Presentation of the Rise of MOB (mud, obstacle and beer) events from the Institute of Fundraising's National Fundraising Convention 2015.

1. The rise of the M.O.B. events
How experience led events are
changing the fundraising landscape
Institute of Fundraising Convention
7th July 2015

2. Presentation Topics
1. What are experience led events and where
have they come from?
2. Insight into the data behind the fundraisers
3. Case studies
– Electric Run & Breast Cancer Care
– Color Run & Save the Children
4. Summary
5. Questions

3. My experience in the charity sector

4. “Traditional” fundraising events

5. Out of their comfort zone

6. • Physical challenge
• Beyond comfort zone
Out of their comfort zone

7. “Traditional” Fundraising Events
(Experience)
Event
(Cause)
Charity

8. Experiential
events…

9. What are experiential events?

10. M.O.B.
Events

11. Copy
Experiential Events
Colour

12. Copy
Experiential EventsSound & light

13. Copy
The super social

14. …are born from
social media
The new
breed of
events…

15. • Part of something big
• More related to the activity than the cause
The role of social media

16. Part of something big
Charity’s role?
Not driving force
Team focus

17. Copy
Experiential Events

18. Copy
Experiential Events

20. “Fundraising has become more
about the activity than the cause”
Karl Mitchell
Director of Fundraising and Supporter
Development at The Woodland Trust
Challenges facing charities
“…increased competition and developing new
products for younger audiences”
Lynda Thomas
Director of Fundraising at Macmillan Cancer Support

21. Copy
Experiential EventsOpportunities
Younger audience
First time fundraisers
Lifetime value

23. Mostly young men in full-time
employment who want a challenge
M.O.B. fundraising
Explosive growth over the past
years in M.O.B. fundraising: 356%
increase in pages from 2012 - 2014

24. Meet the M.O.B. fundraisers
[PERCE
NTAGE
]
Female
[PERCE
NTAGE
] Male
Gender split Age ranges
2%
26%
22%
21%
11%
12%
3%
2%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Under 18
18-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76+
93%
69%
43%
37% 35%
Social networks
F/T, 81%
P/T, 8% Student, 9% Carer, 2%
Employment
“I wanted a challenge”
(54%)

25. M.O.B. – how do they support charities?
3%
6%
8%
20%
22%
22%
28%
30%
33%
42%
42%
42%
Add a charity to your will
Give money via payroll giving
Sign up to charity mailing lists
Raise money offline
Monthly direct debits to charities
Volunteering
Workplace collection
Follow charities on social media
Share charity information on social media
Make donations to a charity shop
Attend charity fundraising events
Donate money offline

26. What’s next?
49% of the M.O.B.
fundraisers will find an
new event to try (and
support a charity)
…And 64% of them will
support the same
charity again

27. Mostly young women wanting to
support a good cause via a fun
experience
Experiential event fundraising
Decent growth over the past years
in experiential fundraising: 212%
increase in pages from 2013 - 2014

28. Meet the Experiential fundraisers
Age ranges
13%
24%
19%
15%
7%
8%
8%
4%
2%
1%
0%
0%
0%
Under 18
18-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76+
96%
60%
49%
38%
34%
Social networks
F/T, 49%
P/T, 19% Student, 21%
Carer, 6%
retired, 1% no work, 4%
Employment
“I wanted to support
my charity” (53%)
Gender split
[CATE
GORY
NAME]
emale
[PERC
ENTAG
E]
[CATE
GORY
NAME]
ale
[PERC
ENTAG
E]

29. Experiential – how do they like to support charities?
4%
4%
12%
16%
20%
23%
24%
31%
37%
41%
42%
55%
Add a charity to your will
Give money via payroll giving
Sign up to charity mailing lists
Raise money offline
Volunteering
Donate money offline
Monthly direct debits to charities
Workplace collection
Share charity information on social media
Follow charities on social media
Attend charity fundraising events
Make donations to a charity shop

30. 58% of the experiential
fundraisers will find an
new event to try (and
support a charity)
…And 46% of them will
support the same
charity again
What’s next?

33. Born in the USA
20 – 30yr olds
70% female

34. Considerations
Fundraising
Adding value
Cost

35. Association
Brand identity
Engagement

36. Entries
JustGiving page
creation
Press & PR
What we did…

37. Tone &
messaging

38. Social media
Incentives

39. Activation

41. Volunteer
recruitment

42. Corporate
partnerships

43. Subsidised charity places – 1,345
Wembley 14,000 Manchester 5,000
Own place – over 1,700
“Free” Breast Cancer Care places – 325
(Hear from event partners – over 3,000)
Electric Run 2014

44. Electric Run 2014
Team entries Commitment?
Over 1,700 contacted look like raised £0

45. Electric Run 2014
£204,000 raised
Subsidised
£140
Own places
£206
“Free” places
£305
Fundraising per head

46. Cross marketing
40 – Sporting events
8 – Pink Ribbonwalks
7 – Special events
6 – Community
2 – Treks
1 – Major Donor

47. Learnings Dependant on event
organisers for many factors
Number of events Number of participants
Event day branding
restrictions
Feedback -
Good & Bad

48. 2nd year syndrome
Detailed contract
Post event plan
Shelf life
Learnings

50. - 7 events nationwide
- 65,000 participants
- Average age 24
- 24,000 ticked to hear
from “official charity”
- 3,500 joined the
Save the Children team

51. Copy
Save the Children

52. Copy
Save the Children

53. Copy
Save the Children£65 average raised per person
Of those who actually fundraised,
average £124 per person

54. Summary
Raised over
£180k
Cost too much
money and
staff time to
continue
Cross
marketing still
in progress

55. Summary

56. Role of the charity in partnership
Summary
• To event organisers
– Remove barriers to
encouraging sign ups
– Adding value is key!
(including money)
• To participants
– Understand the target audience
– Matching the tone of the event whilst maintaining your
own brand identity

57. • Lifetime value of supporter
– Event as acquisition tool
– ROI change in perception
• Global experiential events are very commercial
– Higher risk vs chance of reward?
– Potential short shelf life
Summary
• Still in their infancy as events
– More to learn as this trend matures
– What’s the next big thing?
• Charities are creating their own…
£2.30
£2
£3£1.50
£2.50

58. Pretty Muddy
ToughSh!t
Summary

60. Key takeaways…
• Both M.O.B. and experiential events are great opportunities to enhance your events mix
(and meet some new types of fundraisers)
• Getting involved with these events is an useful way of getting your charity in front of the
younger ‘Instagram generation’
• Treat them right and these new fundraisers have the potential to support your cause in other
ways – but give them the right opportunities and prompts
• The growth in these event types indicates that young potential supporters are looking for
new and unique experiences that they can do for charity – so it’s worth experimenting!

61. Thank you!
Any questions?

62. Tom Whitehead
tom.whitehead@breastcancercare.org.uk
@tomawesomeo
www.emf.org.uk
Liz Kessick
elizabeth@justgiving.com
@lizkessick

63. • Meet and network other charity event fundraisers
• Online forum all year round
– EMF meetings held every
two months
– Guest speakers from
sector
– Interactive group sessions
– Social drinks
– Share work questions, industry contacts
– See latest jobs
• Just £10 per year.
• Institute of Fundraising affiliate group