Solution – donor bonds due to warm glow effect and affection
Doing good towards others or treating others fairly can trigger a comforting feeling in us. This effect is called “warm glow” by behavioural economists. Furthermore, we know from our own experiences that retention primarily takes place when people are personally affected. Affection, combined with this warm glow, clearly increases donor retention. We took advantage of this combination when creating the new monthly giving programme #StandByMe.

Implementation – more empathy and less loneliness
Those in need have many sufferings. Those affected – mostly, but not exclusively, homeless people – struggle with disorientation, stigmatisation, shame, despair, illness and addiction. Their path often leads to loneliness, and this in turn leads to social isolation. Those affected end up in a dead-end street. #StandByMe recognises precisely this. #StandByMe alleviates loneliness with compassion and sympathy. It builds a bridge between those affected and donors, and gets to the bottom of the issue of loneliness.

Effect – Community feeling creates awareness and connections
We’re aware of it. Finding donors who do not only want to donate to concrete and tangible projects and want to do this monthly will not be easy. However, the issue of loneliness affects and takes a hold of us all again and again. Therefore this topic is perfectly suited for a unique monthly giving programme. The donors participate with a monthly donation and ensure that the Salvation Army can create an environment where those affected can feel safe and less lonley.

But the commitment is mutual. The donor sees that they have invested in a good cause every month on their bank statement and therefore keeps remembering the organisation. At the same time, they receive monthly information from the #StandByMe community. The bigger the community becomes, the stronger the connection to the issue of loneliness and to those affected becomes, and so loyalty to the organisation grows. It is always worth setting up a Monthly Giving. Donation programmes like these generally have a retention rate of over 80% after one year and 95% after five years.* This type of giving has depth and touches people every month.

Experiencing issues rather than simply developing them
What was intended to be a workshop became a short but intensive immersion into the daily life of the Salvation Army. Concept developers from the Salvation Army and getunik spent half a day in the world of the Salvation Army and met dormitory and market garden managers. This provided us with an authentic picture of their daily lives on site, including all of their ups and downs. We were able to put ourselves in the shoes of those affected pretty quickly. This approach was a good foundation. The seeds had been laid for developing the core theme – in this case this was the issue of loneliness.

#StandByMe – The name says it all
A significant part of our conceptual work for this monthly donation programme was developing a name – in our case it was #StandByMe. This name shows our donors that they are part of something bigger. With the claim of “Supporting. Contributing. Alleviating loneliness”, it is quickly clear what #StandByMe stands for.

Creating a label – fast recognition is essential
A label provides visual orientation. A monthly donation programme automatically takes up more space than other measures in your organisation. It is helpful when the donation programme not only has a catchy name, but is also visually easy to grasp and, if possible, leaves the person viewing it with a positive feeling as quickly as possible.

The #StandByMe info page – full information at a glance
What exactly is #StandByMe? Interested donors are presented with all essential information about the monthly donation programme on an info page. Using the built in donation widget “Lema”, by RaiseNow, the path towards regular digital donations is done very quickly.

Onboarding journey – digital and analoge
The monthly donation is done; what next? Every single donor is personally welcomed with an onboarding journey. This of course by e-mail, but not only. The new #StandBy member receives a symbolic present by mail. A sign that the new donor is part of this humanitarian community.

A newsletter that unites people.
The heart of #StandByMe is definitely formed by those affected, our loyal donors and, of course, the Salvation Army, with whom everything, or at least a lot, converges. How can we keep this triad together? How to share the research about loneliness in our society? Where can we record the resulting stories about humanity and empathy? We selected the practical newsletter as the core vessel. Content about loneliness is edited and sent at regular intervals. Mostly it is texts in a pleasant length with authentic pictures. Sometimes just a thought and sometimes just a song that touches us and maybe the whole #StandByMe community. The goal is to connect people to #StandByMe.