World Vision UK launches new approach to digital fundraising with CIO appointment
Melanie May | 13 November 2018 | News
World Vision UK is launching a new approach to digital fundraising that will see it adopt the principles and practices of fast-growing digital start-ups in its online fundraising efforts.
To lead the changes, the charity has appointed digital entrepreneur Martin Francis Campbell as CIO.
World Vision UK is launching the initiative to its staff this week, who will be undertaking training in entrepreneurial agile development as well as working with fast-growing UK start-ups to learn first-hand how the charity can benefit from agile methods.
The charity is also launching a new cross-functional team The Digital Collective, which will work across the organisation’s existing structures to give the charity the flexibility and speed of modern start-ups in the gig-economy. World Vision UK will share its progress with the sector through the Digital Collective website.
Tim Pilkington, World Vision UK Chief Executive, said:
“We’ve invested significantly in digital technology, analytics and in the decision to recruit a top level CIO but as we face the challenges ahead, our ability to do digital really well is going to be crucial to us in rising to meet the increased expectations of our donors and our beneficiaries.”
Campbell commented:
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“One of the biggest challenges is that technology has moved relentlessly forward over the last decade, and charities are struggling to keep up. What I learned from building another start-up was that an organisation prepared to use inexpensive digital tools can move far faster than was possible even five years ago. I was able to build a new team and a new digital product in an entirely new market and achieve an eight-figure valuation within eighteen months of incorporating the company. That’s the kind of growth that would transform any charity’s fundraising and service delivery, but the skills and experience to do it largely aren’t present in the sector.”
He added:
“When I started working in the charity sector twenty years ago, folks were complaining that charities were too siloed. The only way out of that is to work in the open, share data, share performance measures openly, and share decision making. We’re adopting that within the collective at World Vision, which is open to all, and we’re also sharing the progress that we make with the rest of the sector, both through our participation with initiatives like the charity digital code the non-profit common data model, and also through sharing our own progress, warts and all with the sector at digitalcollective.org.uk.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.