CharityComms
The Institute of Fundraising has invited its outgoing chair, Joe Saxton, to forge a coalition of all parties keen to reduce current prohibitive fees the telecoms industry charges charities who seek donations via SMS text messaging.
The coalition is likely to include fundraising charities and infrastructure bodies as well as fundraising agencies and other supplier stakeholders, not to mention media organisations, celebrities and any other relevant interested parties.
Participants will be expected to commit to bring something of use to the coalition’s table – be it time, money, expertise or other resources.
Paul Amadi, Group Director of Fundraising at RNIB and incoming [8 July] chair of the Institute of Fundraising, said:
“The Institute of Fundraising is delighted that Joe Saxton has accepted our challenge of working to reduce the cost of making a donation by SMS text message to the point at which it becomes cost-effective for this form of fundraising to flourish. This is a very real issue, not least as charities seek to engage with younger donors. We look forward to opening up a whole new way of giving to brand new audiences.”
The campaign will involve opening discussions with the mobile providers and other key industry stakeholders, including regulators. This process is likely to start in earnest toward the end of 2008 or early 2009 - once the coalition is formed and the research is complete.
nfpSynergy will undertake research into SMS fundraising, as a basis for a campaign which will involve detailed desk and original research to establish the current, relatively unknown, situation vis-à-vis text messaging, ascertaining the attitudes both of mobile phone users and of the fundraising community.
Joe Saxton, nfpSynergy’s Driver of Ideas and outgoing [8 July] chair of the Institute of Fundraising, said:
“Many charities find the current charges made by phone providers - simply for collecting donations via SMS - prohibitive. HMRC has thankfully been re-examining the broader VAT issue on charity phone bills.
We now invite the telecoms industry itself to address its charge structures, specifically in relation to text-donations. The fundraising potential could well be substantial, not least amongst the young. By striking the right balance, mobile phone operators, charities and donors can all benefit.”
Those seeking further information, or keen to explore the possibility of joining the coalition, should contact Joe Saxton on joe.saxton@nfpsynergy.net
03 July, 2008
02 July, 2008
Email and telemarketing key to stewardship says report
Sara Kimberley Precision Marketing
More charities believe email and telephone marketing have more of a major role to play in fundraising stewardships than direct mail, according to a new report.
The interim analysis of the Relationship Marketing Stewardship Survey reveals 57 per cent of respondents believe telephone marketing has a major role to play in stewardship and is a medium that should be regularly used to communicate with a majority of donors.
Nearly 49 per cent of respondents believe that email has a major role to play, while only 44 per cent of respondents believe direct mail should be a key factor in fundraising stewardship.
The survey also reveals 56 per cent of respondents think there should be a common, accepted definition of fundraising stewardship and currently there is little consensus in the sector about what stewardship is.
Over 60 per cent of respondents think that thanking donors promptly and politely is an ‘essential’ part of stewardship, 13 per cent only see it as a ‘building block of stewardship’, while 16 per cent consider this to be a ‘self-contained definition’ of fundraising stewardship.
Relationship marketing director of development Gordon Michie says: “Once again I think what these topline figures indicate is the different concepts of stewardship that fundraisers hold and the different types of communication vehicle they think they’ll need to deliver their own idea of stewardship. It will be fascinating as we drill down into these responses to discover what correlations there are between how fundraisers scored definitions of stewardship and how they rated communications methods.”
More charities believe email and telephone marketing have more of a major role to play in fundraising stewardships than direct mail, according to a new report.
The interim analysis of the Relationship Marketing Stewardship Survey reveals 57 per cent of respondents believe telephone marketing has a major role to play in stewardship and is a medium that should be regularly used to communicate with a majority of donors.
Nearly 49 per cent of respondents believe that email has a major role to play, while only 44 per cent of respondents believe direct mail should be a key factor in fundraising stewardship.
The survey also reveals 56 per cent of respondents think there should be a common, accepted definition of fundraising stewardship and currently there is little consensus in the sector about what stewardship is.
