For the first time, people raising money for the Canal & River Trust can choose to fundraise for specific projects, knowing that 100 per cent of the funds will go directly to that appeal. Anyone visiting the Trust's website can now select from 50 individual waterway projects they would like their JustGiving contributions to support.
It means the Trust can offer far greater donor choice and make fundraising via JustGiving more personal than ever before for its supporters.
The Canal & River Trust integration was made possible by JustGiving's development of ‘APIs', web services that have enabled the trust to use JustGiving's fundraising services and adapt them to their specific needs and brand, easily and effectively. The APIs have allowed the Canal & River Trust to build a completely personalised experience for their supporters while still benefiting for JustGiving's expert fundraising tools.
Ruth Ruderham, head of fundraising at the Canal & River Trust, said:
“Until now our supporters have been able to donate money to us as a charity, but not to specific projects that they may have a personal interest in. We know people typically have an affinity with a particular stretch of waterway or a localised project, so this initiative with JustGiving is ground-breaking for us.
“Donors can better monitor the impact their money is having, while we as a charity know that donations are being directed on the projects that people really care about.
“We hope this will stimulate an increase in support, with people confident about how we are using the money they raise for us.”
The Canal & River Trust is a new charity that looks after the 2,000 miles of canal, rivers and locks in England Wales. The 50 local projects people can support include creating habitats for otters on the River Trent, restoring reed beds in Droitwich, replacing dry stone walls on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and transforming graffitied hidden-corners of the towpath in central London.
The first person to use the new system is 11-year old Martha Stevens from Cambridgeshire who is raising money to help improve habitat for rare water voles on the Grand Union Canal by completing a sponsored swim through the 219 year old tunnel at Braunston.
Gemma Randall, Head of Charity Partnership at JustGiving, said:
“This is a really exciting campaign from the Canal & River Trust that breaks new ground in personalising the experience for their supporters. It's a fantastic use of JustGiving's API technology to allow supporters to choose how their money will make a difference while recognising their motivations for giving. We think these elements will really motivate people to give more to this fantastic charity.”
