Oxfam tests mobile-first strategy with NFC mobile donation and content sharing trial
Oxfam is tapping into the growing importance of mobile with the roll out of a Near Field Communication (NFC) trial to enable supporters to make a donation or receive video content.
Via the technology consumers will be able to tap their mobile phone on to an interactive poster to donate funds or on a collection tin or wristband worn by a fundraiser to receive information about the work the charity carries out.
The idea comes as mobile payments continue to rise significantly in 2015, which could prove an important part of Oxfam’s future donation mix. The charity initially toyed with the idea of trialling contactless payments over NFC (as used earlier this year by Cancer Research UK), but decided the latter would provide a more engaging but hopefully non-interruptive experience, according to Oxfam’s digital fundraising lead Matt Jerwood.
He told The Drum: “We thought should it be contactless or should it be NFC? More people have access to contactless right now, which is good, but there is no onward ability to have a dialogue or share content.”
“We don’t want it to be interruptive in terms of street fundraising so if people have got a good conversation happening we don’t want them to say ‘ah just tap my wristband and see you later’, but we hope at the end of the conversation they might tap it and get a video about our work or get something that is bit more of a takeaway.”
The trial will initially run in Oxfam shops in Henley and Northampton, with the NFC posters appearing alongside standard poster advertising to measure the strength of engagement. Clicks on the videos will also be tracked to gauge popularity of the NFC wristbands and to “test the waters” of the technology among the Oxfam audience.
See the video that the NFC technology will link through to below: