Effective Internet Strategy For Your Nonprofit

Effective Internet Strategy for Your Nonprofit Allan Pressel

August 4, 2010

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Agenda

1. E-philanthropy: Background & Statistics

2. Internet Strategy: The Gap

a. How are nonprofits using the web today?

b. How would they like to be?

c. How should they be?

3. Q & A (throughout)


Background: E-Philanthropy Quote

“Internet portals are providing an interesting opportunity for people to

contribute and provide their help. Many of the charities themselves

welcome donations through Web sites. So I urge my fellow Americans

to continue contributing through Web sites. Thus far, I'm proud to report

through the Web sites of our charities, Americans have donated $55

million in seven short days.”

President George W. Bush, address to the nation, September 17, 2001


E-Philanthropy Statistics

2005 – watershed e-philanthropy events Tsunami

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, etc.

In 1st 2 weeks, Americans donated $867M to Katrina relief, 1/3 online

Pakistani earthquake

U.S. donations = $295B (90% from individuals) In 2001, 0.04% of donations were made online

In 2007, 13% of individual gifts were made online

By 2010 33% will be given online (source: Chronicle of Philanthropy)

10% of nonprofits receive over 50% of donations online

Average 501c3 administrative overhead: 34% (!)

Online donations are preferable to offline donations Offline donations ~ $30 vs. online donations ~ $130 (for the same nonprofit)

Demographics of online donors are favorable

Online donations cost less to process

Lots of Internet users visit nonprofit sites – AND take action 89% of US households give to charity

56% of Internet users have visited a nonprofit website recently

65% of (offline and online) donors were influenced by the web

Nearly 100% of major donors ($10,000+) were influenced by the web

40% of nonprofit site visitors take some form of action


1966-2006 Total Giving

($ in billions)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006

Inflation-adjusted dollars

Current dollars

PHILANTHROPY OVER THE YEARS

Source: Giving USA FoundationTM / Giving USA 2007

Recessions in light green: 1969-70; 1973-75; 1980; 1981-82; 1990-91; 2001


Statistics – Barack Obama’s Campaign

Raised $605M

More than double McCain’s fundraising Meghan McCain: “Unless the GOP evolves as the party that can successfully

utilize the Web, we'll continue to lose influence"

3.1M donors

Mostly small donations ($25 or less)

90M YouTube video views

8M volunteers recruited online

2M Facebook supporters

Lessons for you: Social networking

Text messaging

Blogs

Outreach groups

Virtual volunteering

“It’s no accident that [nonprofits] are asking about Web sites like Barack Obama’s. The [old] order is rapidly fading.” (Tom Watson, a consultant for the Manhattan-based Changing Our World nonprofit consultancy and the author of CauseWired, a new book about the use of social media in advocacy)

Lots of short, clear e-mails

Little US mail

Great branding

Focus = solving problems, effecting change

Website: Attractive, easy to navigate, short bits of info


Branding


Nonprofit site visitors take action

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Donated offline

Petition online

Referred friend

Petition offline

Donated online

Volunteered offline

Volunteered online

Courtesy: NetworkForGood, The Bridgespan Group, Guidestar

50+% said they would NOT have taken further action if they had not first visited nonprofit’s website


Gap: How are most nonprofits using the Internet today?

Studies show 70% to 93% of nonprofits have websites They are wrong!

The smaller the nonprofit, the more likely to have no Internet presence, or brochure-ware

These statistics were NOT the result of a scientific study.


Common Internet issues for nonprofits

Nonprofits typically build sites by “custom development”

Cost: Expensive to build/maintain

Technology Requires technological expertise

Requires infrastructure

Time: Time-consuming

Difficult to maintain obsolete info on website

Reliance on third parties expensive and risky

Lack of cohesive Internet strategy lack of prioritization

No secure server (+ privacy/security policy) hinders e-commerce

Brochure-ware (vs. e-philanthropy) missed opportunities


Private Website Consultation

I’d like to offer each of you a free private website consultation

One hour

Consultation includes: CharityFinders’ assessment of your site

Recommendations

Building your nonprofit's most-needed functionality

In person or by webinar

Include anyone you want (e.g., ED, DD, board members, etc.)

In one location or several

We’ll contact you in 1-2 business days to schedule the consultation


Gap: How would nonprofits like to be using the Internet?

