Digital 101 as presented by Michael Hoffman, See3, Katy Jordan, CDR Fundraising Group and Heather Marsh, ABD Direct. A practical guide for digital veterans as well as those who just want to understand more about the ever changing world of digital fundraising.

1. DIGITAL 101

2. SETTING THE STAGE
Who We Are:
Michael Hoffman, See3
Katy Jordan, CDR Fundraising Group
Heather Marsh, ABD Direct

3. (SOME) ORGANIZATIONS
WE’VE WORKED WITH

4. SETTING THE STAGE
❏What is Digital Fundraising
❏Supporter Engagement
❏Email Strategy
❏Website Best Practices
❏Testing & Optimization
❏Integration

5. WHAT IS DIGITAL
FUNDRAISING?

6. WHAT IS DIGITAL FUNDRAISING?
Components
❏Website
❏Email
❏Social Media
❏Peer to Peer
❏Events
❏Personal Fundraising
❏E-Commerce
❏Digital Advertising
❏Text
❏Video
❏Event Registration

7. WHAT IS DIGITAL FUNDRAISING?
Types of Functionality
❏Host a website
❏Send email
❏Process credit cards
online
❏Maintain a database of
contact info and actions
❏Purchase items
❏Membership
❏Event registrations
❏Advocacy
❏Survey/poll
❏Evaluate metrics
❏Run tests
❏Process Donations
❏Engage/Interact

8. WHAT IS DIGITAL FUNDRAISING?
Types of Tools
❏eCRM
❏CMS
❏Data/Analytics
❏QC
❏Ad Platforms
❏Social Networks

9. WHAT IS DIGITAL
FUNDRAISING?
eCRMS
❏Blackbaud/Convio
❏Salsa
❏Salesforce
❏Engaging Networks
❏NationBuilder
CMS
❏Drupal
❏Joomla
❏WordPress
❏Luminate CMS
❏Custom solutions
Specialty tools
Cvent, Razoo, WildApricot, Shopify, and on and on…

10. WHAT IS DIGITAL FUNDRAISING?
Data/Analytics
❏Google Analytics
❏eCommerce challeges
❏A/B/V Testing Tools
❏Optimizely
❏Google Experiments
❏CRM Reports
QC
❏BrowserStack
❏Litmus
❏Email on Acid
TIP: Google Experiments is
free, but this is a case of you get
what you pay for. When you’re
serious about testing, upgrade
to a service like Optimizely.

11. PRINCIPLES of SUPPORTER
ENGAGEMENT

12. RIGHT MESSAGE, RIGHT TIME,
RIGHT PERSON
You Can’t Talk to Everyone About Everything
Know your audience
●Who are they?
●What will they respond to?
●You can not speak to everyone all at once.
●Are there times of the year that are ripe for a conversation?

13. AUDIENCE PERSONAS
● Fictional profiles of the people you want to reach
● Help you understand the people you want to
take action on your behalf
● Make it easier for you to develop and target your
content

14. TYPICAL AUDIENCE PERSONAS
Who are you trying to reach?
● Prospective/current donors
● Volunteers
● Peer-to-peer fundraisers
● Lawmakers
● Activists

16. YOUR DIGITAL PRESENCE IS
MORE THAN YOUR WEBSITE
● All digital channels should work together
● Email is still the primary revenue driver
● Understand how supporters/constituents are
finding you
● Social is still not a fundraising platform, it’s
about engagement

17. WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT YOU?
● Are there events in the media that relate to
your organization?
● Calendar events and holidays - be
opportunistic!
● Are there opportunities to cross promote
with your organization?
● Be timely, relevant and flexible!

18. LADDER OF ENGAGEMENT
Always ask for another action
eSign up Follow Us Send a
Message
Take Action
TIP: Encourage Social
Sharing at every step to
drive ripple effect support
and revenue!

19. COMMON CHALLENGES
Decisions About Options, Limitations, and ROI:
● Staffing: Build in-house vs outsource?
● Platforms: How to outmaneuver your system?
How to data sync your systems?
● Investments: Acquisition? Channel? System
Upgrades?
● Customer service: Fulfillment, donor service,
acknowledgement

20. MAGIC FORMULA
Audience + Offer + Messaging
○ID Key Audiences on your file
○Develop relevant offers to engage them
○Create appropriate messaging
○Timing | Tone | Copy | Creative

21. WEB BEST PRACTICES

22. WEBSITE BEST PRACTICES
Homepage Opportunities
Use your real estate wisely
Advanced Tactics
Lightboxes
Responsive Design
Intercepts

23. HOMEPAGE REAL ESTATE
Recommended Items:
● 5-10 second statement about the charity
● Emotion-generating imagery
● Prominent email signup
● Prominent donation call to action
● Any third party endorsements (Guidestar, Charity Navigator,
etc.)
● Information on how donations are spent or a link to it
● Engagement opportunities (share, tell us, act)
● Section for constantly-changing content
● Link to privacy policy
● Contact and 501 (c)(3) information