Over 60 per cent of respondents think that thanking donors promptly and politely is an ‘essential’ part of stewardship, 13 per cent only see it as a ‘building block of stewardship’, while 16 per cent consider this to be a ‘self-contained definition’ of fundraising stewardship.
Relationship marketing director of development Gordon Michie says: “Once again I think what these topline figures indicate is the different concepts of stewardship that fundraisers hold and the different types of communication vehicle they think they’ll need to deliver their own idea of stewardship. It will be fascinating as we drill down into these responses to discover what correlations there are between how fundraisers scored definitions of stewardship and how they rated communications methods.”
01 July, 2008
Cartoon Network opens Mini Match, a social gaming virtual world for kids
Staff (Social Media Portal)
Children’s entertainment pursues its migration from the TV to the computer screen with the launch of Mini Match, a new virtual world from Cartoon Network.
Mini Match is an online environment focused around multi-player games where children can meet and play online games with friends. The Cartoon Network claim that Mini Match is one of the few virtual worlds focused on multi-player gaming. The virtual world allows a younger audience to immerse themselves in a fully-fledged social gaming environment alongside classic chat and exploration features.
“Mini Match opens up a whole new world of gaming to our online audience”, said Paul Condolora, senior vice president, digital for Turner Broadcasting System Inc.’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media Group. “The action-adventure theme complements some of our most popular shows and provides kids with a safe virtual destination for social gaming.”
Once they have created a customizable avatar, players are ready to enter a variety of graphically sophisticated environments based on familiar Cartoon Network shows, where they can then engage in a selection of social activities on offer. These are either competitive or collaborative, ranging from spontaneous multiplayer “tag” battles to social puzzle-solving. Activities are practised against the back-drop of a mystery story that progressively unfolds the microscopic world in which Mini Match takes place.
By chatting to each other, using a custom dictionary that automatically edits out inappropriate word-content, kids can work together in order to discover the key to the plot. Playing games is rewarded with points that allow kids to further customize their avatars and acquire new in-game equipment and abilities.
By offering an interactive and family-friendly online gaming venue based on its own themes, Cartoon Network seeks to reinforce audience identification with its branded content such as Ben 10 or Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
Children’s entertainment pursues its migration from the TV to the computer screen with the launch of Mini Match, a new virtual world from Cartoon Network.
Mini Match is an online environment focused around multi-player games where children can meet and play online games with friends. The Cartoon Network claim that Mini Match is one of the few virtual worlds focused on multi-player gaming. The virtual world allows a younger audience to immerse themselves in a fully-fledged social gaming environment alongside classic chat and exploration features.
“Mini Match opens up a whole new world of gaming to our online audience”, said Paul Condolora, senior vice president, digital for Turner Broadcasting System Inc.’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media Group. “The action-adventure theme complements some of our most popular shows and provides kids with a safe virtual destination for social gaming.”
Once they have created a customizable avatar, players are ready to enter a variety of graphically sophisticated environments based on familiar Cartoon Network shows, where they can then engage in a selection of social activities on offer. These are either competitive or collaborative, ranging from spontaneous multiplayer “tag” battles to social puzzle-solving. Activities are practised against the back-drop of a mystery story that progressively unfolds the microscopic world in which Mini Match takes place.
By chatting to each other, using a custom dictionary that automatically edits out inappropriate word-content, kids can work together in order to discover the key to the plot. Playing games is rewarded with points that allow kids to further customize their avatars and acquire new in-game equipment and abilities.
By offering an interactive and family-friendly online gaming venue based on its own themes, Cartoon Network seeks to reinforce audience identification with its branded content such as Ben 10 or Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
27 June, 2008
Top ten tips: Video on demand
NetImperative
More than 42 million programmes have been accessed via the BBC's iPlayer since its launch on Christmas Day 2007, and in March viewing figures were up 25 percent on the previous month. iPlayer's popularity was further confirmed with its recent launch on Nintendo's Wii games console. Phil Fearnley, director, HUGE Entertainment explains more.
