E-mail as Part of the Modern Marketing Mix
by Michael Bres
All charitable institutions are struggling with the same problems:
- Declining response to direct mail
- Decreasing number of collectors
- Decreasing number of legacies
- Decreasing willingness to donate
Therefore more creativity than ever before is required if donors are to be recruited and retained and fundraising campaigns are to remain efficient.
Communication via e-mail and Internet is cheaper than via any other medium and it offers more moments of contact and the opportunity of greater bonding with donors. With links through to the website, film clips can be shown for example with concrete results which are recorded. In this way each moment of contact is not accompanied by just “a giro transfer behind the window” but synergy occurs between various media (traditional and new). It is also very important that an individual e-mail file is built up. This is possible via the Internet, e-mail campaigns with rented addresses, participation in surveys and many other initiatives.
Ten Quick Tips for Making Your Website Easier to Find
by Erik Zoomers
Almost every organization has its own website these days and charities are no exception. As well as investing due time and care on the design and content of this site, it is also important to invest in finding and being found on the Internet. Although there are some hundred points which can and should be given attention if the organization’s ability to be found and its conversion rate are to be improved, the following ten occur very frequently. If you are responsible for marketing and communication they are certainly appropriate.
1. Look your organization’s website up in one of the search engines.
In most search engines you can find out which pages of your website are indexed. A search engine will look for results in its own database. If you are in this there is a chance that your website will also be shown as a search result. In Google you will find the indexed pages by typing in: site: www.apple.com. You will then see all links for www.mywebsite.com.
The Advantages of New Technology
New Media Fundraising
New interactive technologies are swiftly becoming a key element in the fundraising mix. Innovations generated during the last decade include Internet applications, mobile technologies and interactive television. Charities are now gearing up to use some of them in their fundraising programs. This article provides a summary of the most important new technologies, their features, and their advantages for fundraising.
Internet
It’s now been little more than ten years since the Internet, and especially the worldwide web, really became part of our daily lives. Ever since, more and more non-profit organizations have started using this medium; clearly, the Internet is changing philanthropy. By using the Internet, charities can reach a large number of people at relatively low costs and they’re finding more convenient ways to carry out fundraising by means of computers. Two specific features of the Internet – websites and e-mail – have contributed to online fundraising. But these are not the only two ways that charitable causes can apply the Internet.
User-Friendliness Starts and Ends With the Users
Website’s Ease of Use Determines Success of Online Fundraising
by Daniël de Voogt
Websites are playing an ever increasing role in charity fundraising and across the world as a whole, with a considerable increase in online donation. Yet for many charities it appears to be difficult to present themselves well on the internet. A recent survey shows that the user friendliness of websites still leaves much to be desired.
As the organizations’ calling card and access point to the website, the home page must meet the highest demands of user friendliness. In today’s fast moving world a visitor remains on a web page for an average of only 27 seconds. A home page is at its most effective when the visitor can see what the site has to offer at a glance. The user must also be able to find his way almost intuitively without having to reflect. Only home pages which are so clearly focused in terms of ease of use can lead the visitor to look at the website in more detail.
Fundraising Benefits of the Internet
by Michael Bres
For the charity market, online marketing is the pre-eminent medium when it comes to eliciting a response. This may be by means of placing a banner or text link on the Internet on sites which you know your target group visits. Then people are just one click away from contact with you. If you then provide your information in an expert and exciting way, this will result in visitor interest and therefore in a response.
Search engine marketing and optimization of it are also excellent ways of attracting potential donors. With the right approach, good results can be achieved in a highly cost-effective manner. If there is limited knowledge of search engine marketing within your organization, it is worth considering using a specialist for this purpose.
What opportunities does the Internet offer you?
- branding, for name recognition and the goal which your organization is aiming for
- traffic; direct visitors to the website, possibly with a special campaign site
- recruitment and retention of donors
- information about current projects and results achieved
- recruitment and retention of collectors
- attraction and retention of legacies
- market research; research following donation behavior, empathy, creating donor profiles, market developments etc.
Fundraising 101A
A continuation of earlier posts from the IFC’s survey on the state of the economy and what we as fundraising professionals should be doing to ride out the storm.
- The strategic and tactical decisions made by charities will have more influence on their fortunes than the recession itself. Charities have more control than they think they do so long as they focus on program fundamentals, do not panic and focus on the long-term.
- Board members and senior management need to understand the current financial data and stop making unrealistic expectations.
- Work like a for-profit organization to gain increased long-term growth.
- Develop messages, themes and scripts around why we need our donors now more than ever.
