Improve Donor Relationships With Experiential Design

A charitable appeal in Bluewater shopping centre

What's experiential design and why is it relevant for charities?

This fancy term boils down to a simple idea: creating a better donation experience. This is about how visuals, audio, video, typography, and colour can be put together to tell stories. In the case of charities, we mean digital stories that share the joy, and meaning in supporting a cause that changes a situation for the better. Discover how different sectors are implementing experiential design in their fundraising strategies.

These kinds of immersive experiences, can deliver change for charities. As technology improves and becomes more readily available, it can help organisations stand out as relevant to donors in a tough climate where people have less to give.

Digital giving provides an opportunity to optimise donor journeys where every interaction matters.

Create a positive, memorable experience

Research shows, when people have a good experience with your organisation they will continue to support you and share their experience with others. You build loyalty.

Now consider creating, not only a good experience, but a memorable one.

Ask yourself, what experiences have resonated with you?

 

Then think about why – was it innovative? Emotive? Interactive? How did it make you feel?

These are the things worth considering when setting yourself apart throughout the giving experience.

The Donation Station is designed to support donor relationships, as well as collect contactless payments.

Every device uses features aimed at establishing a strong narrative, like the Attract Loop shown here, plus opportunities keep in touch with donors.

Midi Donation Station

Exceeding Donor Expectations

Experiential Giving makes a powerful first impression and goes beyond the immediate donor’s experience. 

This ‘halo effect’ makes use of visuals and animations to create a positive, public giving experience for both the device user and surrounding bystanders. 

Think about making it visually satisfying, or provide supporters with a souvenir to take away or share with others. For example, providing a social post via shareable link or QR code, gives donors the opportunity to share their good deed with others. 

What does Experiential Giving look like?

How to stand out in a difficult climate

You need to effectively and consistently tell your charity’s story in order to attract value-aligned donors. Rising costs, paired with a decline in regular giving and an incredibly competitive landscape, means charities are having to work harder to survive.

Talk to us about designing an immersive giving experience with Donation Station’s that

  • Create a unique and memorable experience
  • Emotionally connect with donors
  • Encourage further support from passers-by
Explore the benefits and features of contactless fundraising for your charity.

Charities using Experiential Giving​

Donors want fundraising experiences that are active, and we’ve been lucky to help charities make their donation experiences more immersive, using our Donation Station, and sometimes with bespoke technology.  

Digital gives charitable organisations the opportunity to optimise their donor journey. In a competitive landscape like today’s, every interaction matters. Making a memorable and emotive experience for your supporters increases recognition and donations. 

Back
to top

Book a demo

Ask us for a demo of our Donation Station, or tell us what you want to achieve with your fundraising.

Book a Demo
Skinny Donation Station in use at Riverbourne Farm

Who are GWD?

We help socially-minded organisations transition to digital systems, building stronger relationships through impactful products and services.

Our experience goes back two decades, with a foundation building and providing critical digital services and products for the financial services and retail industries.

With a long-proven ability to handle challenging projects and a team of trusted experts, we work hard to solve problems and deliver change that helps others.

gwd logo
Book a Demo

Subscribe to newsletter

Back
to top
Donation Station Lite

Discover our latest range of contactless products

The Lite range features two of our most accessible products; the Pocket and the Express.

Built with simplicity in mind, these small-scale, portable devices are ideal for collecting donations on the go. 

Attract Loop

Part of the Donation Station’s key visual design features, the Attract Loop are screensavers purposefully designed to run on a loop. Created by GWD with your input, they use visuals or photography, plus an emotive call to action, to catch the donors interest and lead them towards donation through interactive storytelling.

Customisation

The entire Donation Station is open to branding, from external display to on-screen logos, photography and your brand look and feel.

Our design support service can adapt visuals and graphics to suit your brand.

Wifi or 4G/5G Data SIM

Where you need it, the Donation Station can be supplied with Data or Wifi connectivity.

If using the device in a remote location or at an event, it’s worth considering the signal strength available – GWD can support you to ensure there’s a smooth running operation on the day.

Safe & Secure

All data is transmitted with full encryption, so you can be sure that all individual donor data is safely used, in accordance with GDPR regulations.

Choice of Donations

Giving choice on where the donor wants their money to be spent empowers them further. The Donation Station asks this question and gives charities freedom to present their causes and activities as separate campaigns.

Gift Aid Up Sell

An integrated Gift Aid function on all Donation Stations helps boost fundraising a further 25%. This tax relief can be claimed from HRMC from any donor that supplies their contact details and makes a declaration, as a UK tax payer. The Donation Station is designed to encourage and secure this additional fundraising income easily, through simple reports that can be downloaded and submitted to HMRC as part of a Gift Aid claim.