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The Beginner's December Downturn!Guide to Online Fundraising & Marketing

Jono Smith | Event 360National Philanthropy Day | November 12, 2009

The Brandywine Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals

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Agenda & Key Takeaways

• The business case for online fundraising

• Why December is the most important month for

online fundraising

• 11 rules for online marketing & fundraising success

• Bottom line: A few good ideas to try at the office

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Download the slides tomorrow morning from www.event360.comor leave your business card and I will email you a copy.

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Rumors• Offline donors do not

donate online

• Online fundraising is for small gifts only

• Middle and major donors don’t want to hear from you online

Facts• 50% of offline donors

research their gift online

• Online donors are generous – ($163 avg);

• Internet is a favored way for middle and major donors to engage

Source: The Young & the Generous and Wired Wealthy

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• Greatest + Silent Generations (1901-1945)

• Direct mail & telemarketing donors

• Account for less than 15% of online giving*

• Occasionally visiting your website and reading your emails

• Baby Boomers (1946-1962)

• Multi-channel donors• Account for 52% of

online giving*• Active web users at

home and at work

• Generation X(1963-1980)

• The web generation• Generally not

responsive to direct mail or telemarketing

• Account for about 30% of online giving*

** 2006 donorCentrics™ Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis

Who is Giving Online?

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Why Are They Giving Online?*

• It’s easier than writing a check

• It’s a fast way to provide disaster relief

• It can be anonymous

• They like recurring donations

• Easy way to convert impulse to action

*Network for Good Study, “The Young and Generous”

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How much can a small nonprofit raise?

• Budget: under $250,000

• 910 nonprofits

• $9.3 million raised

• Monthly average: $858

• Annual average: $10,296

Source: Network for Good’s Custom DonateNow (April 2008-April 2009)

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Why December Is So Important

• Over 45% of annual giving via Network for Good’s donation

processing system is during December; this percentage of

annual giving has remained consistent within 5% since 2003.

• In December, nearly half of the donations for the month are in

the last 6 days, when nearly each day NFG is processing $1

million or more in donations.

• Average donation is higher in December; in 2007 it was $189

versus $135 the rest of the year.

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10-Point Online Check-Up1. Is your URL guessable?

2. Do your publish your URL on every communication, both online and offline?

3. Do you use website design strategically?

4. Do you provide relevant content? (Marketing + Journalism!)

5. Do you tell your story through pictures, videos, or podcasts?

6. Can you collect email addresses on your website?

7. Do you use email marketing & search marketing to drive traffic back to your website?

8. Can you accept online donations on your website?

9. Do you have a blog?

10. Can people find your website in search engines?

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Rule #1: Online Strategies vs. Tactics

• An online strategy is a plan of

action for using the internetand other digital mediums to achieve a goal or set of goals.

• Your website, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Facebook, etc. are all tactics that can be used to accomplish that end.

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Sample Online Strategic Plan

• Strategies:§ Expand online giving opportunities

on our website§ Grow our database of emails,

including collecting email addressesfor current donors

• Tactics:§ Optimize our website & donation page for success§ Monitor our online reputation§ Increase our ‘findability’ on search engines with great

content and Google Grants§ Use email marketing to build relationships and drive traffic

back to our website§ Analyze & measure, revise tactics, and optimize strategies

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Online Fundraising & Marketing Framework

Audience

Strategy

Objectives

Tactics

Measurement

Website Email Marketing Blog Search Video /

Pictures

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Downturn Strategy: Maximize Net Revenue

Before you spend another dollar on your existingmarketing or fundraising programs, I would ask three questions:

1. Does it increase donations?2. Does it boost net revenue? 3. Does it protect an existing revenue stream?

Some nonprofits don't measure net, they measure gross. And so they may be thinking they're producing a lot of money, but they're actually losing money.

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Rule #2: Focus on the Donor Experience

What kills online donations?

• Usability is the ‘donation killer’

• Turn-off factors:

§ 2 in 10 people can’t find where to

donate

§ 4 in 10 people don’t donate because of poor design,

cluttered pages and unintuitive layouts.

§ 4 in 10 people can’t find the information they need or

find the website content unclear.

Source: Donation Usability: Increasing Online Giving to Non-Profits and Charities

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Rate the Donor Experience

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1. Does your donation page look like your website?

