Confession: Why I (a married man) love Tinder
(Mrs Cook - Don't call a lawyer, I'm not about to confess to being a philanderer...)
Swipe right. Swipe left. I'm not suggesting Tinder is the way everyone should date, but my two children are testimony to its success.
Okay, not quite. Tinder didn't exist four short years ago when my son was born.
But, it's massive growth since its inception is not surprising and how can you not admire the Tinder model? It's as simple as one finger movement: You like someone's photo (swipe right). You're not attracted to them (swipe left).
The majority of us use our smartphones to access the web now. A 2015 report from Ofcom said that we now spend almost twice as long online with our smartphones than on laptops and personal computers. On average, we spend a staggering two hours a day online, on our smartphones.
But, have charity and fundraising web sites adjusted to this PC exodus? In some ways: yes. Web sites have become more responsive to the means by which people view their sites. But, whilst they look simplified, navigating them to find information remains very difficult. Often charity web sites are not only the face of the charity and the vehicle by which they drive and encourage donations, but also a library of resources about the issues they cover.
What if we could match up a person more directly with the service they are looking for? If it was as easy as a right or left swipe?
Even better, what if we literally followed the Tinder example to encourage donations:
Last December, Tinder teamed up with the NHS Blood and Transplant and enlisted celebrities Jamie Laing of Made in Chelsea, Olympic Gold Medallist Jade Jones MBE and Gemma Oaten of Emmerdale to encourage users to get on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
If a user saw one of their faces and swiped right, they received this message:
They were told there are thousands of people waiting for a transplant, be encouraged to say “Yes I donate” and click on the link provided to sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Simple. Direct. Effective. This is a model that could work for all charities.
Tinder gets 1.4 billion swipes a day. 26 million matches per day. Over 196 countries.
I'm not saying a charity's web site could ever be as popular as Tinder's dating app, but how much could your numbers grow if your site was as accessible?
Jonathan Cook | jonathan@insight-ful.co.uk | +44 (0)7921 250 211
Jonathan @Linkedin | Twitter @jonathan_m_cook