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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!

It seems that most brands and nonprofits are still trying to get their head around what works on Facebook. What content works best, what time to publish updates and how to use sponsored stories are just a few of the topics discussed among nonprofit marketers. But these issues are just symptoms of bigger challenges that we all need to better understand.

Here are five reasons why Facebook marketing is presenting new and/or unusual challenges to you and your colleagues.

There absolutely is a math to social and mobile media. If your nonprofit has a good content strategy in place and understands the power of integrating all your nonprofit’s communications channels (website, e-mail, Facebook, texting, etc.), then as your numbers grow on social networks so will your e-newsletter and mobile lists, which in turn significantly increases your fundraising success. Below is selection of metrics to track and a brief explanation as to why.

The ability to manage and measure response is what sets direct marketing apart from advertising. Make the most of that difference.

Recent tweets from folks you should be following.

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.

Nonprofits are making a big mistake when reading studies that show that more than 50 percent of charitable giving happens in December. They are putting off their year-end appeals until December! Generous year-end giving isn’t merely the result of a barrage of appeals and e-mails in the last weeks of the year. Successful year-end fundraising takes strategic planning. Here are three tips to help you jump-start your fall fundraising.

We’re always looking for new ways to organically grow our lists, send out great content and gain the trust of our current e-mail subscribers. So here are three quick ways to keep things fresh while you’re refocusing your energies on e-mail marketing.

For a resource-strapped nonprofit, taking on data analytics can seem like a monumental challenge. With the field of data analytics booming and salaries skyrocketing, attracting top-tier talent can take massive financial resources from organizations that may already be forced to make sacrifices just to operate. Second, without prior experience, it can be difficult to know what, if any, insights data can generate that would empower your organization to better achieve its mission. Here are some tips on how your organization can learn — and grow — from data.

It seems like all the “experts” tell us is to post photos on our Facebook pages to get more likes, comments and shares. Text updates aren’t as sexy, but they can be equally as effective. Here are three specific ways you can boost the number of comments on your text updates.