Annual Report 2024/Story: Fundraising – strategic investments for long-term development

Det här är en översatt version av sidan Verksamhetsberättelse 2024/Story: Insamlingsarbete – strategiska investeringar för långsiktig utveckling. Översättningen är till 100 % färdig och uppdaterad.

In this story, we focus on our ongoing development of member care and fundraising work through banners and a newly implemented system for member and donor management (CRM).

During 2024, the association continued to test different approaches in fundraising work, but the focus was on implementing a new system for member and donor management (CRM), which opens up for stronger and more diversified fundraising work. A new CRM was selected after the summer, and the system went live in December 2024. The system was chosen after a carefully conducted selection process where half a dozen different systems were compared against each other and matched with the specification compiled at the beginning of the process.

The new CRM system has already demonstrated significant advantages, primarily through the implementation of direct debit, which has quickly gained traction among both our donors and members. This feature makes it easier and smoother for donors and members to contribute regularly and significantly simplifies our administration. This means that a larger portion of each donation to Wikimedia Sverige directly supports fulfilling our vision of free knowledge for a better world.

The choice of a CRM system is a strategic investment in our long-term development. An effective CRM system is crucial for creating and maintaining personalized and relevant communication with our donors, members, and volunteers. It enables the building of more meaningful relationships with them and allows us to tailor our efforts to meet their specific needs and levels of engagement.

By implementing the system, we can also continue to develop our fundraising work, including diversifying our revenue streams. Having multiple sources of income reduces the vulnerability that comes with relying on too few funding sources. With a broad mix of revenue streams, we create a more stable financial foundation for the future, ensuring that the association's mission-driven work does not come to a halt.

Sweden is a wealthy country with a strong tradition of charity and giving, and we see a great opportunity to engage more individuals and organizations in supporting our activities.

Increased fundraising is also important to ensure that the association has the necessary resources to grow and continue its work in the long term. The value of fundraising lies not only in generating financial resources but also in fostering strong engagement among our donors, members, and volunteers, helping to build long-lasting relationships.

On the website wikipedia.se, which Wikimedia Sverige and operates, we did the first digital fundraising campaign via banners in 2024. Several technical solutions have been implemented to enable this. It is now possible to test different types of banners, and their effectiveness can be measured based on information automatically included in our CRM system about which initiative resulted in a donation.

A list of banners used on wikipedia.se can be found here. Over the past year, we have run banner campaigns highlighting specific events and initiatives, and we plan to put additional effort into them in 2025 with a greater focus on fundraising messages.

Since the association controls what is displayed on wikipedia.se, we also want our members and volunteers to have a direct influence on the messages we test there and the information we send. We have also communicated externally that we welcome suggestions from the community regarding this and will take any proposals into account when planning the continued use of the site. We will continue to experiment with different types of messages and systematically test and analyze what works well. Since wikipedia.se receives an average of over 11 000 visitors per month, we believe there is strong potential to develop the site into an important platform for Wikimedia Sverige in terms of both donations and engagement-building activities.

Despite the successes achieved, the year has also been marked by certain challenges. The implementation of the CRM system took longer than planned, requiring more resources than expected to complete the process. As a result, the planned Face2Face fundraising campaign had to be postponed, as CRM-related work needed to be prioritized, and our limited staff resources were affected by the absence of key individuals during parts of the year.

Although the number of donors has increased, the number of members has not, indicating that there is still a need to experiment with new strategies for recruiting members. Furthermore, it has become evident that the association's visibility and brand awareness are weaker than expected. Building a stronger presence is a time-consuming process that is also difficult to measure and test systematically.

Despite these challenges, this year's work has laid an important foundation for continued development. By investing in both technical solutions and communication strategies, the association has taken significant steps toward more sustainable and long-term financing, strengthening the ability to continue working for free knowledge on a broad scale.