Recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwKnAreKouE Online fundraising is an evolving practice where new lessons are being learned all the time. Join this webinar to find out what CanadaHelps learned about online giving from the disaster relief efforts for Haiti thus far, and how your charity can apply this knowledge to your year-round online fundraising practices.

1. When Communities
Come Together to Give
What Haiti Taught Us About Online Fundraising
May 19, 2010

2. CanadaHelps.org
What is CanadaHelps?
A public charitable foundation that provides accessible and
affordable online technology to both donors and charities.
For Charities
A cost-effective means of raising funds online.
For Donors
A one-stop-shop for giving.
CanadaHelps is a charity helping charities.

3. Today’s Presenter
Kirstin Beardsley
• Marketing & Communications Coordinator

4. Reminders
You can hear us, but we can’t hear you
Type questions in the Questions Log
Webinar recording and slides
will be available on
www.mycharityconnects.org
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5. Earthquake in Haiti
January 12, 2010

6. Donations through CanadaHelps
January 12 – Earthquake in Haiti

7. Urgent Issues
• Your mission is profiled in a media story
• A high profile citizen draws attention to your
cause
• You are called on to respond to a local issue

8. LESSONS

9. 1. Online giving is the preferred
rapid-response donation method

10. Why Online?
• Immediate
– More people are accessing news online
• Donations reach charities more quickly
• Easy
• Best source of information

11. TAKE ACTION
• Integrate online channels in all fundraising
campaigns
• Monitor news feeds
• Make sure you can easily update your website

12. 2. Be prepared!
• Organizations that have online strategies in
place fare better

14. TAKE ACTION
• Can you accept donations online?
• Does your Donate Now! button work?
• Can people find your Donate Now button on
your website in less than 3 seconds?

15. TAKE ACTION
• Do you know how to add a fund designation
quickly?
• Can you draft and send out an email to your
supporters?
• Do you know how to use social media tools
during an urgent situation to reach people?

16. 3. Good websites = more donations
• Supporters WILL leave unusable, confusing
websites
• Good websites inspire action

17. What are donors looking for?
• What you do
• How you do it
• The impact you have
• Where the money goes

18. TAKE ACTION
• Review your website to make sure it’s easy to
navigate
• Can you easily find key information
• Do usability testing to make sure

19. 4. Check your site for technical
issues!

20. TAKE ACTION
• Call your website host and check how much
bandwidth you have
• Check with your online donation provider to
find out if they can handle high volumes

21. 5. Mobile is here to
stay
Donate Now!

22. TAKE ACTION
• Stay on top of the mobile trend

23. 6. People respond to URGENCY
• Create a sense of urgency with all of your
major appeals

25. TAKE ACTION
• Look at your next campaign through a new
lens
• Answer “Why Now?”

26. 7. Focus on tangible, solvable
issues
• Don’t present people with a problem (eg.
homelessness, climate change, poverty) –
show them how your organization helps to
solve it

27. Instead of:
• Over 1 million Canadians live below the poverty line.
Try:
• Meet Joanne. Your donation of $40 will help her get a
shelter bed this month.
Instead of:
• Climate change is threatening to destroy our world
Try:
• We help schools become more environmentally
sound. Support our work.

28. TAKE ACTION
• Does your communication focus too much on
the big picture?
• Make your fundraising appeals personal, focus
on the individual stories.

29. 8. Demonstrate Impact
• People want to be part of success
• Show people what happens when they
support your organization

30. TAKE ACTION
• What difference does your organization make?
Tell that story!
• Tell success stories through text, images &
video to inspire connection

31. 9. Matching donations work
Matching deadline
• Donations through CanadaHelps picked up
close to the match deadline

32. TAKE ACTION
• Find partners to sponsor a match donation
during your next appeal
• Promote the match as doubling the donor’s
impact

33. 10. Don’t forget stewardship
• High-volume times are not the time to forget
to thank your donors
• New donors expect to receive an
acknowledgement of their gift

34. TAKE ACTION
• Have a plan in place to contact & thank every
donor who gives to your organization

35. 11. Canadians are very concerned
about fraud
• Canadians contacted CanadaHelps for help in
identifying “legitimate” charities
• Increased awareness of scams

36. TAKE ACTION
• Don’t use high-pressure tactics, even during a
crisis
• Always display your charitable business
number
• Provide financial information on your website
• Make sure your online donation process is
secure

37. ABOUT MYCHARITYCONNECTS

38. MYCHARITYCONNECTS CONFERENCE 2010
JUNE 7 – 8 | TORONTO
• Two days packed with great information about online
fundraising & social media for charities
• Get familiar with the stuff you don’t know, moving on the
stuff you do, and correctly evaluate the stuff you’ve done
• Part of Net Change Week, and in collaboration with
SiG@MaRS
Register Today @
www.mycharityconnects.org

39. www.mycharityconnects.org
Next Webinar:
Free online resources:
• Information about technology “Measuring the
• Video demonstrations Impact of Social
• More webinars Media”
• Past webinar recordings
• Learning opportunities June 16, 2010
2PM – 3PM
• Events (Eastern Time)

40. Question and Answer
You can hear us, but
we can’t hear you
Ask questions here
Ask away!

41. Thank you for attending!
Webinar slides and recording will be up on:
www.mycharityconnects.org/pastwebinars
Check out www.mycharityconnects.org for more resources!
Questions, feedback, comments?
Email us at: info@canadahelps.org