Torchbox

Torchbox

Internet Publishing

Charlbury, Oxfordshire 6,590 followers

The digital agency for innovative nonprofits.

About us

Torchbox is an employee-owned digital agency and a certified B Corp. We help tomorrow’s nonprofits create digital products and services fast, and transform their organisations along the way. We are the founding developers of Wagtail and lead the open source project. And, we deliver bespoke, data-driven campaigns that deliver record-breaking results across the full digital marketing spectrum. Our clients include: The NHS, NASA, the World Food Programme, Google, Oxfam, the Department for International Trade, the University of Pennsylvania and many more.

Website
http://www.torchbox.com/
Industry
Internet Publishing
Company size
51-200 employees
Headquarters
Charlbury, Oxfordshire
Type
Privately Held
Founded
2000
Specialties
Charity marketing, Charity advertising, Charity fundraising, Website development, User research, Digital for good, Digital transformation, Service design, Content design, UX, Innovation, AI workshops for charities, Digital marketing, Digital agency, Charity digital agency, SEO, Wagtail CMS, Hosting and support, Accessibility, Sustainability, CMS Replatform, Social media management, Data and measurement, Conversion rate optimisation, and Digital marketing creative

Locations

Employees at Torchbox

Updates

  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    Yesterday, Michael Wilkinson joined Julia C. Patrick The Nonprofit Show to discuss the challenges UK charities are facing and how this compares with US nonprofits. They covered everything from funding and financial stability to technological adoption, data management, human-centred design, and labour issues. Here are the six key challenges they discuss: • Funding and financial stability: UK charities are struggling to secure the financing of new digital initiatives because many funding sources haven't caught up with modern digital needs. Michael noted, "Many charities get their funding from grants, trusts, and foundations, which haven't caught up with the needs of charities in the modern digital era." • Economic volatility: The financial downturn has affected charities' abilities to launch and sustain projects. However, there's a silver lining—75% of the UK public reported donating to a nonprofit in the last three months, showing potential for recovery and growth in charitable giving. • Technological adoption: Keeping up with tech changes is tough. Only half of UK charities have a digital strategy, and just 14% feel it's embedded in their organisation. This lack of strategic direction hampers their ability to innovate. • Data privacy and security: UK charities face unique challenges with stringent privacy laws that limit how they can use personal information. Michael highlighted the importance of responsible data management. • Human-centred design: UK charities are leading the way with human-centred design. Michael shared, "When you do manage to persuade senior stakeholders to invest a little bit in researching the users and designing around their needs, the magic happens." • Labor issues: Flexible working policies post-pandemic are reshaping the sector. Charities embracing flexibility see increased interest from candidates, while those sticking to traditional models face hiring challenges. Watch the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gB4GSgdd Michael's eager to keep the conversation going about the future of nonprofits. Following his 100 interviews with UK charity leaders, he's keen to share a virtual cuppa with charity leaders around the world! Drop him a message on LinkedIn if you're interested. #Nonprofits #CharitySector #Fundraising #DigitalTransformation #HumanCentredDesign #USNonprofits

  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    Michael Wilkinson joins The Nonprofit Show today to share key challenges UK charities are currently facing. This session aims to provide a US audience with valuable insights from Michael’s recent interviews with 100 UK charity leaders. The live broadcasts begins at 9.30 AM PT, 12.30 PM ET, and 5.30pm BST. Click here to join: https://lnkd.in/ez3bemnq #Nonprofits #CharitySector #Fundraising #Charities

  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    We recently collaborated with Mind to optimise their online donation form, aiming to better meet the surge in demand for mental health support and services. Here’s a short summary of the project and the outcomes achieved: With an ongoing increase in demand for their services, Mind hypothesised that optimising their online donation form could significantly impact their fundraising efforts. Over our seven-year collaboration with Mind, we've witnessed a steady rise in demand for their services. To address this, Mind aimed to: • Maximise donation inflow • Ensure the donation process was accessible and trustworthy • Embed a model for ongoing testing and improvement • Implement design changes based on real supporter feedback Mind's strategy focused on making incremental, data-informed adjustments to their donation journey. Our initial steps involved gathering insights from previous usability testing and design reviews to identify potential areas for improvement. By prioritising these insights, we developed testable hypotheses to guide our experimentation. This involved a detailed examination of the donation process on Mind’s website and the pathways supporters might use to make donations. We prepared for experimentation by reviewing existing analytics and setting up necessary tools and frameworks. Given the continuous nature of Mind’s activities, we designed a strategy which enabled us to run our experiments alongside their ongoing campaigns and updates, including a significant migration to GA4. Our experiments ranged from testing different donation amounts and page layouts to better understanding the sources of donations. Each test was designed to not only improve immediate outcomes but also provide insights for long-term strategies. The experiments led to significant improvements, including: • A 13% increase in the average donation amount. • A 10% rise in overall donation revenue. • A 17% boost in the donation conversion rate. These outcomes not only demonstrate the immediate benefits of our targeted changes but also highlight the value of a culture of testing and continuous improvement. Looking ahead, the insights gained from this project will help shape future strategies, ensuring Mind is well-equipped to continue their important work amidst increasing demand. To read more about this project and how we're supporting other charities with their digital strategies, follow the link in the comments below. #MindCharity #CRO #CharityFundraising #DigitalStrategy

