“The Latest Tools in fundraising and Donor Cultivation Technology”

Christian Leadership AlliancePhiladelphia, PAMarch 10, 2011

Adam JohnsAccount ExecutiveeTapestry SolutionBlackbaud, Inc.Greenfield, INadam.johns@blackbaud.com

The Social Media Revolution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng

In general, nonprofits have two cornerstone development strategies:

Acquisition Cultivation

Today’s environment is a little different:

Acquisition Cultivation

Acquisition

Cultivation

Excel is not a CRM!

“Excel is a great tool to analyze quantitative information, but it did not enable me to manage relationships between the information I tracked

– it is ‘FLAT’” – Tal Frankfurt Cloud for Good

Link to Article

How many groups of nonprofits are there in the USA?

a. Email on your phoneb. Twitter

c. Facebook Accountd. LinkedIn Account

A Quick Survey:What is the first thing you checked at lunch?

http://www.givingusa.org/gusa/gusa_order.cfm

a. Email on their phoneb. Twitter

c. Facebook Accountd. LinkedIn Account

A Quick Survey:What % of your constituents use….?

http://www.givingusa.org/gusa/gusa_order.cfm

• Total estimated charitable giving dropped 3.6%

• Individual giving fell.4%• Foundation grant

making fell 8.9%• Corporate giving

increased 5.5% (mainly due to in-kind gifts)

Who’s Behind the Money?

Churches People

So, what do you need to do to keep your supporters loyal?

Prompt, personalized acknowledgementConfirmation that gifts are being used as intendedResults on outcomes, prior to being asked again

What about a quick survey to your constituents?

How do you prefer to be contacted?• Phone (mobile?)• Mail• Email• Text• Facebook• Blackberry Messenger

Thank you so much for your gift today John!

Glad to be a part of your mission!

The Rules Still Apply

It’s all about relationships…not technology

How can technology help acquire new supporters and

build relationships?

A Quick Survey

What % of your names have email addresses

How many collect them on Web Site? Where?

How often do you communicate via mass email?

Do you have a written email strategy?

Copyright 2002 - Gilbert Research

Why Has Email Become So Important?

People are busy…they want to communicate/interact on their own timeEmail is inexpensive…or at least it seems that wayEmail provides virtually instant access to friends and supportersEmail is a great equalizerEmail is measurable

Reads email before snail mail

More comfortable online

Busy, satisfies on their schedule

Expects information to be personalized

Expects immediate feedback

Demands information on progress

Wants a way to share with others

Today’s Supporter

oYou must be relevant!

oYou must be meaningful!

oYou must be personal!

The Market is Noisy

Direct staff and other close supporters (board, volunteers, etc.) to include subscription links in email signatures

Use Search Engine Optimization/Marketing to increase traffic and subscriptions

Investigate alliances or partnerships with similar or complementary organizations to reach common supporters

Grow Your List Online

Ask for email addresses at every touch point

Include your website address on all printed materials

Offer an incentive to collect

Grow Your List Offline

Hook them early, and keep them engaged over time

Optimize the welcome message

Send personal follow up message within a week (or less)

After a few months of active email, survey lists to see if you are meeting expectations

Now that I have permission…

Mobile readers are more likely to scan your email rather than readingInclude compelling call to action in the first 15-25 characters of your subject lineAvoid “top heavy” images in the designUse “alt-tags” on imagesIn addition to testing email browsers, test messages in handheld devices

Designing for Mobile Devices (50%+) (html)

Professional Email is Economical5,000 emails $99 .02

25,000 emails $400 .01650,000 emails $650 .013100,000 emails $1000 .01250,000 emails $2000 .008500,000 emails $2500 .005

Plus 3 - 20 times the success in delivery!

Teens and Young Adults are the early adopters of technology.

Interesting findings from Pew Internet Research

Small Changes to your Website can make a HUGE DifferenceBefore/After/After

http://www.cacesl.org/

They’re at your website, now what do they do?

1. Can they engage?

2. Can they add content?

3. Is there a reason to return?

Your goal – to get something from them!

Make it easy for your supporters to donate online.

The Results• Convenient for the donor• Gift is automatically deposited and put to use by the nonprofit • With integration, the gift is automatically recorded in your

database • Donor is acknowledged and thanked immediately which makes the

donor more likely to continue to give to your organization • Clean accurate data/results

eCommerce page to collect Prayer Requests

Do you have an Online/Social Media Strategy?

Do you have an Online/Social Media Strategy?

Media & PR

E-mail Campaigns

Social Networks

Integration with Direct Mail

Banner Ads on Homepage, Blog and eNewsletter

Google Adwords

YouTube!• Provides a strong avenue for your organization to broadcast

testimonials and describe how you are serving the community

• Allows you to attract more traffic to your website

• Videos can easily be posted on website or as a link within an eBlast or eNewsletter

• FREE service to increase your visibility

• Growing in popularity and becoming more accepted in the NP world as a method for reaching constituents

Broadcast your Cause

1. Reach Out – “Call to Action”2. Partner up – promote other organizations3. Keep it Fresh – create series, people who subscribe

will be notified each time you post a new video4. Spread Your Message – pass links, imbed your links

on other social media sites5. Be Genuine – your videos don’t have to be perfect

Real Life Example….eNewsletter

Dec 11, 2008:Subject line: Urgent Appeal: Your gift to CRS is

vitally important!