2. Do you offer support for one time & recurring gifts?

3. Can donors make anonymous donations?

4. Do you provide both online & email tax receipts?

5. Do you offer tell-a-friend?

6. Can you ask custom questions?

7. Do you offer an email opt-in?

8. Can supporters make tributes or memorial gifts?

9. Can your supporters designate specific programs?

10. Can you offer thank you gifts & premiums?

Rule #3: Optimize Your Donation Page in 10 Steps

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Rule #4: Make your Donate button obvious.

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Rule #5: Listen to UnderstandTools to find supporters & monitor them

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Rule #6: Break the Outlook Habit

Still sending your newsletter from Microsoft Outlook? Six reasons you need an email service provider

1. Your emails may look terrible.

2. You may get blacklisted

3. Say hello to your recipients spam, junk or bulk mail folder.

4. Send emails to thousands of recipients, and you'll get all the bounce-backs and auto-replies from them. So much for free time!

5. You might be breaking the law. According to the CAN-SPAM law, if someone requests to be removed from your list, you must do so within 10 business days.

6. You won't know if anyone is reading your emails.

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Rule #7: Grow your Email List with Tell-A-Friend

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Rule #8: Get serious about email outreach

What makes a good email campaign?

• Get serious about the subject line§ June Newsletter

§ 5 Tips to Fight Global Warming

• Focus “above the fold”§ Most people use a preview pane when perusing their

inbox, so it’s important when laying out your email’s content to put a lot of attention on the top four inches and use that prime real estate to the best of your abilities.

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December 26-31

The growth in online giving is especially notable in the last week of December, when online giving’s advantages of convenience and immediacy are crucial. Nearly 45% of

annual giving via Network for Good’s donation processing system is during December. Nearly half of the amount processed December 2007, which was $20M,

was donated in the last 5 days of the year.

Send your donors a fundraising email the day after Christmas.

Test two different versions.

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December Strategy

• In addition to your core mailings your have planned in December, be sure to send out an extra appeal between the 26th and the 31st.

• The last week in the year is always hectic which means your message should be short and simple; reminding people how easy it is to make their year-end gift online in the last few days of the month.

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December Strategy

• Many organization’s top performing mailing is sent on the 30th with a short and simple reminder, “Still Time to Donate in 2009!”

• This year especially, when people may have less money, remember to highlight monthly donations as a way to afford the same level of giving spread out over time.

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Rapid Donor Cultivation (RDC)

• In the online retail industry, savvy retailers noticed that online prospect affinity is typically highest for the first 30 days after the visitor opts in to the retailer’s email list.

• This honeymoon period—the high-affinity phase—is characterized by higher email open, click, and conversion rates.

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Rapid Donor Cultivation (RDC)

• It turns out that this behavior is also demonstrated by new nonprofit e-subscribers.

• You can capitalize on this high affinity period by sending a stream of carefully crafted emails with select content and calls-to-action to the new subscriber over the first 30 days.

• TIP: Test a 5 or 10-email stream, ending with a targeted fundraising ask.

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Sample RDC Campaign

Issue Call-to-action1. Welcome Read article on website2. Elephants Visit blog3. Elephants Petition4. Whales Quiz5. Whales Survey6. Eagles Photo Contest7. Eagles Audio8. Puppy Mills Video9. Puppy Mills Donate10. Puppy Mills Donate

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RDC Results

• The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

was one organization to explore this innovative

concept of Rapid Donor Cultivation

§ The time to first gift decreased by 17 days

§ Rate of conversion of subscribers to donors increased

by 83%

§ Rate of conversion of subscribers to activists increased

by 110%

§ Average value of first gift increased by 15%

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Rule #9: Make your organization easy to find

34

Sponsored

Organic

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Rule #10: Put yourself in your donor’s shoes.

• The biggest mistake you can make is making it about

you. It’s about the audience.

• Online marketing is not a monologue.

• You are not the target audience

• Marketing is about looking at the world from the point of

view of our audience rather than our own.

The Mission Megaphone

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Rule #10: Put yourself in your donor’s shoes.

“Alopecia Areata Society”

• Disease: makes your hair fall out

• Support group: makes you feel ok about it

• Benefit: Self-esteem

• Awareness: Bald + women does not

always equal cancer.

