How Macmillan raised a six-figure sum in just one campaign with instaGiv
Macmillan Cancer Support exists to offer emotional, physical and financial support to people living with cancer from the moment they are diagnosed, through treatment and beyond. They are 98% funded by charitable donations, so fundraising is crucial to their work. Macmillan have used the InstaGiv platform for years, and whilst looking for a new way to increase donations within their Whodunnit? campaign in a new and exciting way they realised the wider potential of the InstaGiv platform. The addition of SMS Giving for Whodunnit? has raised a six-figure sum for Macmillan since implementation in 2018. Since then they have added it to other games within their virtual Games Night In product.
The Challenge
Macmillan were looking for ways to increase donations within their Whodunnit? campaign and felt that they had exhausted opportunities to do so within existing fundraising mechanisms. When looking for an innovative new way to raise money, there were a few key considerations:
- The trend towards experiential fundraising; supporters are more frequently looking for ways to give that are enjoyable and offer a value exchange
- Easy to implement
- Low cost
- Accessible to the various audiences taking part in Whodunnit?
- Logistically it needed to be able to deliver a different clue for each of the 8 characters in the game, rather than the same clue to everyone
"The process didn’t require much intervention or oversight beyond the initial set up!"
How InstaGiv Helped
InstaGiv enabled Macmillan to deliver the clue within the SMS that people received in response to their donation. The mechanics of the game were easy to set up, and once done so could be left to run without any additional monitoring or work from Macmillan. Including the option to text to donate and receive a clue that might help players solve the mystery felt new and exciting.
They incorporated the solution into each character script in the Whodunnit? game pack. It was so successful that they have subsequently incorporated it into the other games within their virtual Games Night In product – people can text to donate to play a brainteaser, Quiz round, or text to donate to receive an additional clue in their Escape Room. In all cases it’s entirely optional – the games still work if people prefer not to engage with the text to donate mechanism.
Results
The campaign was hugely successful – this use of text to donate has had over 51,000 donations and delivered a six-figure sum for Macmillan since implementation in 2018 and is continuing to deliver income while Games Night In is live in market.
