Charles Ball

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Building the eNonprofit Raising Money
Online Legal Services Corporation TIG
ConferenceAustin, Texas 1/26/05-1/28/05
Presented by Charles Ball
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What well cover today

• Online fundraising overview
• Case studies
• Techniques for online fundraising

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Online FundraisingSame Paradigm, Different Tools
Personalized web/email contact
Retain
Committed Supporters
Online Donation
Commit
Supporters
Involved Prospects
Interact by web and email
Engage
Prospects
Drive Traffic
Attract
Source Informaton The NonProfit Handbook, James
Greenfield, 2002 Supplement, 3rd Edition,
(AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series),
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2003 study on online engagement
Courtesy NetworkForGood, The Bridgespan Group,
Guidestar
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Online Giving Trends Update

• Chronicle of Philanthropy, 146 large
  organizations
• Many groups posting double- and triple- digit
  gains in the amount of money collected online
  over 2002
• In 2003 online gifts up 46 from 2002
• 50 orgs provided information over time
• Online gifts in 2000 - 11.3 million
• Online gifts in 2003 - 47.8 million
• Groundspring Q1 2004 donations up 167 from 2003

Source Nicole Wallace Online Donations Surge
Chronicle of Philanthropy June, 2004
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Case Studies

• Ruckus Society
• Earthjustice

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Case Study The Ruckus Society
Iraqs Most Wanted
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Case Study The Ruckus Society

• Very small staff
• Printed 25,000 decks of cards
• Effective viral marketing
• Good media outreach
• Raised 100,000 online

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• Strengths
• Timely
• Creative
• Options for involvement beyond
• More detailedinformationavailable

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The Ruckus Societys Custom Donation Pages
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Case study Earthjustice

• E-mail addresses
• January 2001 4,000
• March 2002 28,000
• January 2003 40,000
• Online fundraising revenue
• FY 01 14,000, FY 02 57,000
• FY 03 104,000
• Highlights
• Summer e-appeal (July 02) 26,000
• Winter series (Dec 02) 50,000

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• Successful Appeal
• Timely
• Urgent
• Compelling
• Options

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• Good eNewsletter
• Table of Contents
• Regular Updates
• Links to website
• Variety of topics
• HTML, pictures

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Integrate online and offline strategy
• Maintain an effective Web site
• Proactive email messaging
• Technology and vendor options
• Evaluation and metrics

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Integrate online and offline strategy
• Blend with existing offline strategy
• What is unique to online medium?
• Goal is to grow your visibility
• Collect email addresses prospects
• Execute online fundraising campaign
• Make a budget
• Build your staff/consultant team

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Maintain an effective Web site
• Useful brochureware
• Regular content updates
• Explain how donors can help (give, volunteer,
  wish list)
• Make the ask!
• Make giving easy on your site (DonateNow button)
• Email address collection tool

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Proactive email messaging
• Stay in regular contact with eNewsletter
• Collect email addresses everywhere
• Invite/Entice people to opt-in
• Keep people informed about news and events
• Make the case for financial support
• Make seasonal asks not just in December
• Use HTML-email instead of plain text email

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HTML eNewsletter
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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Avoid being labeled a SPAMMER
• Explicit permission with every email address
• Describe what they are going to get when
• Document opt-ins - offline online
• Confirm subscribes
• Easy unsubscribe in every email
• Subject Line be specific
• Have a clear Privacy Policy

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Proactive email messaging
• ACTION ITEMS
• Create eNewsletter
• Convert text to HTML
• Email collection (automation)
• Do not SPAM

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Technology and vendors
• Donation processing
• Email collection and messaging
• Integrated online systems

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What you want in Donation Processing

• Complete merchant banking credit card
  processing
• Ability to customize the donation page with the
  look of your web site
• Ability to issue on-screen email receipts
• Ability to download your data 24/7
• Customer support ease of setup
• Optional Ability to handle premiums
• Optional Ability to handle recurring donations

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Donation Processing Vendors

• Lowest cost NetworkforGood.org (3)
• Affordable CharityWeb.net, Contribute.com,
  Donate.net, Entango.com, Groundspring.org, etc.
  (150 setup 30-50 monthly)
• More features, more money Blackbaud, Convio,
  GetActive Software, Groupstone, Kintera,
  LocalVoice, etc. (3,000 setup 300-400
  monthly)

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What you want in Email Processing

• Easy subscribe, unsubscribe process
• Automatic removal of unsubs, hard bounces
• Ability to segment list
• Click-through tracking
• Ability to set From and reply addresses
• HTML sniffer

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Email Processing Vendors

• (NOT systems Your Outlook, Eudora, YahooMail
  etc.)
• Free Topica.com, YahooGroups.com
• Inexpensive Cooler E-Mail, Constant Contact,
  Groundspring.org, Microsoft List Builder,
  NPOGroups, Sparklist.com, MailerMailer, Topicas
  E-mail Publisher, etc. (50 setup 30-50
  monthly)
• More features, more money Blackbaud, Convio,
  GetActive, Groupstone, Kintera, LocalVoice,
  eTapestry, etc. (3,000 setup 300-400 monthly)

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Integrated online systems
Blackbaud, Convio, eTapestry, GetActive Software,
Groupstone, Kintera, LocalVoice, etc.

• Web site content management
• Email messaging
• Credit card processing
• Donor database, giving history
• E-commerce
• Events registration mgmt
• Advocacy campaigns

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Technology and vendors
• ACTION ITEMS
• Set up donation processing
• Set up email collection (automation)
• Improve Web site updating
• Improve data management

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Techniques for Online Fundraising

• Evaluation and metrics
• Web site traffic
• Web site referrer data
• Document downloads
• eNewsletter subscribes and unsubscribes
• eNewsletter click-through data
• Online gifts tracking
• of online gifts over time

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eNewsletter Delivery Statistics
eNewsletter Click-through Statistics
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Summary Online Fundraising

• Key Points
• Keep your website alive with content
• Integrate your strategies (online/offline)
• Keep in touch with your stakeholders
  (eNewsletters)
• Your data is vital, treat it accordingly!
• Track activity Learn by trying

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Online Fundraising Handbook 92 pages Free
download Published by Groundspring.org www.groun
dspring.org/techniques
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Thank You!