Tech Talk: Top of Mind — and Browser

“The hardest part in what we do is getting people to know when something changes or something happened in the news that we want people to respond to quickly,” Mahoney says.

IFAW recently completed a series of cultivation tests on new supporters acquired through newsletter action alerts or Web site actions and found that the more it engaged them before asking for a donation, the higher the donation. The toolbar is one more way to engage supporters without an overt ask, and one more feature that lets supporters feel like they’re getting a value-add — something Mahoney says makes activists more likely to donate. It’s also a great way to brand the organization and keep it top of mind, he adds.