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A Rookie’s Guideto Online Fundraising & Marketing

Foundation Center TechSense SeriesOctober 16, 2009

Rebecca HigmanMarketing Associate

Network for Good

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Key Takeaways

• Why online fundraising is the great equalizer

• The basics of an effective online marketing and

fundraising strategy

• Selecting and implementing online marketing &

fundraising tools

• Bottom line: A few good ideas to test right away!

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About Network for Good

• Network for Good is a 501(c)3 nonprofit,

founded in 2001 by AOL, Yahoo! & Cisco

• Our mission is to make it easier for nonprofits to

raise money online, and for people to give online

• Network for Good has processed over $270

million in donations for over 46,000 nonprofits.

• In addition to providing donation processing

and email marketing resources, we manage

all of the online fundraising on Facebook and

MySpace

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Why Online Giving is the Great Equalizer

• At Network for Good, 50% of the

donations go to 1% of charities

(excluding crisis giving)

• The rest – 25,000 nonprofits – are spread

out along the “long tail”

• Small to medium-sized nonprofits account

for 70% of giving via Network for Good

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Why Online Giving is the Great Equalizer

• Online appeals were the only fundraising

vehicle that didn’t decline!

• Median share of online fundraising: 7%

* 2009 Giving USA Report

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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

– Network for Good’s Custom DonateNow

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Who is Giving Online?

Greatest &Silent

Generations

(1901-1945)

<15% of online giving

Baby Boomers

(1946-1962)

~52% of online giving

Generation X(1963-1980)

~30% of online giving

** 2006 donorCentrics™ Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis

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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

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

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Key Takeaways

• Why online fundraising is the great equalizer

• The basics of an effective online marketing

and fundraising strategy

• Selecting and implementing online marketing

& fundraising tactics and tools

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

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10 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 shoes (really)

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Rule #1: Online Strategies vs. Tactics

• An online strategy is a plan of

action for using the internet and 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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What Might a Plan Look Like?

• Strategy examples:– Expand online giving opportunities

– Grow our database of emails

• Tactics examples:– Optimize our website & donation page for

success

– Monitor our online reputation

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Rule #2: Focus on the Donor Experience

What kills online donations?

• Usability (or lack thereof!)

is the ‘donation killer’

• Mind the common turn-off factors

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

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Rate the Donor Experience

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Custom DonateNow from Network for Good

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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 Understand

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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. Less-than-stellar design

2. Blacklist potential (yikes!)

3. Mmm… SPAM [folder]

4. Bouncebacks and auto-replies galore

5. Second helping of SPAM (CAN-SPAM, that is)

6. Hello? Anybody out there?

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

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What makes a good email campaign?

• Get serious about the the “micro-content”

– June Newsletter

– 5 Tips to Fight Global Warming

• Focus “above the fold”

• Personalization beyond “Dear Bob”(unless your subscriber’s name is Bob,

in which case, carry on)

Rule #8: Get Serious about Email Outreach

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Rule #9: Make Your Organization Easy to Find

Sponsored

Organic

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Rule #9: Make Your Organization Easy to FindS

ponsored

Organic

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Rule #10: Put Yourself in Your Donor’s Shoes

• It’s not about you.

• It’s not about talkingto yourself.

• It’s not about yourpoint of view. The Mission Megaphone

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A Great Example of Truly ExcellentMarketing Messaging:

• 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

Survey says… “Alopecia Areata Society”?

Rule #10: Put Yourself in Your Donor’s Shoes

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10 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 shoes (really)

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Bonus Tip: Learn about America’sGiving Challenge!

• Presented by the Case Foundation,

Causes on Facebook and PARADE

Publications

• Runs October 7 - November 6

• The participants with the greatest number

of unique donations, not dollars, win cash

awards up to $50K for their cause.

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Bonus Tip: Learn about America’sGiving Challenge!

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Key Takeaways

• Why online fundraising is the great equalizer

• The basics of an effective online marketing and

fundraising strategy

• Selecting and implementing online marketing &

fundraising tools

• Bottom line: A few good ideas to test right away!

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Things You Can Do Now!

• Get a donate button

• Start a relationship with an email service

provider (ESP)

• Determine your goals (both strategies

and tactics)

• Listen online to find your “wired fundraisers”

• Sign up for America’s Giving Challenge!

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Next Steps

• Learn more (for free):– Download these slides: www.fundraising123.org/training– Download the “25 Steps to Fall & Holiday Fundraising Success”:

http://web.networkforgood.org/25steps– Visit the Learning Center: www.fundraising123.org

(Be sure to sign up for Tips Weekly while you’re there!)– Sign up for a teleconference or webinar: www.nonprofit911.org

• Contact Us:– Phone: 1.888.284.7978 x1– Email: fundraising123@networkforgood.org– Web: http://www1.networkforgood.org/for-nonprofits

(Just visit www.networkforgood.org and click on “For Nonprofits)

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Bonus Tip: Inspire Your Supporters

• Next time you find yourself agonizing over how to inspire someone

to care about your issue — whether it’s frogs or children, hunger or

unspayed pets — back up a step.

• Put aside your faceless statistics of catastrophe, step away from the

“Canaries,” and think about telling us something personal and true.

• Don’t tell us why we should care, tell us why you care. We really

want to know.

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Bonus Tip: Inspire Your Supporters

• Tell your organization's founding story

once a year. Communications guru Andy

Goodman calls this one of the "sacred

bundle" of stories - a profound reminder of

the deep values and moral struggle that

gave rise to your organization's existence.

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Bonus Tip: Inspire Your Supporters

• Have a genuine cultivation strategy and

calendar. Send emails to donors that thank

them, that report back on how you've spent their

money and then offer an inspiring anecdote or

factoid. You can't thank donors enough, and

chances are, you don't. Make it a point not to

ask for donations in these communications.

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Bonus Tip: Inspire Your Supporters

• Ask your donors for their feedback and

opinions on a regular basis.

• Remind them that you know there are

people behind those email addresses.

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Bonus Tip: Inspire Your Supporters

• Offer periodic live chats or phone-in

briefings with your CEO.

• This is a staple of major donor fundraising,

inexplicably absent from the online giving

scene.

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Bonus Tip: Inspire Your Supporters

• Offer real-life glimpses into the life of your

organization.

• We are entering an era when authenticity is

arguably the paramount value in marketing

communications - a potentially massive shift

from the fakey-fake formula that still guides most

direct mail.

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