraising campaign of Menhely Foundation
In autumn 2016 a foundation dealing with the homeless and issuing a newspaper ’Without Roof’ issued a special edition, which was connected with online fundraising element.
They raised 3 700 000 HUF online, + sold copies
Backgound
The street magazin is publicizing contents made by homeless people, spread by homeless people.
There was a special situation in autumn 2016 in Hungary. The biggest left-wing daily newspaper was shut abruptly. Editors of the newspaper planned to issue a last edition and linked their professional situation to homeless people, so they contacted the street magazin to issue the last copy together. This was some kind of a tribute of the daily, and also a charitable action.
The foundation is not linked to politics, and this cooperation was not a political stand, though the success of the edition and the fundraising linked to that was driven by the political athmosphere.
The campaign evolved very quickly, everything was done within two weeks. They had to create all decisions, protocols, methods within hours and days, and also spreaders should be prepared.
Issuing the special edition
Basis of the campaign were the printed copies of the street magazine together with the tribute issue of the daily. 12 000 prints were made (usually this number is 8 000), which had to be increased to 37 000.
Online donation linked to the campaign
As the street magazine is spread mostly in Budapest, and this edition was needed countrywide, the Foundation decided to spread the magazine this time not only through their network of homeless people, but through post and email also. They choose the online donation platform, which they already run on www.adhat.hu, as it provided much faster feedback on transactions, than normal bank transfers. They communicated, that the donation received online is for the edition of the street magazine, and not directly reach the homeless people.
Outcomes:
Financial: 3 700 000 HUF online + donation on streets for the 37 000 copies (spreaders had three times bigger income than usual
Non-financial:
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this action provided the homeless people, that they cannot only receive, but also give something important to people
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the daily newspaper could end with dignity, and editors could turn their bitterness into a charitable action
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gave a chance to those people, who never give to the homeless, to give and make some contact with them (either personally, or through the content of the edition)
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updated the foundations brand, they created something ’cool’, which opens many gates in further operation
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spreaders of the street magazine made much more contacts with the people, who searched for the edition.
Case study
I bite the bees! Greenpeace campaign to protect bees in Hungary
Short description:
Adopting bees is a method of donation to Greenpeace. During the campaign Greenpeace placed bee shelters, and financed laboratory examinations, raised awareness about protecting bees. There are also policy advocacy actions of Greenpeace related to the topic.
Greenpeace organised the campaign in 2014 and 2016 with slightly different methods. The one in 2016 proved to be much more successful, it raised cca. 13 480 EUR (ROI 2,49) with a target of 10 000 EUR.
The campaign was an online campaign with a website, handling online payments. Greenpeace set donation limits linked to specific type of bees, ranging from an individual bee meaning less than 1 EUR, up to a queen bee with cca 65 EUR. For a donation of 200 EUR a bee shelter could be placed.
Between 1 and 65 EUR there were different group of bees defined with donation limits, which allowed Greenpeace to target messages to specific groups by workfield and abilities to donate. (e.g. bee girls, builders, protectors, locators, etc.)
Elements, activities of the campaign:
There was a Thunderclap pre-campaign, which provided a big reach on social media for the campaign. 271 people took part in the online flashmob, effecting 196 000 reach.
Website:
The website http://csipemameheket.hu is modern, easy to use and colourful. It had extended functions, than it had before.
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bees to adopt were grouped into several groups. This could be targeted to specific groups of people.
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everyone received certificate about donation, and was mentioned on the website
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before Christmas surface was changed. Message was also added with the element of giving a bee as a present. Both donor and recipient received certificate through email, which could be shared on Facebook.
Example: nursery school teacher adopted bees for each member of her group for Christmas, as their name was bee group.
Website functions: timeline and counter of the donations made, map of Hungary with the placed beeshelters. Blog about professional articles about bees and their protection. Information about and surface for donation.
Other communication elements, targeting:
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Facebook : 20 post. Data: 126.500 organic reach, nearly 4000 reaction (like, share, comment) more than 6000 clickthrough to website.
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EDM: 8 was sent, to donors on database, Thunderclup participants, bee keepers, former donors, visitors of the website. Opening rate was 27 000.
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Online advertisement: (e.g. google adwords, facebook) They targeted different groups: e.g. people interested in agriculture, bigger city, etc. Reach was 830.000 people.
Advertisements were also aligned to the different type of bees. Baby sitter bees were advertised for people working in healthcare, protection bees among security employees. -
Placement of bee shelters: Parallel to the inflow of donations volunteers built and placed the shelters. This campaign provided opportunity to work together, and involve more people of the organisation.
