The Project

FairSay was commissioned to analyse the performance of the WWF International 'Panda Passport' platform: a digital action platform serving WWF countries around the world. At the time it was first launched in 1999, it was pioneering in terms of it practices. But 7 years later it was no longer the best practice example it had started as. FairSay's task was to analyse the performance of the platform in converting email subscribers and site visitors into active supporters and keeping them active.

David Cole's experience

The Obstacles

The biggest obstacle was the mistaken belief that such analysis can be easily done internally. Whilst such skills might exist it would have been very difficult (if even possible) for existing staff in the same team to devote sufficient time to such a project on top of their day to day  work. By out-sourcing the work to Fairsay we were therefore able to ensure that a comprehensive analysis could be undertaken without impacting upon our regular online campaigning output.

WWF's Learning

As a result of the analysis, we had a much better understanding of WWF's international campaigning membership and how they could be better engaged to take action. These insights enabled WWF to improve its technical platform and membership emails. The analysis also proved invaluable when presenting plans to senior management and to support the case for for investment in WWF's online campaigning work.

Most Valuable Learning

The most valuable thing we learned was that a large proportion of our campaign list was becoming inactive shortly after having taken action for the first time, and that contrary to our initial thinking English speakers were more likely to become inactive than other languages. From this we were able to put in place specific measures to improve action rates and improve the overall quality of our campaigning.

Top Three Benefits

1. A concrete plan to engage less active and semi dormant supporters.
2. Range of detailed practical recommendations on how  we could improve our supporter emails and technical platform to increase activation and engagement.
3. Solid numbers and methodology that showed the analysis was serious and comprehensive.

Conclusion

FairSay provided an excellent service throughout the project and I would wholeheartedly recommend them. They provided a great balance of analysis and practical recommendations, which we are able to take away and implement. Duane was a real asset to the WWF team, and the resulting improvements in WWF's online campaigning were in large part due to the work he undertook.