session slides by john kenyon
TRANSCRIPT
The eNonprofit: Online Engagement
and Internet Services
Presented by John Kenyon
Author: John Kenyon
Responsibilities
Respect
Varied
Levels
of Experience
Participate, Think about Your Angle
Share your Experiences and Ideas
Silence Electronics
Session Agenda
Session Overview Internet Tools and Services
• Online Fundraising• Online Donation Processing• Email Communication • Organizational Capacity• Data Management • Integrated Services
Discussion Evaluation
Audience Needs Poll
What I’d like to hear about
Topics Issues I am struggling with
Could you talk about…
Online Fundraising:Same Paradigm, Different Tools
Source Informaton: The NonProfit Handbook, James Greenfield, 2002 Supplement, 3rd Edition, (AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series),
Prospects
Involved Prospects
Supporters
Attract
Commit
Engage
Retain
Drive Traffic, Collect Email
addresses
Interact by web and email
Online Donation
Personalized web/email
contactCommitted Supporters
Online Donation Systems
Internet “back-end” software that allows a web visitor to donate money to your org via credit card
Online Donation Processing vendors vary: Some are part of a larger software suite (Blackbaud) Some only do online donation processing (DonateNow) Some do online donations, event registration (Convio)
Business model includes: Setup Fee Monthly Fee Transaction Fee Credit Card processing fee Merchant Account requirement
Online Donation Rules
39 states require that nonprofits register for charitable solicitation status to fundraise in that state
Some online donation processing vendors will register for you (Network for Good/Groundspring.org)
More info at Techsoup “Internet Issues for Tax Exempt Organizations”by Alice Anderson/Robert Wexler
Donations Identify Supporters
Prospects
Involved Prospects
Supporters
Drive Traffic, Collect Email
addresses
Interact by web and email
Online Donation
Personalized web/email
contactCommitted Supporters
Online Donation Tips
Make Donate Now button immediately visible: Above “the fold”
Put a Donate option on every page
Minimize the number of clicks to make a transaction Don’t ask for more information than what
is needed for the transaction
Show that your site is secure https://, Info about SSL and digital certificates
Consider carefully using a service where it is obvious that the donor is sent to another site to give Donors may lack confidence that they are giving to
YOU
Online Donation Tips
Include a brief sentence on why people should give and the great things you will do with the money
Give options for donating (online/phone/fax/mail)
If you have appeals or membership: Link to detailed information on a separate page Appeals are most effective when date-specific
Create a donor thank you verification page and send an automatic email thank you Include in the email thank-you a link to your website
Send a mail acknowledgement within 24-48 hours of the email acknowledgement
Donation Systems - Key Elements
Excellent customer support, user interface and ease of setup
Download your data 24/7 with multiple reports
Customize the donation page with look of your web site
Ability to issue to the donor both an on-screen and email receipt
Ability to handle recurring donations
Ability to handle premiums (incentives)
A trusted vendor: it’s your job to investigate them Complete merchant banking and credit card processing Trusted security system (SSL)
Review: Online Donations
Register or use a vendor who registers
Have a donor-friendly and donation-friendly website
Give other options for donating/giving
Thank you’s and follow-up
Reflection and Discussion
•Your Experience
•Online Engagement
•Online Fundraising
•Online Donation Processing
•Tools you like
•This makes me think about….
Why Email is so Great
Email Strategy
Email Spam Guidelines
Email Messaging Systems
Vendors
Examples from the Inbox
Why Email?
People respond quickly - to compelling messages
Word of mouse (pass info to friends,“viral marketing”)
People email more often than they make an online donation
When combined, email, direct mail and web activities are powerful advocacy and fundraising tools
Higher Response Rates (Email 5-15%, Direct Mail .5 - 5%)
Inexpensive (Email .20/ea., Direct Mail .75 - 2.00/ea.)
Immediacy - 80% respond within 48 hours of email1 Source: Jupitor Communications
2 The eMail Marketing Report, eMarketer 2001
Source of slide: Introduction to eMarketing, Convio Corporation
Email Strategy
Regular Email Communication is a relationship cultivation activity
Combining email and web activities allows you to reach and re-reach donors/prospects through iterative contact
Combining email and direct mail builds personal relationships
Personal relationships are the heart of fundraising
Email Techniques
Hypertext links“Click here to read more; See the pictures here”
Word of Mouse marketing (viral)“Email this article to a friend; Spread the word”
Personalized greetings and references“Dear Susan, salmon can’t write to their senator but you can”
Incentives“Members receive a 10% discount on all books and classes! ”
List segmentation - Let’s email only non-member donors who gave $50 or less
Click-through tracking“How many people clicked on that link?”
