The document provides tips for non-profits to increase online fundraising. It recommends (1) improving the online infrastructure to make donations easy across devices and shareable on social media, (2) developing an online ambassador program to identify influential supporters and target content and asks through them, and (3) investing in conversation managers to develop relationships with supporters through social media engagement. The tips are based on examples from political campaigns that showed targeting voters through social networks of identified influencers can increase registration and turnout.

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3 Tips to Boost Online Fundraising
March 14, 2013
Presented by:
Justin J. Ware

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3 Tips to Increase Online Giving
1. Build better online infrastructure.
2. Develop an online ambassador program.
3. Invest in personnel.

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Columbia Giving Day

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Online ambassadors and conversation
management…
 Volunteers were
asked to share
updates about
the campaign.
 Brief online
trainings held.
 40% of donors
were new.
 More than half came
through social media
channels.

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The long tail of big gifts…
Several million dollars were
given in the days immediately
following the event by major
donors who referenced the
Giving Day campaign and the
excitement it created.

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Why do we care about engaging
donors online?
Source: Blackbaud.
Distribution of New Donors by Age
within Origin Channel
2010 Medians
1%
12%
22%
24%
25%
11%
4%
0%
3%
9%
14%
23% 22%
27%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 65–74 75+
Joined Online Joined by Mail

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Why do we care about
engaging donors online?
Source: 2012 Convio Study.
43%
57%
Dual Channel Donors
Average income
>$100,000
Average income
<$100,000
38%
62%
Online-Only Donors
Average income
>$100,000
Average income
<$100,000
25%
75%
Offline-Only Donors
Average income
>$100,000
Average income
<$100,000

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Why do we care about engaging
donors online?
$79
$93
$111
$128
$84
$124
$169
$197
2007 2008 2009 2010
Donors Acquired
Online in 2007
Including All Giving
Including Online Gifts Only
Lifetime Revenue per Original Donor
for Donors Acquired in 2007
2007–2010 Medians
Source: Blackbaud.

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Why do we care about engaging
donors online?
Lifetime Revenue per Original Donor
for Donors Acquired in 2007
2007–2010 Medians
$30
$44 $55
$63
$32
$48
$62
$72
2007 2008 2009 2010
Donors Acquired
by Mail in 2007
Including All Giving
Including Mail Gifts Only

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1. Improve online giving infrastructure
 Must be user-friendly (Ask
my colleague Heather Greig
about GCR).
 Must be mobile optimized.
 Must be easy to share.
 Must connect to social
networks.

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1. Improve online giving infrastructure
Make it easy to give!

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1. Improve online giving infrastructure
Make it easy to give by…
 Least number of clicks to reach the giving form.
 Your giving form should be well-branded with your
org’s info (not a third-party vendor’s) to avoid
confusing donors.
 Providing e-receipts to donors
(if the gift amount allows).

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Go Mobile!
 RWD (Responsive
Web Design).
 Use text to drive
donors to mobile giving
sites (as opposed to
text to give).
 Integrate location-
based technology
(FourSquare).

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Response Web Design (RWD)

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1. Improve online giving infrastructure
Enable login via social networks
 Easy for donors
(to connect and
share).
 No need to create
a new account,
password, etc.
 Gives your org
valuable information.

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Social log in—a GREAT icebreaker.
Social network login gives you access to otherwise
restricted social networks and all the info hidden in
them, such as…
 What types of content resonate with the donor.
 Who their friends are.
 What their friends are interested in. (New donors?)
 Contact info for the user and all their Facebook
friends.

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Data allows for the creation of
―Content Profiles.‖
Content profile for
Jonathan Foley
 Key words include
―Climate,‖ ―IonE,‖
―Environment.‖
 Interests include
―Environmental,‖
―Sustainability,‖
―Climate,‖ ―Research.‖
 Ambassador score of 68.
 84 in ―Climate‖
 91 in ―Environment‖

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Content profiles take you from knowing the
demographics of your supporters…
…to knowing their psychographics.

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Obama’s ambassadors
Just a few weeks before the 2012 election, the
Obama campaign realized they had a problem…
…half the campaign’s targeted swing-state
voters had no listed phone numbers.
Source: Michael Scherer, Time Swampland Blog.

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Obama’s ambassadors
So they built a custom Facebook app that…
…gave the campaign access to the entire list
of friends for everyone who authorized the app.
Source: Scherer, Time.

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Obama’s ambassadors
Next, they built content profiles from the data
about the app subscribers’ friends to help the
app subscribers send their friends content and
info they would like…
…this led to more voters registered and
dollars raised.

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Obama’s ambassadors
The ultimate in targeted messaging…
…videos, photo galleries, updates, asks for
support—all custom-built to match the personality
of a supporter’s Facebook friends.

