Here is another exciting development our techie elves have been working on this Winter: new event landing pages
This is something we've been asked to do by both fundraisers and charities, so we're really excited about how they'll be used.
Event Landing Pages
These are basically new landing pages for every public event on the site, automatically created by the system and linked to from every page created for that event.
As you can see, it gives basic information about the event (date, type etc.) but also shows how many pages have been created and how much they have all raised.
Plus, to add a bit of *user generated content*, the most recent fundraising pages created with personalised images are promoted - just click on the picture to see the page!
This event landing page is linked to from every fundraising page created for that event and the idea is that by showing how many people do raise money this way, it will encourage others to do the same.
One of the most frequent requests from fundraisers is that they'd like to add more photos and videos to fundraising pages. We know that adding some personalisation can be really important in getting people to make donations, so this release should make lots of people happy!
YouTube & flickr on pages
By logging into their account on Justgiving, fundraisers can now add videos and photos from two of the most popular sites on the web: flickr and YouTube.
What does that look like? Here's an early adopter, a very quick on the draw, Laura Knight:
As Laura herself says on the page:
Thanks
to some very cool updates to Justgiving you are also able to look at
the photos of my adventures on flickr AND watch the hilarious cow
touching video for Challenge Laura. Just click the pictures on the
left. That's right...just there.
Another frequent request has been a page countdown, as many people are unsure of when their pages expire.
Now, once an event has taken place, a countdown will appear on the page to indicate how long people have left to donate:
We hope this will encourage people to donate towards the end of a fundraising page's life, giving one last boost to a fundraising total before the page closes.
Yes, it is the season of (Just)giving, and we have a little present for you!
We've today released a new email alert that you can subscribe to in the Charity Account, one that will let you know when fundraising pages expire (i.e. cease to accept donations).
This email will be sent every Monday morning - so what better start to the week than getting in touch with your fundraisers and thanking them for raising loads of money for you!
To subscribe, go to the Account Management area and click on Manage my emails on the left hand side.
Remember, you can also subscribe to one of our two other email alerts (when pages are created and when payment reports are ready to donwload), and of course, our super charity newsletter.
I'm sure most people are already sick of receiving "Season's Greetings" emails from every man and his dog, but in the last couple of days we've seen two really great examples.
The first is from a charity, MaAfrika Tikkun UK, and is simple, well designed and informative. Plus it has a great call to action and a button (see how) for people to make donations. Good stuff!
The second email is not from a charity, but an Ad agency, Glue:
It's a nice and simple looking "Merry Christmas" message, one you've seen before. And the image just links to www.letsgotolapland.com.
Oh but wait, that's no ordinary website. No, it's a site with a live video feed of them cycling to Lapland (on an exercise bike) and a fundraising feed from their Justgiving pagewhere they're raising money for the Salvation Army
But that's not all - you can send words of encouragement as you seem them toil along and they appear on the screen in front of the cyclists (most of which seem to be about punctures...):
They've very cleverly used the RSS feed from their page to keep the site updated, which is how the widget works:
As our ex-pat finance man Ben put it, what a very sticky website...ho ho ho
With the Flora London Marathon taking place in April, it is always our busiest month of the year (over 14,000 pages for the FLM alone) but that didn't stop the blog: whilst at the expo, I met some great charities and a couple of true international fundraisers.
May also brought the arrival of Josie "The fish" B to our charities helpdesk. She's now sadly back in NZ, but at least I remembered her arrival (unlike Liz in part 1)...
In the summer we brought you some reviews and analysis (my fave thing) - first on the Cutty Sark Trust fundraising efforts and then on our webinar program - apparently I am "very friendly, approachable and not too technical [good for non IT wizards!]"
Just getting around can be fatal for people living in landmine affected areas. To highlight the issue we tried to go round 50,000 m2 of ground without touching it and photographed every step of the way.
Well, what does that look like? Well, pretty cool, really - see the video below:
Unfortunately, that's not the reality for the people who live near the 49,855 m2 Lboek Svay minefield in Cambodia, where the money raised through the site will first be spent.
Because, of course, whilst this highly imaginative campaign raises awareness, the charity also hopes to raise money. So they set up a fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/dangerousground to collect donations online.
