Hull Animal Welfare Trust
For my proposal, I chose the local charity Hull Animal Welfare Trust. HAWT formed a small group in 1982 to help any abandoned animal in their area. Today HAWT have grown massively, re-homing over thirty thousand animals due to many donations to the non-profit organisation. The charity has even opened two charity shops in Hull and South Cave.
Hull Animal Welfare Trust’s goal is still the same, wanting to help any abandoned animals. On their website, they promise to:
- Never put down a healthy animal.
- Never ignore any phone calls or distressed animals.
- To neuter animals to avoid more abonnement.
- Donations go directly to animal care and attention with minimal money going to the administration.
These points win over a donor, showing how transparent the non-profit organisation is and how they truly want to help. The donations going straight to animal care rings true, as their website almost looks abandoned.
The reason I chose this charity is because their goal is important to me personally as an animal lover. Their website and social media can be greatly improved to benefit their cause.
Initial Ideas & Inspiration
My aim for the HAWT website is to fabricate a nice flow and logic to the site, guiding the user through it. The website has missing images and empty spaces that don’t make sense, making it seem deserted. Adding symmetry can create a great website flow as well. I also want to follow a colour palette for the site instead of using many different colours.
I have taken inspiration from the RSPCA and Dogs Trust websites, both being charities similar in mission to HAWT. These two sites have a fantastic pop of colour upon opening the website, welcoming the user and keeping their attention. On their homepage, they have included a relevant (Christmas-related at the moment) title to garner sympathy for animals in need, pulling on the heartstrings of the audience. These figures are what’s missing from the Hull Animal Welfare Trust’s site and are vital for gaining more donations.
Target Audience
Animal non-profit organisations get more support/donations than any other charity in the UK. The people adopting these pets from animal shelters include:
- Animal Lovers – These people are passionate about animals and can’t ignore campaigns for suffering animals.
- Elderly – The Elderly crave companionship in pets and adopt more low-maintenance animals like cats.
- Families – Families looking for a new addition to the family, usually adopt kittens or puppies.
There isn’t much research on who adopts rescue animals but the average people adopting animals in general are millennials ( 28-43 years old) and Gen Z (41-56 years old) since the pandemic (UK Pet Food,2021). This furthers the idea of families being a big part of HAWT’s audience along with animal lovers.
The average person donating to animal charities is very different. From a study in 2020-2021, I found that 29% of donations are from people aged 75+ and 25% of donors are aged 50-60 years old. The age that donates the least amount is 18-25 with just 1%. The study also shows women take up 64% of donations while men are 36% (RKD Group). This shows that the audience of animal shelter charities consists of an older generation than the young. The enforces the implementation of an accessible website and online presence.
Another section of the audience is the education of the general public about HAWT’s cause. Focusing on school and children in animal charity pushes this education and message much more for the charity.
Overall from this information, Hull Animal Welfare Trust’s audience involves:
- The Elderly.
- Families.
- Gen Z and Millennials.
- Schools.
- Pet lovers.
Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy
For the strategy for Hull Animal Welfare Charity, I’m going to focus on a mix of online and offline content to cater to the target audience.
One strategy is to include consistent and impactful campaigns for the charity. Currently HAWT have no campaigns pushing their mission. The campaigns should be relevant to the target audience and spread on social media and poster/board forms. This is to drive engagement to the charity in the local area, making them more well-known.
Another is to send physical newsletters to donors and volunteers. These letters can include updates, and new, events. This makes donors/volunteers feel more involved as they will witness what their money/work is doing to help the charity cause.
Incorporating email marketing which the non-profit organisation doesn’t have yet, would increase engagement towards the online presence of HAWT. These emails can include educational content, updates and services. For donors and volunteers, the emails can encourage them to keep donating/helping out.
A simple but effective strategy is to have multiple slogans that encapsulate the charity missions. Spreading these slogans on social media, the website and other content can push their cause and consistently encourage people to help in any way they can.
Finally, a strategy that works on me, is displaying charity tins/boxes in shops and other public places. This boosts donations and presence in the local area. Including badges/pins with the tins/boxes also encourages those donations but also further promotes the charity as the donors wear the badges/pins. Donation stations are another way the charity can receive physical donations that aren’t money but still help the cause.
Key Features and Functionalities of New Web Presence
One Functionality of the new web presence is accessibility. In terms of the website, I plan to make the overall design more accessible by curating a colour blind-friendly colour theme and adding a bigger and more readable font. Adjusting the layout so not all the information is in one small section as well will help those who may struggle to concentrate and aid in understandability in general. Fabricating an accessibility option on the site so users can zoom in or add text to speech, for example, will be a great addition to accessibility. Adding subtitles to videos can be used on the website and social media.
The branding and colours used on the HAWT website and social media don’t make sense and aren’t consistent. The only consistent branding is their logo and the use of blue. Fabricating a new colour palette that can be used across all platforms for the brand will aid in brand identity. Making the charity more recognisable to the audience and new people.
HAWT’s mission needs to be clear and consistent spread across the website and social media. Making users feel more urged to donate and not miss out on what they could do to help.
References
Hull Animal Welfare (undated) homepage*. https://hullanimalwelfare.co.uk/ [10/11/24].
RSPCA (undated) homepage*. https://www.rspca.org.uk/ [10/11/24].
Dogs Trust (undated) homepage*. https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/[10/11/24].
Shelter Roundtable (undated) Put Together Your Animal Shelter Marketing Plan Today*. https://shelterroundtable.com/create-animal-shelter-marketing-plan/#:~:text=Define%20your%20target%20audience&text=Some%20common%20target%20audiences%20for,to%20add%20to%20their%20household. [10/11/24].
UK Pet Food (2021) New Pet Population Data Released*. https://www.ukpetfood.org/resource/pfma-releases-latest-pet-population-data.html#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20Pet%20Food%20Manufacturers,study%20raises%20pet%20welfare%20concerns. [10/11/24].
RKD Group (Undated) Animal Welfare Donor Demographic Analysis*. https://info.rkdgroup.com/animal-welfare-donor-demographic-analysis#:~:text=The%20biggest%20difference%20is%20in,%25%20are%20ages%2050%2D69. [10/11/24].
RSPCA (Undated) Pets As Prizes*. https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/petprizes. [10/11/24].
Manashi (2020) 6 Email Marketing Ideas to Drive Participation Towards Your Online Giving Campaign. [Blog post]. Almabase. 17 March. https://www.almabase.com/blog/6-email-marketing-ideas-to-drive-participation-towards-your-online-giving-campaigns [10/11/24].
RSPB Community Fundraiser Gloucestershire (2022) Birds, the Cotswolds and Pin Badge Volunteering for the RSPB. [Blog post]. Cotswolds. 21 January. https://www.cotswolds.org/blog/rspb-pin-badge-volunteering-in-the-cotswolds/122/. [10/11/24].