The tide is turning on charity integration
Despite the benefits, we know integrated working is not always easy for charities. Stakeholders must be sold in, and for that, we need statistical evidence, as well as patience and diplomacy.
We are working with media partner JAA and econometrics partner Metametrics to produce a flagship piece of sector research, putting a financial value on integration for charities. This is launching in spring 2025, and you can register your interest here.
In anticipation, we launched a survey in Oct-Nov 2024 asking the charity sector for their experience of integration. 76 charity marketeers completed our survey online, including 9% C-Suite Executives, 17% from Brand and PR teams and 44% from fundraising teams, encompassing Individual Giving, Philanthropy, Events, Legacy and In Mem. The survey strongly represented small, medium and large charities.
The results below paint a picture of a sector transitioning towards a more integrated and effective way of working but highlights key challenges to overcome.
A strong sector belief in integration with proven results
At 97%, there is an overwhelming belief among charity marketeers that integration of brand and response advertising achieves the best results, with 68% saying they believe this strongly. Belief in integration is especially high in brand teams, with 85% of brand marketeers believing strongly that integration achieves the best results vs only 52% of fundraisers.
63% of charity marketeers say they have seen proven evidence at their charity that integration brought the best results, with brand (62%) and fundraising (63%) marketeers reporting success in almost equal measures.
Despite overwhelming belief and proven results, only 18% said integrated working at their charity was easy.
Integration proves difficult in practice, with leadership lacking
Despite overwhelming belief and proven results, only 18% said integrated working at their charity was easy. 59% said it was difficult, and 11% said it was very difficult. Brand and fundraising teams report finding integration challenging in fairly equal measure.
We’ll unpick the reasons for this in our research, but one clear factor was the lack of senior leadership on integration. Only half of marketeers (53%) said integration was promoted as a priority by their senior leadership. Even for marketeers in the largest charities with an income of £50m+ per annum, only 63% said their senior leaders prioritised integration.
Lack of knowledge of how advertising actually works
Marketeers need a grounding in advertising theory to understand how brand and response communications work together to achieve the best results. We found confidence in advertising effectiveness was shockingly low in charity marketeers, even in the largest charities and at senior levels.
Only half of charity marketeers (54%) say they have a confident or expert understanding of how advertising achieves communication goals. In the largest charities of £50m+ pa, 40% of marketeers say their understanding is only sufficient or low. Even among senior leaders and heads of departments, 47% say their understanding of advertising effectiveness is sufficient or low.
Brand teams felt they had a much stronger grasp of advertising effectiveness theory than fundraisers, with 70% feeling confident or expert in brand vs only 42% in fundraising. Marketeers in Philanthropy, digital and innovation teams reported the lowest understanding of marketing theory.
Some integration of message, but low levels of integrated measurement and income attribution
Integration requires charities to align around a shared mission, message and, ultimately, measurement of results. The former often proves easier, with 57% of charity marketeers saying they have some integrated alignment around a consistent message. However, only 9% strongly agree with this.
Integrated measurement has proved much more difficult and yet is fundamental to continuing success. Only 35% of marketeers agree that their charity has integrated reporting, and only 29% have used some kind of attribution modelling, such as econometrics, to reveal the true impact of communications activity on income. Even in the largest charities of £50m+, only 50% have used attribution modelling.
This means the true results of their multi-million pound marketing activities are easily missed or, at best, are not fully understood.
Support, training and inspiration needed for junior and mid-level marketeers
Another consistent theme in our survey was the need to properly train and trickle down the integration vision to junior and mid-level staff, who typically implement the marketing plans in practice.
Junior and mid-level staff reported lower levels of understanding of advertising effectiveness theory (47% said they were expert or confident vs 63% for senior staff. seniors).
Junior and mid-levels were also less likely to think their leadership prioritised integration (46% agree vs 60% among seniors) and were more likely to find integrated working difficult (68% vs 49% among seniors).
Opportunities for integration beyond the festive season
Despite these challenges, charities have already been implementing integration almost universally throughout the year. 91% of charities reported at least one integrated moment throughout the year, with 2 or 3 annual moments being the most common.
81% of even the smallest charities of less than £1m income a year reported at least one integrated moment in the calendar. Only 9% of charities had reached the point of total integration throughout the year rather than just at key calendar moments.
The winter festive season was the most common integration opportunity, with 68% saying they had used it. However, there are plenty of incredible opportunities to integrate beyond Christmas. Only 15% had used the launch of a new service as an integration moment, and only 9% had used a moment from popular culture, such as “kids going back to school” or Mother’s Day.
Although the path to integration is challenging, it was clear from our survey that more and more charity marketeers were experiencing its many benefits…
Although the path to integration is challenging, it was clear from our survey that more and more charity marketeers were experiencing its many benefits – from improved ROI and efficiencies to a more coherent story and a more collaborative working culture with better morale. As one senior leader wrote in the survey, “Each piece of comms builds on the one below. Our sum is greater than our parts and we maximise out impact.”
GOOD are well placed as a creative agency with experience building both fame and fortune for charities. We understand how to make brand and fundraising plans work together to achieve the best results. We have three decades of experience supporting charities on the journey to more integrated working; training staff, sharing knowledge of advertising effectiveness, crafting uniting stories and establishing integrated measurement. If you’d like to chat to us about your integrated ambitions do get in touch with lucy.martin@goodagency.co.uk
Don’t forget to pre-register here for the launch of our Integration Effect Report in Spring 2025, which will provide statistical evidence for the value of integration for charity clients in partnership with JAA and Metametrics.
