• News
• Blog
• Seminar

Chameleon is helping League Against Cruel Sports to break new ground by taking SMS donations within Facebook, in order to turn its positive engagement with the 27,000 people ‘liking’ the page into more funds for the charity, which campaigns to stop cruelty to animals in sport.

We designed and developed the League’s new Facebook page (facebook.com/leagueagainstcruelsports) which launched last week using Facebook’siFrames technology (see more on this below).

"Some charities are set up to take donations directly within Facebook, and many start the donation process on the network and then redirect supporters to their main website to complete payment. We believe we are among the first to take donations entirely within Facebook using the secure, quick and convenient method of SMS" says James Robinson, Head of Marketing & Fundraising at the League.

For the user, it is really straightforward. We created a separate sub-page for donations within the League’s Facebook page, in which supporters are asked to complete four fields; their mobile number, email address, first and last name. They then select an amount from three donation choices - £1, £3 or £5 - and once they click the ‘Donate’ button, a text is sent asking for confirmation of the donation, which is deducted from their phone bill.

Facebook users prefer not to be redirected elsewhere on the web to complete actions, so keeping processes within the social network is a good way to increase engagement. The SMS method also appeases security concerns users may have about entering their credit card details within Facebook.

In addition to the money generated, the League will also be able to keep the data obtained from supporters who text to donate, as well as giving these people an opt-in for future communications.

"The League has taken the decision over the last year to work with Chameleon on creating cost-effective, innovative online methods to promote our cause and to fundraise. The latest enhancements to our Facebook presence are an example of this, and we’re very excited to see the result" says James.

Facebook iFrames: what you need to know

• iFrames mean that web developers are no longer required to solely use Facebook’s own FBML code to create complex web pages with the network; they can now use HTML, which is the standard for web design across most other online platforms, and embed it into the FBML iFrame template.
• This means you can now pull in content hosted elsewhere on the web directly to your Facebook page. For example, you can use content hosted on your main website and edit your Facebook pages just as you would your site, through your Content Management System.
• As a result, it is now possible to create richer, more in-depth, engaging content on Facebook.
• If social networks already act as key engagement platforms for your organisation, enhancing their performance can be far less of an investment than creating an entirely new fundraising website, which you then need to acquire traffic for and promote.