THE ONLINE FUNDRAISINGACQUISITIONCHECKLIST

Ryann MillerCare2

So You Think You’re Ready to Acquire

But wait – there are some things you need to do before heading down that road

The Online Acquisition Readiness Checklist

Know your strategyInternal stuffCostsWebsite readinessEmail readinessSocial media readinessThose other channels (offline conversion)

VS.

Strategy•Who are you trying to acquire?•How will you acquire them?•Are you using existing resources/collateral or

creating fresh?•Are you leveraging the best or most

appropriate campaign/hook to draw people in?•Can you define a few KPIs?•Do you have a roadmap/timeline/critical

path/plan?

The ‘if you don’t’ game• If you don’t know who you want to target,

you’ll get different types of people with different age ranges, income and commitment levels and it’ll be much harder to use one succinct voice to engage them.

• If you don’t use existing creative, will you have to get approval for creating anything new?

• If you don’t have any KPIs, how will you know what to measure and how to analyze the acquisition campaign?

Internal Stuff

•Human resources/staffing:▫Someone is going to have to write,

assemble, test and deploy the ‘welcome’ emails. Does that person exist? Do they have the time?

•Multiple departments – do you play well together in the sandbox?▫Development▫Comms▫Online, possibly IT?

The Big Picture Stuff•Do you know the life-cycle of your donors

already?•Are you happy with how you communicate with

existing donors?•What are you doing with existing non-donor

supporters/leads? •What are you doing with lapsed donors?

Should you be acquiring new donors if you’re not satisfied with your responses to these questions?

CostsThere are broadly speaking

two types of online acquisition: organic and paid.

• With both, you get what you pay for.

• Factor in costs to deploy emails and costs to convert once you’ve acquired.

• Plus, possibly:AppendsOffline conversion tactics

Sources for online acquisitionYour website,Display advertising (banner

ads), Search engine marketing

(Google etc) Promoted Marketing,

contestsFacebook, Twitter, LinkedInEmail rental (CPM), list

swapsEmail donor lead generatio

(CPL)

Website ReadinessCapturing leads organically

through your website is not an acquisition campaign!

Website readiness

Before an acquisition campaign you need to have/do:

A website you’re not embarrassed aboutSimple conversion funnelA great ‘about us’Sign up field/link everywhereWorking donation form

Email readinessWhat do you already send? Are you ready to ditch the standard

enewsletter?

No? Then how about re-thinking it?

Don’t want to mess with it? Then at least, you have to also send compelling, stand-alone, engaging actions (mixed in with great stories).

Email Readiness

Have the email welcome series ready. The what now?

Why the welcome series?

• Reminds and re-engages.• Starts the relationship.• Establishes the

parameters (we will do X, we might ask you for Y).

• Primes them for the conversion.

• More actions they take

MSF Canada’s welcome series

Social Media ReadinessWhether you want to

use social media as your acquisition source, or whether it’s playing a supporting role, be ready:

• Brand vs. personal handles

• What are you going to say, how often

• How will you move those people onto your email list

Offline Conversion

Important takeaway:

Just because you found them online doesn’t mean you should keep them there.

The Online Acquisition Readiness Checklist

Know your strategyInternal stuffCostsWebsite readinessEmail readinessSocial media readinessThose other channels (offline conversion)

Another Checklist

That’s you!

Thanks!Where to find me:ryannm@care2team.com@ryannMy LinkedIn profile:

About Care2:http://www.care2team.com

For info on how we help nonprofits acquire qualified donor leads and supporters, for case studies, and other fun stuff!