    • The back of a person in blue mind jacket holding a megaphone. In the background, runners taking part in a charity race can be seen wearing numbers on their t-shirts.
  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    The new People Lab platform officially went live just over six months ago for The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. Powered by Wagtail CMS, the platform aims to be the gold standard for scientifically grounded self-assessments to support personal and professional development. In this video, Professor Cade Massey, McNulty Leadership Program Executive Director Jeff Klein, and People Lab Director Caitlin Satterfield talk about the impact of the People Lab platform and its value to Wharton's students. https://lnkd.in/eGiECth5 Full details about out partnership can be found in the comments section below. #UniversityOfPennsylvania #Wharton #WagtailCMS #PeopleLab

  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    We recently collaborated with our long term partner, Sue Ryder to bring their new brand identity to life across their website, Online Bereavement Community and Grief Guide services. Our human-centred design approach allowed us to integrate new brand elements whilst meeting accessibility requirements. We applied a solid foundation of best practices including accessible colour combinations, legible typefaces, and effective use of macro and micro white space. Creating a visually calm environment was essential to support users who may be experiencing reduced cognition due to grief. Following comprehensive usability testing, we balanced the new brand design motifs—a set of large organic, soft shapes used in clusters —to draw attention to key details without creating unnecessary distractions from the content. We also supported Sue Ryder to develop a new set of brand colours for use across digital channels. We performed accessibility checks and advised where any colour combinations were not meeting colour contrast levels specified by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Once the core colours had been confirmed we created a systematic approach for how to use them across the site that would be WCAG compliant, easy to understand and act as a single source of truth to refer to during the design and build phases of the project. The new brand identity also introduced a hand-drawn typeface, which we recommended using sparingly for larger headings to maintain legibility. We're all about creating digital solutions that look great and always put people first. Here's a look at the before and after. Head to our website to read Ben T.'s full write-up using the link in the comments section below. #HumanCentredDesign #ServiceDesign #DesignThinking #Accessibility #DigitalAccessibility #UX

    • Comparison image showcasing the evolution of the Sue Ryder website. On the left, the 'old design' features a more traditional layout with a blue and pink colour palette and a focus on text-heavy content. On the right, the 'New design' adopts a cleaner, calming, supportive aesthetic with a soft yellow and blue colour scheme, simplified navigation, and prominent, engaging visuals focused on user support and services.
  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    For the past seven years, we've worked with Breast Cancer Now on a variety of fundraising initiatives, including their Sponsor a Nurse campaign. This initiative drives regular donations for nurses who offer specialised support and information to anyone affected by breast cancer through a helpline. Here’s the impact we made with the campaign. Regular gifts are one of the toughest asks for charities, especially given the cost of living crisis. So, we knew the campaign required a comprehensive plan, from asset design and engaging copy to ad implementation and management. Our design objective was to convey that contributing means so much more than just funding a helpline. This is about creating a secure space where individuals impacted by breast cancer, along with their families, can confide in someone to ensure that they feel heard, seen, and valued. We also wanted to shine a light on the amazing helpline staff and the exceptional work they carry out. We identified new audiences with relevant interests and developed lookalike audiences which was highly effective to enhance reach and engagement. International Nurse’s Day was also an opportune time for a further promotional push. The campaign primarily ran on Meta, covering both Facebook and Instagram and was supplemented by text-based ads on Google. The campaign’s imagery featured real nurses, adding authenticity and forging a stronger connection with the audience. We were thrilled to surpass our target, with an initial goal of 180 regular giving sign-ups and a final result of 228. Overall, the campaign produced results that we are incredibly proud to share, particularly as we had a 38% decrease in budget: • 54% increase in conversions • 60% decrease in CPA (cost-per-acquisition) • 163% increase in conversion rate • 66% increase in CTR (click-through-rate) Thank you to Alice Sandom for this feedback, "Torchbox have been a delight to work with on this campaign, and have really put their all into it, which shows through the results. With great ideas and recommendations, they've made this successful campaign feel like a breeze." Read more about this campaign and take a look at the campaign visuals by clicking the link in the comments. #CharityFundraising #CharityMarketing #PPC #BreastCancerNow

