Presented by John Kenyon
The eNonprofit: Online Engagement and Internet Services
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
Retain Committed Supporters Commit Supporters
Interact by web and email Drive Traffic, Collect Email addresses
Personalized web/email contact Online Donation
Engage
Involved Prospects
Attract
Prospects
Source Informaton: The NonProfit Handbook, James Greenfield, 2002 Supplement, 3 rd Edition, (AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series),
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)
Setup Fee Monthly Fee Transaction Fee Credit Card processing fee Merchant Account requirement
Business model includes:
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
Personalized web/email contact Committed Supporters Supporters
Online Donation
Interact by web and email Drive Traffic, Collect Email addresses
Involved Prospects
Prospects
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….
Email
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 email
1 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 email Online 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 newsletter
Start emailing updates, then a campaign, then a regular e 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
Fundraising Strategy
Database
Operations
Time
Money
+
+
+
+
=
Your Organization’s Communications Capacity
Internet Tools Evolution
Phase 4 Phase 3 Phase 2 Phase 1
Web Site
Online Donation Processing
Phase 5
Integrated Systems
Email Messaging Program
Interactive Website
Organizational Resources and Capacity Must Also Increase
Source Information: The NonProfit Handbook, James Greenfield, 2002 Supplement, 3rd Edition, (AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series)
Are Goals Balanced with Capacity?
Phase 5
Phase 4
Integrated Systems Interactive Website
Phase 3
Phase 2
Email Messaging Program
Phase 1
Online Donation Processing
Web Site
Create Strategy Based on Capacity
First things first:
1. 2. 3. 4.
Your Data Your Website Online Donation System 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
@
Internet
Fundraising Database to Email Database
• New donors, new email addresses • Change of email address • Segment codes from database to email db for direct mail emails
Internet @
Online Event Registration
Email/Web Subscriber
• Newsletter Signups/Web registrations
• Contact includes segment codes
E-Mail Database
Fundraising Database
• New email addresses from direct mail • Change of addresses from direct mail • New prospects with email addresses
Direct Mail
Database Administrator: Part Mom; Part Cop
• New email subscribers with addresses and segment codes • Email Unsubscribers • Bad email addresses • Change of address
Internet
Online Donations
Email Database to Fundraising Database Database Administrator manages workflow
Sample Work and Data Flow for Email/Database Administration
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 License Presenter contact: John - kenyonsf@yahoo.com