social media fundraising: past, present, and future

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Social Media Fundraising: Past, Present, and Future

Ehren Foss

April 18, 2012


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Advising nonprofits in:

• Strategy

• Planning

• Organizational Development

www.synthesispartnership.com

(617) 969-1881

[email protected]

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Today‟s Speaker

Ehren FossCEO

HelpAttack!Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership

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http://info.helpattack.com | @helpattack | [email protected]

Ehren Foss@[email protected]

Welcome!Social Media Fundraising: Past, Present, and Future

HelpAttack! is social media fundraising:• Turns Facebook updates, Tweets, #hashtags, blog

posts...into microdonations.• Facebook & Twitter Apps for nonprofits• Consulting too


Who the heck is HelpAttack?

• From email to blogs to social networks• Convert offline & email fundraising expertise• Social CRM, social media is a channel


Past, present, future

• How is social media fundraising different from online fundraising or email? How is it the same?

• Case studies and best practices: What goals are realistic, and what effort is needed?

• How can smaller organizations find success?


Best practices:

Past

• Ashton Kutcher? Brands?o "Action triggered" cause marketingo Companies taking risks & innovating

• Email = biggest social networko Focus on email acquisition

• Coordinate multiple channels• One-offs

o Twestivalo 12kfor12ko Tweetsgiving

• Some Infrastructureo Facebook Causeso Rt2Give

http://bit.ly/IFdLI5 - historyhttp://bit.ly/HZTh0V - 10 lessons

http://bit.ly/IFdLI5

http://bit.ly/HZTh0V


Present

• Interest but not demand• Shiny new thing syndrome?

o Becoming process & results driveno "Donor database" ==> "Supporter database"

• Small slice of $20B given onlineo Most people not yet habituated to $ on SM

• More infrastructureo HelpAttack!, SmallAct, Causes.com, donation

tabs...o Mobile & native app developers


Future

• Social media fundraising becomes a channel• NFC (near field communication)• Portable payment information• We will assume...

o Donation an option through major SM networkso Coordinated supporter experienceo Coordinated fundraising, awareness, advocacy

campaigns

• How people share - you can forward a fundraising email, but do you?

• Friends asking friends - peer to peer fundraising• Platforms driven by both:

o Causes, Crowdrise, CauseVox, FirstGiving, Greater Giving, HelpAttack!, etc


NOTE: it's up to you, not the tool, to grow a relationship with those donors outside of the particular tool they are using.

Social Media vs. Email


Why is sharing important? Response and conversion rates.

Slide from Sarah Durham / Big Duck http://slidesha.re/GKtWDH


Sharing may boost response rates. FreeArtsNYC campaign for example:

1,200 Facebook fans, 500 Twitter followers. Retweets and shares from other organizations expanded audience



Unique Visitors 291/1,700 (17%) 28x better than email

Pledges 26/1,700 (1.5%) 19x better than email

(vs 0.08%)

• Audience is crucialo How big?o Who are they, and what do they care about?

• Experiment, test, and improve• Move donors up engagement ladder • "house file" is crucial• People give because:

o People they know giveo There's an immediate needo They are asked


People give to faces and heartbeats, not

statistics!

How are they similar?

• Not everybody sees each message.• Not everybody responds.

o Conversion rate• Each step in a process reduces response.

o Conversion funnelo 10% x 10% x 10% = 0.1%! (need 1,000 people to

start)• Part of every community is dead weight.

o Abandoned accounts, bots, spam folders..



• Grown the sameo Starts with zero peopleo Takes time and effort

• Cost resources at firsto More than donations produced

• Worth it!

Where would you be without your email list today?



Return on Investment (ROI)Like email, the ROI of social media should be measured

as a long term investment with compounding growth, rather than a short term balance sheet.



• Set realistic goals• Grow your presence• Reward participation• Leverage a special event, celebrity ambassadors,

corporate sponsors• Thank donors!


What are best practices for social media campaigns?

• Get 10 new donors• Learn who they are• Thank them personally• Stay in touch with them

Ten donors giving $25 per month all year is an extra $3,000. Not bad!


What are realistic goals?

About* 6 hours of work over 6 weeks.

• 1 hour to brainstorm the right kind of campaign for your cause, and the supporters you want to reach

• 1 hour to invite other stakeholders• 1 hour to tell partners or super-supporters and ask them to help spread the

word• 30 minutes to write a blog post• 30 minutes to include in an email to your list• 2 hours of social media monitoring• 1 hour to download reports and upload into your supporter database

*can vary depending on you and your organization


What time and effort are needed?