Enewsletter Techniques
Create Table of Contents - glance-able, enticing
Establish the Brand of your organization Create Headers and footers with your org name and date
Content Write for readers to scan Create links to longer items on the Web
Establish Timing for newsletter Keep to regular schedule: quarterly, monthly, weekly
Provide ability to pass the eNewsletter to a friend
Avoiding the SPAM label
ASK for and DOCUMENT permission to emailOnline and Offline
Postal Address and Unsubscribe option in every email
NO renting or buying lists - Cross-pollenate
Manage Data - “Do Not Email”, “Do Not Send Enewsletter”fields in your database, honor “unsubscribes”
Accurate Subject and From lines - no sensational language
Email Privacy Policy
Ask stakeholders desired frequency of communications
Bulk Email Systems
Bulk Email systems are online software vendors that send bulk email for your organization
Features vary, but generally: Create a database of email addresses Conduct email campaigns
(send bulk personalized email) Put a “Subscribe to Our Newsletter” function on your
website Allow recipients to unsubscribe/subscribe to email lists Create HTML emails Track click-thru’s on urls
Email Systems - Key Elements
Clear spam prevention policy; good ISP relationships
Ability to set “To,” “From” and “Reply “addresses
Easy subscribe, unsubscribe
Automatic removal of unsubscribes, bounces
Subscription confirmation option
Easy to understand user interface
Ability to segment list
Trackable URLs so that you can analyze email recipient behavior
HTML sniffer
See Idealware report - www.idealware.com
Tracking & Measurement
The success of email campaigns depends on goals and benchmarks for those goals
An email messaging service allows you to track subscriber activity (benchmarks)
Knowledge of subscriber activity can tell you: What emails get read What people click on What people respond to to with actions or donations Who is subscribing/unsubscribing
Knowledge of results and examining patterns helps you create more effective campaigns
eNewsletter delivery statistics
eNewsletter clickthrough statistics
Specific url clickthrough statistics
Review: Email
Use your web site to gather email addresses
Build your email list everywhere to increase prospects:• Combine all spreadsheets in your office• Gather emails at events, phone calls• All print materials
Locate an email messaging vendor appropriate for your budget and start using the service
Start emailing updates, then a campaign, then a regular e-newsletter
Assign a staff person to handle email campaigns and administration
Test approaches, respond to data and track results
Reflection and Discussion
• Your Experience
• Email Communication
• Campaigns
• Tools you like
• This makes me think about….
Organizational Capacity
? What questions should we be asking ourselves?
? What pieces need to be in place for our organization to be a successful “eNonprofit”?
? How do we best focus organizational energy?
Organizational Capacity
Database Established Strategies
Operations (Staff and Technology)
Time Money
Capacity Snapshot
Database
Fundraising Strategy
Operations Time Money
+ + + +
= Your Organization’s Communications Capacity
Internet Tools Evolution
Source Information: The NonProfit Handbook, James Greenfield, 2002 Supplement, 3rd Edition, (AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series)
Web Site
Email Messaging Program
Integrated Systems
Phase 1 Online Donation
Processing
Phase 2
Phase 5Phase 4
Phase 3 Interactive Website
Organizational Resources and Capacity Must Also Increase
Are Goals Balanced with Capacity?
Web Site
Email Messaging
Program
Integrated Systems
Phase 1 Online Donation
Processing
Phase 2
Phase 5
Phase 4
Phase 3Interactive
Website
Create Strategy Based on Capacity
First things first:
1. Your Data2. Your Website 3. Online Donation System 4. Email Messaging System
Go for the long-haul; online engagement is not a quick-fix and will not bring instant results
Develop a team of interdepartmental staff/board
Make a budget
Create a vision, make goals, plan an approach
Data Management
Online engagement activities will require back-end data administration and integration
Data integration means matching email/web information to offline databases
Each organization has a unique and dynamic set of information and information vendors
Staff resources need to be assigned to manage,analyze and report donor data
The role of a database administrator is extremely important to successful fundraising and engagement
•New email addresses from direct mail
•Change of addresses from direct mail
•New prospects with email addresses
Online Event Registration
• New donors, new email addresses
• Change of email address• Segment codes from
database to email db for direct mail emails
• New email subscribers with addresses and segment codes
• Email Unsubscribers• Bad email addresses• Change of address
Internet
Dire
ct Mail
Fundraising Database
E-MailDatabase
Online Donations
Internet
Email Database to Fundraising Database
Fundraising Database to Email Database
•Newsletter Signups/Web registrations
•Contact includes segment codes
Internet
Email/Web Subscriber
Sample Work and Data Flow for Email/Database Administration
Database Administrator:
Part Mom; Part Cop
Database Administrator manages workflow
@ @
Integrated Online Services
Integrated services/systems are either hosted software systems (application service providers or ASPs) or software suites
Integrated systems combine and manage data integration between online donation processing, email management, web and database administration. They can include modules for:
Web site content management Email messaging Credit card processing Donor database, giving
history E-commerce Events registration & mgmt Advocacy campaigns
Integrated Systems Advantages
Eliminates “silos” of data Donor data and web data are easily combined Event registration, survey information, email
click -throughs can all be tracked into donor database You don’t have to import and export data
from one system to another Reduces misinformation and duplicate information
carried through systems
Allows powerful integrated marketing and fundraising tools Can segment data Can track big picture of donor Can update content of website easily by non-technical staff
Integrated Systems Disadvantages
Expense($3,000 - $50,000 + setup, $300 - $5,000+ per month)
They involve conversion of existing data and systems into the new system
Sector is young; there will be changes in vendors
Your organization has to be committed to changing business processes and providing staff resources and training
Reflection and Discussion
Your Experience
Online Fundraising
Email Communications
Organizational Capacity
Integrated Systems
This makes me think about….
Thank you!
By taking the time to improve your technology knowledge and skills, You will make a positive impact on all of the organizations you work with.
All Images: Flickr - Creative Commons LicensePresenter contact: John - [email protected]