Online Fundraising Demystified

Presented by Mack CampbellDFW Philanthropy Conference

Online FundraisingDemystified

234,000,000+There are

websites worldwide

Of those,

126,000,000are blogs

That’s

36 per personeach day

247,000,000,000+emails are sent

per day

Online: $15BOffline: $288B

Online = 5%of all giving

$300,000

$10,400,000,000

$15,400,000,000

1997 2009 2010

Online Donation Growth

5,133,233.33%

Online Donation Growth

Online donors are more engaged than traditional direct mail donors.

Average online gift is $80.80.

Average direct mail gift is $55.38.

In 2009, $11.68 was raised online per email address.

How much did you raise per mailing address?

Online donors are multi-channel donors.

Today•How do I get started?

•Why should I care about Social Media?

•Now what?

How Do I Get Started?

Developing a Strategy•Technology

•Design

•Email•Revenue

Technology• Invest in a Content

Management system (CMS) and email marketing platform that directly integrates with your database.

Technology

$1 investment = $25 in donations

Source: Network for Good

Integration

Donor Your Website CMS Your Database

Buying a CMS• What products already exist to integrate

with your data?• The most expensive option may be the best,

but it may not be right.• Look for advanced features.

Advanced Features• Peer-to-Peer

Fundraising• Behavioral Content• Email Campaigns• Advanced Reporting

Technology

•Invest•Train

Technology•Train your staff to

utilize all aspects of the software – as if they all are administrators.

Training

Don’t buy a car without having a driver’s license.

Developing a Strategy

•Technology•Design•Email•Revenue

Design StrategyIdentify your website’s audiences:– Clients– Donors– Volunteers– Students– Partner Agencies– Grant makers

Design Strategy

What is the mission statement of your website?

Design Strategy

“…but people never forget how you made them feel.”

- Maya Angelou

Understanding Design•Can a stranger know

what you’re about and why they should care within 2 seconds of opening your homepage?

Understanding Design•Are the images large

and engaging to emotionally connect with a visitor?

Donation Pages• Can a new visitor find the donate

button within 2 seconds?• Is the donate button:– above the fold?– big and colorful?– surrounded by a sense of urgency?

Donation Pages• Donation forms should be:– Short– Specific to the gift type– Single-Page– Include brief copy

Engagement• If they are not ready to

donate, give a visitor the ability and reason to take the first step toward a relationship.

Design

•Design Goals•Local Best Designs

Design

•Design Goals•Local Best Designs•Videos•Building Traffic

Building Traffic•The #1 rule to

increase traffic is simply to tell people about your website.

Building Traffic•Develop uniform

email signature lines for every employee in your organization.

Building Traffic•Create simple URLs for

targeted use.–www.childrens.com/give

Building Traffic

Search Engine Optimization

Building Traffic

Google Ads

Building Traffic

AddThis


•Design

•Email•Revenue

Email•Statistics•Best Practices•Growing Your List

Online Revenue

Source: Convio Online Benchmarking Report, 2010

Online RevenueHealth Environmental


Email Benchmarks

Advocacy FundraisingOpen Rates 13% 12%

Click-Through Rates 3.7% .6%Response Rates 3.3% .08%


Translating Benchmarks

Email List Size

10k 25k 50k 100k

Response Rate .08% .08% .08% .08%

Avg Online Gift$80.8

0$80.8

0$80.8

0$80.8

0Revenue $646 $1616 $3232 $6464

Translating Benchmarks

Email List Size

500k 1M 5M

Response Rate .08% .08% .08%Avg Online Gift $80.80 $80.80 $80.80

Revenue$32,32

0$64,64

0$323,20

0

Best Practices•Subject Line

Subject Line

Most important 1-7 words of the email.

Subject Line• Should:– entice, – pique interest, – not reveal too much,– result in getting the email

opened.

Best Practices•Subject Line•Design and Copy

Design and Copy

•Design for the Preview Pane.

Design and Copy

•Does the message come through without images?

Design and Copy

•Personalize and Target.