Lessons learned:
The year 2016 campaign was more successful, than the one in year 2014, because the two campaigns have different features in the followings:
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time: the one organised closer to Christmas was much more successful, than the one in spring, even if the topic was not linked to Christmas. Also in this way the element of giving the donation as a gift could be introduced.
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groups of bees – limits of donations: The donation sums, limits, what the donors could choose from, were not only sums. They were linked to specific group of bees, which could create a personal attachment to a group, in this way in some cases sum of donation were higher compared to the way, when the donor should choose only from sums.
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low entry limit of donation: lowest sum of donation was less than 1 EUR. Communication of the campaign was created, that not only those people were targeted, who are conscious enough to make a donation, but also those, who keep the topic cool and trendy, and it is worth for them to have 1EUR less to show it in their social network.
The website solutions had a big role in assisting easy donation, as website and surfaces were very friendly and with cool design. It was not only nice, but very fast, easy-to-use, and process of donation was easy, it could be processed within 3 minutes.
Resource list
www.adjukossze.hu – online payment platform, providing payment button and service
Q&A
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What to do, if my organisation wants to use an online payment button on its website?
The easiest way is to contact www.adjukossze.hu, where after signing agreement the service can be used without technical development, for a small yearly fee. The system also provides services to donor datamanagement, by providing data about donors in a structured format.
If the organisation wants to build a technical system with specific needs, and has capacity, it can build an own one, using financial services of a bank. Not all of the banks provide regular payment system. Relatively new provider is SimplePay, which provides the service for a relatively low installation fee.
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If the organisation has the button, what level of donation can be expected?
It is up to the people around the organisation, its reputation, and communication.
There are organisations and consultants also in Hungary, which assist organisation in developing fundraising ability.
NIOK also provides consultation services to make the most use of the online payment platform.
Poland
Trends in the country about the topic
Online payment software, such as PayU, Tpay or PayPal, is becoming more and more popular among Polish NGOs. They can use it to implement a click-and-donate button on their website, or to collect money while doing the online shopping (e.g. by FaniMani.pl).
In general, the online payment software requires a fee: an installation fee and/or a transaction fees that vary between 1,5-2,5%.
Inspirational example
MojeStypendium.pl
Moje Stypendium (my Scholarship) is the biggest in Poland database of scholarship programs, as well as competitions and internships available for Polish pupils, students and graduates. It is not-for-profit, which means that it is completely free of charge for its users. But to raise money necessary for the maintenance of the website, the organizers implemented (among others) a click-and-donate button. Now, the users can support the website with small donations, starting from 10 PLN (c.a. 2,5 euro).
FaniMani.pl
Fani Mani is a software that allows NGOs to raise funds while doing the online shopping. Every person that would like to support particular organization should register on Fani Mani, and then go to one of the 1000 online shops, do the shopping as always, and then the online shop will donate around 2,5% of the payment to the NGO chosen by this person. So far the users raised over 737 613 PLN (c.a. 174 620 euro).
Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
A great example of the usage of multiple online payment systems during one collection of money.
Case study to download.
Resource list
https://wplacam.ngo.pl – a set of different online payment tools for Polish NGOs.
https://fanipay.pl/ - easy online donations for NGOs.
https://tpay.com/, https://www.payu.pl/ - the most popular online payment software.
Statistical data
Not available.
Case study
Title: The Great Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
Short Description: Orchestra raise the funds during the Grand Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity -an annual, one-day public collection of money.
Since the first Finale in 1993 Orchestra has purchased and donated medical equipment worth over 650 000 000 PLN (c.a. 154 000 000 euro).
Financial Target:
Amount Raised: over 72 million PLN.
No.1 Learning Outcome: If you want to organize successful fundraising campaign that will engage millions of people, don’t limit the campaign to one fundraising tool – use few different tools (e.g. crowdfunding platform, sms, online auctions) and give the people choice on which they prefer to use.
ORGANIZATION
Name: Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
Web: www.wosp.org.pl
E-mail: wosp@wosp.org.pl
Focus / mission: The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity is a non-governmental, non-profit charity foundation that aims to improve the level of medical care in public hospitals in Poland. Orchestra achieves this goal by purchasing modern equipment for hospital wards and by running medical and educational programs(e.g. first aid education).
CAMPAIGN DESCRIPTION
Orchestra raise the funds during the Grand Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity - an annual, one-day public collection of money. Since the first Finale in 1993 Orchestra has purchased and donated medical equipment worth over 650 000 000 PLN (c.a. 154 000 000 euro). There are almost 1500 Great Finale Collection Centers all over Poland, and 120 000volunteers help us raise the money. But, what is important, the collection of money is not done via traditional on-site form only – the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity uses many other online tools in order to make donations easier and more engaging for the donors.
