The bottom line to successful email fundraising & email marketing consists of the following four simple steps to help you stay on track:
4 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL EMAIL FUNDRAISING OR EMAIL MARKETING
An excellent way to communicate, email has become so efficient that it has the U.S. Postal Service trembling in its boots! But seriously, if you're still doing direct mail only, you need to add email marketing to your mix of online fund raising tools. And to get the most out of your email fundraising or email marketing program you need to implement the following four strategic steps to success:
1) Build Your Email House File
The most successful professional fundraisers are using email marketing programs to solicit their house files. I know this may be a long process to develop these lists, but once you have a robust house file acqusition process in place, your email lists will grow and your efundraising or emarketing communications to those lists will deliver for you maximum results, way above any external list file rentals.
Typically, your house file consists of various sublists like your customer file (first or two time buyers); your best customer file (regular, large or monthly donors, for example); and your prospecting file of requestors who have asked for call backs, downloaded white papers, signed up for your newsletters, etc.
In as much as your email success will mostly be measured in dollars raised, or as a conversion rate percent of the overall send, it stands to reason that a larger size internal file will deliver you a greater number of positive replies, once you've found ways to convert the list into sales or gifts. In other words, make a commitment to building your house file, and then ensure that's an ongoing part of your marketing efforts.
2) Test, Test, Test
There are several ways to proceed in this realm. First, you will want to conduct a basic Email Split Test. This is where you send out two or three different versions of the same email to determine which one(s) give you the best results. You can test different subject lines, different email creatives, or different landing pages. By determining which ones perform best, you can fix the underperforming ones and/or concentrate instead on the ones that were productive and successful.
A basic protocol we use as a basis for testing fundraising for nonprofits is the following:
1. Short cause-centric email to longer cause-based landing page
2. Long cause-centric email to shorter cause-based landing page
3. Premium-centric version email to basic premium (ie product Offer) landing page
3) Evaluate Your “Core Metrics”
Your "Core Metrics" are your central pieces of data that help you make primary decisions regarding your email sending. There are three major ones, and numerous secondary ones. The majors we use are the following:
a. Opens (How Many Emails Delivered Were Opened)—This metric is not completely accurate but as a guide it's good to help you determine the effectiveness of your Email Subject Lines. When your open rates are low concentrate on improving your subject lines.
b. Clicks (How Many Opened Emails Clicked Through to Landing Pages) —This metric reflects the effectiveness of the email creative itself. If your click through rates are low concentrate on improving your email content (ie creative). Usually a good ESP will also provide data on which elements of your creative were clicked on, giving you insights into those things that drive click throughs for you.
c. Conversions (How Many Clicks Became Sales or Gifts) —This metric reflects the effectiveness of your landing pages at converting the visitor into a buyer. If your conversion rates are low concentrate on improving your landing pages.
An sub-item to consider regarding conversions is the average amount of each sale or gift, which, will also affect your overall results and thus can help you determine the over-all value of your various Split Test groups and online funraising efforts.
…And a Bonus Step to a Successful Email Fundraising program:
4) Fuss Around to Optimize
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to continue tweaking your programs, looking for pockets of opportunity in the data, and searching for ways to optimize your efforts and their results. Figure out what people are clicking on and accentuate the positives, then eliminate the negatives! Keep a document of lessons learned as well, so you can refer back to things you have gained over the years that you can build on in the future.
Email marketing is a proven and effective way to enhance your ephilanthropy, so use these four principles to accelerate your email marketing efforts, and call Pathmaker Marketing in Phoenix at 623-322-3334 if we can be of any assistance to you. Or read further about this topic on our blog about email fundraising.
Posted Friday, May 28, 2010 by
Randall Mains
I marvel at how often clients come to us at Pathmaker Marketing and do not have a firm grasp of exactly what they want us to accomplish for them. This seems to be as true for those companies who are seeking a small business marketing strategy as those charities who are interested in non-profit fund raising.
For whether they are looking for an online marketing tool, church outreach ideas or search engine optimization services, their goals are often murky and poorly defined. An example would be those who put together an internet ad without having defined how to evaluate the results of the advertisement, or measure its success.
First, as you develop your online ad you need to know what, exactly, you are expecting it to accomplish for you.
