Maintaining a stable donor base is vital for any organisation. For Declassified UK, that meant managing a complex regular giving migration while upgrading their digital systems — all without disrupting supporters during a major campaign.
When the newsroom faced a legacy payments system that could no longer keep up with their needs, they turned to ADA for a hands-on, practical solution.
The Challenge
Declassified UK relies on regular giving to plan in-depth investigations and respond quickly to urgent stories. By 2024, their existing system for managing card payments was outdated, risking disruptions to donor contributions.
A major summer recruitment campaign was on the horizon, but their new platform, Engaging Networks, didn’t natively support migrating Stripe Link payment. Without a solution, the organisation risked losing donors and slowing momentum — while having limited internal capacity to manage the technical transition.
“Over the 5 years our membership program has been running, we went through a few different hosting platforms [including Enthuse and MemberPress] but couldn’t find the right fit for us. We wanted to be able to see all our supporters in one place, and know the impact that each email we sent was having.”
Our Approach
At ADA, we focused on minimising disruption while providing practical, flexible tools the team could use immediately. Our work centred on three areas:
Migration & Infrastructure
We managed the transfer of regular card payments, including the Stripe Link payments Engaging Networks couldn’t handle natively. Testing and monitoring ensured donors experienced minimal disruption.
Templates & Responsiveness
Customised Engaging Networks templates were developed and refined in real time, giving the team flexible tools for both campaigns and supporter experience.
Guidance & Support
We provided hands-on guidance and proactive support. With all supporter data consolidated in one place, the team gained better insights into donor behaviour, segmentation, and communications — without having to take their attention away from investigative journalism.
The Results
The structured, practical approach delivered immediate and long-term benefits:
Seamless Supporter Experience
Donors experienced a smooth transition with minimal disruption, maintaining confidence in their contributions.
Successful Donor Recruitment
The summer campaign expanded the supporter base, creating a stronger and more predictable income stream.
Stronger Digital Foundation
Declassified UK now has a flexible, stable digital infrastructure capable of supporting future campaigns while maintaining editorial independence.
“ADA were able to clearly understand the maze of processes we had implemented at the time, unpick, streamline and transfer all that over to our new platform with Engaging Networks.
From the data transfer itself, to the design of pages, assistance with reporting and general moral support for what felt like a gargantuan task – Ant and Carl were by our side the whole way through.”
– Vicki Thomas, Head of Communications
Key Takeaways for Fundraising Teams
Plan with donor experience in mind
Even complex migrations can be smooth if you focus on the user journey.
Consolidate your data
Having all supporter information in one place unlocks smarter segmentation and more targeted communications.
Don’t overcomplicate
A hands-on, structured approach often outperforms fully automated systems, especially for small teams with limited capacity.
Want to see how ADA can help your organisation protect regular giving during digital transitions?
Contact us today to find out more.
You can also find a downloadable version of our work with Declassified UK, along with all our other case studies, on our Resources page.
