Nonprofit Social Network Fundraising

Fundraising in Social Networks? Justin Perkins Nonprofit Marketing Strategist [email_address]

Social Networking = Word of Mouth

Distributed Work
10,000 people doing 10 minutes of work
=1,667 hours of work
= 42 weeks for one staffer
= 4 weeks for 10 staffers
= $30*1667 hours = $50,000
Value of volunteer hour = $18
(Value of volunteer time study: http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/volunteer_time.html)

From the Wayback Machine Care2.com circa 1998

Nonprofit Websites Circa 1998

Broadcast Era Paradigm

Network-centric Paradigm

Social Media Tools

Social Networks & Human Needs
The need to connect with others
The need to create, be creative
The need to have voice and influence

Online User Behavior Shifting
Instant gratification
Short attention span
Customization
Informal, quick, personal
User-generated content & participation

Informal and Personal Web
Rise of bloggers
Personal voice
Transparency and trust
3-way communication
A Facebook “Poke” might go further than a press release

Who Should Try Social Networking Campaigns?
You have already maximized your email marketing strategies
You have lots of young, tech-savvy volunteers
You have huge email networks and budgets to experiment
You have dedicated staff for care and feeding
You have hip messaging
You’re willing to give up control
You have a recognized brand
You do local events

Care2 Today: Largest Do-gooder Social Network
More than 10.5 million Care2 members are making a difference by:
Taking Action
Volunteering
Donating
Telling friends
Sharing news
Care2 helps nonprofits grow through introducing millions of Care2 members to nonprofits!

Care2 Nonprofit Partners

Be Prepared Are you ready to quickly reach several hundred thousand people who trust your organization?

Be Prepared for Your Katrina-like Moments
It’s all about your “list”- starting with email
Care2 recruited 5000 new donors in 1 week
Raised $205k for American Humane
Also raised $150k from self-organizing Care2 members

Your “List” Mobile phone list Social media “friends” direct mail list Email list Phone list

Adults prefer contact via email Where do people spend most of their time at work? The inbox. Most people donate online while at work.

Email = Best Lever for Online Impact
Efficient
Timely
Drive traffic precisely
Measurable
Controllable
Proven ROI for $ and Advocacy
Personal medium
One to one
One to many
Viral
Even Grandma uses it now!
The value of an email address to a nonprofit is $9.50!

Power of Email vs. Social Networks for Fundraising
In June of 2007, M&R helped Save Darfur raise $415,000 via email series to about 1 Million supporters in 10 Days
Over 1 year on Facebook Causes, Save Darfur raised $28,000 from nearly 1 million “friends”.
~ 3 cents per friend
Very few cases of replicable, profitable campaigns on Social Networks when investing staff time
Nonprofits raised $3 Million on Facebook Causes in 2008, but at an estimated cost of $300 Million to sector

Correlation of Email to Fundraising Nonprofit benchmark studies: frogloop.com/benchmarks

Majority of Online Fundraising via email Nonprofit benchmark studies: frogloop.com/benchmarks

Long, long tail of Facebook Causes
Only .2% of Facebook Causes account for 40% of all money raised
Only 513/ 180,000 Causes have more than 20,000 supporters
Median donation is $.01 per Cause member
ROI on time invested is negative – estimate of 300 to 1 loss
Difficult to communicate with donors en-masse
Most Causes raise 58% of all donations from the top 5 donors – 20% from the top donor
If you can get 1% of an equivalent email list to donate, you should be able to raise 50-77 times more than on Facebook

Median dollars raised = $570

MySpace: a Place for Donors? http://www.frogloop.com/myspace-analysis Hint: the study reveals result similar to the “long, long tail of Facebook Causes” study. In other words, very few nonprofits have been profitable on social networks.

Social Networking isn’t Free or Easy Yes, the dream has a few kinks in it:
There are very few successful super-organizers in the world
The good super-organizers are spread very thinly across over 1 million organizations and significant financial impact for any one organization is limited
Financial returns to orgs from Peer-to-Peer (social network) fundraising is insignificant for MOST orgs and not a scalable strategy
MOST donors are happy giving $50, feeling good, and getting on with life – they aren’t actively seeking to do more.

Opportunity Cost is a Real Cost, Folks! Total cost per email = $5.20 For any online marketing Determine Goals, Organizational Metrics and Track! Staff Salary + Benefits (+30%) Annual Email Subscribers $40,000 + $12,000 10,000 email addresses Set specific goals and a common metric to track organizational success!