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Rule #11

Social media is not a silver bullet for online

fundraising.

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What is Social Media?

Social media includes tools (like

blogs & video) and websites

(like Facebook & Twitter) to

share content and have

conversations online.

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Shiny Object Syndrome:“Don’t Be Another Fool With A Tool”

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5 Steps to Social Media Success

Questions to Answer Before You Start

1. Who is our audience? Build personas

2. Where are they online? Do your research

3. What do they want to do; what are they currently doing online? Observe and participate

4. What do we want them to do? Test different calls-to-action

5. How will we measure success? Set quantifiable goals

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How A Blog Helped Save the 4th of July

• The Celebrate Kirkland team had a daunting task: to raise at least $30,000 in just a few months.

• Without donations, Kirkland, Washington, wouldn't put on its annual Fourth of July celebration.

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Blog Strategy - www.celebratekirkland.blogspot.com

• Fundraising widget with current donation total • YouTube video of a previous fireworks show• Slideshow of Fourth of July photos • Badge linking to the Facebook page • Link to the Twitter page • Poll of how many times viewers have

attended a 4th in Kirkland• Brief bio on Celebrate Kirkland• A link to celebratekirkland.org

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Blog Strategy - www.celebratekirkland.blogspot.com

• Notifying past, current and potential supporters to follow

• Searching for other relevant blogs to request info

• Commenting on local or regional blogs that would have an interest in our blog and campaign

• Notifying Media about the blogs• Pushed out through all of out other

communications channels

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To blog?

1. Are you listening to your online community?

2. Do you have something unique to say?

3. Are you willing and able to say it?

4. Are you willing to be challenged and criticized?

5. Are you willing and able to dedicate the resources to succeed?

Source: Matt Dickman, Techno//Marketer blog: http://technomarketer.typepad.com/

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The Causes application for Facebook adds the ability to solicit and make donations from within Facebook.

Causes on Facebook

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What’s Working? Contests

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11 Rules for Online Fundraising & Marketing

1. Understand Online Strategies vs. Tactics2. Focus on the Donor Experience3. Optimize Your Donation Page in 10 Steps4. Make your Donate button obvious5. Listen to Understand6. Break the Outlook Habit7. Grow your Email List with Tell-A-Friend8. Get serious about email outreach9. Make your organization easy to find10. Put yourself in your donor’s shoes11. Social media is not a silver bullet

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CONTACT

JONO SMITHVP, Sales & Marketing

Washington, DCjsmith@event360.com

773.247.5360 x130www.event360.com

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APPENDIX: Event 360 Case Studies

• Global Race for the Cure Case Study• Florida AIDS Walk Case Study• Memory Walk Case Study

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GLOBAL RACE FOR THE CURE CASE STUDYUnleashing the power of e-Communication

Challenges• Increase fundraising• Add value to sponsorships• Revitalize the event

Solutions• Utilize Convio to segment participants and developed an e-communications

plan based on those segments• Re-engineer the event itself to tailor different experiences for walkers and

runners; ensure participants finish in the sponsor marketplace

Results• Increased overall fundraising 20%• Greater visibility added value for sponsors• $4.3 million raised for Susan G. Komen for the Cure• Client feedback: “Event 360 knocked it out of the park”

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AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION CASE STUDYDelivering results while reducing costs

Challenges• Increase fundraising• Increase day-to-day ownership of the event• Reduce costs and streamline production

Solutions• Provide production oversight while training staff to better manage more

aspects of the planning• Refine vendor needs • Revisit event costs and eliminate waste

Results• Increased net profit for the 2008 event by 130% over 2007• Nearly tripled the amount raised per walker nearly tripled from 2007 to 2008• 8% increase in donations per walker over 2008• Further decreased costs by $15,000 from 2008 to 2009

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MEMORY WALK CASE STUDYConsulting to uncover inefficiencies

Challenges• Unify and maximize the performance of over 600 events held by

more than 80 individual chapters• Improve link between events and mission• Increase fundraising

Solutions• One-on-one interviews with key stakeholders• In depth quantitative analysis of fundraising performance • Benchmarks were set and goals were established

Results• Chapter participation has shown amazing new strength• Total dollars raised increased by 15% in the first year alone• 25% of walks grew by 25% or more

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