What to know what a good new tool for online fundraising - and what is simply hype? These slides go through some popular techniques and show real-world examples. This presentation was originally presented at the 2012 Bridge Conference by Harry Lynch and Paul Habig.

1. What’s New Online That Really Works?
#bridgeconf

2. Paul Habig – Executive Vice President, SankyNet
– @PaulHabig
Harry Lynch – CEO, Sanky Communications
- @HarryLynch
Eric Muscatell – Director of Philanthropy, amFAR
- @amFAR

3. The Big Facts
• On average online giving grew by 13% in 2011.
• An estimated $23.5 billion dollars donated online
last year – 7.9% of U.S. donations now coming
online!
• Online giving has jumped nearly 60X in the last
decade.

4. Email Accounts for 1/3 of Total Online Giving
Source: NTEN

5. The Big
?

6. The
Nonprofit
Perspective

7. Let’s Play
Fact
or
Fiction!

8. When it comes to web search
and search engine marketing,
Google is the only game in
town.

9. Fact or Fiction?

10. Fiction!
• Google does dominate with 68.7% of the search
engine market but Bing powered search has grown its
share to 28.6%.
• Bing can offer quality impressions, solid CTR and
response rates and low CPC.

12. 2010 study by Cowan & Co.
• 79% of 22- to 25-year-olds use Google as their primary search
engine, compared to 63% of total respondents.
• Google usage is skewed toward younger demographics, high-
income households, users with college and graduate degrees, and
mobile Internet users.
• Yahoo (powered by Bing) appeals to 50+ age group. As a home
page, it is more “set-up” in advance for its users and doesn’t push
or require customization. People over 50 who were “leading edge”
Internet users 10-15 years ago set up a Yahoo email account when
Yahoo was THE dominant search engine and they still have and use
that account today.
• Bing’s highest penetration rate is in the 55-and-over
demographic.

13. QR codes are a great way
to get new online
audiences.

14. Fact or Fiction?

15. Fiction!
• Our tests so far have seen limited scan rates.
• However, usage is growing rapidly – there was a 119%
increase in QR code scans in Q2 of 2012 vs. 2011!
• Exponential increase in smartphone penetration brings
the capacity to millions.
• They do provide a smooth gateway to specific online
collateral such as campaign landing pages and video!

18. “Though QR codes have been exceptionally popular
among marketers, who enjoy the simplicity and low
cost, consumers are just beginning to take out their
smartphones to scan them.”
-Sam Lambert, QR Code Press, 7/20/12
Will donors follow ?

19. These days anyone can
send an email, right?

20. Fact or Fiction?

21. Fiction!
• Getting the technical and design aspects of email right
requires serious attention.
• Mobile rendering, coding, alt tags and more all need to
be considered.

24. With Pinterest on the rise,
you should put lots of
resources into “Pinable”
content.

25. Fact or Fiction?

26. Fiction…but keep it in mind!
• Nonprofits with limited resources should focus on
Facebook and Twitter.
• However it is important to stay informed about new
channels.
• Nonprofits are beginning to test Pinterest but we
don’t yet view it as worth a major commitment.

27. Infographic for Freedom from Hunger Shared on Pinterest

29. Fact or Fiction?

30. A website redesign will
vastly improve your
organization’s success in
online fundrasing.

31. Fact or Fiction?

32. Fact…if you redesign with SEO in mind.
Before…

33. After…

34. • In FY 2011 the old site saw 59,620 visits.
• In FY 2012 the new site saw 111,870 visits between
October 2011(when the new site went live) and June
2012 alone.
• Graph shows traffic for November 2011 – June 2012
in blue and November 2010 – June 2011 in orange.

35. Lightboxes are so effective
that developing
personalized ones is worth
the effort.

36. Fact or Fiction?

37. Fact!
• We have seen tremendous successes with lightboxes.
We will be testing a myriad of new uses in the future!

40. Food for thought …
• Personalize upgrades at the point of “submitting” an
online donation.
• Call for a monthly gift instead of a single donation.
• Nudge visitors on high-traffic, content rich pages
toward donating. (“If you find this information helpful please consider
donating to support our vital work. Click here.)
• Time with acquisition drops to reinforce lead story and
case.
• Be creative!

41. My organization’s donors
are really old, so I shouldn’t
care about mobile.

42. Fact or Fiction?

43. Fiction!
• Studies show that 46% of American adults now own a
smartphone.
• 68% of adults with a household income of over
$75,000 are smartphone owners.
• Between May 2011 and February 2012 smartphone
ownership grew by 10% among those aged 50-64 and
by 2% among those 65 and over.

44. Projections predict that mobile internet usage
will overtake desktop as early as 2014.

46. Email appends are just as
valuable a technique as they
were 5 years ago.

47. Fact or Fiction?

48. Fact!
• Appends are still a valuable tool.
• Cost remains favorable.
• Despite low open-rates, the volume of email
addresses that can be reached makes appends
worthwhile.
• One of the best techniques for driving integration of
traditional direct mail with online channels.

49. A Welcome Append Email for Freedom from Hunger

50. It doesn’t matter how many
“likes” you get on Facebook,
no one is gaining serious
donations from it anyway.

51. Fact or Fiction?

52. Fiction!
• Building a fan base on Facebook gives you the
opportunity to retarget existing fans for fundraising.
• Use targeted Facebook ads to promote a match.
• A campaign we ran saw $12.08 for every $1 spent.
• Increased overall donor engagement.

53. An ongoing campaign for NEAS linking Facebook ads to
a Change.org petition has seen success with 1,935
signatures and 995 email opt-ins.

54. It’s a good idea to rent
email lists for your online
acquisition program.

55. Fact or Fiction?

56. Fiction…but keep it mind.
• Up to now such lists have been ineffective.
• However, new companies like MarketFish are
providing targeted lists with potential for testing/lead
generation.

57. You should always send a
“pre-email” before a direct
mail campaign.

58. Fact or Fiction?

59. Fiction…but do experiment with this technique.
• In our experience it depends on the both the
particular campaign and the organization.
• Pre- or Post-DM emails can work but choose when to
use them carefully.

61. Promoted trends on Twitter
are not worth investing in.

62. Fact or Fiction?

63. Fact!
• The cost of promoted trends remains high.
• Can result in spam and negative publicity.

64. • A McDonald’s promoted trend backfired when
people used it to highlight negative stories about the
company.
One of many negative responses:

66. Promoted Account

67. Promoted Tweet

68. Moving some offline
acquisition budget to the
Care2 and Change.org
social activism sites will
assist acquisition.

69. Fact or Fiction?

70. Fact!
• In our experience acquisition and actions on these
sites have led to good long-term value of
constituents.

72. Groupon is a great source
for new donors.

73. Fact or Fiction?

74. Fiction!
• Groupon can bring in some quick income…
• …but offers poor long-term donor value.

76. Don’t forget to visit the
Solutions Showcase!
Many of the ideas discussed today are
on display at the Solutions Showcase!
#bridgeconf