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Innovation Visual Donate New Website to Charity, David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Written by Jo | 22-May-2020 11:00:00

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation website launch has been a huge success, with more than £12,000 being raised through online sales in just a few hours of the website going live – All thanks to Innovation Visual!

The Innovation Visual team is incredibly proud to have donated their time and effort, 100% free of charge, to rebuild the website and to continue to support this amazing charity in their efforts to raise funds and awareness of key conservation initiatives across Africa and Asia. The results speak for themselves!

“DSWF are incredibly proud of the wonderful new website which Innovation Visual have been instrumental in helping us launch.  In light of the challenges brought about by the global pandemic it’s been amazing to see people come together to use their skills and expertise to help charities and ensure our work to turn the tide on species extinction was given the best platform to operate. Partnerships and collaborations for positive change, like the one we have with Innovation Visual, give us renewed hope in our fight against wildlife crime.”

 - Georgina Lamb - CEO, David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Innovation Visual’s Involvement

The Innovation Visual Directors, Tim and Jo have been proud supporters of the Foundation for more than 20 years with donations through the scheme 1% for the Planet and also by providing digital marketing services free of charge.

Website Build

Having been let down time and again, by other agencies and website developers who wanted to charge thousands of pounds for a new website, in January 2020, Tim, Director and CEO of Innovation Visual, made the decision that the best way to support DSWF going forward would be by rebuilding their website, free of charge, ensuring digital marketing consultancy and precise optimisation to help with the vital ongoing work of this brilliant organisation.

When Covid-19 resulted in lockdown measures across the UK and many parts of the world, it became clear that this new website would have an even more vital role at a crucial time of fund raising for the Foundation. Innovation Visual worked tirelessly as an extension of the DSWF team to ensure that the site was ready to show case the artworks and as an enhanced ecommerce platform to take payments for purchases and donations - making sales of Wildlife Artist of the Year artworks possible.

Success!

The launch of the new website on 21st May went without a hitch and over £12,000 was raised in the first afternoon alone! This is a massive success for the charity and also for Innovation Visual who take pride in being a performance marketing agency, lead by results for our clients.

What this Means for DSWF

The Foundation now has a brilliantly performing website which means that their fund raising efforts can continue despite the lockdown measures. They can continue to generate funds, gain supporters and, most importantly, they can continue with their valuable work - all thanks to Innovation Visual!

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Innovation Visual have long been avid supporters of the Surrey-based wildlife conservation charity David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF). In the 35 years since their formation in 1984, DSWF has raised and invested over £10.5 million into projects aimed at protecting endangered mammals and their habitats across Africa and Asia. Educational projects, conservational work and anti-poaching endeavours all help to ensure that species threatened by extinction are protected for generations to come.

Wildlife Artist of the Year

A highlight of the DSWF calendar is the Wildlife Artist of the Year. This is an internationally renowned wildlife art exhibition and competition established by DSWF’s founder and wildlife artist David Shepherd, which raises awareness of the plight of wildlife through a celebration of wildlife art from around the world. Through donations at the event and sales of shortlisted artworks, each year the exhibition and awards ceremony contribute towards the annual funds raised by the organisation and their actions to fight wildlife crime and protect endangered species. With a less than optimally performing website, the charity looked to take a huge hit to their fund raising efforts.

The Foundation had previously approached various companies to help with the rebuild of the website, but the costs and motives of the agencies meant that moving forward with the projects was untenable. This is where Innovation Visual stepped in, donating time and digital marketing expertise, free of charge to this wonderful organisation.

"Into The Darkness" pastel pencils by Clare Parkes

The Covid-19 pandemic was a further blow, as the 2020 event was unable to run as it had done previously on show in the prestigious Mall Galleries in London. Without the physical exhibition, DSWF stood to lose out on thousands of pounds of vital funds needed to continue their work and so quick action was needed to create an online exhibition and support the online sale of the 159 pieces of art which were shortlisted from the 1200 entries from 53 countries. Innovation Visual was able to further drive the development of the website, ensuring that it would be up and running in time for the online event and save the day!

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