    • Feedback from Alice Sandom, "Torchbox have been a delight to work with on this campaign and have really put their all into it, which shows through the results".
  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    We are excited to announce that we are working with ActionAid UK. This incredible charity is dedicated to fighting poverty and injustice among women and girls worldwide, and we are honoured to support their fundraising campaigns and emergency appeals. Our team, including Amina, Sam, and Millie, look forward to collaborating with Peter Fabian and Daniel Bratt at ActionAid UK. We’re also delighted to be working with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home on designing new creatives for their upcoming digital fundraising campaigns. Battersea does incredible work rescuing and rehoming dogs and cats, and we can’t wait to get stuck in with Robyn Holland and Olivia Empson ACIM. We never tire of partnering with such inspiring organisations! #CharityFundraising #DigitalFundraising #CharityMarketing

    • Torchbox and ActionAid logo.
    • Torchbox and Battersea logo.
  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    Our SEO team has been running a research study to gain a more thorough understanding of the impact of AI Overviews for charities and nonprofits. Here's what they found: • Health queries consistently trigger AI Overviews: Health-related searches, particularly those related to signs and symptoms, frequently show AI Overviews. These summaries often compile key symptoms from 2-5 main sources, with additional sections for further symptoms and information. • Fundraising queries are not returning AI Overviews: Unlike our initial findings six months ago, searches related to fundraising, such as 'donate books to charity' or 'volunteering near me' are no longer triggering AI responses. •You don’t have to rank highly to appear in the AI Overview (but it helps): Whilst it is possible to be shown in the AI Overview without being a top ranking page, AI Overviews are pushing organic rankings (blue links) further down the results page. So, it's more important to rank in the top position. • AI Overviews aren’t taking up as much space on results pages: The most common layout now features a collapsed view with a 'Show more' button. The design occupies less screen space, slightly mitigating the impact on organic search visibility. • Featured snippets are still appearing alongside AI Overviews: Even with the presence of AI Overviews, featured snippets continue to be a significant source of website traffic, emphasising the importance of creating snippet-friendly content. • Disclaimers are hidden at the bottom of the AI Overview: During our testing, there was a range of different disclaimers, including medical, legal, and financial. However, these disclaimers aren’t as common anymore and often we only see the generic ‘generative AI is experimental’ disclaimer. • Google ads are appearing alongside AI Overviews: 56% of the time that Google ads appeared during our testing, they were shown above the AI Overview. Ads from AI-powered Search and Performance Max campaigns may appear within AI Overviews, clearly labeled as 'Sponsored'. • AI Overviews are still experimental: During our initial testing of keywords, we found that 89% of searches returned an AI response. However, since the public launch, we’re no longer seeing AIOs for many of the queries we originally tested. It appears that Google has scaled back on AI Overviews in search results - possibly due to backlash for nonsensical and dangerous results or in an attempt to only show AIOs where they are deemed more helpful than ordinary results. Find more information about our test and how this could impact your nonprofit's SEO strategy in the blog. The link is in the comments below. ⬇ #SEO #AIOverviews #GoogleSearch #SEONews #CharitySEO #GoogleAI

    • Graphic that says "7 things nonprofits need to know about AI overviews". The graphic indicates the blog contents is a 6 minute read and has been written by our SEO team including Eleanor, Jenny and Emma.
  • View organization page for Torchbox, graphic

    6,590 followers

    We are excited to share an insightful article by Trish Thomas, Head of Digital Innovation at London Museum, highlighting our collaborative journey towards their radical digital transformation. In her piece, Trish delves into the approaches we've adopted to bring London's rich history and stories to a global digital audience. Our partnership has focused on enhancing user experiences and engaging a more diverse and younger audience. This transformation is part of a broader rebranding effort as London Museum launches its new website and prepares to open a world-class site in Smithfield in 2026. Read Trish's full article to learn more about our journey and the innovative steps we've taken: https://lnkd.in/eamzQ7Cp We're looking forward to continuing our partnership and seeing how the site continues to evolve and grow in the future. #DigitalTransformation #MuseumInnovation #LondonMuseum Wagtail CMS

    • Two visitors are walking towards the entrance of the London Museum Docklands, passing under large white banners that say 'FREE'. Nearby, a group is chatting around a picnic table, enjoying the atmosphere. Small palms add a touch of greenery in a large blue planter, complementing the classic brickwork of the museum's exterior.

Similar pages

Browse jobs