I asked Becky Maynard, Head of Fundraising at No More Landmines, some questions about the site:
What did you want you're the dangerous ground site to achieve?
We wanted to raise awareness of the landmine issue which has a daily impact on millions of people around the world. Because the number of deaths from landmines are not newsbreaking or headline-making people don't realise the terrifying impact they have on so many people every day of their lives.
We are also aiming to raise funds to clear a specific minefield in Cambodia where people who have lived through a terrible regime, been made refugees and in almost all cases lost family members are struggling just to survive - they cannot farm their land or access clean water because of the landmine threat.
What sort of feedback have you had?
Amazing feedback and hundreds of comments on YouTube but your support could help turn more of that interest into donations! Everyone who has seen the films thinks they are fantastic (or maybe they just say that to me!!).
How successful has it been in raising awareness and getting people to donate?
So far over 85,000 people have viewed one of the dangerous ground videos and thousands have visited the website. Donations have been slower because the YouTube page does not link through to our Justgiving page! [Ed. that's easy to change :-)]
Through a personal contact! All of the people who featured, directed, produced, jumped off high things and the rest gave their time and skills for free - as have UK2
Why did you decide to use videos, pictures and Google maps to illustrate the project and your campaign?
In the flipbook we really wanted to create a link between a 50,000 square metre area in London and the same size are in Cambodia but also the key differences between them and the freedom to walk on the ground that we all take for granted.
The ad film is also a reminder that we can go about our daily lives without worrying what might be just below the surface. I have visited communities who literally have landmines on their doorstep and it is quite terrifying, especially when I see innocent young children running around who could have no concept of the level of the danger they face.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
This week marks the 10 year anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty / Ottawa Convention which banned the use, manufacture, transfer and stockpiling of landmines. Although it has been very successful there is still huge amounts of work to be done!
A big thanks go to Becky for answering my questions - we wish you good luck with a fantastic idea and superb website.
**** On a "social web" note of interest, our attention was drawn to this site as it was one of the most popular tagged sites on del.icio.us (which can be used on Justgiving pages too!). If you don't know what that means, watch the video below:
Our workaholic designer Kai is a very generous guy and likes to knock out nice banners and buttons every so often to help the webmasters of all the charity sites out there...
So in the spirit of (Just)giving, and after a few requests from charities, he's created some new buttons you can use to link through to your In Memoriam area on Justgiving:
Just right click on them to save the image, and use them where you promote In Mem fundraising on your own website. Nice and easy!
We'll also be putting them up in the "Banners & Buttons" section of the Charity Account area in due course (found in the Marketing Resources tab).
Yes, it's that time of year when lazy copywriters review all the hard work they've done over 11 months to give themselves one easy month of re-writing old stories.
Having said that, a bit of reflection at this time of year is always nice, so here's the first part of my (four part) review of Justgiving's 2007...
The year started with a bang - the release of our very first widget! This was one of the most exciting developments we've ever, er, developed and it proved to be really successful (and it spawned a newer version later in the year... but you'll have to wait to hear about that).
Also in January, we released a new email tool to help supporters spread the word about their fundraising pages - email is still the most popular, and probably the most effective, way that fundraisers get people to sponsor them.
The second month of 2007 brought you the first, but by no means last, marble-effect graph showing you how you can raise 30% more for the marathon with Justgiving.
This was based on our sponsor survey which showed that when asked "If you hadn't been able to sponsor your friend online, what would you have done?" 31% of sponsors said they "would not have sponsored their friend at all"
In addition, we let you know how to have your fundraiser promoted on our home page.
You also had the unenviable task of reading my thoughts on how to create donor evangelists using widgets and blogs and see pictures and find out more about the inhabitants of JG Towers: I'm not as weird as the biog makes me sound (honest) but I'm clearly not as easy on the eye as Sophie :-)
****UPDATE 5th December****
I've been made aware of a glaring omission from January's highlights, that being the introduction of the all-knowing, all-powerful, generally amazing charity helpdesk person that is Liz (#2) Smith. (I hope that means she'll talk to me again...)
Here is another exciting development our techie elves have been working on this Winter: new event landing pages
