January 9, 2020

Trigger donations: creating moments that matter

What question keeps you up at night? For us, it’s figuring out how we can create moments of impactful engagement between charities and donors. A strange one I know, but true. What drives people to give? Establishing an emotional connection with your donor is the most common fundraising approach, but how can we encourage spontaneous giving when we only have a split second of someone’s attention?

 

Giving a donor something in return – whether an experience, a feeling or a physical item – enables highly effective and immediate fundraising. Remember the coin spinner donation boxes? Without any emotional engagement, the allure of their coin twirling faster and faster down the funnel into the coin box below is enough to inspire a donation. But with less and less coins jingling in donor’s pockets, we got to work developing modern alternatives which work to scale with our charity partners.

 

The result? GoodNewton, a custom technical set-up, whereby a contactless donation triggers a chain reaction designed to wow donors and give them something in return for their generous donations. The name GoodNewton was inspired by Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion – that for every action there should be an equal and opposite reaction. Giving to charity should be balanced, yet far too often donors find themselves frustrated into parting with their funds. Nobody should ever feel aggravated or indifferent by an act of doing good, and our first GoodNewton products solve this. The sky’s the limit with GoodNewton style donations, a simple tap can trigger anything. So let’s take a look at a handful of the creative ways our charity partners have rewarded donors with trigger reactions. 

 

The Stag of Piccadilly

In 2018, a life-sized stag made from recycled plastic appeared in Central London. The incredible sculpture not only served to remind passersby to cut down on their plastic waste, but also as a creative way to support local homelessness services. Designed by acclaimed artist Faith Bebbington, the statue lit up when a donation was made, with a beaming red heart shining through. The money raised was used to sustain the work done by St. James’ Church Charity in rehousing the homeless. A hit with families, the installation was a great success, and returned to the same spot the next year. 

 

Image credit: David Parry

 

Oor Wullie’s Big Bucket Trail

The Big Bucket Trail is a celebration of the beloved Scottish character, Oor Wullie. Now the largest public art project to have taken place in Scotland, the trail reached new heights in 2019 with the installation of contactless donation devices into the 5ft statues dedicated to Oor Wullie. Once a donation was made, the statue would tell a joke or pass wind – yes, really! As you can imagine, this was a huge hit with families with young children. The funds raised enable three incredible children’s hospital charities to continue to support children in need, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity, Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity and The Archie Foundation

 

Image credit: What’s On Glasgow

 

Starry Night at Seven Dials

This Christmas, Seven Dials was brought to life with a fleet of festive lights. Shelter, a charity working to tackle homelessness on a national scale, set up pop-up installations on London’s Earlham Street. With GoodBox contactless tech in place, donors were treated to a light display above their heads with every tap. 

 

Image credit: David Parry

 

Wisdom from the Stone Age

If you’ve recently taken a stroll through Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve in Bournemouth, you’ll have noticed a difficult-to-miss eight ft sculpture of a stone age man. Installed by Bournemouth Parks Foundation, he tells stories of Hengistbury Head around the time of the stone age. All you have to do to hear his story is tap your contactless card on the GoodBox card reader and donate £1 in support of Bournemouth Parks Foundation. 

 

Image credit: Bournemouth Echo

 

The Connection at Coutts

Coutts bank have supported homeless charity The Connection at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, for the last 15 years, offering a helping hand to those in the Capital without a home. This Christmas, they encouraged donors to tap their cards in support of the charity at the branch on the Strand. Every tap would lead to the Coutts Christmas tree lighting up, encouraging festive shoppers to pause and take stock of what’s most important at Christmas. 

 

Image credit: Coutts & Company

 

Donor engagement is something we strive to maximise in every GoodBox installation. If your organisation is looking to create a deeper connection with those who support you, get in touch today by emailing sales@goodbox.com or give us a call on 0333 050 4736.

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