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Obama’s ambassadors
…research immediately following the election
found statistically significant changes in voter
behavior. People whose friends sent them requests
to register to vote and to vote early were more
likely to do so than similar potential voters who
were not contacted.
Source: Scherer, Time.
The app changed
voter behavior…

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How it will work to boost your online giving…
 Use Facebook applications to learn about
your followers AND their networks.
 Create content based on what your followers
and their networks like sharing.
 Incorporate smart social sharing in broader
campaign communication plans.

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Before the Obama approach…
You need to identify your core group of
online ambassadors.
 Which users have influence and are most likely
to increase support for your institution?
 Learn about their behavior and what they want
out of an online experience.
 Capture and organize the above for quick,
easy access.

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What is an ―Online Ambassador?‖
Definition: Influential Internet users—specifically
social media users—with an affinity for your
organization’s mission who have a high
likelihood of enlisting the support of others
through their online activity.

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Online recommendation from a friend =
most influential form of advertising
Source: Nielsen, April 2012

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Data: what do we need to know?
 Number and name of social networks a constituent
is active on.
 Klout or Kred scores.
 Their affinity or connection to your institution or
organization.
 Content they interact with—their content profiles.
Combine the above with donor data already stored
in CRM systems.

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What’s your influence?

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How it works—the Klout score
1–100 possible score or ranking
Influence your score by…
 How many people you influence.
 How much you influence those people.
 How influential those people are.

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Influencing Your Klout Score
Your Twitter strategy influences Klout by…
 Users mentioning, retweeting, and adding your
account to their lists.
 Influential users retweeting, mentioning, and listing
your account.
 Users who seldom retweet, RTing your tweets.

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Influencing Your Klout Score
Your Facebook strategy influences Klout by…
 Having a large number of comments and ―likes‖
on your posts.
 Having your posts shared by friends.
 Having influential friends share, comment on,
and ―like‖ your posts.

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A piece of the influence story…
…but by no means the whole story.
 A low Klout score does NOT mean a person
is not influential.
 However, a high Klout score is a good sign
they are influential.

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Affinity matters more…

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Mine the conversation…

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Data allows for the creation of
―Content Profiles.‖
Content profile for
Jonathan Foley
 Key words include
―Climate,‖ ―IonE,‖
―Environment.‖
 Interests include
―Environmental,‖
―Sustainability,‖
―Climate,‖ ―Research.‖
 Ambassador score of 68.
 84 in ―Climate‖
 91 in ―Environment‖

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Top Influencers for ―Environment‖
1. Jonathon Foley—91
2. Amber Carlson—90
3. Jennifer Woodley—90
4. Mark Simpson—89
5. Ellen Brown—86

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Speak through your online ambassadors.
Use your ambassadors to amplify your organization’s
message to groups of people you’d never reach via
your own, traditional methods—it’s about the viral
spread of information.

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3. Invest in conversation managers
 Conversation managers lead the ambassador
program:
 Constantly identifying new ambassadors.
 Strengthen relationships with current and potential
ambassadors.
 Steward online donors on a consistent, routine
basis—it’s about providing customer service for your
supporters.
 Capture data that can be added to content profiles –
conversation mining.

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Goin’ to the chapel…

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Goin’ to the chapel…
User logs this comment on Facebook underneath
a picture of the chapel.
―I love the Hendricks Chapel! It’s where my
husband proposed to me!‖

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Goin’ to the chapel…

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Syracuse chapel example for major donors
Personalized email and mail contact
and solicitations…
 Annual reports and
campaign updates.
 News and event
information.
 Thank-yous.
 Whatever you use
email and mail to do!

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Syracuse chapel example for major donors
Talking points for gift officer calls and visits…

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Syracuse chapel example for major donors
Create custom content for your biggest donors…
…include them in the content, when possible.

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The Online Affluent
According to a
recent Fidelity
Investment survey…
 85 percent of all
millionaires use some
form of social media.
 Nearly three-quarters
of that 85 percent are
on Facebook.
 Median age of those
surveyed—56.

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All ages online…
 According to a Dunham
+ Company survey…
 51 percent of those
60 and older have
given online.
 60+ age group gives
more online gifts than
under 40s.

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Syracuse chapel example for annual giving
Create mail, email, newsletters, and more
for groups based on keywords in a donor’s
content profile…

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Syracuse chapel example for annual giving
Produce online campaigns around popular
online topics…

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3. Invest in conversation managers
It’s about stewardship!
Social media allows your
organization to provide
consistent, responsive, c
ustomer-service like
feedback to and
engagement with your
supporters.

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3. Invest in conversation managers
Social media = more relationships with
supporters…
…only real, experienced people can develop those
relationships!

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3 Tips to Increase Online Giving
1. Build better online infrastructure.
2. Develop an online ambassador program.
3. Invest in personnel.

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