2. What We’ll Cover
• Who’s Online and What Are They Doing?
• What It Takes To Raise $ Online
• Internal Organization
• Step-By-Step Guide
• Case Study
4. What Are They Doing?
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project
April 2009 Survey
5. What It Takes To Raise $ Online
• A great story
• Some good luck
• A clean website
• Supporters who can
help carry your message
• A solid theory of change
7. Internal Organization
• Online fundraising is about money, but also about
intense internal cooperation
• Coordinate fundraising across channels
– new media, phone banks, field, direct mail
• Communications and field
– Can provide great stories to highlight for fundraising
– Assist with list-building and fundraising asks
8. Step-By-Step Guide
1. Build your email list
2. Know your list
3. Tell your story
4. Make your ask
5. Maximize your website
6. Track & engage
7. Additional fundraising methods
9. 1. Build Your Email List
• Collect email addresses through:
– Petitions
– Pledges
– Donations
– Tell a friend
– Social networking sites
– Offline activities
• Partner with organizations who have a similar
mission and goals to do an email swap
10. 2. Know Your List
• Where did the people on your list
come from? Why did they join?
What are they expecting?
• Did they sign-up based on a
particular petition or cause?
• Segment your list:
– Interests
– Donors v. non-donors
– Recent donors v. lapsed donors
– New donors v. reoccurring
donors
11. 3. Tell Your Story
• Invite a conversation with your supporters
• Use voices and personalities from your organization
• Be creative – and use both email and web
• Share what’s happening out in the field
• Ask supporters for their input and FOLLOW UP
12. 4. Make Your Ask
• It's not just about donating – it’s about empowering
and providing a way to take action
• Set goals and deadlines
• Plan around key milestones
• Use personal stories as often as possible
• Take advantage of breaking news
13. 4. Make Your Ask
• Be transparent. Tell your supporters what you want
to do, what it’s going to cost, and what change will
result from their donation
• Start with a small ask (e.g., $10 or $25)
• After people donate, slightly increase the amount in
the next ask (e.g., $50 or $75)
14. 5. Maximize Your Website
• Make it as easy as possible to
– Donate
– Signup for email
• Engage and empower your
supporters
• Share personal stories
throughout your site
15. 5. Maximize Your Website
• Content on your site should match the content in
your email campaign
16. 5. Donation Page
• Make it as easy as possible
for supporters to donate
• Don’t stand in the way!
• Thank supporters after they
donate
• Use a targeted landing
page to encourage
donors to share with friends
17. 6. Track & Engage
• Monitor your initiatives and track the progress
• Segment your list and conduct A/B testing
• Keep the conversation going – provide updates/
action items
• Expect a drop-off rate with email addresses and
donors
• Continue to build and refine your list
18. 6. Track & Engage: A/B Testing
• Gives a better picture of what does/doesn’t work so
you can maximize future asks
• Things to test (one at a time)
– Subject line
– Sender
– Phrasing of the ask
– Small graphic
– Length of email
– Placement of donation link
19. 6. Track & Engage: Metrics
• Different types of metrics to look at:
– Open rate
– Click-through rate
– Average donation
– Number of donations
– Increase in donation amount
– Forward to a friend
20. 7. Additional Fundraising Methods
• Splash page (home page takeover)
• Name the fundraising campaign
• Feature personal stories
• Text-to-donate campaigns
• Match two donors and introduce them to each
other
• Dollar for dollar matching
• Recurring donations
21. Case Study: Oxfam
• Background Info: November, 2008, the economy
was terrible and Oxfam’s appeal was generating
50% of last year’s total, even though the audience
had grown by 50%
• Instead of continuing their standard end of the year
appeal, they decided to focus on a single problem:
100 million more people went hungry in 2008, and
they gave it a name: the Global Hunger Epidemic
22. Case Study: Oxfam
• A/B email test: (A) referred to and (B) did not
refer to the financial crisis as a challenge in
their work. Email B outperformed A, so they
didn’t mention the crisis in their appeals
• Set a public goal of raising $2m online by
Dec 31. Promoted it in email and web copy,
along with a thermometer graphic
• Created a short video and included it on
landing pages
23. Case Study: Oxfam
• Added two appeals to schedule
without sending more messages by
replacing an e-newsletter and a
yearly giving appeal
• Included a hint of guilt-inducing
language in last email of the year
• Added a home page takeover
during December (only displayed
once per visitor using cookies)
24. Case Study: Oxfam
• Results
– Increased end-of-year
giving by almost
$200,000 over 2007
– Brought in over 3,500
more donations
– Exceeded their goals
Case Study courtesy of M+R Strategic Services
http://www.mrss.com/oxfam-eoy-2008-fundraising.pdf
25. Contact Info
New Organizing Institute
(202) 558-5585
info@neworganizing.com
www.neworganizing.com
www.twitter.com/neworganizing
