January 10, 2020

On a strong wicket with the Ruth Strauss Foundation

Sport has a way of bringing people together. Despite their differences and their backgrounds, sports fans gather to cheer on their team with gusto, all for the love of the game. It’s of no surprise then that sport and fundraising go so often hand in hand. Watching friends, family and even celebrities take part in physical challenges is a fun way of bringing communities together and enjoy some nail-biting sport in the name of great causes.

From celebrity-backed Rugby Aid matches to all-star Sellebrity Soccer games, there have been plenty of star-studded sport fundraisers over the years that have raised thousands for charities. In 2019, it was our turn to make sport fundraising history with the Ruth Strauss Foundation.

The Ruth Strauss Foundation was set up in 2019 by Sir Andrew Strauss, the former England cricket captain, in the name of his wife Ruth. When Ruth was diagnosed with a rare and inoperable form of lung cancer in 2017, Andrew put down his bat to care for her. During her battle, Ruth was passionate about the idea of helping those who also suffer from this terrible disease, and in her memory, Andrew set-up a foundation to provide grants for scientific research into various forms of lung cancer and also to offer vital support to patients and their families.

#RedForRuth

Knowing full well the power of a good game of cricket, in August 2019 Andrew returned to his familiar stomping ground of the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London for a sporting fundraiser like no other. Supported by celebrities, players and cricket fans alike, the second day of the Specsavers Ashes Test saw the grounds turned #RedForRuth – literally! – in a large-scale fundraising bid to raise money for the Foundation. Not only was the pitch itself turned red, but the crowd donned red in support, creating an ocean of colour in memory of Ruth. The players were kitted out with special shirts for the day, designed with the Foundation logo, and players from both teams presented Andrew and his sons with commemorative red caps.

To maximise the donations raised on this special one-day event, the Foundation rented 12 GBx Core devices to collect contactless donations alongside traditional cash collections. When used with our online portal, the Foundation were able to update attendees and viewers at home live throughout the day on how much had been raised – helping to keep momentum and raise awareness of the fundraiser throughout the day.

“GoodBox were an absolute delight to work with. The contactless solution was crucial in allowing quick and simple donations to be taken on the day where footfall was at a constant high. The online platform allowed for simple management of donations, so we could give updates to the crowd and viewers at home. We couldn’t have achieved what we did without GoodBox.”

Connecting where it counts

Ultimately, the day was a celebration of Ruth’s legacy, and showed the power of a crowd: fans at the stadium, as well as viewers at home were all joining in to support the Ruth Strauss Foundation’s mission. The #RedForRuth campaign was a fantastic example of fundraising at its best – so good in fact it won PR Week’s Campaign for August!

Unsurprisingly, the event was also a huge fundraising success. Overall, £14,300 was raised in contactless donations alone thanks to our tap to give technology. Digging into that figure a little deeper unearths some interesting insights. Using fundraising data analysis from the GoodBox Portal, we could see that over 22% of donors chose to increase their donation above the pre-set amount of £10 to between £20 and £30. This proves that when given the chance, donors often want to go above and beyond in their gifts when they feel connected to a cause. And, it made all the difference; these individual increases from donors resulted in a 13% increase in the total raised from contactless donations.

The impact of the contactless donations raised on the day is a powerful testament to our mission – supporting charities in making their leap into digital fundraising. Embracing contactless fundraising tech allows your charity, non-profit or company make more of an impact and raise more vital funds for those in need. Here at GoodBox, we understand the impact of connecting donors with your cause, so if you have a fundraising event, gala or sport game coming up and want to maximise your donations, we can help. Simply get in touch with our team at sales@goodbox.com.

whois: Andy White Freelance WordPress Developer London