3 tips to boost online fundraising

Bentz Whaley Flessner 1

3 Tips to Boost Online Fundraising

March 14, 2013

Presented by:

Justin J. Ware


3 Tips to Increase Online Giving

1. Build better online infrastructure.

2. Develop an online ambassador program.

3. Invest in personnel.


Columbia Giving Day


Online ambassadors and conversation management…

Volunteers were asked to share updates about the campaign.

Brief online trainings held.

40% of donors were new.

More than half camethrough social media channels.


The long tail of big gifts…

Several million dollars were given in the days immediately following the event by major donors who referenced the Giving Day campaign and the excitement it created.


Why do we care about engaging donors online?

Source: Blackbaud.

Distribution of New Donors by Agewithin Origin Channel

2010 Medians

18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 65–74 75+0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

1%

12%

22%24%

25%

11%

4%

0%

3%

9%

14%

23% 22%

27%

Joined Online Joined by Mail



Source: 2012 Convio Study.

43%

57%

Dual Channel Donors

Average income >$100,000

Average income <$100,000

38%

62%

Online-Only Donors



25%

75%

Offline-Only Donors





2007 2008 2009 2010

$79$93

$111$128

$84

$124

$169

$197

Donors AcquiredOnline in 2007

Including All Giving

Including Online Gifts Only

Lifetime Revenue per Original Donorfor Donors Acquired in 2007

2007–2010 Medians

Source: Blackbaud.



Lifetime Revenue per Original Donorfor Donors Acquired in 2007

2007–2010 Medians

2007 2008 2009 2010

$30

$44 $55

$63$32

$48

$62

$72

Donors Acquiredby Mail in 2007

Including All GivingIncluding Mail Gifts Only


1. Improve online giving infrastructure

Must be user-friendly (Ask my colleague Heather Greig about GCR).

Must be mobile optimized.

Must be easy to share.

Must connect to social

networks.



Make it easy to give!



Make it easy to give by…

Least number of clicks to reach the giving form.

Your giving form should be well-branded with your org’s info (not a third-party vendor’s) to avoid confusing donors.

Providing e-receipts to donors (if the gift amount allows).


Go Mobile!

RWD (Responsive Web Design).

Use text to drive donors to mobile giving sites (as opposed to text to give).

Integrate location-based technology (FourSquare).


Response Web Design (RWD)



Enable login via social networks

Easy for donors (to connect and share).

No need to create a new account, password, etc.

Gives your org valuable information.


Social log in—a GREAT icebreaker.

Social network login gives you access to otherwise restricted social networks and all the info hidden in them, such as…

What types of content resonate with the donor.

Who their friends are.

What their friends are interested in. (New donors?)

Contact info for the user and all their Facebook friends.


Data allows for the creation of “Content Profiles.”

Content profile for Jonathan Foley

Key words include “Climate,” “IonE,” “Environment.”

Interests include “Environmental,” “Sustainability,” “Climate,” “Research.”

Ambassador score of 68. 84 in “Climate”

91 in “Environment”


Content profiles take you from knowing the demographics of your supporters…

…to knowing their psychographics.


Obama’s ambassadors

Just a few weeks before the 2012 election, the Obama campaign realized they had a problem…

…half the campaign’s targeted swing-state voters had no listed phone numbers.Source: Michael Scherer, Time Swampland Blog.



So they built a custom Facebook app that…

…gave the campaign access to the entire list of friends for everyone who authorized the app.Source: Scherer, Time.



Next, they built content profiles from the data about the app subscribers’ friends to help the app subscribers send their friends content and info they would like…

…this led to more voters registered and dollars raised.



The ultimate in targeted messaging…

…videos, photo galleries, updates, asks for support—all custom-built to match the personality of a supporter’s Facebook friends.



…research immediately following the election found statistically significant changes in voter behavior. People whose friends sent them requests to register to vote and to vote early were more likely to do so than similar potential voters who were not contacted. Source: Scherer, Time.