- Strengthen current partnerships to weather the storm rather than looking for new ones. Look at what you do best and focus on that before trying a new tactic. Examine where your money comes from and concentrate on high-yield activities.
- Focus on the big three areas—regular giving, major gifts and bequest/legacy programs. Drop all other marginal or unprofitable activities that won’t provide significant long-term benefits.
- Organizations should continue to market and conduct bequest and legacy programs. It may not make any difference this year but you’ll be in a lot better position next year than will other organizations.
- Invest time, intelligence and money in massively improving the donor experience with the charity. Remind donors that they are wanted, needed and appreciated.
Back to Basics
In reviewing the survey results I wrote about yesterday, there are a few key comments that showed up consistently. You’ll recognize most; they fall under the heading of Fundraising 101. Key concepts we all know, but to often forget.
- Remind donors they are wanted, needed and appreciated. Invest time, intelligence and money in massively improving the donor experience with your organization.
- Make sure donors who do withdraw their support for economic reasons are still communicated with and are being shown appreciation. Most will return IF ASKED when times get better.
- Do what you are good at better, retain your strengths, cut your losses and seize new opportunities (lower media costs as an example).
- Demonstrate value for money – consistently and across all activities.
- Engage the public in other “non financial” ways with your organization through advocacy, signing up to e-newsletters, etc. This will give you a new and greater pool of warm prospects after the crisis subsides.
- Look after legacy donors more and better than ever.
- Do not stop investing in fundraising. You should spend more in the areas where it delivers the biggest ROI.
- This economic crisis is a wake up call for fundraisers to develop new and effective ways of fundraising. We need to step up fundraising R&D and break through especially on new e-fundraising initiatives. Community fundraising in particular needs to embrace Internet 2.0 and create new fundraising communities.
- Stay front and center with your supporters.
- You can’t do anything about the economy so stay calm, stay on message and stay positive!
And lastly, again, it’s about the donors:
look after existing donors extremely well - appreciate if they can’t offer support at the same level as in the past but know that they’ll see you through tough times.
Keep A Long-term View
I recently attended the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands. It was a heady experience with over 950 delegates representing 60 countries. Meeting and learning from colleagues on a global scale is becoming increasingly more valuable for all of us as we compare and benchmark with our peers.
As you can well imagine, the state of the economy was on everyone’s mind, played into many sessions and was the focus of a special mini-plenary on the last morning. But what was most interesting: attendees were upbeat about plans for the next year and saw opportunities in the challenges being presented.
Over the course of the Congress, an online survey was undertaken to explore the implications of the global financial crisis for fundraisers. The views of 100 leading worldwide fundraising thought leaders were sought on:
- How serious the financial crisis is and the broad strategy fundraisers should adopt in response to this global phenomenon?
- Where in terms of ‘cause’ - children, environment, faith etc - these international experts think the financial crisis will impact most?
- What action our experts thought fundraising directors should take to prepare for the emerging changes?
The headline results:
- Almost 40% of respondents believe that the best response is to fight for market share now; expansion to secure market share is the only option
- Almost as many favored another strong proactive action though the specific responses varied from downsizing to using reserves to weather the storm
- European and North American fundraisers are more optimistic than their African or Asian counterparts
- Globally respondents believe that the three areas most likely to lose out are arts and culture, international development and animal welfare
- Respondents also agreed that children’s causes, emergency relief, medical and faith-based causes would be least affected
- North American respondents disagree most strongly on the effect of the funding crisis on disability, education, the environment and faith-based causes
- Europeans are more concerned than others about the impact on disability, human rights and the elderly.
Tomorrow: some selected ideas from survey respondents on what fundraising professionals and our organizations should do as we ride out the storm.
What Works in the 21st Century
The fundraising mix in the 21st century
by Indira Sam-Sin
Fundraising instruments have changed over the last twenty years. But donors have changed as well. Donors aren’t as loyal to their favorite charities as they were some years ago. If charities don’t approach the donors in the way donors want to be approached, they are likely to cancel their support.
While donors have changed, technology has advanced. Do charities need to communicate differently with their donors? And do charities need to make use of new media to communicate with their donors? This article addresses both these questions.
Read more
Crossing Borders in Fundraising
We live in a global world. Not only do we look within our own communities for new donors, but we reach across borders seeking those who would support our cause. Today we begin a new category, Crossing Borders, where we will speak about international fundraising. Joining us will be contributors worldwide who will weigh in on topics ranging from the challenges we face in the current economic climate to the various fundraising instruments available today. Our goal is help you discover new ideas, new markets, and new donors. We hope to assist all our readers acquire additional knowledge along with the needed tools to be poised for new growth when the current challenging climate turns around.
