After helping 10,000 UK causes raise around £7million a year with digital fundraising, leading digital lottery experts Jumbo Interactive are bringing One Lottery to Australian charities. 

The pandemic has undoubtedly reshaped the giving landscape in Australia, and magnified the existing challenges faced by Aussie not-for-profits. Short term disruptions have grown into long-term trends and temporary restrictions have brought on lasting cultural and behavioural change. 

Despite this, competition in the charity space continues to grow, with ACNC registrations increasing by 4% per year¹. But with the average Australian only donating 0.3% of their taxable income², and over 56,000 registered charities¹ vying for that small share of wallet, charities need to turn to digital to make sure they get their fair share.

COVID has accelerated the need for digital transformation

Decrease in Charitable Giving

Throughout the pandemic, underemployment hit historic levels³, and ongoing snap lockdowns and business disruption mean a large portion of Aussies don’t have the same security of income they once had. This ongoing uncertainty can have a lasting effect on giving behaviour, and could be a contributing factor to worries that giving levels will drop back to the same levels as 2012⁴.

Staple fundraisers aren’t reliable

Crowd-favourite face-to-face fundraising activities like events and challenges are staples of the fundraising suite. But what happens when you can’t have a crowd? Since the start of the pandemic in early 2020,  income from events has decreased by 72%, with participation numbers halving⁵. Overall face-to-face experienced a decline in acquisition of 76%⁵. So not only is revenue at risk, which impacts your short-term, but supporter acquisition, the foundation of your charity’s future prosperity, is at risk too. 

More demand for services, with less resources to administer them

Given the nature of the pandemic, it makes sense for the demand for health-based services to increase. But it’s the wider effects on areas like mental health, financial support, housing, employment, and so many others, that have the entire not-for-profit sector dealing with a surge in demand. 97% of not-for-profits say COVID-19 affected the way they delivered their services, with a massive 54% being significantly affected, and 17% completely suspending their services⁶.

With more than half of registered charities operating without paid staff, and the number of volunteers decreasing⁷, Aussie charities are under more pressure than ever to do so much more with so much less.

Why does digital fundraising work?

Aussie givers love digital

Digital has quickly worked its way into almost every facet of the average Aussie’s life, and giving is no different. In fact, 64% of donors in Australia and New Zealand prefer to give online with a credit or debit card, and are the most likely to adopt new fundraising tech⁸. 97% of donors say that not-for-profit organisations need to invest financial resources into digital communications in order to stay relevant⁸.

It’s low-risk, and lockdown proof

A snap lockdown might mean your fun run gets off to a false-start, or even worse, never makes it across the line. And depending on how sudden the lockdown is, your organisation could be left footing the bill for venues, equipment, and personnel.

But with a digital-first fundraiser, like an online raffle or lottery, you can have as many supporters on-site as you want, no matter what’s happening in the physical world.

Your supporters can engage how they want, when they want

Having an always-on digital fundraising presence is like having a team of agents working for your cause 24/7. At any time of day, any day of the week, your supporters can jump on their smart-phone, computer, or tablet and contribute. Your potential acquisition is no longer restricted by who happens to be walking through the shopping centre that day, or who happens to be home to answer the knock at the door. 

If digital fundraising is so great, why don’t more charities do it?

A high-quality experience is hard to build, but is necessary for building trust

Over 23% of Aussies say their trust in charities has decreased over the past 3 years⁹, so providing a high-quality digital experience that supporters can feel confident with is more important than ever. Unfortunately, the onset of the pandemic also brought along it’s fair share of scammers, which means online experiences could be met with even more scrutiny than usual. A subpar digital experience could not only hurt your acquisition but could hurt your organisation’s reputation.

Data collection and handling can be confusing and risky

Navigating the complexities of the heavily regulated not-for-profit sector is already hard enough, especially with limited resources. And layering responsible data collection, storage, and management on top can all become too much for an already stretched team to confidently manage. And with breaches attracting hefty fines and potential brand damage, some might feel it’s not worth the risk managing it all themselves.

Digital transformation can be a big investment

Digital transformation takes a big commitment that a lot of not-for-profits just can’t afford. While there might be a huge appetite for organisations to adopt new tech and modern ways of fundraising, the reality of the matter is, meaningful investment in digital is happening mostly at the top-end⁶. So as time goes on, the digital divide between large and small to medium not-for-profits keeps widening, making it harder and harder for everyone to get the funding they need.

The digital divide is one of the reasons why Jumbo Interactive has developed One Lottery, a new digital fundraising solution, aimed at giving small to medium not-for-profits a much-needed leg-up in the digital fundraising space. 

What is One Lottery?

One Lottery is a brand new fundraising solution that combines the convenience of digital fundraising, the excitement of a fundraising lottery, and the stability of regular giving. It’s a monthly fundraising lottery, run by Jumbo to benefit Australian charities.

Attract and engage supporters with prize-led fundraising. Keep your community engaged all year round with our $5 raffle. Reward your supporters with the chance to win thousands every month. 50% of every ticket sold is returned to your cause. 

One Lottery tears down the typical barriers of fundraising lotteries, and gives charity organisations of all sizes the opportunity to maximise their fundraising potential. With One Lottery, charities don’t need to worry about prizes, because a generous cash prize is supplied for each and every draw. There’s no need to worry about permits, because One Lottery’s got that covered. And because it’s run completely by the tech and team at Jumbo Interactive, there’s no need to devote any resources to running the fundraiser. 

And better still, it’s completely free to join, and operates on a performance-based pricing model, so you only pay when you get paid. 50% of ticket sales go to the charity, and the rest goes to covering operating costs, improving the platform, and supplying the prizes.

Why is One Lottery different?

With One Lottery, the supporters you sign up are yours to steward however you wish, with securely collected data delivered directly to you. So you’re not only generating more revenue, but also building your supporter base.

The monthly draw cadence means instead of only a few opportunities to engage per year, you get 12! And not only that, your revenue flow is quicker, and more stable, throughout the entire year. No more lulls, no more seasonality. 
To find out more about how to join One Lottery, visit www.jumbofundraising.com.au/onelottery

Sources:

1. Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission – Are there too many charities in Australia?
2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – Philanthropic and charitable donations
3. Australian Bureau of Statistics – One year of COVID-19: Aussie jobs, business and the economy
4. JB Were – Where to from here? The outlook for philanthropy during COVID-19
5. Fundraising Institute of Australia – Fundraising Futures Report September 2020
6. Infoxchange – Digital Technology in the Not-for-Profit Sector
7. Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission – Australian Charities Report 7th edition
8. Nonprofit Tech for Good – 2020 Global Trends in Giving Report
9. Fundraising Institute of Australia – Trust and Giving in the Pandemic