Brad Bell, our Head of Video, is in Kenya. Over the next two weeks he'll be working on a project which we think will revolutionise the way charities talk to their supporters. We hope to prove the power of giving donors inspirational feedback on how their donations are spent.

We believe that more than anything, donors want feedback on how their previous donations have been spent. And that this is the most important element of great donor care, stewardship or relationship fundraising (choose your preferred term!).

We're going to give this feedback primarily through the use of video, delivered online. Because that is the medium that gives us the most exciting opportunities to inspire donors, to deliver feedback cost-effectively… and to get our donors sharing their passion for the charity with their friends.

Our partner on this journey is the wonderful charity, SolarAid who we've had the privilege of working with over the last two years. Brad will be visiting several SolarAid projects and filming the progress that's being made. He'll be blogging while he's out there (access permitting) and you can see how the project progresses over the next year: from Kenya back to the UK – see the videos we'll be producing, how SolarAid supporters react to them and the difference this feedback will make to their loyalty to the charity (yes of course we'll be testing it!).

You may think that this is a big investment to make. The return on such an investment would have to be considerable to make it worth you doing. Well, consider this:

In the first five pages of their superb book, Building Donor Loyalty, Professor Adrian Sargeant and Elaine Jay present a powerful model on the value of improving your donor retention. They show that a 10% improvement in donor retention can translate into anything between a 50% to 200% improvement in the lifetime value of those donors (depending upon how you calculate it).

This mind-blowingly important observation is why we are doing this. It should be the foundation of every charity's individual donor programme.

So welcome to our Glass Workshop. Where you can look inside and watch, throughout 2010, how this experiment unfolds and get involved by joining the discussion.

If you'd like to talk to us about what we can do for your charity, well you know where we are. Just step inside the Glass Workshop!

Mark Roper

Posted by Whitewater Team at 04:19 PM | Permalink

We would like to apologise to all Whitewater's friends who received our Christmas ecard, featuring Mr Dean Martin's rendition of Let it Snow, and who shortly afterwards found themselves snowbound.

With hindsight we should have gone with Bing Crosby's alternative version: Let it Snow (But Just a Light Dusting With No Impact on Road Conditions or Rail Services..

Sorry.

Nick Couldry

Posted by Whitewater Team at 02:13 PM | Permalink

RNID, the leading charity working with hearing loss and hearing health, has appointed specialist direct marketing agency Whitewater to help them review and deliver a new approach to their fundraising activities. Whitewater has been selected after a two-way pitch.

Working collaboratively with the RNID team, the process will start with a full audit of RNID’s current fundraising activity. Insights generated from this research are expected to be key in driving a new donor strategy. The objective is to help RNID build a more sustainable approach, which will deliver consistent and higher value returns.

Vicky Haywood, Director of Individual Giving says, “We are delighted to be working with Whitewater. They have their finger on the pulse with a real understanding of the challenges we face. As our strategic partner we will benefit from their insight and innovative thinking to help us create an ambitious and effective strategy.”

RNID is looking to improve donor recruitment, and new product development is expected to be key to this.

Mark Roper, Managing Director at Whitewater says, “We’re really excited to help RNID through challenging times and deliver a new fundraising strategy which deals effectively with their unique strategic challenges. These include both the need to increase awareness and a cause which doesn’t tug at the heart strings of many people. These issues allow us to work where we love to be – developing strategies hinged in supporter and market insights.”

Posted by Whitewater Team at 03:34 PM | Permalink