Experts weigh in on their top fundraising tips of the year. From mobile email optimization to Facebook ads, these slides cover it all! This presentation was part of Fundraising Day New York, 2012.

1. Rapid Fire Ideas for
Digital Fundraising
28 tips in 30 minutes!
(Try to keep up!)
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2. Presenters:
Liz Murphy, President, RedEngine Digital
@RedEngine
Lane Brooks, COO, Food and Water Watch
@FoodandWater
Ann Crowley, Membership & Online Strategy
Director, Human Rights Campaign
@HRC
Harry Lynch, President, SankyNet
@HarryLynch @SankyNet
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3. 1 Mobilize or Be Left Behind!
This month, more email will be read on a mobile device than a desktop.
Email opens increased 83% year over year (mostly Apple). (Return Path)
Not just opening, but also donating!
• Check your site analytics.
• Focus first on mobile friendly site,
forms, emails.
• For a mobile site:
1) Use your CMS templates to create
a mobile-only site
(http://www.domain.mobi/) or
2) Adapt your current website to
mobile standards.
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4. Like Television, a Good Fundraising Series
2
Ends in a Payoff
• 1st email – education and a call to action.
• 2nd email – some education and more
urgent call to action.
• 3rd email – request for funding to address
the need.
• Repeat as needed.
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5. 3 Just Do It
Set Up Infrastructure.
• Technical, Programmatic,
Day-to-Day.
Try Everything At Least Once.
• There’s no harm in “Lessons
Learned”.
Follow Your Competition.
• Imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery.
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6. 4 Add Google+ to your Fundraising Toolbox
Recent changes to Google’s algorithm make having an active
Google+ page essential to maintaining high search rankings.
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7. 5 Quick Win Landing Page Tests
• Test iterations and placements of
your control headlines, subheads,
images, CTAs (words and color of
buttons, etc.).
• Test reducing page elements to a
single focus so user path is better
defined (but don’t forget to provide
enough copy to overcome
obstacles to action).
• Test “you/benefits” copy vs. “what it is” copy.
• Ask your webmaster to create a non-standard CMS template for your
landing page tests – limited nav and promotion asks.
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8. 6 “Renew” your Prospects
• Action takers think of
themselves as members.
• Treat them like members.
• Don’t ask them to join.
• Ask them to renew their
membership.
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9. Social Media Puts the “Fun” Back in
7
Fundraising
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10. 8 Don’t Forget About Bing
Search Engine Marketing on Bing using AdCenter can offer:
• High Quality Impressions.
• Solid CTR and Response Rates.
• Lower Cost-per-Click.
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11. 9A Facebook Ads: Secrets to Success
• Create an Inventory of Facebook Ads – and Refresh 2x a Week!
• Within 72 hours, the avg
clickthrough rate for a FB ad
campaign will dive along with
your ad visibility and reach.
(WebTrends) And you’ll pay
more per click!
• Create at least 8-12 ads (text
and graphics) or posts for a
Facebook advertising campaign
at the onset.
• Test 2-3 sets of ad creative
each week.
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12. 9B Facebook Ads: Test Everything
• Images and copy make a difference
and need to be rotated and
refreshed. Also test Sponsored
Stories Ads against traditional ads
like those at right.
• Page Post Ads: Take advantage of
popular and engaging FB posts.
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13. 10 A Picture is Worth $$
• A picture on the donate button itself can increase
contributions.
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14. 11 Don’t Accept Status Quo
• Test, Retest, Track & Analyze
• A theory is a theory, until you test
it.
• Reevaluate long-standing
programs.
• Track your metrics.
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15. 12 Use Facebook, to just, like, say thanks!
Post a public thank you online promote donor recognition and encourage
other giving at the same time.
“Thank You” message saw 40% more shares than average.
Overall page engagement increase 34% afterwards.
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16. 13 Make Your Campaign Relevant
• Create campaign “hooks”.
• Help donors relate it to their lives .
• Relate to current event/news.
• Leverage current news as much as possible (think sports,
world events, special occasions, etc.).
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17. Juggling Takes Two Hands
14
(that work together)
• Close coordination between Online and DM pays off.
• Timing
• Theme
• Copy
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18. 15 Integration is Vital
Channel Crossover.
• Mail donors have email addresses.
• Social media users are reachable
via phone.
Launch a full-scale campaign.
• Think beyond email.
• Social media, text message,
website, lightbox, blog post,
press release, mail & telemarketing.
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19. 16 Target Facebook Ads to your own “Likes”
• Use targeted Facebook ads to promote match.
• Saw $12.08 for every $1 spent.
• Increased overall donor engagement.
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20. 17 Website (re)Design No-Nos
1. Rely completely on market research and
personas to re-design your site (or not).
2. One link on a page to important content is
enough.
3. Make headlines and links on your site graphics.
4. Your mother can’t tell you the purpose of your
site in 4 seconds.
5. Use a lot of javascript and flash.
6. Don’t worry about changing URLs for the new
site.
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21. 18 Who’s Asking?
• Establish a relationship between the donor and
the asker.
• Then vary it.
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22. 19 Mobile is on the Rise
• Mobile Internet Access Grew 28% in the last year.
• Optimize all emails & webpages for mobile
access.
• Find new ways to integrate mobile usage:
• Join text notification network.
• Use mobile in action campaigns.
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23. 20 QR Codes – Are They Obsolete Already?
Still able to provide gateways between different campaign materials.
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24. 21 SEO Tips
• For new campaign content, ask your SEO expert for formatting &
guidelines for URLs, title and tags.
• Do keyword research (Google keyword tool, Google News, Twitter
hashtags, competitive research).
• Unique title tag for every page and form
(12 words or 75-85 characters)
• Meta Description Tag – What your audience
sees/reads when a search result appears –
Marketing copy with CTA! (12-24 words).
• More readable, non-graphic copy on a page
better – min. 150 words/page.
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25. A Thousand Times NO!
22
Well, OK.
• At the end-of-year, it seems that you can’t ask too often.
• Increase the pace from weekly, to bi-weekly, to daily, to…
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26. 23 Ask Supporters What They Want
Survey Your Membership
• Find out info to guide program choices.
• Discover demographics to target messages.
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27. 24 Think Outside the Lightbox
Think Outside the Lightbox
Experiment and see what works.
Customize lightboxes to achieve gift upgrades.
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28. Tell Them What You Told Them
• Try emailing a word-for-word copy of the Direct Mail
letter your donors recently got without any rewriting to
give it “email speak.”
• Introduce it with the sentence, “I recently sent you this
letter in the mail, but haven’t heard back yet. Please take
the time to respond today.”
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29. Email Basics
• Can’t give or
respond if they can’t
read it.
• Don’t assume I’ll
download images
for every email.
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31. Slow Down Your Email Unsubscribe Rate
Offer choices like reduced frequency
in place of a full opt-out.
Fight to keep email constituents.
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