Shortlist for Fundraising Innovation Award

Muslim Charity, Helping The Needy: Ramadan 2024 Campaign

The Ramadan 2024 campaign serves as a prime example of how AI can be successfully harnessed to transform fundraising and achieve impactful results. The primary objective of this project was to utilise AI to stand out from the mass of Ramadan-related emails a typical Muslim donor would receive during Ramadan.

Working with Giving Analytics we came up with a plan to give donors something they had never seen before – a 100% personalised email that talked in depth about their specific relationship/interactions with the charity and the impact they had had.

Using Giving Analytics’ advanced segmentation and LLM integrations to create hyper-personalised emails at scale this innovative campaign significantly boosted donor engagement, increased donations by 300%+ and provided a promising data point for what LLM-generated email campaigns can achieve. The campaign's success highlights the transformative potential of AI in the non-profit sector, even within the strict confines of data protection regulation.

The judges said: "A technologically innovative campaign demonstrating the potential to harness AI for both income generation and great supporter engagement. Testing ultra-personalised communications significantly boosted donor engagement and improved supporter experience, increased donations by 300%+ and established the potential for scalability across the sector."

Stella Maris: The Sailing Pilgrimage

The Sailing Pilgrimage was a unique and innovative fundraising initiative for Stella Maris. This 70-day, 2,433-mile voyage around the UK combined traditional pilgrimage elements with modern fundraising techniques. The campaign raised £20,000 directly and also contributed to £400,000 in a subsequent national campaign. The pilgrimage visited 65 ports, engaged with 60 crew members and held 22 local events, building/strengthening relationships with coastal communities.

Innovative features included QR code branded crew uniforms for donations, live boat tracking for school engagement, and live media interviews from the sea. This helped secure 59 pieces of media coverage and nearly 70,000 social media views. The campaign inspired two new fundraising initiatives: a coastal walking pilgrimage in 2025 and a sailing pilgrimage to Spain planned for 2026.

This campaign demonstrated how a traditional pilgrimage can be innovatively combined with creative fundraising techniques to grow income, build awareness, and build/strengthen community support.

The judges said: "A unique innovative fundraising initiative that pivoted an established and traditional event into a fundraising and engagement opportunity.  Alongside trialling a new model, the “Sailing Pilgrimage” also creatively tested a number of innovative tactics, including live tracking and different pay mechanisms, to successfully raise awareness, grow income and increase community engagement and support."