Event Director s Best Practices Webinar Series Call-in for audio Presents For audio dial-in: Ireland: 1800937003 United Kingdom: 08448719642 Conference Code: 423 657 9790 Fundraising through sporting events - Benefits for charities and race directors Alex Heasley Head of Customer Services, Virgin Money Giving June 29 th 2011
Today s Speakers Moderator Guest Speaker Ana Jesus Marketing Manager Active Network Alex Heasley Head of Customer Services Virgin Money Giving
Webinar Agenda About VMG Virgin London Marathon Sporting Events Targeting & Demographics Overview Events & Charities Case Study Spread the Word Acquiring and Driving Fundraisers
VMG Our Story so Far We officially launched on 14 October 2009 So far. o o Nearly 4000 charities have registered online with us Nearly 100,000 fundraisers have created pages o Average donation rose to 34.93 in January 2011 o We ve raised over 54 million in online sponsorship We ve had our second Virgin London Marathon and have seen Celebs, Royalty and national monuments fundraised with us The average amount raised by each fundraiser including Gift Aid in 2010 for the London Marathon was 1,411 and the average donation amount including Gift Aid was 39 Gift Aid was reclaimed on 88% of all donations
Virgin London Marathon Background: Today, the London Marathon is known as the single biggest fundraising event in the world but it s important to look back at the history of the event to understand just how it has gained such momentum, status and popularity: From inception and completion of the first event in 1981, the London Marathon has been viewed as first a foremost a sporting event Today it still attracts the world s best athletes Shown in over 150 countries worldwide and importantly has prime time billing on BBC1 From the very beginning, demand has out stripped supply: - In 1981 over 20,000 applied to run, just 7,747 were accepted - In 2010 over 125,000 applied via the online ballot, 40,000 were accepted
Virgin London Marathon Charity involvement in the race and Bond places: More than three quarters of competitors now run for a good cause and a third of all entry places are offered by charitable organisations In fact, a survey of 2011 participants told us the 81% of successful ballot place runners raised money for charity The Golden Bond scheme enables charities to gain places which they then offer to the runners who ve missed out on a ballot place Over the last 15 years, this scheme has grown and now includes more than 750 British charities with a total of 15,000 guaranteed places Another 550 charities are involved in a Silver Bond scheme which guarantees one entry place every five years These places often come with a pledge style minimum sponsorship set by the charity Bond places fulfil two important needs; 1. allowing another entry route for people to participate and 2. ensuring charities see a valuable return on their investment
Sporting Events on VMG On VMG events are classified into the following categories: Running or Marathons Cycling Walking Trekking Adrenaline (i.e. Sky Dives etc) Swimming Triathlons 95% of all fundraising pages set up on VMG are linked to one of the above style events, with running still proving the most popular (the additional 5% are pages created In Memory or for Community style fundraising) Outside of the London Marathon and looking at the site as whole, fundraising pages for these types of events average out at 400 per page Of the 25 most popular open events on VMG and excluding the London Marathon, running events make up 21 of the 25 with the remaining 4 being 2 cycling events and a single swimming and triathlon event Two types of events have shown clear growth on VMG both in terms of the number of pages created for them and also the amount of donations coming in Triathlons and Cycling Events
Triathlons and Corporates Triathlons contribute to high value fundraisers on VMG and on average they raise over 550 Actual fundraiser numbers are often relatively low compared to participant numbers in these types of events and may possibly be attributed to the type of participant taking part VMG has seen the best return for those charities where they have bond style places in triathlons and have utilised and taken advantage of their Corporate Supporters For the 2010 London Triathlon 69 teams raised over 105,000 seeing an average of over 1,500 raised per page created Of these teams, we were able to identify that 45% were created by corporates The use of corporates, particularly in the finance sector, to participate in and go on to fundraise in triathlons plays to the male, south east bias we see in the type of fundraiser who creates a page for a triathlon event It also allows you to attract support and resources from beyond your organisation s immediate network, giving you a greater chance of getting strong numbers to your event and at the same time increasing the profile of your cause with a new audience
The Growth of Cycling In the last 2 years, cycling events have certainly been a growth area on VMG Spotting growth in the popularity of sporting events is key when looking to invest in bond style places in an event as a charity or when looking to create something new Why Cycling? Evidence that the bicycle is well and truly back in vogue was highlighted by the results of a 2010 study by the market research company BRMB, which showed that this decade has seen a 40 percent rise in the number of adults jumping into the saddle The increasing popularity of cycling as a televised sport has no doubt contributed to these impressive figures. Indeed this rekindled interest within the UK was illustrated by the crowds that turned out in London to witness the beginning of the 2007 Tour de France Furthermore, the affordability and availability of good bicycle equipment means that cycling is increasingly accessible to people across the country
The Growth of Cycling Why Cycling? (cont.) UK Sport surveyed 2,000 members of the public before and after the Beijing Olympics and concluded that cycling has made a quantum leap in the last 12 months and joined athletics and swimming as the most popular Olympic sports in Great Britain. The results of the survey demonstrate there is a link between elite success and public interest in a sport, with, for example, Rebecca Adlington's success in the Water Cube driving interest in swimming among young women. They also show that one in five people intend to turn their pride into action by changing their sporting behaviour taking up or watching new sports, or becoming more interested in sport providing encouragement for those who believe that hosting the Games in 2012 will provide a legacy of increased participation and sporting opportunities
Targeting Participants and Understanding your Demographic Where new events have come to VMG and have seen real success in their first 2 years, there has been a clear connection between the type of event and a specific demographic. Existing events may wish to align themselves with a particular charity or charities which support a specific cause to allow them to target a particular groups: Students and Young Adults VMG has seen a significant growth in events targeting the student and young adult population. The events centre around adventure and often have a challenge element to them The charity Link Community Foundation developed their Hitch event and specifically sought out students, pitching universities against each other. Coupled with the Facebook followings that led from this, the event income has doubled from 2010 to 2011 https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=137265183215
