Online Fundraising Strategies

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Online Fundraising Strategies

• September 30, 2008

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Part 1

• Challenges
• Opportunities
• Web 2.0
• Online Donor Experience
• Relationships
• Where to go from here?

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Part 2 (Today from 2-3pm)

• Data Collection
• Third-party Data Data Integration
• Content Management Solutions
• Email Marketing Solutions
• Web 2.0 (Administration)
• Text Messaging
• Analytics
• Where to go from here?

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Online Fundraising Challenges

• Economy
• Competition
• Reaching Younger Generations
• Diversifying Content
• Internal Staff/Development Resource Issues
• Technical Limitations
• Exposure or Awareness

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Other Challenges?
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Opportunities

• Online tools help nonprofits acquire, cultivate
  and renew donors with minimal ongoing cost
• Delivers immediate assistance
• Extends your reach globally
• Automates personalization of information
  collects data for intelligence/testing/reporting
• Provides critical internal efficiencies
• Its easier to manage than ever even without
  technical knowledge

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Opportunities

• Direct mail and telemarketing growing less
  effective and more expensive
• Its eco-friendly
• Its convenient and data-driven
• Provides one unified brand many voices to many
  people
• Online donors cross all age segments

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Interesting Statistics

• First online gifts are 1.5x larger than direct
  mail and total online donor revenue per year is
  higher
• 46 of U.S. adults intend to make a greater
  percentage of donations online
• Heifer International raised 28 of their
  donations in 2006 online
• About 75 of people do research online before
  they give

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Now What?

• Its not working.
• We cant easily update it.
• Its old and static.
• No one comes to it anyway.
• Our donors are too old to use it.
• We dont know how to connect the data.
• Its written for a different audience.
• I inherited it and havent touched it.
• Its ok, but it could be better.

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Trivia

• How much money did the United Way raise online in
  2006?
• 5-10 million
• 15-20 million
• 50-250 million
• Other

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Answer

• 257.4 million in 2006 according to The Chronicle
  of Philanthropy

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Comprehensive Online Strategy

• Bigger than a donate now page
• Generate awareness and traffic (pr, search,
  partnerships, ads, blogs, etc.)
• Communicate to groups/segments (content, email,
  newsletters, alerts, video, blogs)
• Build credibility (usability, pr, security,
  professional design)
• Organize continuous flow of information
  (write/edit/approval process)
• Has to add value (messaging)
• Adapt to appeal to fickle, distracted audience

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The Decision Funnel
Awareness
Interest
Research
Credibility/Ask
Transaction
Acknowledge
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The Decision Funnel
Awareness
Interest
Research
Credibility/Ask
Transaction
Acknowledge
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How to Cultivate and Renew Online Donors

• Use dynamic data to modify content based on donor
  interests
• Get involved in social networking
• Showcase easy-to-share media-rich stories
• Have a voice and dont be afraid to state your
  opinions
• Jump into online conversations/groups go where
  your donors are

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Search Engines

• 85 of web sessions begin with a search on a
  major search engine
• Organic Search
• Pay-per-click
• Contextual Search Advertising
• Segmented search (video (YouTube), images, blogs,
  search to give)
• Think your prospective donors arent searching
  for you?

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Think Again!

• Catholic 7,480,000 average searches per
  month
• Catholic Liturgy 8,100
• Prayers 673,000
• Catholic Prayers 45,500
• Children Charity 12, 100
• Homily 49,500
• Catholic Faith 22,200
• Humanitarian Aid 110,000
• Rwanda genocide 49,500
• Third World Countries 33,100
• World poverty 301,000
• Poverty in America 27,100
• End poverty 8,100
• Hurricane Katrina 450,000
• Hunger 1,000,000

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And Again!

• Donate 653,000 per month
• Charity Donations 14,800
• Charity Donate 33,100
• Donate Money 18,100
• Donate to Charity 22,200
• Find Charity to Donate 13,500
• Donate to Poor Children 14,800

Nearly 1 million people in August 2008 looking
for a place to give.
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Search Engine Optimization Tips

• Identify your audiences
• Identify lingo theyd use to search for you
• Name
• Mission
• Geographic Location
• Services or Products
• Benefit or Beneficiaries
• Combination of all of above
• Repeat process above for translated sites

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Search Engine Optimization Tips

• Try to use 2-3 word phrases
• Catholic charities
• Childrens charities in Boston
• Mass enrollment cards
• Send memorial prayer
• Edit browser title bars (About Us is not enough)
• Edit or create keyword content on your site use
  exact keyword phrases 2-5 of total site content
• Get incoming links (PR, affiliate organizations,
  social networking, etc.)

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Example of Browser Title Bar
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Browser Title Recommendation

• If we were helping Red Cross with SEO, wed have
  them change title bar for home page to
• Emergency Assistance Disaster Relief Give
  Blood Help Disaster Victims American Red
  Cross

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Landing Page
Visitors who bail within 0-8 seconds after
briefly glancing at the page.
Incoming visitors to your landing page
Visitors who bail when your page does not prove
compelling under closer examination.
Visitors who are skeptical about what action
theyll ultimately take
Visitors who are attempting to convert but fail
or wanted to convert via another channel.
Conversions
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Landing Page Tips

• Eyes move across top left to right and down left
  side (10 oclock position is prime) eyes
  hesitate at 5 oclock
• 1 Most Common Problem Unreadable type
• Determine main message and create button in
  active form
• Make every question relevant every question
  you ask lowers the conversion rate - make em
  count!
• Layout tweaks can make a significant difference
  in results
• Multi-variant Testing

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Who Are the Next Generation of Donors?

• Every age segment growing in online use by double
  digits
• They are eco-friendly
• Cause-oriented
• Many do not own landlines
• Cell phones for texting/surfing not talking
  (12/2007 ESPN received more visitors via cell
  phone than computer)
• Heightened global awareness
• Very distracted multi-taskers
• They LIKE change not as loyal
• Gen Y is Gen X on steroids

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How to Get Involved in Web 2.0 and Social
Networking

• Identify special interest groups that would
  relate to your mission/cause
• Scour the web for credible, secure networking or
  blogging sites that match your group lists
• Post stories from your website or offline content
  and ask for input/feedback/action
• Post pictures/videos with captions and links
  (also drives seo)
• Assign multiple writers/editors/contributors
  including donors, partners, friends/family, etc.
  resist trying to maintain control
• Emotional and entertaining content will be most
  viral
• Provide branded share mechanism

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Quote from Chronicle of Philanthropy

• Regarding why it is necessary for non-profits to
  participate in social networking and Web 2.0
  activities
• To decide not to join the myriad of online
  conversations and networking opportunities is to
  cede territory to others who may have less means,
  knowledge or experience.

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Where to Get Started?

• Concrete goals and a plan to get there for
• Online donor acquisition (How? Schedule? Who Will
  Do It? What Will We Capture? How Will We Use it
  in the Future?)
• Promote online channel in offline efforts
• Look at your existing content inventory and
  identify stories, emotional appeals,
  cause-oriented information, items to assist
  others with like causes, pictures/video, etc.
• How will website (and other media) help me to
  renew donors?
• How can our online efforts make us more
  efficient/productive internally?

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Where to Get Started?

• Evaluate landing pages
• Optimize for SEO
• Test your messaging with one or two blogs and
  social networking sites, then tweak
• Evaluate credibility of your image and redesign
  website if necessary
• Traditional fundraising principles for
  acknowledgements, etc. apply online

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Questions?
www.SilverTech.com 603.669.6600 Erin.Presseau_at_sil
vertech.com Nick.Soggu_at_silvertech.com

• Thank You!