Social Networks Fundraising & Advocacy ROI Calculator http://www.frogloop.com/social-network-calculator If you’re expecting to use social networks to raise money with minimal work, you can expect to see a -90% ROI against time spent by staff. This is a conservative estimate using widely published benchmarks for online marketing, and a conservatie hourly wage of $10/hr.

www.frogloop.com/social-networking-calculator

What Makes Social Network Marketing Work? A HUGE LIST + FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE + MEDIA EXPOSURE + LOTS OF STAFF TIME (or $$) + AN EXPERT GRASSROOTS ORGANIZER + TECHNICAL SAVVY & CAPACITY + LUCKY TIMING + NEWSWORTHY STORIES!

Think like a Rockband

From Tweets to $250,000

Nonprofit Marketers’ Toolbox

Choose the Right Tool Sales Cycle

Cutting Through the Noise
Huge email lists
Smart Guerilla marketing – leverage news
Constituent-centered communication
Efficient use of web presence and staff
Coordinated efforts across org silos
Data integration and targeting!

Old Nonprofit Paradigm
If you build it, they will come
Crank out reports and press releases
Slap press releases on websites
Wonky, organization and issue-centric
Static
One-to-many
wah wah, wah

New Paradigm
Audience-centric
Story-telling
Search-engine optimized
Timed with the news
Creative, fun, personal, bloggie-style writing
Funky lamb-chops
Many-to-many

Sales Cycle Be conscious and realistic about the goals and possible outcomes for each tool that you use. What phase of the sales cycle are you serving?

Microsoft Instant Messenger & HSUS

Where it’s all headed: Data Integration & Targeting

Your “List” Mobile phone list Social media “friends” direct mail list Email list Phone list

Social Network Participation

Number of Friends/Contacts on Social Networks

Age of Constituents by Social Network

Breakdown by Gender

Employer Matching Gifts

3 Key Takeaways!
Be prepared for the big moment– be prepared to be lucky
Be everywhere you can be, but prioritize -- right tools for the right purpose
Set goals and track – don’t just keep up with the Joneses!

Contact Justin Perkins Director of Nonprofit Services [email_address] 303-475-4827 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/justincperkins For Nonprofit Marketing & Communications tips, visit frogloop.com. Lots of Social Networking Case Studies in the archives.

Appendix

About Justin Perkins Justin Perkins joined Care2 in 2006 with an eclectic background as a social entrepreneur, accidental techie, new media marketing expert and former State water resources administrator for a major watershed in Colorado. Justin develops partnerships with nonprofits and customizes strategic campaigns for them to reach Care2's audience of 10 million members. He also develops new tools to help nonprofits with marketing and fundraising. Justin launched frogloop.com, Care2’s popular nonprofit marketing blog, as a way to share cutting edge case studies and best practices for nonprofit online marketing. He has an MBA from the University of Colorado, enjoys trail running & skiing, sells roasted nuts at the farmers markets on the weekends, and frequently writes & speaks at conferences about online marketing. Contact Justin if your nonprofit would like a free hour of online marketing consulting. justin@care2team.com

Care2 Helps Nonprofits Grow
Care2 members are a great resource for nonprofits:
Email list growth
Donor leads
Surveys & Research
Branding
Drive Traffic to Site
Education & Outreach
Online advocacy

The Largest Ideal Audience for Nonprofit Advertising…

… full of Engaged Influentials, Online and Offline Care2 is an active online community. What makes them really special is their propensity to do more…

Links for more research frogloop.com/social-network-calculator frogloop.com/social-networking-tips frogloop.com/benchmarks

Main Ways that NPO’s Use Social Networks Goal Examples Success? Awareness & Outreach New programs, building buzz Yes Advocacy Passing legislation Some Fundraising Donations Minimal

Social Network Profile = Mini Website
Social Network Profile:
Layout, design, optimization
Grow Friends list
Post content
Get people to do stuff
Brand control
It talks back at you
Competing w/ other profiles for attention
Website:
Layout, design, optimization
Grow email list
Post content
Get people to do stuff
Brand control
It talks back at you
Competing w/ other sites for attention

Social Network Profile vs. Website (Pros)
Social Network Pros:
The tech platform is free
Located in connected audience
In context of connected friends
Info can spread easier
Posting content can be easier
Website Pros:
Tracking of performance
Customization
Control of brand
Optimize for goals
Higher conversion rates
More people using “Search” than Social Networks
Proven ROI

Social Network Profile vs. Website (Cons)
Social Network Cons:
Hard to track important stats
Harder to customize & optimize
ROI unproven & costs deceiving
Lots of competition & noise
Managing multiple systems
Time-consuming
Less control
Website Cons:
Can be costly to do well
Most people aren’t surfing for nonprofit websites
Pace of technology hard to keep up
Requires technical staff or consultant
Driving traffic to website a challenge

Humane Society of the United States- Seal Campaign on MySpace

Oxfam America in MySpace: meeting people where they are

Care2 campaign on MySpace

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Nonprofit Social Network Fundraising

by Care2.com and frogloop.com (blog)

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