Targeting Participants and Understanding your Demographic Families As the rise of childhood obesity grows and the media interest in exposing the declining health of the nation, the opportunity to create events that involve the whole family are becoming more attractive. Events such as regional Skyline cycles have teamed up with local councils and cycling clubs to provide accessible and safe routes for families to take up the activity Male/Female Targeting Many successful events offer a clear symmetry with a charitable organisation. Some examples of this include Movember for men s health, Boutique Run, Midnight Walks supporting female cancers which all go to strengthen the connection between the cause supported and the event
Overview Events and Charities Why do events need charities and charities need events? The benefits to an event to include charities and support fundraising are clear Charity packages should equal guaranteed place sales Charity involvement often brings first time participants to an event Events often gain wider popular appeal and reach However the act of simply involving charities with an event does not guarantee the return that both the charities and the event expects
Overview Events and Charities There are reason why some schemes work well and others struggle Event organisers need to understand and structure their ballot and charity place system Why are participants going to look to charities for places? Has the demand for places been created? Have you created resources to help support your member charities? Has fundraising been integrated within the registration process and event led communications? The event itself needs to look to embrace the charity participant elements and create a festival style feeling which those taking part because of a charity place, their families and supporter would expect All too often, the responsibility of turning a participant into a fundraiser has been left to the charity alone. Organisations need to work together and understand the vested interest they have in each other s success
Overview Events and Charities Online Fundraising Platforms Integrating charities and fundraising throughout the journey taken by a participant registering into an event will lead to a better conversion rate between those who take part and those that go on to raise money There may also be a commercial agreement which can be reached which helps to focus all parties to the business of fundraising However, event organisers should be looking at these partners to understand which have the best reach in terms of helping add value to Event brand Acquiring participants Driving activation of fundraisers to raise as much as possible Provision of additional resources and support to event charity members Virgin Money Giving as an example has a reach that can touch millions based on the relationship with Virgin Money and the wider Virgin Group through direct communications and social media followings For many of the events partners VMG has, workshops are held during the week and at weekends for both fundraisers and member charities of the event
Case Study VMG & The Reading Half Marathon This year, VMG has partnered with the Reading Half Marathon with the express aim for both parties to help drive the amount of fundraising for the event Provision of deep link emails to all member charities and to the event organiser to be used in communications with their participants Provision of material and messaging to go in regular event communications to participants Promotion of the event via the VMG homepage, VMG, Virgin Money and Virgin Group social media Training workshops with member charities and Training workshops for charity participants Tailored communications to fundraisers on the VMG platform both during and post event
Case Study VMG & The Reading Half Marathon In 2010 the Reading Half Marathon was not an event of note on the VMG platform 124 fundraising pages created 42,000 raised In 2011, both have seen a marked improvement across all key metrics 540 fundraising pages created 185,000 raised By working with both the event and the member charities has realised a 334% increase in the number of fundraising pages created and 340% increase in the amount raised
Creating Communities to Spread the Word Sharing news Engagement
Acquisition of Fundraisers Examples of how VMG has helped both charities and event organisers promote their event to a wider population
Making the Most of your Fundraisers You can do online fundraising passively and achieve one result You can fundraise online actively and achieve a much better one Registering a participant and getting them to create a fundraising page does not mean the job is done and the money will flow in To truly benefit you need to : promote online giving in all communications explain the benefits drive donors and fundraisers to online partners through a one step process educate all areas within your charity to the benefits continually remind fundraisers of their target Fundraising platforms and event registration providers should have the tools and resources to help with this
Activating and Driving Fundraisers VMG has a serious of online buttons and deep links which will help drive people to create a page Email and (where necessary) physical marketing collateral can be provided to both charities and event organisers
Activating and Driving Fundraisers VMG has seen very strong results from their activation campaigns designed to help welcome, support, remind and encourage fundraisers to keep fundraising Below is an example campaign used by VMG for the 2011 London Marathon Regular contact can increase average amount raised by up to 30%
Tools to Help Fundraisers Spread the Word Make your fundraising page as interactive as possible by adding any Blog or Twitter feeds you have.
Tools to Help Fundraisers Spread the Word The use of social media is well known and talked about but integrating it as part of the journey a fundraiser and their donors take is key to spreading the message as widely as possible VMG goes further than simply having a Facebook App which can sit sedentary on a fundraisers profile but rather takes the activities of fundraisers and donors and shares this with their Facebook friends
Tools to Help Fundraisers Spread the Word Share Stats Like Stats
Targeted Advertising VMG has utilised targeted add campaigns to help promote charity places in events Using key terms, these adds can be driven to your correct target audience, event driving down to location
Questions & Answers? Alex Heasley/ Virgin Money Giving E-mail: theteam@virginmoneygiving.com Tel: 0845 610 1045 Twitter: @VMGiving Active Network E-mail: Marketing.Global@ActiveNetwork.com Tel: +44 (0)207 313 5701 www.twitter.com/active_uk
Thank you for attending! Would you like to be a speaker at a future Active Network webinar? Contact Ana Jesus on the email below: marketing.global@activenetwork.com Special thanks to Alex Heasley