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Slide 1: Online Fundraising 101 Richard Dietz, Nonprofit R+D www.twitter.com/nonprofit_rd
Slide 2: Agenda 1. Why Online Fundraising 2. Tools of the Trade 3. Online Fundraising Strategies 4. Next Steps 2
Slide 3: Don’t Panic… 3
Slide 4: Always look for what’s working • Other Nonprofits • The business world • Internet Marketing • ShamWow! 4
Slide 5: 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
Slide 6: What you talkin’ about Willis? • SaaS, CRM, CMS • ROI, API, • wysiwyg • Open-Source • Fundraising Platform • Tweet, ReTweet, Twit? • Blah, Blah, Blah 6
Slide 7: 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
Slide 8: Online Fundraising Tools 8
Slide 9: Tools of the Trade You 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
Slide 10: 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
Slide 11: 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
Slide 12: Online Fundraising Strategy Ideas, Tactics and Lessons 12
Slide 13: Fundraising Campaign Traffic (Email, Direct Mail, Social Media, etc.) Engagement (Funnel) Landing Page Thanks / Follow Up 13 Action (Donate, Sign up, etc.)
Slide 14: 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
Slide 15: 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
Slide 16: 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
Slide 17: 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
Slide 18: 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
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Slide 20: Example Email • Short • Simple call to action • Video 20
Slide 21: 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
Slide 22: 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
Slide 23: Example – Contextual Landing Page 23
Slide 24: 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
Slide 25: 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
Slide 26: Fundraising Campaign Traffic (Email, Direct Mail, Social Media, etc.) Engagement (Funnel) Landing Page Thanks / Follow Up 26 Action (Donate, Sign up, etc.)
Slide 27: 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
Slide 28: 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: Richard<at>nonprofitrd<dot>com www.twitter.com/nonprofit_rd 512-850-6501 Contact Sage: www.sagenonprofit.com www.twitter.com/sagenonprofit 800-811-0961 28