1. Raise

more funds

2. Lower

fundraising costs

3. Attract in-kind

donations

4. Build

capacity

5. Track donor

demographics

6. Recruit staff

& volunteers

7. Develop long-term

relationships with donors

8. More event

attendees, members,

planned gifts, e-

advocacy, etc.

9. Motivate people to

support the

organization –

immediately

…in a way that doesn’t take time and

$ away from the nonprofit’s mission


How should you be using the Internet?

The Strategic Objectives of Your Site

1. Inform website visitors -- about your organization

and its mission

2. Elicit support

How does CharityFinders

assess your site?


You should strive to achieve these goals for your site: •Findability

•Stickiness

•Loyalty

•Referability

•Maximum conversion rate

•Dynamism

•Positive ROI

Your website: 7 Key Goals of an Effective Website


7 Key Components of an Effective Site


Site look & feel should be:

•Attractive

•Professional

•Modern

•Well-branded

•Consistent across your site


Navigation should be:

•Simple

•Intuitive

•Enabling user to get from any page to any other page with one click


What should people be able to SEE on your site? • Home Page (dynamic!)

• Brief description

• Calls to action

• Mission Statement

• Services/Programs

• Goals

• What’s New

• Accomplishments

• Brief History

• Issues/Causes

• Message from E.D.

• Press Releases

• Past Events

• Urgent Action Alerts

• Testimonials

• Photo Album

• Endorsements/Awards

• Donor Hall of Fame

• Privacy and Security Policy

• Annual Report

• 990

• Download Documents

• How We Can Help You

• Staff List/Bios

• Board List/Bios

• FAQ

• Links

• Contact Us

•Private/password-protected area(s)

oBoard-only area

oStaff-only area

•Multiple languages


Individual pages should include lots of images:

•Pictures

•Graphics

•Animation

•Audio

•Video


Financial (i.e., fundraising) transactions

• Cash donations

• Events

• In-kind donations

• Membership

• E-Store

• Auctions

• “Thons”

• Affiliate Marketing

• Investment donations

• Planned Giving • Bequest Gifts

• Life Income Gifts

• Charitable Gift Annuity

• Charitable Remainder Trust

• Life Insurance Gift

• Charitable Lead Trust

• Retirement Plan Gifts


Non-financial transactions

• E-mail List Signup • Volunteer • Employment • E-newsletter • E-advocacy • Petitions • E-Cards • Forms

• Public Opinion Poll • Questionnaire • Referrals • User Feedback • Web 2.0 Tools

• Discussion/Message Board • Chat Room • LISTSERV • Podcast • RSS • Wiki • Blog

Your site should be easy to find

•Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

•Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

•Other


Search Engine Optimization (part 1)

1. What are the key search engines?

2. How do they work? • 200+ ranking factors!

3. What can you do to optimize your search engine standings?

a. Metatags • Keyword

• Description

b. Choosing and Using Keywords • Keyword selector tool s

• http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion

• Use keywords/phrases liberally in page title, headings, body

• Use different keywords on different pages

• Keep them updated

c. Links • Incoming

• Count your links: in Google, type “links: www.yournonprofit.org”

• Choose relevant, reputable sites

• Outgoing

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion

http://www.yournonprofit.org/


Search Engine Optimization (part 2)

d. Other • Blog

• Robots.txt

• Search engines prefer HTML

• Search engines prefer text over graphics

• Avoid splash pages

• Don’t use frames

• Be careful with Flash and JavaScript

• Create a site map

• All pages should be easy to navigate to (esp. home page)

• Create focused pages

• Get listed in The Open Directory Project

• www.dmoz.org

• Register with search engines

• Unpaid

• Paid

e. SEO is based on unknown and changing algorithms!

http://www.dmow.org/

Anyone in your organization (with no training)

should be able to build and maintain a world-class, e-

philanthropy website – quickly.


You should be able to cultivate data from your site activity:

1. Website traffic •How many people visited your site?

•When?

•How did they find your site?

•Search engines

•Which search engines?

•Which keywords?

•Links from other sites

•Which pages of your site did they visit?

•How long did they spend on your site?

2. Transactions •Who donated $100 or more last year but nothing this year?


Is All Of This Possible?


Contact Information

Allan Pressel, CEO/founder

[email protected]

www.CharityFinders.com

1-877-456-3210

641 21st St.

Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.charityfinders.com/

Chris Dumas, [email protected], 707-812-1234

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Transcript of Effective Internet Strategy For Your Nonprofit