2023 was an incredibly proud year for us; we worked with some fantastic and highly reputable non-profit organisations, won awards for our stellar work and continued to make a broader impact on the community we operate in. 

And while we have goals to continue to use marketing as a force for good in 2024, we’re reflecting on our achievements so far and the impact we’ve had on the charity industry and our local community, too. 

We kicked off the year with an award win for our work in the charity sector 

We kicked 2023 off winning Best Charity Website of the Year at the UK Digital Excellence Awards with our client, Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, setting a positive tone for the rest of the year.

Rainbows Hospice is the East Midlands’ only hospice for children and young people, where they and their families can find care and support. The refreshed website acted as an essential platform for staff, service users and as a fundraising tool, too.

Since launching the site, our results included: 

  • Pages per session increased by 46%
  • Session duration increased 37%
  • Bounce rate declined 16% 

The UK Digital Excellence Awards judges said: “In a tough fought competition, we loved how Hallam set the scene really nicely for the need and potential impact of the new website. They nicely demonstrated how the solution was solving pain-points for the client and building in provisions for the future. Overall fantastic results!”

Nishil Saujani, Head of Marketing and Communications at Rainbows Hospice, said: “Working with Hallam has been a pleasure. When we commenced planning for this project over a year ago, having been through the process before, I had braced myself for a difficult twelve months ahead. However, the team helped ensure everything ran smoothly and the process was virtually pain free. The clear and regular communication, along with specific deadlines, helped make sure we kept the website on track and, apart from one slight delay, we managed to deliver the fantastic new website within the required time frame. The Hallam team were always on hand to guide us through and were especially helpful when it came to the back-end integration of thankQ and our online payments systems and processes. If any of my counterparts in the charity sector were to ask, without hesitation, I’d highly recommend Hallam.”

The year saw an expansion of our non-profit clients

Since beginning our journey for B Corp certification in 2020 and officially achieving our status in 2022, we’ve worked hard to reduce the number of clients we work with that operate in problematic sectors – now only working with organisations who share our values – and have focused on expanding our roster of clients who produce a positive impact on the world. 

We’re very proud to have worked with many amazing charities and nonprofits over the last year – here’s just a few of them.

RNIB

RNIB, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, is a UK-based charity organisation that focuses on supporting blind and partially sighted individuals to lead independent lives. 

The charity first approached us looking for strategic support with their Paid Media advertising activity to help bolster existing efforts, set up the foundations for growth and raise awareness of the brand and of sight loss.  

We helped RNIB to restructure their Google Ads and AdGrants accounts, allowing for fluid management of budget to deliver towards their targets and to cut back on wasted spend and inefficiencies in existing keyword targeting, while leaning into automation and building campaigns in a way that would maximise the efficiency of smart bidding.

Over a six month period compared against the previous six months, the conversion rate increased by 42% and the total number of conversions increased by 64%. This was accompanied by a 27% reduction in the cost per conversion – a clear indicator of increased efficiency in the account.

Quarina Sultana, Head of Digital Engagement at RNIB, said: “Regarding any charity or non-profit organisation, it’s crucial to raise awareness and foster customer engagement. I’m pleased with the outcomes we’ve attained by collaborating with Hallam. Through a strategic approach, the enhancement in our campaigns has enabled us to connect with a broader audience, facilitating growth and elevating the visibility of RNIB’s services.”

Eden Project Communities

Eden Project Communities provides ways for people to come together, support each other and bring positive change to their community and the planet through initiatives like The Big Lunch, the Network and community activity. This non-profit tasked with bringing new life to their website and providing a more engaging user experience for their flagship ‘Big Lunch’ initiative. 

The finished site demonstrates the engaging and interactive nature of the charity’s identity, while also delivering on the key features they required.

Since the launch of the site, Eden Project Communities has seen:

  • #1 Google position for all Coronation Big Lunch keywords
  • 10% increase in engaged sessions
  • Visitors from 239 countries
  • 5,000 page views across new content hubs
  • 21% increase in newsletter sign-ups in 6 months
  • Peaking at 25,000+ website users in a single day
  • 10% drop in bounce rate YoY

Vicky Browne, Head of Digital at Eden Project Communities, said: “During the project, the Hallam team became an extension of our own team and not just an agency partner. Their creativity and positivity were endless and it was a pleasure to work with a technical team who helped to upskill us along the way. We’re currently working with Hallam on a follow-up project and would strongly recommend Kate, Tom, Francis and the team to any charity or NFP.”

International Fund for Animal Welfare

IFAW helps animals and people to thrive together across 40 different countries, and with the help of local communities, government bodies, NGOs and businesses they’ve successfully rescued, released and rehabilitated over 200,000 animals into protected ecosystems. 

Earlier this year we supported the international charity by delivering paid social media campaigns and content to help raise their profile in new markets and offering both paid social media consultancy and management services across the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

We supported our charity of the year 

Emmanuel House was our chosen charity of the year for 2023. They run a support centre in the city, helping vulnerable and homeless adults across Nottingham to access basic amenities, like showers, clean clothes and hot food, while also offering more long-term support, giving service users a chance to improve their situations. 

We supported the charity throughout 2023 by offering marketing support and hosting a range of fundraising events, such as bake sales in the office, clothes swaps donating any clothes left to their charity shop, decorating a Christmas tree in St Mary’s Church, and of course, donating the proceeds from our largest annual event, the Nottingham Digital Summit.

As an independent charity, they’re in constant need of donations from businesses and individuals in order to continue offering these life-altering services. We managed to raise in excess of £14,000 for Emmanuel House over the course of 2023, and we’ll continue to support Emmanuel House where we can.

B Corp values: not just lip service 

As part of maintaining our B Corp status achieved in 2022, we submitted a B Impact Report in July to benchmark the progress we’ve made in terms of incorporating B Corp™ values into five different areas of business: governance, workers, community, environment and customers. 

The report includes our B Impact Assessment scores for each area and outlines our goals for achieving an even greater score for recertification in 2025.

We decided to share our report for full transparency and a deeper dive into how we achieved B Corp™ status and our goals for the future, so ultimately we could help other businesses do the same.

Ultimately, our B Corp status was cited as a key reason by many nonprofit sector organisations as a draw to work with us. For many businesses today it’s mere lip service, but to us it’s part of our lived values.

Got a similar project? 

After welcoming so many amazing non-profit clients and making a difference to the charities in our community, we’re looking forward to continuing on this trajectory in 2024.

If you’re a non-profit or charity looking to grow your reach, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.