Best Practices•Subject Line•Design and Copy•Learn

Learn•Know the law.– CAN-SPAM Compliant– Opting In

Learn•Learn from experience– Test your subject lines– Test your email design

What I’ve Learned…• A good picture is better than

a paragraph.• An action verb is necessary.• Put the most important item

first.

Growing Your List

Growing Your List

•Median growth of 29% in 2009.

Online Signups• Is the sign-up form “above

the fold”?– Is there a clear promise

about privacy and frequency?

Online Signups•Acquisition Campaigns– Petitions– Splash Pages


•Design

•Email•Revenue

Online Revenue

New Revenue vs. Transferring Revenue

Transferring Revenue

•Direct Mail•Event Registrations

New Revenue

•Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

New Revenue

•Peer-to-Peer Fundraising•Online Catalog

New Revenue•Peer-to-Peer Fundraising•Online Catalog•Monthly Donors

Today•How do I get started?

•Why should I care about Social Media?

•Now what?

Why should I care about Social Media?

You Shouldn’t.If you’re only worried about money.

52% raised nothing.

2% of non-profits reported raising more than $10k through Facebook.

Treat social media like a conversation or chat room not like another website.

Social Media is donor and prospect enagagement tool.

Social Media•Stats•Staffing & Budget•Ideas

Stats

600 million Facebook accounts worldwide

Stats

185 million in the US.

Stats

9 of 10 non-profits have a Facebook page.

Stats

57% have a Twitter account.

Stats

Myspace is dead.

Stats

Non-profits average a 11% monthly growth rate on Facebook.

Stats

110 Facebook fans per 1,000 emails.

Stats

1.3 actions per month per 1000 fans.

Stats

27 non-profits (of over 11,000) reported raising over $100,000 through Facebook.

Social Media•The Facts•Staffing & Budget• Ideas

Staffing•61% devote less than

¼ FTE•14% have no FTE

Staffing

Of the “Masters,” only 30% have 2+ FTE.

Staffing

Is having 2+ FTE a good ROI on $100,000?

StaffingUse technology to your advantage:– Google Alerts– HootSuite

Google AlertsEmail updates of the latest relevant Google results based on your choice of query or topic.– www.google.com/alerts

http://www.google.com/alerts

HootSuiteSocial Media dashboard with tons of features including scheduled publishing.– www.hootsuite.com

http://www.hootsuite.com/

Staffing

•Use brief weekly meetings to plan out social media messages.

Staffing•Don’t recreate the wheel– Translate existing

content.

Dept Ownership

Evenly split between Communications, Marketing and Development.

Dept Ownership

1 in 10 now have executive mgmt forcing cross-department collaboration.

Dept Ownership

i.e. the intern or volunteer isn’t in charge.

Budget

52% have no formal budget for social media

Budget

Use of Budget $:– Facebook Ads– Graphics/Design

Promotion 101•Website feeds•Link from emails•Events

Resources• Facebook.com/nonprofits•www.nten.org

Now What?

Benchmark

Know where you are first. Then figure out where you’re heading.

Trends

Annual Growth RateOnline Donations

14% - 35%

Email List 29%Facebook 161%

Set Goals

Set growth in accordance with industry trends.

Set Goals

• Immediate• 6 week• 6 month

Immediate Goals•Build report templates•SWOT Analysis•Add “AddThis”

6 Week Goals• Optimize donation form and

donor user-experience.– Including email confirmation

• Create email solicitation and social media timeline through year-end.• Review website software.

6 Month Goals• Create an online monthly donor

program.• Review email newsletter and

appeal design.• Add Peer-to-Peer fundraising.

Set Goals•Assign responsibility•Equip to succeed•Hold accountable

Incrementalsteps

MONUMENTALsuccess

Questions?

/mackecampbell

[email protected]

@mackecampbell

Sources

• 2010 Convio Benchmark Report• 2010 Blackbaud Online Benchmark Study• 2011 NTEN eNonprofit Benchmarks Study• 3rd Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report,

NTEN 2011• Network for Good Online Fundraiser’s Checklist 2.0• Chronicle of Philanthropy Online Fund-Raising Data

Online Fundraising Demystified

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