The story so far: charity websites and email

The story so far: charity websites and email (The good, the bad and just don't go there!) Presented at Institute of Fundraising North, York 12 February 2009 Howard Lake Fundraising UK Ltd www.fundraising.co.uk [email_address] 01206 579081

since November 1994

Today

Don’t panic. Get the basics right.

Website planning and design

The use of email by charities

Raising funds through your website

Guinness World Record Between 6.16pm on 30 December and 6.16pm on 31 December 2004, the DEC website received 166,936 donations, raising £10,676,836 for the Tsunami Earthquake Appeal. This is the most money ever donated online in 24 hours. Guinness World Records

"New media is a very high-reach, low-cost medium driven by content. The great advantage for charities is that they have a great story to tell… New media allows people to participate, so they're not passive recipients of advertising." Joe Barrell Head of Communications, Save the Children Collecting by Clicks, by Trina Wallace SocietyGuardian.co.uk 17 May 2007

1. Website planning and design

How do you make a successful fundraising website?

Photo: Pink Sherbet on Flickr.com www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/253412963/

Clear thinking

Charity’s fundraising objectives?

Target audiences

Fundraising priorities?

Your top 3?

Resources: content, time, staff

How to measure results?

How do/would you?

More thinking

Third party providers e.g. Justgiving? Bmycharity?

Gathering visitor data (and using it)

Offer newsletter, alerts?

Giving – print-out forms e.g. direct debit, telephone number, and online credit/debit.

Legal issues e.g. copyright (inc. photos), charity number on every page

Domain name(s) – renewal dates?

Building it

Technology: content management system (database)

Make it easier

Ongoing access to skills

Is it accessible?

Building it (2)

Build to be found

Good <TITLE>s, meta tags, use of keywords?

Building it (3)

Accept/encourage content from users

Use all easy-win opportunities e.g. RSS, Google Analytics, site map

Benefits of a site map November 2007

Donate now button

Make it prominent and consistent on every page

Button or content?

But… don’t rely on it

Test prompted levels of giving www.rednoseday.com 16 March 2007

Testing the website

Test it yourself

Ask friendly volunteers/supporters to test it

Check paths to giving

… launch!

Easy errors Forgetting to update your copyright notice’s year on your website. (US figures for end of January 2007) Source: www.blogbaud.com/2007/02/01/copyright-check-is-your-site-still-in-2006

Running and developing it

Timetable for updates – who, when, how?

Adding new features – your ideas, and your users

Continue cross-organisation planning

Watch and learn from other charities/companies/your users…

2. Using email

Why email?

Basics – legal, responding, signatures

Email newsletters

Viral emails

E-mail is important Repeat after me: "Email is more important than my Web site!" Michael Gilbert The Gilbert E-mail Manifesto April 2001

Web, web, web, web… So long as online fundraising was defined by the ability to take credit card transactions through a web interface, I was a skeptic Michael Gilbert Frictionless Fundraising: How the Internet can Bring Fundraising back into Balance February 2003

Staying legal

Opt-in (or even better, double opt-in) is the key to successful email fundraising

Never spam or send unsolicited commercial email (UCE)

Data Protection Act 1998

Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, in force since 11 December 2003

Answering e-mails to your charity

Does your charity have a policy?

What about people on holiday?

Are messages archived?

Use email signatures

Short – 6-7 lines

Contact details, including web and email

Legally required details

Fundraising call to action, including web link

Change call to action regularly

80% of Guide Dogs' income comes from legacies. They are crucial to maintaining our long-term commitment to meeting the mobility needs of blind and partially sighted people. For more information about how you could help transform peoples lives forever with a gift in your Will, please contact Iain McAndrew on 0118 983 8284 Email: iain.mcandrew@gdba.org.uk or visit us at http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/helpus/legacies.htm

E-mail newsletters for donors The mailing list… is probably the most powerful tool a non-profit has to connect campaigners. Mike Johnston The Fund Raiser’s Guide to the Internet 1999, p.169

Combining media works Response rates to direct mail fundraising appeals may increase 18-20% when mailed to donors who have also signed up to receive e-newsletters from the non-profit. Rick Christ NPAdvisors February 2003

E-mail newsletter lifts giving

Stanford University e-mailed 36,398 alumni in 2000

“ a greater percentage of recipients than non-recipients made a gift”

Reactivated lapsed donors: “among lapsed donors… 32% of recipients made a gift in FY2000 — compared to 22% of non-recipients”