Straight Appeal Static donation formRaised $112k

View the donation form

Source: Laura Durington: CRS Social Media Presentation-AFP Maryland, 2009

Dec 29:Subject line: Only 48 hours left to make a tax-deductible gift!

Added “hotspot” text

Added video message from our president (that plays right on the donation form)Added a strong pull-quoteRaised $112kWatch the video

Source: Laura Durington: CRS Social Media Presentation-AFP Maryland, 2009

Dec 31:Subject line: Final Deadline: Last

chance to make a tax-deductible gift

New “hotspot” textKept video message from

our presidentNew pull quoteRaised $119k

Source: Laura Durington: CRS Social Media Presentation-AFP Maryland, 2009

This was CRS’s most successful online fundraising campaign to date (non-emergency).

• Three e-mail messages in this campaign (based on a direct mail piece)

• Banner ads used on website• YouTube Video message from the president• Posts on social networking sites advertising campaign • Coordination with Google AdWords

When the campaign was finished, it raised $594k online. Source: Laura Durington: CRS Social Media Presentation-AFP Maryland, 2009

The Results…

TWITTER—Stupid or Worth a Second Look?

What is Twitter?? Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and

stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

Often times referred to as a “micro-blog” (140 characters or less) where entries are “TWEETS”

A service that is QUICKLY gaining momentum!But NTEN (the Nonprofit Technology Network) reminds us that Twitter isn’t the point. Relationships are the point. Relationships are always the point.

The most basic of fundraising secrets is that people give to people. Twitter is simply one more tool to help people connect with each other.

**Can your nonprofit afford to not explore all the tools available?** How easy is it to find a capable volunteer? Try Villanova University

Celebrity Tweet Auction on TwitChange

Users bid to get three things:

1. Be followed by their favorite celebrity

2. Retweeted3. Or mentioned by

them in a special tweet

Total Raised $531,640.25

Charitywater.org

• 1,307,758 followers on Twitter• Use twitter to keep

followers up to date and drive them to website• Photo of the day• Raised $250,000 in one

day with a “Twitterfest”

Multiple options for people to give.

Multiple options for people to give.

Nuns Who Tweet

Takeaways from Twitter…• Don’t get overwhelmed—there is a lot of information to sift

through in the beginning as you learn how to use it effectively• Don’t be afraid to try it and start connecting with other like

organizations—You’ll be surprised how fast your followers grow• “Tweet” regularly—assign someone this responsibility each

week• Use Twitter to reach out to your constituents as a way to get

information in front of people—whether that be about your organization as a whole or to inform them of the need for support, or to celebrate how well things are going

“Peer-to-Peer”“Friends Asking Friends”

“Viral” Fundraising

Personal Fundraising Pages Main Page for TripThis Main Page is a consolidation page for the entire event or fundraising activity that includes all Team and Individual Pages and includes a real time status thermometer

Register allows patrons to register for the event and build their own Team or Individual web page

Find a Team or Participant allows patrons to find a team or participant they can donate directly to

Make a Donation allows patrons to make a general donation to the entire event that does not have to be linked to a participant or team

Email to Family & Friends

Link to Personal Page

Individual’s Page

This is an Individual’s Page that can be linked to a team or the general event and shows Top and Recent donations and includes a real time status thermometer

Sponsor Me allows the patron to contribute towards this individual’s fundraising goal

Email confirmation sent

Intern Support

Share to your Social

Networking Sites!

Quick to produce in times of emergency

Personal Fundraising results are typically pretty impressive. Take a look…

• Average volunteer sends over 30 emails• One in four emails sent by a volunteer results in a

donation• Average online event gift is $59 which is a 50% increase

over the average off-line gift• Many volunteers reach their stated FR Goal!

eCommerce

Website

eNewsletter

Database

Constituent Home Page with summary information about the person from their account.

Relationships tab for connecting people to each other based on the types of relationship important for you to track.

Journal tab for managing gifts & pledges, notes, contacts and calendar items.

Some databases have the capability to establish auto payments from CC or bank account to a person’s pledge or recurring gift schedule.Missionaries, staff and leaders can enter notes and keep track of their contacts, email and phone conversations with their members.

Gift entry: connect each transaction to fund, campaign and approach – letter to be sent - process cash, check, CC or EFT, in-kind gifts – track gifts given in memory or honor of people

Reporting to Improve donor retention

What is next???

Facebook Messages(Facebook has over 500 million subscribers)

Facebook messages would channel “all e-mails, text messages and chats through a single point, Facebook Messages will offer users what

Mr. Zuckerberg called a “social in-box” that will prioritize messages from friends and close acquaintances, potentially saving time. And it

will make it easy for people to retrieve all the communications they’ve had with a person through various channels.”

“Mr. Zuckerberg says 350 million Facebook users already use its messaging service, exchanging more than four billion messages each

day.” New York Times Business Day Technology

Miguel HelftPublished: November 15, 2010

Resources…1. eNewletters & Consulting:http://www.forimpact.org/http://www.theagitator.net/http://www.raisersharpe.com/http://breakthrufundraising.com/

2. Technology for Nonprofit Organizationshttp://home.techsoup.orghttp://www.beracha.org

3. Using Social Mediahttp://beth.typepad.com/http://www.charitywater.org/http://ahomeinhaiti.org/

4. Nonprofit Giving & Technology Researchhttp://www.blackbaud.com/company/resources/industryanalysis/analysis.aspxhttp://www.givingusa.org/gusa/gusa_order.cfmhttp://www.pewinternet.org/