Online Fundraising 101

Online Fundraising 101 Richard Dietz, Nonprofit R+D www.twitter.com/nonprofit_rd

Agenda1. Why Online Fundraising2. Tools of the Trade3. Online Fundraising Strategies4. Next Steps 2

Don’t Panic… 3

Always look for what’s working• Other Nonprofits• The business world• Internet Marketing• ShamWow! 4

Consultants have all the answers…• No, not really• There are “best practices”, but you must test in your organization• Testing is the key, much easier to do online• If it works do more, if not try something else• We are also the worst at following our own advice 5

What you talkin’ about Willis?• SaaS, CRM, CMS• ROI, API,• wysiwyg• Open-Source• Fundraising Platform• Tweet, ReTweet, Twit?• Blah, Blah, Blah 6

Why Online Fundraising?• 75%+ of donations are still coming from individuals• 50% growth year over year• 2011 Cygnus Donor Survey (http://www.cygresearch.com/cds2011/) – 65% said they will make an online gift this year – Young donors (86%) – 35 – 64 year old (68%) – Over 65 year old (53%) ** – Direct mail donors – 29% made their gift online – 69% prefer electronic over print communication 7

Online Fundraising Tools 8

Tools of the TradeYou only need four tools to run a good online fundraising campaign:• Place to make your case – website• Way to take money – donation form• Way to connect with potential donors – Email marketing• Way to track results – online analytics 9

Tools of the Trade• Website – Use what you already have – Wordpress - http://www.wordpress.org – Joomla - http://www.joomla.org• Online Donations – Many, many choices out there… overwhelming really – http://www.capterra.com/fundraising-software (searchable) – Sage Fundraising Online (http://www.sagefundraisingonline.com/) • Online donations AND event registration • Flexible, powerful and can do things the others can’t 10

Tools of the Trade• Email Marketing – Again, many choices and you may already have this in place – Sage e-Marketing launching in August• Analytics – Google Analytics – free and very powerful – Need to track what is working and what is not 11

Online Fundraising Strategy Ideas, Tactics and Lessons 12

Fundraising Campaign Traffic (Email, Direct Mail, Social Media, etc.) Engagement Landing (Funnel) Page Thanks / Action Follow Up (Donate, Sign up, etc.) 13

1 – Sound Fundamentals• Clean, attractive website• Simple and easy donation process – Where’s the Checkout?• Prominent Donate button• Capture Emails – Most Wanted Response (MWR)• The Funnel 14

2 – Fundraising Campaigns• A coordinated effort that includes: – Specific Goal – Clear call to action – Timeline - create urgency• Campaigns are compelling, donation pages are not• People give to People – Childhood Hunger v. Mary – Individual stories are much more powerful 15

2 – Fundraising Campaigns• Emotion first >> Then Rationality – Dan Ariely – Predictably Irrational – What donors want to hear about: – Organizational Impact (80%) – Success Stories (74%) – More details about the organization (71%) – Info on financial accountability (43%) » Community Philanthropy 2.0 survey (age 30-49)• Contextual Giving – See 5 – Contextual landing pages• Again, works best with the Funnel 16

3 – Email Marketing• Email is still the most effective method – 69% prefer electronic over print communication » 2011 Cygnus Donor Survey• One to One messaging• Relevant and enticing subject lines – Literacy eNews – January 2011, OR 5 tips to create a life long reader• Single Call to Action in every email• If an issue converted a donor, then it’s important to them – Note this for later use (Segmentation / Contextual Landing Pages) 17

4 – Text Focused Emails• Generic emails or “Newsletters” no longer work – HTML is pretty, but does it convert? – Processing your inbox – Relevant to reader, short, conversational• Most email clients now block images• Test, Test, Test• Obama Campaign used mostly text based emails with links to video and their site – very effective 18

Example Email• Short• Simple call to action• Video 20

Example Results• Landing page #4 most visited for Dec• Much higher “avg. time on page”• Video link most popular click-through by far• Click-through % higher in 2010 for the final Year End• 37% click-through from landing page to donation form 21

5 – Contextual Landing Page• Targeted for each appeal• Keep the “conversation” going• Email >> Landing Page >> Donation• Segmentation and personalization – Geography, interest, etc. – The Environment• Video can increase the context and the emotional connection 22

Example – Contextual Landing Page 23

6 – Thank You, Thank You• Say “Thanks” right away (auto-generated email)• Thank them throughout the year – Part of the Engagement / Funnel• Provide program updates – Let them know it could not have happened without them – Highlight individual stories if possible• Some can even include a soft ask 24

7 – Donor Engagement• Its not just about the donation anymore – Donor Funnel – 7 touches• More actions = more “invested”• More cost effective to renew a donor• Engaged donors extend your reach – Social media, peer-to-peer fundraising, blogs• Empower them to take actions – Ask them / Events / Connect / Make it easy 25

Fundraising Campaign Traffic (Email, Direct Mail, Social Media, etc.) Engagement Landing (Funnel) Page Thanks / Action Follow Up (Donate, Sign up, etc.) 26

Action Steps• Identify and set up a fundraising campaign – Email > Landing page > Form > Follow up – End of Year Campaign Webcast in September• Select a few strategies or ideas and test• Take action, collect results, evaluate results• Take another action 27

Q&A Download the slides from today’s presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/sagenonprofit Learn about new Sage Fundraising Online http://www.sagefundraisingonline.com/ Learn about Sage e-Marketing http://www.sagefundraisingonline.com/ Contact Richard Dietz: Contact Sage: Richard<at>nonprofitrd<dot>com www.sagenonprofit.com www.twitter.com/nonprofit_rd www.twitter.com/sagenonprofit 512-850-6501 800-811-0961 28

Online Fundraising 101

by Sage Nonprofit Solutions on Jul 28, 2011

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 1

Statistics

Online Fundraising 101 — Presentation Transcript