26. HOMEPAGE REAL ESTATE
Global Navigation
Primary Nav:
●Email sign-up
●Donation (general donation)
●Ways to give, FAQ’s about donations
●Shop/eCommerce
●Action – engagement opps such as volunteering, personal
fundraising, advocacy
●Event calendar (if applicable)

28. HOMEPAGE REAL ESTATE
Global Navigation
Secondary nav:
●Mission statement
●Links to social media
●Postal address & phone number
●Privacy Policy
●Contact Us

30. WEBSITE BEST
PRACTICES
Advanced
Tactics

31. Advanced - Sustainer Intercept

32. Advanced – Embedded Form
Lightbox

33. Advanced -
Monthly
Giving Form

34. Advanced - One Click Donation
Forms

35. EMAIL STRATEGY

36. TYPES OF MESSAGES
● Appeals
● Action Alerts
● Event Invitations
● E-News
● Cultivation/Engagement
● Specialized Messaging
● Acknowledgements

37. EMAIL MESSAGE
COMPONENTS
● From line
● Subject Line
● Reply address
● Images/Video
● Call to Action
● Landing Page
● Auto-responder

38. APPEALS

39. APPEALS

40. APPEALS

41. ACTION
ALERTS

42. ACTION ALERTS

43. EVENT INVITES

44. EVENT INVITATION

45. E-NEWS

46. E-NEWS

47. CULTIVATION

48. CULTIVATION

49. ENGAGEMENT

50. ENGAGEMENT

51. SPECIAL MESSAGES:
HOLIDAYS

52. AUDIENCE SEGMENTATION
● Non-donors
○ Prospects
○ Activists
○ Event attendees
● Donors
○ Low Dollar
○ Mid-High Dollar
○ Sustainers
○ Lapsed
TIP: There can be some
overlap between
segments - especially
activists and event
participants
● Responders
● Chronic Non-
responders

53. TESTING &
OPTIMIZATION

54. TEST ACROSS ALL DIGITAL
CHANNELS
Depending on the channel, we establish and monitor different KPIs

55. TEST ACROSS ALL DIGITAL
CHANNELS
Test different variables to impact specific KPIs

56. CONVERSION – LANDING PAGE
more likely to donate and had an average gift $69 higher than visitors sent straight to the don

57. ▪ A/B Test: Control image only vs. Variant w/embedded form
▪ Site-wide implementation vs. selected pages
▪ Responsive form
CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION
TESTING

58. DEVELOP YOUR OWN BEST
PRACTICES
To increase...
Engagement
Revenue
Conversions/Responses
Average gift
Sustainer Joins
TIP: Prioritize tests
based on your org’s
goals and ideal
outcomes

59. INTEGRATION

60. CHANNEL INTEGRATION
Bringing it all
together

61. OMNI-CHANNEL
Needs & Challenges
●Clean and Synchronized Data
●Coordinated Messaging
●Donor view vs. Channel view
●Holistic Campaign Review
●Attribution

62. INTEGRATION - YOU’VE GOT
TO START SOMEWHERE

63. DATA APPENDS/HYGIENE
DM
OnlineTM
❏Append or Request Email,
Mail, and/or Phone Data to
Donors and Prospects to
Allow for Multiple
Communications Pathways
❏Make sure to have
processes in place for timely
communication

64. INTEGRATION - DIGITAL

65. INTEGRATION - DIGITAL

66. RENEWALS/LAPSED
RECAPTURE
DM
OnlineTM
❏Plan Renewal and
Lapsed Recapture
Campaigns to Target
Based on Cost and
Donor Responsiveness
❏Start with “low hanging
fruit” to improve cost-
effectiveness

67. ACTIVISTS
TM
DM Online
❏Drop Activists into
Telemarketing Campaign
for Immediate
Conversion
❏Communicate with
supporters in every
available channel

68. DRTV
TM
DM Online
❏A truly integrated
approach
❏Prepare for each type
of interaction
❏Use every channel at
your disposal
eTV

69. INTEGRATION - DM,
DRTV, DIGITAL

70. INTEGRATION - DM,
DRTV, DIGITAL

71. THE INNOVATION
CONTINUUM
Operational Improvement
Technology
Improved
Technology
Innovation
True Innovation
Small Changes
Low Risk
Low Reward
Low Resistance Factor
Easy to do
Easy to Identify
Radical Changes
High Risk
High Reward
High Resistance Factor
Hard to do
Hard to Identify
Digital Fundraising

72. QUESTIONS? Thank You!

73. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!
Please take our survey and help us make
the next Digital Day even better!
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