E-Philanthropy

I hear it all over the industry and from a few of my clients: Why can’t we do that by e-mail? The drums have been beating for nearly a decade about the new frontier. What I say to them is yes, you should have a healthy digital-marketing campaign, but you need to keep your toes in every channel if you want to raise money … and that includes telemarketing.

Faced with high attrition rates, rising acquisition costs and increased competition for the donor dollar, today’s nonprofits must do everything they can to recruit new, high-lifetime-value online supporters and benefit from the positive impact that this has on both online and offline giving. Establish a goal for your donation page, and make sure all aspects of it (content, navigation, etc.) support that goal. As much as possible, get rid of anything that creates friction and is likely to run off potential donors. With easy-to-use tools, continually measure the performance of the page and make adjustments to optimize donor engagement and giving.

Results from two new studies conducted by The Chronicle of Philanthropy show online giving is surging. According to a recent post on The Chronicle‘s website: “Online gifts to America’s nonprofits are growing far faster than any other types of donations.” In this post, we point out some interesting online-giving stats recently revealed by The Chronicle and use the results to provide a few tips to help your nonprofit increase your online fundraising success moving forward.

Subject lines are more important than you might think. On average, at least 100 e-mails flood your constituents' inboxes every single day. That's a lot of digital noise to shout over, which is why your e-mail subject lines need as much TLC as the content inside. Here's a simple, four-step makeover to help transform your subject lines from ho-hum to "Oh, wow!": State the obvious, stand out from the crowd, avoid the spam trap and keep it short.

When there is strategic integration of all fundraising channels, you achieve the best possible results. This article touches on five main digital strategies: mobile, websites, e-mail, using digital media to thank donors and social media.

It’s imperative that you take online fundraising seriously. Take a look at the 15 most effective donor-acquisition and online-fundraising techniques used by top nonprofits.

1. Go Mobile, Now!
2. Grab People’s Attention
3. Make Sure It’s Branded
4. Use Compelling Imagery
5. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
6. Reduce, Reduce, Reduce
7. Use Giving Levels
8. Encourage People to Give Monthly
9. Give People a Way to Stay in Touch
10. Add Social Proof
11. Put Security First
12. Be Transparent
13. Give Donors Something Nice
14. Take Advantage of the Moment
15. Don’t Forget About New Donors!

There are reports that can make you feel better and other reports that can keep you up at night. We are a data-based industry, so we know that data can be looked at in a myriad of ways.

When it comes to writing subject lines, many of us don’t know where to start or what works best. And then you add in the term “mobile-friendly” and forget it. By that point it’s easier to just string together random words, send and hope someone opens your e-mail. Here are six helpful tips for writing mobile-friendly subject lines that will get your e-mails opened.

Mary Meeker presented the 2013 Internet Trends report during the All Things Digital D11 conference. Meeker’s report is consistently a treasure trove of data, trends and opportunities within the digital world. This type of insight is incredibly useful for nonprofit fundraisers as we navigate how to effectively engage and inspire supporters in a rapidly changing online landscape. The entire report is worth a look, but here are a few especially important points for nonprofits.

Most nonprofits are seeking ways to expand their online fundraising and successfully access the new funds that are moving online each year. Here are three onling-giving performance indicators to measure.