This overwhelming success has resulted in video-on-demand (VOD) both coming to the public's attention and being hailed as ‘the next big thing’. As a result, there has been a rush of interested parties - from media platforms to content owners - wanting to jump on the VOD bandwagon.
As an on-demand digital entertainment specialist, HUGE Entertainment, believes that there is now a massive opportunity for content owners to create their own offerings to distribute via PC, TV and mobile. However, we also argue that many of these players do not have the know-how to make a real success of their proposition.
Here, we offer our advice on getting it right when it comes to VOD.
1. Consumers don't care about technology
The majority of people aren't interested in how something works, they just want to know that it does. So don't bombard consumers with a complex feat of engineering – just make sure that your offering is easy to use.
2. Make it pretty
Following on from point one, you need to ensure the consumer's experience is a good one to encourage them to pay for content, either via a subscription service or pay-per-view. This means that, as well as being easy to navigate, the user interface needs to be visually enticing.
3. Be a retailer
VOD players need to think like high street retailers in terms of what content is provided, where it is displayed and how it is promoted. To encourage consumers to return, there always has to be something new and fresh available, at the same time as older material being easily accessible.
4. Don't make lists
Access to content should not take the form of endless lists that consumers need to scroll through to find what they want. Referencing the retailer analogy above, shops don't line up products in alphabetical order – neither should VOD operators.
5. Is it free?
To encourage a long-term relationship with consumers be clear about what content is free and what they must pay to access.
6. Get viral
VOD is still a very new concept. Many people have not yet experienced it, and it is complex to explain briefly. Significant amounts have been spent on advertising to promote services, but results to date have been mixed. Instead VOD players should focus on word-of-mouth endorsement, confident in the knowledge that, if they have put the points above into place, once consumers do try the service they will use it.
7. Brave new advertising world
VOD offers opportunities for new advertising models that are a world away from the low engagement, 'interruption marketing' of today's TV arena. You need to maximise these and be ready to generate new revenue from day one. How can you tailor your offerings for specific audiences? How can you interact with users to better engage with them? Do your homework and be prepared.
8. No constants
These are still very early days. Viewer behaviour is changing rapidly, and will continue to do so. You need to monitor what is happening and ensure that you stay one step ahead in order to remain appealing to consumers and relevant for advertisers.
9. Beware of sharks
Global technology companies are investing significant sums to establish content delivery devices for the home and terrestrial TV channels are also spending large amounts on VOD applications. Everyone is vying for a direct relationship with the subscriber. If a deal with a third party looks too good to be true, it probably is – and will be likely to remove you one step too far from your customers, which in turn can be detrimental to advertising potential.
10. You only get one chance
VOD is a killer application – people like it and are already demonstrating their appetite for using it. But you only get one chance to make a lasting impact on peoples’ perceptions – your launch is therefore critical, so get it right.
More than 42 million programmes have been accessed via the BBC's iPlayer since its launch on Christmas Day 2007, and in March viewing figures were up 25 percent on the previous month. iPlayer's popularity was further confirmed with its recent launch on Nintendo's Wii games console. Phil Fearnley, director, HUGE Entertainment explains more.
This overwhelming success has resulted in video-on-demand (VOD) both coming to the public's attention and being hailed as ‘the next big thing’. As a result, there has been a rush of interested parties - from media platforms to content owners - wanting to jump on the VOD bandwagon.
As an on-demand digital entertainment specialist, HUGE Entertainment, believes that there is now a massive opportunity for content owners to create their own offerings to distribute via PC, TV and mobile. However, we also argue that many of these players do not have the know-how to make a real success of their proposition.
Here, we offer our advice on getting it right when it comes to VOD.
1. Consumers don't care about technology
The majority of people aren't interested in how something works, they just want to know that it does. So don't bombard consumers with a complex feat of engineering – just make sure that your offering is easy to use.
2. Make it pretty
Following on from point one, you need to ensure the consumer's experience is a good one to encourage them to pay for content, either via a subscription service or pay-per-view. This means that, as well as being easy to navigate, the user interface needs to be visually enticing.
