Knowledge Centre - Case Study

Direct Debit expert™ Helps Hospice Manage 88% Increase in Regular Giving

St Barnabas Looks to Increase Donations

St Barnabas Hospices is a charity that provides palliative care to adults and children through two hospices in Worthing and the surrounding area. In May 2008, the hospice ran a campaign for donors to sponsor a room at its children's hospice, Chestnut Tree House. St Barnabas wanted to encourage regular giving with the campaign. However, regular donations traditionally came in the form of standing orders, which were time-consuming and difficult to administer. Diane Lawrence, Finance Manager at St Barnabas Hospices, says: "We don't have control over when standing orders come out or when they're going to hit our account. Also, we have to send forms to the bank, so it's a very time-consuming method."

Direct Debit: An Attractive Alternative

St Barnabas' finance team was already dealing with 400 standing order payments. An increase in regular giving threatened to add to the team's workload. However, the team recognised that Direct Debit offered a more efficient and cost-effective way for donors to contribute. When the hospice spoke to its bank about taking Direct Debits, it found that it could simplify collections further by automating many Direct Debit processes. St Barnabas started to look for a system that was easy to use and would help it comply with Bacs regulations. It found exactly what it was looking for in Direct Debit Limited's automated payments-management system, Direct Debit expert™ (DDe™). Moreover, Direct Debit Limited had a strong track record of working with charities and hospices that wanted to collect payments by Direct Debit.

Increases Efficiency

Since deploying DDe™, St Barnabas has increased regular giving by 88%. The hospice now has 350 more payers. Diane Lawrence says: "We have significantly increased the amount of regular giving, which is great for the organisation. And we've done it with the same amount of staff and without needing to stretch ourselves." The hospice's lottery now offers Direct Debit as a payment method and has 217 players paying by Direct Debit. Diane Lawrence says: "Our lottery manager can't praise DDe™ enough. And he's found Direct Debit Limited's support team to be excellent." In the future, St Barnabas hopes to convert existing standing order payers to Direct Debit.

Ensures Compliance

DDe™ gives St Barnabas confidence that it complies with the Direct Debit scheme rules. "Really the regulations are in the background," says Diane Lawrence. "I've not had to think about them, which is great." For example, when the finance team sets up a payer, DDe™ automatically sends an advance notice to the payer. Moreover, the system ensures that St Barnabas doesn't take any payments before the advance notice expires.

Simplifies Payments

DDe™ simplifies processes that would be time-consuming and complicated to manage manually. Using the software, the team finds it easy to deal with amendments to payer details and cancellations. Diane Lawrence says: "I get a report telling me somebody's closed or cancelled their Direct Debit and I can apply the changes with just a 'click' of a button."