Online Fundraising and Social Media
A presentation by
Kristina Carlson
Michael Ames
This presentation is already posted and available for download at www.slideshare.net
…search for it by title

Online Fundraising

Classic
Fundraising
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78428166@N00/512966822/
Identification http://www.flickr.com/photos/78428166@N00/143202334/
Cultivation
Solicitation
Fulfillment
Stewardship
http://www.intuitivmedia.net/data/picture/thumbnail/25.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameliaps/171257741/
http://www.old-picture.com/american-history-1900-1930s/pictures/Carnegie-A.jpg

Direct Mail
Fundraising
http://www.flickr.com/photos/funtomas/162339016/
Identification
Cultivation http://www.flickr.com/photos/inkdphotos/3472854002/
Solicitation
Fulfillment
Stewardship
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterkate/3151258891/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardlake/3212182015/

Telephone
Fundraising
http://www.flickr.com/photos/inkdphotos/3472854002/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/funtomas/162339016/
Identification
Cultivation
Solicitation
Fulfillment
Stewardship
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21317126@N04/2646368016/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterkate/3151258891/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardlake/3212182015/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21317126@N04/2646368016/

Online
Fundraising
(Circa 1994)
Identification
Cultivation
Solicitation
Fulfillment
Stewardship
Have we improved in 15 years?

Online Gifts, Online Giving and
Online Fundraising
Online Gifts – Money that happens to be donated through some online
interface.
Online Giving – The action of donors who happen to donate through some
online interface.
Online Fundraising – Strategic understanding of human behavior in the
various online environments, the chosen objectives of an organization to
direct that behavior of their existing and potential donors, and the
subsequent strategy to meet those objectives by utilizing appropriate
online technology.

Online Gifts, Online Giving and Online Fundraising
Clicking on this button
does not initiate online
fundraising.

Online Gifts, Online Giving and Online Fundraising
Money donated through this page is
an example of online giving resulting
in an online gift, it is NOT necessarily
online fundraising.

•Intentional Web Design
Online •One Way Communication
Fundraising Email
Newsletters, Quarterlys, Annuals
Donor Story Video
•Two Way Communication
•Electronic Direct Address Updates
Social Web
•Email Acquisition Strategies Blogs Participation
•Online Listening Strategies Blog Content Creation
Identification
Cultivation •eSolicitation
•Behavioral Data •Interactive Video
Solicitation
•Open and Click-through Rates •Variable Data Videos
•Segmented/Informed Follow Up •Segmented Appeals
Fulfillment •Segmented Gift Arrays
•Campaign Microsites
Stewardship •Person to Person Microsites
Observation
•Email Confirmation Gift Receipts
•Donor Stories
•Electronic Payment Gateways
•Holiday Greetings
•One-time and Monthly Giving Options

Social Media

Definition of Terms
Social Media – primarily Internet-based tools for
sharing and discussing information among
human beings. The term most often refers to
activities that integrate technology and social
interaction with the construction of
words, pictures, audio and video. The
industry might also refer to social media as
“user generated content” -wikipedia

Social
Media is…
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

Social
Media is…

Well…
sort of.
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

You Can’t Leverage Social Media!
• The session title is a misnomer
• If you are not actively involved in an online
community already, you have nothing to
leverage.
• Donor loyalty is about you being loyal to your
donors, until you can operate from that
premise – your organization will not use social
media effectively.

Social Media
REALLY
is…
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

a CONVERSATION…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/noxdineen

That is powered by…
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnneFIOPartners

“Your supporters are the message”
-Marshall McLuhan
The “medium-is-the-message” guy

From the Cluetrain Manifesto
• Conversations among human beings sound human. They are
conducted in a human voice.
• The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings
that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.
• These networked conversations are enabling powerful new
forms of social organization and knowledge exchange to
emerge.
The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual: Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc
Searls, David Weinberger; Perseus Books ©2000

From the Cluetrain Manifesto
• Nonprofits must talk to the people with whom they
hope to create relationships.
• To speak with a human voice, nonprofits must share
the concerns of their communities.
• If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make
it something interesting for a change.
• We have better tools, more new ideas, no rules to
slow us down. We are waking up and linking to
each other.