3. Be a retailer
VOD players need to think like high street retailers in terms of what content is provided, where it is displayed and how it is promoted. To encourage consumers to return, there always has to be something new and fresh available, at the same time as older material being easily accessible.
4. Don't make lists
Access to content should not take the form of endless lists that consumers need to scroll through to find what they want. Referencing the retailer analogy above, shops don't line up products in alphabetical order – neither should VOD operators.
5. Is it free?
To encourage a long-term relationship with consumers be clear about what content is free and what they must pay to access.
6. Get viral
VOD is still a very new concept. Many people have not yet experienced it, and it is complex to explain briefly. Significant amounts have been spent on advertising to promote services, but results to date have been mixed. Instead VOD players should focus on word-of-mouth endorsement, confident in the knowledge that, if they have put the points above into place, once consumers do try the service they will use it.
7. Brave new advertising world
VOD offers opportunities for new advertising models that are a world away from the low engagement, 'interruption marketing' of today's TV arena. You need to maximise these and be ready to generate new revenue from day one. How can you tailor your offerings for specific audiences? How can you interact with users to better engage with them? Do your homework and be prepared.
8. No constants
These are still very early days. Viewer behaviour is changing rapidly, and will continue to do so. You need to monitor what is happening and ensure that you stay one step ahead in order to remain appealing to consumers and relevant for advertisers.
9. Beware of sharks
Global technology companies are investing significant sums to establish content delivery devices for the home and terrestrial TV channels are also spending large amounts on VOD applications. Everyone is vying for a direct relationship with the subscriber. If a deal with a third party looks too good to be true, it probably is – and will be likely to remove you one step too far from your customers, which in turn can be detrimental to advertising potential.
10. You only get one chance
VOD is a killer application – people like it and are already demonstrating their appetite for using it. But you only get one chance to make a lasting impact on peoples’ perceptions – your launch is therefore critical, so get it right.
26 June, 2008
Internet set for domain name goldrush as branded names to be approved
Daniel Farey-Jones Brand Republic
Brands will be able to register their own names as domain names in place of dotcom under a radical plan to shake up the world of top level domain names, which could also see the introduction of cities such as NYC as domains, if new rules are today approved today in Paris by industry body Icann.
The changes are also expected to pave the way for the introduction of suffixes such as .xxx, which will be highly prized by the online adult entertainment industry.
Cities like New York and London could also get their own domains with New York taking NYC and Lon for London.
The meeting in Paris will consider whether to throw open the current limited pool of top-level domain names, such as .gov and .fr, to any combination of letters and numbers which any organisation may register (within certain guidelines).
The second proposal on the table today is whether to allow domains using characters from non-English languages.
The changes could herald in a new generation of names such as Coca-Cola buying .coke, and of course the sex industry scrambling for .sex.
Icann said that registering a top-level domain would cost between $100,000 and $500,000. Applications would be accepted from around April 2009 and the first new sites would go live later in the year.
It will apply guidelines for the applications to make sure the names are not offensive and do not break intellectual property rights.
The resale values of domain names have grown in tandem with the internet's importance to business. Sex.com broke sales barriers when it was sold for £6m in 2005 and in February this year Cruises.co.uk set the UK record at £560,000.
Paul Twomey, president and chief executive of Icann, said: "This is the biggest change to the way people find each other on the internet since its inception."
Icann, which stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has been preparing for the changes for several years.
25 June, 2008
Nesta report attacks 'miserable' climate change campaigns
Nikki Sandison Brand Republic
Government ad campaigns on climate will fail to work unless they stop using 'miserable, gloomy and bleak' imagery, according to a report.
The report, by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, claims that government campaigns should instead start encouraging more people to take positive action.
It claims that harnessing commercial-style advertising and marketing techniques would make a powerful impact on changing the behaviour of individuals in response to the threat of climate change.
Called 'Selling Sustainability - Seven Lessons from Advertising and Marketing to Sell Low Carbon Living', the report argues that while UK policy has responded to some degree to the threat of climate change, the government has not yet fully embraced the importance of mass behaviour change to respond to it.