The app changed voter behavior…


How it will work to boost your online giving…

Use Facebook applications to learn about your followers AND their networks.

Create content based on what your followers and their networks like sharing.

Incorporate smart social sharing in broader campaign communication plans.


Before the Obama approach…

You need to identify your core group of online ambassadors. Which users have influence and are most likely

to increase support for your institution?

Learn about their behavior and what they want out of an online experience.

Capture and organize the above for quick, easy access.


What is an “Online Ambassador?”

Definition: Influential Internet users—specifically

social media users—with an affinity for your organization’s mission who have a high likelihood of enlisting the support of others through their online activity.


Online recommendation from a friend =most influential form of advertising

Source: Nielsen, April 2012


Data: what do we need to know?

Number and name of social networks a constituent is active on.

Klout or Kred scores.

Their affinity or connection to your institution or organization.

Content they interact with—their content profiles.

Combine the above with donor data already stored in CRM systems.


What’s your influence?


How it works—the Klout score

1–100 possible score or ranking

Influence your score by…

How many people you influence.

How much you influence those people.

How influential those people are.


Influencing Your Klout Score

Your Twitter strategy influences Klout by…

Users mentioning, retweeting, and adding your account to their lists.

Influential users retweeting, mentioning, and listing your account.

Users who seldom retweet, RTing your tweets.


Influencing Your Klout Score

Your Facebook strategy influences Klout by…

Having a large number of comments and “likes” on your posts.

Having your posts shared by friends.

Having influential friends share, comment on, and “like” your posts.


A piece of the influence story…

…but by no means the whole story.

A low Klout score does NOT mean a person is not influential.

However, a high Klout score is a good sign they are influential.


Affinity matters more…


Mine the conversation…


Data allows for the creation of “Content Profiles.”

Content profile for Jonathan Foley

Key words include “Climate,” “IonE,” “Environment.”

Interests include “Environmental,” “Sustainability,” “Climate,” “Research.”

Ambassador score of 68. 84 in “Climate”

91 in “Environment”


Top Influencers for “Environment”

1. Jonathon Foley—91

2. Amber Carlson—90

3. Jennifer Woodley—90

4. Mark Simpson—89

5. Ellen Brown—86


Speak through your online ambassadors.

Use your ambassadors to amplify your organization’s message to groups of people you’d never reach via your own, traditional methods—it’s about the viral spread of information.


3. Invest in conversation managers

Conversation managers lead the ambassador program:

Constantly identifying new ambassadors.

Strengthen relationships with current and potential ambassadors.

Steward online donors on a consistent, routine basis—it’s about providing customer service for your supporters.

Capture data that can be added to content profiles – conversation mining.


Goin’ to the chapel…



User logs this comment on Facebook underneath a picture of the chapel.

“I love the Hendricks Chapel! It’s where my husband proposed to me!”


Syracuse chapel example for major donors

Personalized email and mail contact and solicitations…

Annual reports and campaign updates.

News and event information.

Thank-yous.

Whatever you use email and mail to do!



Talking points for gift officer calls and visits…



Create custom content for your biggest donors…

…include them in the content, when possible.


The Online Affluent

According to a recent Fidelity Investment survey…

85 percent of all millionaires use some form of social media.

Nearly three-quarters of that 85 percent are on Facebook.

Median age of those surveyed—56.


All ages online…

According to a Dunham + Company survey…

51 percent of those 60 and older have given online.

60+ age group gives more online gifts than under 40s.


Syracuse chapel example for annual giving

Create mail, email, newsletters, and more for groups based on keywords in a donor’s content profile…


Syracuse chapel example for annual giving

Produce online campaigns around popular online topics…



It’s about stewardship!

Social media allows your organization to provide consistent, responsive, customer-service like feedback to and engagement with your supporters.



Social media = more relationships with supporters…

…only real, experienced people can develop those relationships!


3 Tips to Increase Online Giving

1. Build better online infrastructure.

2. Develop an online ambassador program.

3. Invest in personnel.


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