TARGET GROUP
The whole Polish society.
CAMPAIGN GOALS (FINANCIAL AND NON-FINANCIAL)
Financial: to raise enough money to buy medical equipment.
Non-financial: to unite Polish society.
CAMPAIGN OUTCOMES (FINANCIAL AND NON-FINANCIAL)
Financial: over 72 million PLN raised.
Non-financial: over 1500 Collection centres created, over 120 000 volunteers engaged, almost everyone wore the red heart on the day of the Grand Finale.
LEARNINGS AND TAKEAWAYS
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If you want to use online tools, invest in high quality online communication.
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Educate people on how to use each tool.
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Use tools that are well-known, so people are not afraid of using them.
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Test new tools.
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Establish partnerships with online payment providers, telecoms, crowdfunding platforms and pthers.
Q&A
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What to do, if my organisation wants to use an online payment button on its website?
Go to the website of a particular online payment provider and read the table of fees. If you agree with them, contact the provider to sign a cooperation agreement. Remember, that you can always try to negotiate provisions – maybe they can be a bit lower, if you will offer the provides some additional profits.
Some of the providers offer easy to use apps that can be implemented on organization’s website. But still, it would be safer if you could ask a professional IT technician to implement the payment system on your website.
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If the organisation has the click-and-donate button on its website, what level of donation can be expected?
It is up to the people around the organization. The click-and-donate button is just a tool and it requires a good promotion. An organization should do its best to educate people how to use it, and why it is worth to support it that way.
Germany
Trends in the country about the topic
In Germany, Online Payments are quite widely used in transactions towards Civic Society Organisations.
Direct bank transfers are the most commonly used types of payments. There are number of fundraising software which incorporate other online payment methods as well.
Because Bank Transfers are so popular, most fundraising tools incorporate a payment method called „Sofortüberweisung“. The company Sofort GmbH was recently acquired by the Swedish Platform Klarna. People enter their bank login and PIN into the tool, they are asked for their TAN or an SMS confirmation and then the transfer is being authorized.
Paypal is one the pre-dominant online payment methods besides bank transfer. It is widely used in eCommerce transactions, but also increasingly for donations. Paypal Subscription Donations allow donors to switch their one-off-donation to a continuous donation. According to estimates by German fundraising software providers FundraisingBox, about 15% of all online donations can be transformed into permanent donors. The average online permanent donation is 200 Euro per year.
The Fundraising Box, one of the most innovative software providers, also allows other methods, such as Credit Cards, Charity SMS and BITCOIN transfers. Apple Pay and Amazon Pay will be integrated into the tool as well.
The Fundraising Box claims to have significantly lower payment fees across payment providers, because they have integrated the charity programs of the payment providers into their payment API.
Statistical data
The On-line Fundraising Universe in the Czech Republic
Case study
Written by: Jan Kroupa
Campaign: CF Hero
Title: Give Life - Help People with Cystical Fibrosis
Short Description: Mobile app to help people with cystical fibrosis
Financial Target: EUR 24,000
Amount Raised: EUR 30,000
No.1 Learning Outcome: Money raised for the app to help pacients exercise
Organization Name:
Web: https://www.darujme.cz/vyzva/1200282
Focus/mission: Helping young people with Cystical Fibrosis
Campaign description
People suffering with cystical fibrosis can significantly prolong their lives if they exercise regularly. It is painful and very hard and it takes hours. Yet, the oucome can mean many extra years. Research shows that during puberty - when exercising is most important - the discipline goes down usually most. This project came up with the idea of developing a mobile app that gamifizes the exercise and helps users to keep a regular rhythm even during the difficult years.
Target group
Professionals and middle class donors in cities
Campaign goals (financial and non-financial)
To raise EUR 24,000
To build a donor community around the topic
To increase people’s understanding of what cystical fibrosis is
Campaign outcomes (financial and non-financial)
EUR 30,000 raised
614 donors with full contact information
Very good publicity of the campaign and the topic - extensive social media exposure
Milestones, turning points, key decisions
Involvement of larger donors and VIPs/celebrities tipped the campaign.
At the end of the day, the commitment of campaign leadership has won the campaign.
Learnings and takeaways
Funds collected on-line through a e-mailing outreach campaign were matched by the Vodafone Foundation. Any contribution made on-line was visibly and immediately doubled (if you made an EUR 10 donation, the campaign meter showed an increase of EUR 20..). This campaign was a great example of how a “major donor” can use on-line environment to fulfil their philanthropic goals in a very effective manner.
Closing notes
The trend of using on-line fundraising tools and campaign by larger donors seems to be on an increase in the Czech Republic...
Czech Republic
Statistics of adhat.hu
Donations 2011-2016