If you picture red kettles, brass quartets and jingling bells when you think of The Salvation Army’s fundraising, you’re behind the times. Since the organization began raising money online in 2001, e-contributions have zoomed from $700,000 in that first year to $7 million in 2008. Now The Salvation Army has launched an impressive communications and stewardship effort with its first online annual review, www.hopestories.ca.

HopeStories presents in-depth content about the Army’s work and uses a variety of enriched media: video testimonials from clients and staff, social networking application integration and downloadable financial material. An eight-page summary or “teaser” replaces the 28-page printed report of other years. It drives readers to the web site and costs no more to mail than a regular letter.

“The average person just skims an annual review,” says territorial public relations director Andrew Burditt, so there has been no negative reaction to the reduction of the printed version. There have been 2,500 page views since the site launched September 15, with visitors spending an average of four minutes on the site. Each of the video testimonials has been viewed several hundred times.

Greater scope online, print benefits too

HopeStories.ca moves beyond the one-way communication that typifies a printed report. It encourages visitors to engage in conversation with others. Online visitors can share how The Salvation Army has impacted their lives. Users can post comments directly to the site or share items with their friends on social networks.

At a time when Web strategies seem to compete with more traditional channels for scarce dollars and time, The Salvation Army is proving they can actually complement one another. Taking its in-depth annual information online creates greater flexibility for the print version. Because the teaser is so much smaller and easier to handle, it will be printed in greater quantities and used in more ways, including direct mail. Burditt has already fielded enquiries from local groups who want to distribute it in their Christmas kettle campaign.

Workload different, not greater

The first step to success, he advises, is hiring the right person for the job. The Salvation Army’s in-house Web producer was chosen for his understanding of the organization’s mission as well as his demographic savvy and Web knowledge.

Surprisingly, the time line for producing the dual versions was not substantially different from the previous schedule for the comprehensive print report. Staff began planning in February as usual. The shorter document allowed a later print deadline, creating the chance to craft the main Web content at the same time and allowing breathing room for the surprises, differences of opinion and conflicts inevitable during a new process.

“It took the same amount of time,” says Burditt, “but spent in a different way.”

Burditt says the staff team of Web producer, writer and “all-round media guy” are a lot cheaper than outsourcing. Their presence in house allows flexible, immediate changes to the site – so much so that he lists “knowing when to stop tweaking” as one of the top challenges of taking the report to the Web.

Though he’s encouraged by the early uptake on the site, Burditt is not yet satisfied with the hit rate. In October he’ll test the effectiveness of billboards at driving traffic to the site. If that’s successful, he’ll roll out the tactic from the Toronto test market to other large urban centres.

For more information, Andrew Burditt, Territorial Public Relations Director, 416-422-6208, andrew_burditt@can.salvationarmy.org; www.hopestories.ca

Article by – Janet Gadeski – Canadian Fundraiser eNews