People have now had a taste of two way
conversations around your brand.
They won’t wait for you to talk about you.
They don’t want to listen to this…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief

A few quick stats…
73% of active online users have read a blog
•
45% have started their own blog
•
39% subscribe to an RSS feed
•
57% have joined a social network
•
55% have uploaded photos
•
83% have watched video clips
•
The conversation is happening…with or without you.
Source: Universal McCann’s Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008,
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

Some differences in tactics
SOCIAL MEDIA
BROADCAST
Audience in control
Brand in control
Two way / Being a part of a conversation
One way / Delivering a message
Adapting the message/ beta
Repeating the message
Focused on the audience / Adding value
Focused on the brand
Influencing, involving
Educating
User created content / Co-creation
Organization Creates Content
Source: Slide 10 from \"What's Next In Media?\" by Neil Perkin

In social media, you might be the topic of
conversation without being the center of it
SOCIAL
BROADCAST
MEDIA
MEDIA
You will have to give up some control in order to
gain more influence and followers.
Giving up control is OK.
firstgiving presentation, Using social media to expand your fundraising horizons

Let’s Consider What is Happening to Email
• How many email addresses have you had?
• How many do you currently have?
(most people answer 3 or more)
• Why do you have multiple, how is each used?
• If your organization asked you for your email
address, which one would you give them?
Content used to “go viral” through email .
Generally, people don’t use the channel that way any
more.

Quick Case in Point
To the
Twitter
community, L
ance is…
•Active
•Engaging
•Authentic
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point
•I even got my
own twitter
“autograph”
from Lance
SCOREBOARD!!
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point
•Very
Responsive
followship
•Lance crashed
his website in 10
minutes from
traffic he sent
there from
twitter
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point
•Credibility
•No
question, to
twitter
community, th
at Lance
tweets for
himself
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point
Lance Armstrong
Foundation uses
twitter for…
•Press releases
•Public relations
•“customer
service”
•NOT exactly an
audience well
cultivated for
solicitation
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point – open letter “advice” to the
LIVESTRONG foundation
•Shoot short video of Lance making specific impassioned appeal
to his twitter audience.
Lance has already
communicated with his
followers in this way.
Hundreds of comments
poured in within days.
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point – open letter “advice” to the
LIVESTRONG foundation
•Shoot short video of Lance making specific impassioned appeal
to his twitter audience.
•Video needs to state a goal, ask for a specific amount, and
automatically kick to a donation page with a specific, small gift
pre-filled on the form. No “Click to Donate” buttons!
•Ask Lance to tweet it out 6 times over 3 days varying the time of
day it’s tweeted and the subject line “update” that goes with
it…share progress, celebrate benchmarks, express goal, give
thanks, etc.
•Ask Lance to tweet as normal the rest of the day.
•LIVESTRONG twitter admin needs to follow progress and thank
individual donors publicly, using twitter.
•Headline the next day (prediction)…
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point – open letter “advice” to the
LIVESTRONG foundation
“LIVESTRONG Raises Hundreds
of Thousands in Three Days
Using Just Twitter”
What won’t be mentioned in the headline -- the months of
acquisition and cultivation work Lance Armstrong has done in the
preceding months to make this solicitation effective.
But…
Lance Armstrong isn’t doing acquisition and cultivation. Lance
Armstrong is simply in conversation with his followers.
(that’s the best kind of cultivation)
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

So, Should I Get Me a Twitter?
• If your organization is slow to adopt this new
way of thinking, there are some personal
strategies you might employ
• Your successful implementation should be a
good case study for the administration in your
organization
• Start with careful planning
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Thinking Things Through
• •
Objectives People
• Audience • Objectives
• Integration • Strategy
• Culture Change • Technology
• Capacity
Groundswell
• Tools and Tactics
• Measurement
• Experiment
Beth Kanter

People
Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Who are these people?
Source: Forrester, Groundswell

