Strategic Online Communication for Nonprofits

Posts Tagged ‘online fundraising’

Audience segmentation is one of the most important keys to any successful marketing or communication campaign.  But you must know your audience well to decide whether you should segment by behavior, interests, or demographics.

Segmenting allows you to effectively target your message, to appeal directly to the specific concerns or aspirations of your audience.

While many nonprofits know a lot about their offline target audiences (including donors and top contributors), many don’t know as much about the people interacting with them online.

People react and interact differently online.  The segment of your donors that goes online may be very different from the segment that doesn’t.  Here are a few interesting statistics to get you thinking about online audiences and online donors in particular:

Who is giving online?[1]

• Less than 15% of all online donations are from older generations of 70 years or above.  They usually give offline, and prefer to give offline;
• 50% of online donations are made by baby boomers.  They are active web users, and often give both online and offline;
• 30% of online gifts are made by Generation X’ers.  They rarely give offline.  This is a great generation to tap into now, and cultivate relationships for the future.

What are the preferences of online donors?

• According to the “Wired Wealthy”[2] study, most wealthy donors prefer just to receive email a few times per year from an organization they donate to;
• Almost all online donors want to see a tax summary report at the end of the year to know that their donation was well spent; they also want to receive a tax-deductible donation letter from the organization at the end of each year for their own tax purposes;
• Some online donors are interested in receiving action alerts or success stories (as long as they don’t arrive too frequently).

If you want to learn more about your online audience here are a few ideas:

1. Develop a short email survey to send to a randomly selected sample of your email list, with a few key questions that will help you craft your next campaign.  You could use an online survey application that tabulates answers for you, or you may even be able to administer the survey through your constituent relationship management tool.
2. Set up a poll on your website.  This can be fun and interactive—most people like being able to see the results right away.  Many content management systems have this feature built-in or available through a plug-in.
3. If you’re on Facebook causes, take advantage of the tools available to you. You can view your best donors or fundraisers in the “Hall of Fame”, and build a personal relationship with them to learn more about what motivates them.
4. Use your Analytics! Google Analytics can give you lots of great information.  How are people finding your site? What geographic region of the country generates the most visits? How often are they viewing your mission or your donation page? What are the most trafficked sections of your website?

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder

[2] The Wired Wealthy: Using the Internet to Connect with your Middle and Major Donors. Convio, Sea Change Strategies, and Edge Research. March 2008

A lot of non-profits have online donation pages but complain that they still receive very few donations.  Why?  There are several reasons that could explain the lack of online giving ranging from low traffic to a poorly designed website.

In essence, to be effective your entire online communication strategy must be built around increasing donations, which has implications regarding how your website is designed and what information you offer.

Below are five keys to online fundraising success.  While some of them sound intuitive, a recent study of non-profit websites found that a surprising number of them do not meet these criteria.  Potential donors were left feeling frustrated and discouraged from donating.

To keep that from happening to your potential donors, take another look at your site:

1.  Does your website clearly outline who you are, what your mission is, and who you serve?

The key here is that the answers to these three questions must be readily available.  You shouldn’t have to dig for them, they should be apparent on the front page of the website.  Site visitors often stay just 1-2 minutes, and want quick answers.

Less than half of all non-profit sites studied in a Non-Profit Donation Usability Survey clearly answered these questions on their homepages, and difficulty navigating a site and finding information was the number one reported “donation killer”.  If you need to tweak your site, try to keep your text short and succinct, and use photos to help communicate who your target audience is.  Make your impact tangible so visitors can connect immediately with what you do.

2.  Does your site appeal to visitors on an emotional level?

Studies have demonstrated that statistics and rational arguments don’t drive online donations– stories of real people do.  Visitors need to be able to connect with real people on an emotional level, through a story that highlights their shared values.  Donors like to see faces and profiles of the people they will be helping, and they need to know that their donation (no matter how small) will really make a difference.  If you’re not sure what the emotional connection is that drives your cause, talk to some of your current donors.  Then communicate that “selling point” through stories of the real people you serve.

3.  Does your site explain how you will use donated money?

The Donation Usability Survey of non-profit websites found that only 1 of 23 sites surveyed actually explained what they would do with donations on their home page.  And many non-profits don’t even explain what they will do with donations on or leading to their donation page.  The more transparent and specific you can be about where donations go, the more confidence you will inspire in your donors.

For example if you can cost out your services (“for every $20 donation we receive, one child in X country will receive a year’s worth of school supplies”) you make your impact tangible and your donor knows that they’re making a real difference in someone’s life.  That is both compelling and rewarding.

4.  Make online giving quick, easy, and secure.

The more time it takes to make a donation, the more discouraged potential donors can become.  Make sure your online giving process is quick (don’t add in unnecessary survey questions for example), and consider adding security features (like McAfee or VeriSign) so donors can feel safe giving out their personal information.

5.  Reach out.

You can follow all of the previous steps impeccably, but if your site traffic is low then your pool of potential donors will be insignificant.  So how to attract new visitors and donors?

You can increase your traffic through online marketing and communication strategies such as e-newsletters or e-mailings with links back to your site, viral campaigns, social networking, directories, strategic online partnerships, online press releases, using well-indexed content management systems, or even paid advertising.  And just reworking your site to make sure it is fully search engine optimized can substantially increase your traffic.

By Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-founder

The case for moving to an online fundraising strategy just became even more compelling.

According to a report recently released by the Giving USA Foundation, donations to charitable causes in the United States reached an estimated $307.65 billion in 2008, marking a 2% decline over 2007.  This is the first decline in giving since Giving USA began publishing annual reports in 1956.

The report reveals that two-thirds of public charities receiving donations saw decreases in 2008, while demand for services increased at 54% of human services charities in the same year.  In spite of the widespread increase in demand, 60% of the human services organizations surveyed were planning to cut staff or services in 2009 due to funding shortages.

While online giving represents just 5% of the total $307 billion donated in 2009, there are clear indications that many donors are moving online.  According to a Blackbaud analysis of Giving USA data, over $15 billion was given online to US non-profits in 2008– marking a substantial increase over the estimated $6.9 billion given online in 2006 (ePhilanthropy Foundation).

Online giving is not only favored by younger generations.  A 2008 study entitled “The Wired Wealthy” revealed that 51% of wealthy donors said they prefer to give via the Internet and 46% of those surveyed intend to make more of their donations online in the coming years.  An article in the Christian Science Monitor further emphasizes the benefits of online donations: “first gifts given online are 1-½ times larger than first gifts via mail; repeat gifts are also larger.”

New technologies and interactive websites are increasingly engaging new donors and offering individuals ways to get directly involved in their favorite causes.  This approach is working well for many non-profits, particularly small and medium-sized organizations who can now reach more people with fewer resources.  For larger organizations, it results in significant cost-savings as fewer personnel are required to manage mailings, checks, and other administrative details associated with traditional fundraising campaigns.

An online fundraising strategy will become increasingly critical in the coming years, as traditional fundraising activities become more expensive, resources become more scarce, and newer generations flock to the Internet to give to their favorite charities.

And for those organizations who aren’t ready to invest in an online fundraising strategy, it is important to at least make sure that their online presence is up to par.  About 75% of individuals who donate do research online before they give– regardless of whether they end up giving online or not.

By Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder.  Upleaf is dedicated to helping non-profits increase their social impact through strategic online communications.