Despite increasing efforts to engage the public on climate change and link it to their individual behaviour, there is little evidence of significant behaviour change to reduce emissions.
The main findings of the report show that as well as avoiding being miserable, campaigns should emphasise that taking action on climate change is normal.
The research, which looked into the effectiveness of advertising on individual behaviour, also suggests that campaigns should recognise the importance of fairness -- everyone needs to be seen to be doing their bit including government and industry.
Nesta said that campaigns should be personally relevant relating to "our" environment not "the" environment and should use insight from commercial ads to engage emotional responses.
Nesta cites Honda's TV ad "Hate something - change something" as a good example of an effective campaign.
One example of current gloomy government environmental advertising is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' 'Act On CO2' TV ad campaign, which shows people going about their daily lives leaving visible black carbon footprints.
The report also recommends identifying the potential benefits for individuals by taking action as the basis for a social marketing campaign, citing consumer research that shows millions of people desire a lower-stress, less consumption-oriented lifestyle.
The Nesta report reveals a set of core principles which it strongly recommends should be used for any future campaigns called "The 7Cs". Ads should be clear, compelling, connected, creative, configured, consistent and confident.
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Nesta CEO, said: "The report shows that it's not enough to simply make people aware of climate change issues. To have a mass impact, campaigns must engage people in a compelling way and persuade them to change their behaviour."
Nesta commissioned the British Market Research Bureau to conduct the research.
Government ad campaigns on climate will fail to work unless they stop using 'miserable, gloomy and bleak' imagery, according to a report.
The report, by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, claims that government campaigns should instead start encouraging more people to take positive action.
It claims that harnessing commercial-style advertising and marketing techniques would make a powerful impact on changing the behaviour of individuals in response to the threat of climate change.
Called 'Selling Sustainability - Seven Lessons from Advertising and Marketing to Sell Low Carbon Living', the report argues that while UK policy has responded to some degree to the threat of climate change, the government has not yet fully embraced the importance of mass behaviour change to respond to it.
Despite increasing efforts to engage the public on climate change and link it to their individual behaviour, there is little evidence of significant behaviour change to reduce emissions.
The main findings of the report show that as well as avoiding being miserable, campaigns should emphasise that taking action on climate change is normal.
The research, which looked into the effectiveness of advertising on individual behaviour, also suggests that campaigns should recognise the importance of fairness -- everyone needs to be seen to be doing their bit including government and industry.
Nesta said that campaigns should be personally relevant relating to "our" environment not "the" environment and should use insight from commercial ads to engage emotional responses.
Nesta cites Honda's TV ad "Hate something - change something" as a good example of an effective campaign.
One example of current gloomy government environmental advertising is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' 'Act On CO2' TV ad campaign, which shows people going about their daily lives leaving visible black carbon footprints.
The report also recommends identifying the potential benefits for individuals by taking action as the basis for a social marketing campaign, citing consumer research that shows millions of people desire a lower-stress, less consumption-oriented lifestyle.
The Nesta report reveals a set of core principles which it strongly recommends should be used for any future campaigns called "The 7Cs". Ads should be clear, compelling, connected, creative, configured, consistent and confident.
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Nesta CEO, said: "The report shows that it's not enough to simply make people aware of climate change issues. To have a mass impact, campaigns must engage people in a compelling way and persuade them to change their behaviour."
Nesta commissioned the British Market Research Bureau to conduct the research.
23 June, 2008
Passion, persistence and partnership: the secrets of earning more online
Charities have been waiting 10 years for the internet to revolutionise their fundraising. It's finally happening, in unexpected ways. nfpSynergy's new report looks at the most effective (and ineffective ways) to fundraise using the internet, using case studies from successful charities and data from their Virtual Promise reports.
Download the report at http://www.nfpsynergy.net/freereports/freereportsandarticles/
Download the report at http://www.nfpsynergy.net/freereports/freereportsandarticles/
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