What’s Next for DIY? How Charities are Using Data to Drive Revenue
Once you remove the administrative burden of manually tracking DIY fundraisers, a major shift happens: you finally get your time back. But what should your community fundraising team do with that reclaimed time?
In our recent webinar, we asked our charity panellists from King’s College Hospital Charity, PAPYRUS, and Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation to reveal what is next for their DIY programmes now that their core processes are automated. From picking up the phone to testing paid acquisition, their answers point to some clear strategic opportunities.
Triaging High-Value Fundraisers
When your automated system handles the standard stewardship journey for everyone, your team can focus on the supporters who need a more personal, hands-on approach.
Abbey from King’s College Hospital Charity shared that her team’s next step is using the time freed up by GivePanel DIY to triage supporters.
“It means that we can really look at where we can add value as fundraisers,” Abbey noted. “Giving more attention to high-value fundraisers, picking up the phone and talking to them, and building those relationships.”
This relationship-building is where major opportunities lie. A supporter might initially come to you to do a simple DIY event, but through a genuine phone conversation, you might discover they work for a company looking for a Charity of the Year – opening up a corporate partnership that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Spotting Trends and Cross-Selling
Capturing structured data at registration opens the door for cross-selling across your organisation. Because supporters are asked to categorise their event type on the registration form, you gain immediate insight into their specific interests.
If you notice a sudden influx of DIY supporters choosing cycling events, you can use that data to cross-sell a place in an upcoming third-party cycling event later in the year. Instead of guessing what your supporters might be interested in, you are using their declared activity types to fuel other areas of your fundraising portfolio.
Combating the Decline in Organic Sign-Ups
It is a reality felt across the sector: organic sign-ups are experiencing a slight decline. To combat this, Emma’s team at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation is stepping into paid acquisition.
“We are currently planning for testing paid ads and email lead journeys through GivePanel as well, just because we are seeing a slight decline in organic sign-ups,” Emma shared. “We’re going to be testing things like ‘sign up and get a free fundraising pack’ and just some more insight… to help inform that wider journey.”
By looking closely at email open rates and fundraising performance, Emma’s team will be able to test exactly where their manual touchpoints add the most value, ensuring every investment of time and effort delivers the best possible return.
The Takeaway
Automation is not the end goal; it is the starting line. By letting the technology handle the repetitive admin, you empower your fundraising team to do what they do best: build relationships, spot strategic trends, and test new acquisition channels to secure future income.
To hear directly from Abbey, Vicki, Caitlin, and Emma on what they have planned next, watch the full webinar at givepanel.com/diy-fundraising-webinar/. And if you’re ready to free up your team’s time and start thinking strategically about your DIY programme, book a 20-minute walkthrough of GivePanel DIY at givepanel.com/demo.