Growing a Digital-First Mindset at World Vision

Chantal Tomlinson, VP of Digital and Technology, was faced with a few key objectives when considering digital training for the World Vision Canada team: “Digital Transformation is a key, strategic topic; we’re constantly looking at activities, processes, competencies and models to enable greater corporate outcomes. However, we also knew we had to empower the team. It’s only when we address both factors that we will we succeed.”

Tomlinson is also very aware of the challenging “giving gap” facing all charitable organizations. Citing CanadaHelps’ 2018 research, “the new cultural landscape shows giving is down across all age groups and with older demographics being the largest contributor, it’s critical we consider giving preferences of the next generation of donors and supporters.” 

Leveraging the Response Marketing Association’s (RMA) Certified Digital-first Marketer training, World Vision is systematically training internal teams to realize their goals. 

“We’re definitely moving in the right direction,” continues Tomlinson, “with 94% of participants affirming the training instilled the key mindset of digital-first strategy and 85% of established marketers adding that it furthered their understanding and would tangibly help in daily actions.” 

“Just like all organizations, we have a breadth of internal experience sets and in addressing our needs for transformation and growth, simple tactical training wasn’t the answer. We wanted to empower real change,” says Teina Petropoulos, World Vision’s Director of CRM and Innovation. “This training opportunity supports our teams as they take on a “digital” mindset that helps our focus on customer-centric brand engagement.”

“There will never be a perfect top 10 list that answers all your questions,” says Derek Lackey, Chairman of the RMA. “Our goal in establishing the CDM certification was to bring back the power of strategic thought into marketing: with today’s rate of change and ever-evolving digital landscape, marketing leaders need to stop and think. Our program is designed to do exactly that: look critically at what’s happening, how you are approaching audiences and then use the training to shape the best answers for your unique challenges. We’re beyond excited about World Vision’s success so far and we are honoured to help make a difference so they can continue to focus on what truly matters – helping Canadians support the world’s most vulnerable children.”