Delivering vital fund raising in a difficult period for charities
During the pandemic, MacMillan’s fund raising took a huge hit due to events like the London Marathon and MacMillan Coffee Mornings not being able to take place. As a team we had to come up with ways to help raise money during a very difficult time.
Working with Macmillan we started small with ideas that could work with a simple microsite, seeing what worked with people in lockdown. Then we built on the ideas that worked well based on key metrics, sign-ups, and ultimately donations.
Starting with three main ideas, we created micro-sites featuring a landing page, a 'How It Works' page, an FAQ page, and a sign-up page.
After the initial test and surveying those who signed up, it became clear that a quiz night was a good route to take. We named it ‘Games Night In,’ featuring various games such as Quiz Night, Who Done It, Virtual Horse Racing, and ‘Trapped,’ a virtual escape room.
We knew the escape room would be more complex than the other ideas. We needed to leverage our findings from previous online fundraisers, find a way to test it, and collaborate with an external partner who specialised in building escape rooms.
All the fundraising products so far had fairly simple flows, but the escape room would be more complex. I mapped out the sign-up process and the flow of how the game would work.
Our expert had experience building escape rooms, but needed to adapt to an online version. We decided it was best to create wireframes to help him visualise how his creation would appear onscreen.
We brainstormed some ideas and settled on revealing a clue in exchange for an optional donation, providing an opportunity to increase contributions as the game progressed.
Testing the game with users was crucial, but in-person testing, our usual approach, was not an option. I improvised by testing the game with family members—both in-person with my immediate family and remotely with other close relatives. Macmillan also conducted tests, and we compared notes.
‘Trapped’ ended up being a fun online fundraiser with great feedback from users and the client.
The Games Night In series raised over £2m for Macmillan at a time where along most other charities they needed to donations.
Testing fundraising products was fun, I am used to testing variations on a CRO test but this took it to another level.