2,500 followers ≈ 5-10 donors


How do you figure?If you have around 2,500 followers, you’ll probably get 25 hits to the linked URL, and a few will complete the action. Repeat the ask in different ways to get to 5-10 donors.

What should I expect?

• Earth Day, Valentines Day, event• …or create one! #oceangiving

http://oceana.org/en/blog/2011/11/this-november-celebrate-oceansgiving


Leverage a Special Event








• Celebrity ambassadors• Corporate sponsors (JetBlue/FreeArts)


Partners, Advocates, Celebrities

• Reward participation• “Like” for a chance to

win…• Submit a picture for a

chance to win…• Nonmonetary gifts

(feature your picture, story, idea, etc)


Reward Participation

• Borrow an audience• Reach out to 10 people with 500 followers• Volunteers, other nonprofits, media, activists


Grow Your Presence

• Ads on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin• Advertise on Google, Bing• Special programs (Google Grants,

YouTube nonprofit program, Hope140) for nonprofits


Grow Your Presence

Beth Kanter and AXIS Dance Company


http://www.bethkanter.org/facebook-ads/, check it out!

Case Study with Facebook Ads

Who: AXIS Dance Company and Beth Kanter

Goal: get local likes

Method: 2 kinds, one general and one specific

Cost: $5/day for the general, $8/day for the specific and decided to go for pay/click because we wanted to them to click through to our AXIS Facebook page and „Like‟ us on Facebook

http://www.bethkanter.org/facebook-ads/






Axis Dance Company Results:• First 24 hours / $13 total budget• 67 Page Views• 28 Unique Page Views• 17 new likes (10 directly from the ad)• $13 for 10 likes



http://www.facebook.com/NationalParks


Real World Example- NPCA

http://www.facebook.com/NationalParks

Thank supporters/donors right away on social

media. It's free and powerful.


What's a free and easy way to keep supporters happy?

• Provide inspiring stories about what donors are accomplishing with their givingo "Susan just donated enough for 20 thanksgiving

meals! Thank you!"• Be personal• Be specific: "Thanks for volunteering today Brian!"

more:http://www.futurefundraisingnow.com/future-fundraising/2012/02/how-skimping-on-your-

donors-can-make-you-lose-your-shirt.htmlhttp://www.bethkanter.org/say-thanks/


Best Practices for Thanking Donors

http://www.futurefundraisingnow.com/future-fundraising/2012/02/how-skimping-on-your-donors-can-make-you-lose-your-shirt.html























http://www.bethkanter.org/say-thanks/




Real World "Thank Yous"


Real World "Thank Yous"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBrc4c_1jio&feature=player_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dDw_BNdt0g



Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest

Make it visual! Find your "inner Picasso"

from Noland Hoshino guest post on John Haydon's blog, check it out!http://www.johnhaydon.com/2012/02/not-pin-on-pinterest/http://pinterest.com/nolandhoshino/


http://www.johnhaydon.com/2012/02/not-pin-on-pinterest/







http://pinterest.com/nolandhoshino/

What NOT to post• Company logos

• Long paragraphs• Non-visual stuff

• Small images• Enormously long infographics. Instead, cut out sections

that‟s interesting• Anything that violates Pinterest‟s terms of agreement"

from Noland Hoshino guest post on John Haydon's blog, check it out!http://www.johnhaydon.com/2012/02/not-pin-on-pinterest/http://pinterest.com/nolandhoshino/


Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest








http://pinterest.com/nolandhoshino/

• Find your ideal supporters• Friend them or Follow them• They will likely follow back if you engage them

with questions or content• Personalize the account with a picture, a voice

and even a brief bio of the person posting• Use tools like HootSuite, TweetDeck


Small to Medium Sized Nonprofits

• You can really know your supporters

• Grow the right audience• Easier to ask them for things

Try this:Choose a random hundred and look at their profiles. How did they find you? Who are they? Why are they following you? What value

can you provide?


Smallness as an Advantage

• Far more similar than different from other fundraising

• Sharing is criticalo Make it visualo Make it specific

• Focus on your foundationo General online donationso Supporter databaseo Create culture of listening & openness

• Then pick appropriate tools & campaigns


Takeaways

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social media fundraising: past, present, and future

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