The impact of JustGiving on Brain Tumour Research's Facebook Challenge

In February, Brain Tumour Research launched its annual 10,000 Steps a Day Challenge, encouraging supporters to walk 10,000 steps daily to raise funds and awareness while staying active and healthy. With recruitment starting in late December as a timely follow-up to the festive period, the campaign attracted many new supporters, primarily women.

Here are five things to know about the team’s Challenge:

1. Aside from partnering with GivePanel and a paid media agency for their Facebook ads, the team managed the entire Challenge in-house. This included fulfillment, which was handled by a dedicated team of volunteers.
2. To ensure continuous engagement within the Facebook Group throughout the campaign, Brain Tumour Research invested in a team of three digital engagement assistants. These assistants provided support seven days a week, keeping the community active and involved.
3. The Facebook Group became a vibrant community hub, with user-generated content making it a welcoming and supportive space. To boost engagement, the team created quick and fun posts that encouraged conversation and built authenticity within the group.
4. After the Challenge, the team aimed to transition supporters from the event-specific Facebook Group to an ongoing community group. This strategy was designed to promote fundraising events, campaigns, and community updates, fostering a two-way conversation and enhancing supporter lifetime value.
5. Post-event surveys were conducted to gather valuable information from the fundraisers, helping the organization understand their experiences and improve future campaigns.
   

The stand-out feature of 10,000 Steps a Day, however, was Brain Tumour Research’s use of GivePanel’s JustGiving integration to provide supporters with an alternative to Facebook fundraisers.

The integration made it easy for supporters to set up fundraising pages. "Supporters see that nice, snazzy registration form... do you want Facebook, do you want JustGiving, click, and done" explains Michelle. This simplicity reduced setup friction and made the fundraising process more user-friendly.

With approximately a 60/40 split between which platform raised the most, JustGiving’s reputation as a reliable and established fundraising platform played a crucial role in this transition, providing supporters with confidence in their fundraising efforts.

And the impact has continued past 10,000 Steps a Day. Brain Tumour Research has now used GivePanel’s JustGiving integration across three Challenges so far. Here’s how that looks:

The average raised on JustGiving over the 3 events was 84% higher than on Facebook.
The activation rate was 12% higher on Facebook across the 3 events (41.8% vs 37.4%) - but the average raised means that JustGiving outperformed Facebook.
When you account for both activation rate and average raised across all 3 events JustGiving outperformed Facebook by 66%.

By using GivePanel’s JustGiving integration, Brain Tumour Research enabled supporters to choose the platform they were most comfortable with, whether it be through social media or a dedicated fundraising page. This approach maximized engagement and participation, making it easier for supporters to contribute to the cause and share their journey with friends and family.