@Stanford and Alumni Giving September 2000

Make it easy for subscribers

Best day to send an email? A recommendation on the best day to mail: today. As soon as you have something that your donors will want to read, get it approved and send it right away. Now is always better than later. Shattering Online Fundraising Myths Rick Christ and Heather Fignar 14 February 2005 www.afpnet.org/ka/ka-3.cfm?folder_id=893&content_item_id=19829

Wood Green Animal Shelters and Dodger The shelter needed £3,000 to pay for an operation to save Dodger. It sent 200 emails to staff and supporters, which raised the money in 48 hours - signing up 84 new donors in the process. Step closer to the holy grail Caspar van Vark, The Guardian 8 November 2006

Use third-party tools

Charity Technology Trust

www.ctt.org

CharityeMail

www.charityemail.co.uk

Gather email addresses

Cultivate your mailing list

Respond to unsubscribe requests

Design to get through spam-traps and firewalls

Avoid certain words, don’t use just graphics, avoid all CAPITALS

Learn from delivery and clickthrough reports

Emails can have viral effect

Other email opportunities

Sell adverts on your email newsletter

‘ Email this to a friend’ on your website

Don’t just ask for money e.g. solus Gift Aid conversion?

Offer sample text on website for free ads in supporters’ email newsletters

Branded email: address for life?

Action

Develop e-mail signature and timescale

Check legality/currency of existing e-mail addresses

Gather e-mail addresses

Introduce e-mail newsletter

Offer daily/weekly e-mail alerts

Test direct e-mail campaign e.g. Gift Aid

But don’t expect primacy of email to last

Why fundraise with e-mail? Yes, the Internet can facilitate spamming people with more and more requests for money. But its low cost and high touch aspects can also facilitate treating almost every donor with the care and depth of a major donor. That is a genuine breakthrough with enormous rewards. Michael Gilbert Frictionless Fundraising September 2004

3. Raising funds via your website

First, consider sponsorship

whole site, sections, categories, email newsletter?

But you’ll need stats (Google Analytics)

… and on the sponsor’s site

Getting the basics right

Support all your fundraising

events listing, tickets, selling t-shirts, shopping list for trusts, big gift opportunities, legacies, Gift Aid, payroll giving, corporate support…

Make it easy to give

Paper forms, telephone, online donations

Named contacts for e.g. legacies, companies?

Make these measurable

Photo: Courtney Icenhour

Use humour www.doogle.com (Guinness) 22 March 2005

Humour: page not found

With a little help from your friends

Amazon associates

Everyclick

Justgiving / Bmycharity

eBay for Charity

The Big Give

CAF

YouTube

Google Adwords/Google Adsense

Facebook Causes

MySpace Impact

Bebobeone

Giveit.co.uk

Easyfundraising

London Marathon 2005

8,492 runners raised almost £5.3 million via Justgiving.com 3 days before the event. Includes nearly £1 million in Gift Aid

On 13 April, £250,000 raised online by runners

630 charities fundraising online with the Marathon

Amazon associates

List relevant books on your site, earn a share of sales income. Payment every month.

Easyfundraising.org.uk

Earn income on your supporters’ shopping online at 500+ stores.

Everyclick.com

Google AdSense

Let Google deliver context-relevant adverts on your site

Earn money every time an ad is clicked on

The BigGive.co.uk

CSRRegister.com

eBay.co.uk

£11,000 is raised on eBay for Charity every day

An eBay for Charity item sells every 2 minutes

eBay.co.uk has over 20 million users

£5,855,247 raised by 2,831 charities since 2006

www.missionfish.org.uk July 2008

Just when you were ready… Photo: aloshbennett on Flickr.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/aloshbennett/2420671057/

So, what should you do?

Get the basics of your website and email communications right

Use third-party online fundraising tools

Get ready to engage with your supporters on their favourite sites…

A practical approach to success Oxfam’s Web site is moving from being ‘about Oxfam GB’ to ‘being Oxfam GB’ Andrew Hatton Oxfam GB June 2001

Find out more

www.fundraising.co.uk

www.fundraising.co.uk/forum

www.thecharityplace.org (free registration required)

Thank you Howard Lake Fundraising UK Ltd www.fundraising.co.uk [email_address] 01206 579081 twitter.com/howardlake twitter.com/ukfundraising

The story so far: charity websites and email

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