Background

The HandleBards are a theatre company made up of cycling Shakespearean actors who carry all of our set, props and costumes on the back of our bikes. 

We perform extremely energetic, charmingly chaotic and environmentally sustainable Shakespeare plays across the UK. Our specialty is open air theatre, but we’re happy performing anywhere – theatres, castles, gardens, bicycle shops, pub gardens and schools. You name it, we’ve probably performed there!

Summary / objectives

In 2019, we were about to embark on our first-ever online fundraising campaign. We needed to raise £10,000 for our vital HandleBards Education Programme – a project which aims to provide engaging Shakespeare performances and creative workshops to young people in schools all across the UK.

We really wanted it to work and get the best results possible. So, before launching the final appeal we decided to test who was the most effective ‘messenger’ to make this crucial ask.

We knew that the person who makes the ask is an important decision, because how donors will respond is strongly influenced by who delivers the message. Therefore, we had to consider some important questions. Are they likeable? Do they have authority? Are they authentic?

Special characteristics

The HandleBards tested four different ‘messengers’ for our first online fundraising appeal. 

We created four videos, with each one featuring a different person or ‘messenger’. The videos were then emailed to comparable sections of our supporter list. 

The chosen messengers were: 

1. A HandleBards actor who appeared in our shows (this person has likeability and is more likely to be recognised by the potential donor) 
2. A child who was also an audience member (eight year old Maya was a beneficiary and represents the people would benefit from the appeal/donations) 
3. A donor who was already supporting The HandleBards (this person is someone like them) 
4. A celebrity, this was well-known actor Adrian Scarborough who has appeared in the popular television programme Killing Eve (this person has likeability/a trusted to know quality)  

In each of the videos the message and the primed ask amounts were the same so that the impact of the ‘messenger’ could be tracked and compared.  

The accompanying email message read as follows:

‘Ever since we set off on our very first cycle tour we have always relied on you, our audiences to keep us pedalling. From sharing your picnics with us, to washing our costume or offering us a lift when our bikes or bodies have been broken; your kindness has been immeasurable and without you we wouldn’t be where we are today, so thank you.

This winter we need your help again, this time to raise £10,000 so that we can tour our shows to schools across the UK next year.

The news is always full of stories of the schools funding gap, of schools having to cut staff, increased class sizes and some schools having to stop teaching some subjects all together. One of the first things to get taken away is the arts. We’ve seen this personally over the years, as one by one, schools that we grown know and love have had to stop booking us, as budget cuts have meant they simply can’t afford for us to visit.

But all is not lost. You, our wonderful audience, could help reverse this trend. With your support we can continue our education work, ultimately making a difference to the way young people first encounter Shakespeare in school, and giving them the tools they need to enjoy and explore their own creativity.

£25 would pay for one student to see a HandleBards performance.

£150 would pay for one young person to take part in on our workshops.

£1000 would pay for a full day of HandleBards activities at a school, including a performance for up to 300 students, a Q&A with the cast and two hours workshops.

Just as each and every pork pie and scotch egg you share with us helps power our little legs as we cycle over hill and over dale, so every donation will support our aim to inspire and empower young people across the UK to embrace their creativity, and ultimately make the world a happier place.

Thank you for your support.

All our love,

The HandleBards

x’

You can watch each of the videos by clicking the images below…

Results

Our team predicted that the cute child in dungarees would generate the most responses. It is always a good idea to collect team predictions in advance as it highlights the value of testing and that we (fundraisers/marketers) are not our target audience. 

It’s also good to note that this was the company’s first fundraising campaign and as such we had a small sample size of around 4,000 donors. We used data to track the impact of the difference messengers (on open rates, click throughs and donations). With that caveat, the best performing proposition in terms of number of gift size was as below:

1. The celebrity  

2. The child/audience member 

3. The HandleBards actor who appeared in our shows 

4. The donor 

Our test was a success. We were able to identify that the celebrity ‘messenger’ triggered the best click rate, number of gifts and greatest donation amount. 

This meant the celebrity messenger raised nearly double the amount of the second-best performing ‘messenger’ – which was the child/audience member.

The HandleBards are proud that (as well as gaining this useful learning on which messengers work best) we also raised a total of £15,000, beating our £10,000 target.

Other relevant information

The HandleBards messenger test was part of The World’s Largest Arts Fundraising Experiment. This project identified ways in which galleries, museums, performing arts companies, and touring venues could improve their private income by attracting new supporters, persuading existing supporters to contribute more, and finding new ways of giving. The focus was on philanthropy from individuals, and the lens was the potential to use decision science in fundraising. A total of 11 arts and cultural organisations were selected, representing a spread across the country. Some had extensive experience of fundraising from individuals over many decades, while for others this was their very first experience in this area.

A version of this case study, along with many more, appears in the book Change for Better.

IMAGES: © All images and videos courtesy of The HandleBards