Objective: What do you want to
accomplish?
• Increase Revenue from New Donors?
By how much?
• Engage New Clients for Programs?
Referrals from Website – how many?
• Build Awareness of your Cause? New
inquiries? Mentions of organization
across internet? a specific measurable result expected
within a particular time period
PICK ONE OBJECTIVE TO START WITH…
MUST BE ABLE TO MEASURE
Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Strategy:
Plan for how relationships with
people will change
Listening
•
Participating
•
Sharing Your Story Social Media Style
•
Spreading Awareness, Generating Buzz
•
Social Networking For Action And
•
Fundraising
Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Technology:
Decide which social technologies
to use to support strategies
SEE LIST OF TOOLS for….
• Listening
• Participating
• Sharing Your Story Social Media Style
• Spreading Awareness, Generating Buzz
• Social Networking For Action And
Fundraising
Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Tactics – Tools - Time
Community
Building &
Social
Share
Networking
Content
Generate
Buzz
Listen Participate
20hr
5hr 10hr 15hr
Less Time More Time
Used with Creative Commons permission from Beth Kanter

Online Listening
Questions in preparing your organization to listen
Who will do the listening and responding?
What is your response policy to
criticism/praise/questions?
How much time is allocated?
How will you analyze and share results?
What are the benchmarks to measure usefulness?
Beth Kanter, Listening Literacy

Online Listening
Keyword Search Suggestions
• Nonprofit Name
• Other NPO names in your space
• Other NPOs with similar sounding names
• Program/Services/Event Names
• CEO or well known associated personalities
• Other NPOs with similar sounding names
• Brand or tagline
• URLs of your online properties
• Industry terms or phrases related to your mission
• Your known strengths and weaknesses
Beth Kanter, Listening Literacy

Online Listening
Social Media Tracking
Google Alerts
Blog Searches RSS Readers Detail Searches
-Technorati -Bloglines -Summize.com
-Ice rocket -Google Reader -Wordpress
-Boardreader -Feedreader -Del.icio.us
Source: Danielle Brigada, NWF

search.twitter.com
tweetbeep.com
twist.flaptor.com
twemes.com
www.tweetdeck.com
Some tools for listening
Laura Lee S. Dooley, Online
Engagement Strategist, World
Resources Institute

search.twitter.com
www.twellow.com
www.chrisfinke.com/twitslikeme
www.socialbrandindex.com
twitter.com
Some tools to find others
Laura Lee S. Dooley, Online
Engagement Strategist, World
Resources Institute

Online Participation
•Ask questions
•Comment on others blogs posts
•Compliment others content
•Forward and link to others content
Generate Buzz
•Open profiles on Social bookmarking and crowd
sourcing sites like digg and stumbleupon
•Bookmark content you like and share your profile
•Promote others content through service like
digg, mixx and newsvine

Share Content
•Take time to create content that addresses any recurring questions
your donor base is asking . This content does not necessarily need to
relate directly to the mission of your organization. You are preparing
content that will be genuinely helpful.
•Listen for where and when your content can be used to help a
conversation or answer a question.
•Answer the questions by directing people to the content you have
created.

Community Building
and Social Networking
•Establish credibility within your engaged following network of
people
•Once established, the group of people you are in conversation with
will begin knowing where your expertise lies.
•Inviting an engaged followship into a custom social network
becomes easy. Be sure to determine the kind of community or social
network you open is based on the people, objectives and strategy
you have established.

Giving Up Control
• The nature of social media is that not all content is
precisely right, but the majority is generally right.
• Not all of your interaction will be positive or
favorable.
• How you respond to criticism will say a lot about you
and your organization.
• Pick your battles and be willing to apologize when
necessary.
firstgiving presentation, Using social media to expand your fundraising horizons

Tactics – Tools - Time
Community
Building &
Social
Share
Networking
Content
Generate
Buzz
Listen Participate
20hr
5hr 10hr 15hr
Less Time More Time
Used with Creative Commons permission from Beth Kanter

QUESTIONS
Online Fundraising and Social Media
This presentation is already posted and available for
download at www.slideshare.net…search for it by title