Business Platform
A Drop of Life
Meeting fundraising goals by engaging donors through creative content and a streamlined donation process
Brand
WhatsApp Business Solution Provider
A Drop of Life builds a communications channel in WhatsApp to engage donors with content that improves message clickthrough and read rates, while making the donation process easier and more efficient to achieve fundraising goals
5X
donations attributable to WhatsApp compared to email
4X
clickthrough rates for messages sent over WhatsApp compared to email
60%
increase in message read rates through WhatsApp over email
*All results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
Their Story
Bringing hope with every drop
A Drop of Life is dedicated to bringing clean water to underserved people through water sanitation projects in Cambodia, Nepal, and mainland China. Operating under the philosophy of “delivering love, realizing love,” the Hong Kong-based NGO believes that access to healthy drinking water is a basic human right, and key to solving issues such as world poverty.
Their Goal
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Building relationships with donors
When A Drop of Life launched an ambitious campaign to raise over $100,000 for a water supply system in Nepal, the NGO needed a faster, more efficient channel to engage donors who might not regularly interact with traditional email campaigns – while encouraging donations by making the process as convenient as possible.
Their Solution
A Drop of Life was the first charity in Hong Kong to integrate the PayMe e-Wallet into WhatsApp
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A fast, efficient flow for donations
For over 20 years, A Drop of Life has helped vulnerable people access clean, safe water that is the essence of health and hygiene. Through sustainable water projects across Nepal, Cambodia, and mainland China, A Drop of Life works to improve public health and encourage community development.
Contributions from donors are pivotal in funding these projects and the Hong Kong-based NGO has engaged donors through email campaigns that link to special landing project-based pages on its website. While A Drop of Life found success with this traditional method of outreach in the past, new technologies and shorter attention spans have changed the ways charities compete for donors’ time and dollars.
Like many charities, A Drop of Life was experiencing a significant decline in email open and clickthrough rates. The team knew that they would need to expand their reach to meet their latest crowdfunding campaign: building a large water supply system in Nepal.
Understanding that WhatsApp was widely used throughout Hong Kong, the NGO partnered with Sanuker, a messaging solutions consultancy, to develop an innovative communications and fundraising channel over the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Donors who previously provided A Drop of Life with their WhatsApp number, or accessed WhatsApp on the main website, received invitations to opt-in to messages related to the Nepal campaign. After opening a message, they were greeted by a chatbot allowing them to donate directly or learn more about the project through immersive multimedia content that focused on project logistics, along with heartfelt videos about the children whose lives will change with increased access to healthy drinking water.
“Using WhatsApp, we have the flexibility to share the stories that will inspire our donors to get involved with lifesaving projects. Clickthrough rates for messages sent via WhatsApp during our Nepal donation campaign were four times higher than email and our message read rates increased by 60 percent,” says Mandy Wong, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager, A Drop of Life.
According to Cynthia Ng, Marketing Manager, Sanuker, “with the scalability of WhatsApp, A Drop of Life can re-activate donors who aren’t regularly on email through creative, emotionally resonant campaigns while improving the efficiency of the donation process.”
“Using WhatsApp, we have the flexibility to share the stories that will inspire our donors to get involved with lifesaving projects. Clickthrough rates for messages sent via WhatsApp during our Nepal donation campaign were four times higher than email and our message read rates increased by 60 percent.”
Mandy Wong
Senior Marketing & Communications Manager, A Drop of Life
Once a donor is ready to contribute, they simply select the option to donate via the WhatsApp chatbot and complete the transaction in a few easy selections, without leaving WhatsApp. To make donating even faster and easier, the teams developed a unique integration between WhatsApp and the popular e-wallet PayMe, in addition to integrations between PayPal and WhatsApp – enabling donors to contribute without having to enter their banking information. With each successful donation in PayMe, donors receive a printable PDF receipt right in WhatsApp, making it readily accessible for their personal records.
“We’re proud to be the first charitable organization in Hong Kong to use WhatsApp as a donation channel, as well as the first to integrate WhatsApp with PayMe. Giving our donors a more seamless and convenient way of supporting our mission helped us meet our fundraising goal for the Nepal campaign, with five times the donations coming through WhatsApp compared to email,” says Wong.
To assure donors that they’re engaging with the authentic A Drop of Life WhatsApp account, the team worked to obtain Green Tick Verification and give donors confidence in the security of every transaction.
In addition to opening their e-wallets, donors can easily forward campaign related messages to other WhatsApp users and groups. When one donor shared content with a WhatsApp group dedicated to volunteering, A Drop of Life received fresh donations and inquiries about how to help. The team has added links to WhatsApp messages that track whether donations come from referrals.
Encouraged by the success of the Nepal campaign, A Drop of Life wants to use WhatsApp as a general fundraising channel, while also sending notifications about forthcoming events.
“With WhatsApp, we have a powerful opportunity to deepen our connections with the donors who help us fulfill our mission of bringing hope and life to underserved communities,” says Wong.
The charity leverages WhatsApp to share inspirational stories that inspire donors to get involved
Their Success
A Drop of Life creates a communications channel over WhatsApp to reach donors with creative content that drives higher engagement and a faster, more streamlined process that helps increase donations to meet or even exceed fundraising goals.
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More donations and engagement
- 5X donations attributable to WhatsApp compared to email
- 4X clickthrough rates for messages sent over WhatsApp compared to email
- 60% increase in message read rates through WhatsApp over email
*All results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
“We’re proud to be the first charitable organization in Hong Kong to use WhatsApp as a donation channel, as well as the first to integrate WhatsApp with PayMe. Giving our donors a more seamless and convenient way of supporting our mission helped us meet our fundraising goal for the Nepal campaign, with five times the donations coming through WhatsApp compared to email.”
Mandy Wong
Senior Marketing & Communications Manager, A Drop of Life
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