Local newspaper creates fundraising microsite for hospice
Howard Lake | 12 October 2004 | News
Telford Hospice Appeal has just secured a donated microsite from its local paper The Shropshire Star to support its fundraising appeal.
It is still possible to secure a donated or sponsored Web site or online services, as the Telford Hospice Appeal demonstrates with the launch of its new fundraising microsite.
The Shropshire Star has produced a central collection online “of all the important information about the huge £5 million fundraising effort.” It includes an archive of appeal stories and pictures from the newspaper, together with details of the various fundraising initiatives, such as the ‘buy a brick’ campaign and tea parties. Most importantly it offers an online donation facility, together with an option to print out donation forms for posting in.
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Shropshire Star’s Internet Editor Ian Harvey said: “This will be a growing Web site, expanding as we follow the progress of the appeal in the paper and on Shropshirestar.com.” He promises to update the site every day.
The site includes a thank you section, where it lists the names of everyone who buys a 310 brick for the appeal.
The newspaper is well aware that its readership extends beyond the county, and its staff hope for an international response to the appeal. Ian added: “This Web site will also give Shropshire expats, whether still in the UK or abroad, the chance to do their bit for the appeal.”
One of the only downsides to this sponsorship is that the online donation facility is routed through the shopping cart system of The Shropshire Star. Since the newspaper handles the donation there is no facility to reclaim Gift Aid on individuals’ donations. Nevertheless, this could be tackled if they were to introduce a charity-specific online donation facility, such as those offered by Bmycharity, Charities Aid Foundation, or Justgiving.
The print-out donation forms on the other hand do include a Gift Aid declaration.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.