There are basically a few strategic things that you can hope to receive from your internet marketing endeavor - - a list addition, a lead or a sale. Typically, your product or service will determine which you should expect. For example, if you are selling your services as an Architect for Church Expansion, you will undoubtedly pursue leads, not sales.
On the other hand, if you are selling a $49.95 product titled “6 Steps to 1,000 Perfect Sermons,” the end result is more apt to be a sale than a lead.
Once you fully understand your objective you can better measure the results. Making this determination will allow you to decide whether or not your advertising program was a success.
Second, as you determine your objectives you will find that they may be different depending on whether you are prospecting for new customers or selling to your current ones. Example: is the list email you are using an “internal” or “external” list. For an internal list, one where you are contacting current/past customers, you may decide that for a thousand dollar investment you will want to realize $10,000 worth of sales. It might be more, it might be less - - you should be able to determine this because you will already have a track record with those individuals.
However, with an “external” list, a list of potentially new clients, you may be pleased even if you don’t break even! For the same thousand dollar investment, a return of only $750.00 might be acceptable because you are acquiring new names/clients for future upselling to your internal list. These individuals will have ongoing upsell potential and a “life time value,” which may be very significant.
It is vitally imperative that you define your objectives, for without doing so you cannot determine if your campaign was successful or not! Too, you may want to set up a “scale” of probably/possible success. If your “goal” is to glean $10,000 on a $1,000 investment, and you only glean $8,500, you might decide that the program was, albeit short of your expectations, still a success. As with any goal, not reaching the ultimate goal does not mean you failed.
It is possible that you may need help in defining and refining your objective, and we at Pathmaker would be more than happy to assist you in this. However, before you invest in an internet advertising be sure you know what you expect it to do for you!
Give us a call if you need more help to find ways to win on the web.
For whether they are looking for an online marketing tool, church outreach ideas or search engine optimization services, their goals are often murky and poorly defined. An example would be those who put together an internet ad without having defined how to evaluate the results of the advertisement, or measure its success.
First, as you develop your online ad you need to know what, exactly, you are expecting it to accomplish for you.
There are basically a few strategic things that you can hope to receive from your internet marketing endeavor - - a list addition, a lead or a sale. Typically, your product or service will determine which you should expect. For example, if you are selling your services as an Architect for Church Expansion, you will undoubtedly pursue leads, not sales.
On the other hand, if you are selling a $49.95 product titled “6 Steps to 1,000 Perfect Sermons,” the end result is more apt to be a sale than a lead.
Once you fully understand your objective you can better measure the results. Making this determination will allow you to decide whether or not your advertising program was a success.
Second, as you determine your objectives you will find that they may be different depending on whether you are prospecting for new customers or selling to your current ones. Example: is the list email you are using an “internal” or “external” list. For an internal list, one where you are contacting current/past customers, you may decide that for a thousand dollar investment you will want to realize $10,000 worth of sales. It might be more, it might be less - - you should be able to determine this because you will already have a track record with those individuals.
However, with an “external” list, a list of potentially new clients, you may be pleased even if you don’t break even! For the same thousand dollar investment, a return of only $750.00 might be acceptable because you are acquiring new names/clients for future upselling to your internal list. These individuals will have ongoing upsell potential and a “life time value,” which may be very significant.
It is vitally imperative that you define your objectives, for without doing so you cannot determine if your campaign was successful or not! Too, you may want to set up a “scale” of probably/possible success. If your “goal” is to glean $10,000 on a $1,000 investment, and you only glean $8,500, you might decide that the program was, albeit short of your expectations, still a success. As with any goal, not reaching the ultimate goal does not mean you failed.
It is possible that you may need help in defining and refining your objective, and we at Pathmaker would be more than happy to assist you in this. However, before you invest in an internet advertising be sure you know what you expect it to do for you!
Give us a call if you need more help to find ways to win on the web.
Posted Monday, May 24, 2010 by
Floyd Allen
As usual, Jim’s loud proclamation got everyone’s attention. I had just raised my glass of cola to my lips when Jim burst through the door - - literally!, and laid his statement on me. I was mighty parched, but knew that Jim’s need was obviously greater than mine, so I put my glass down and swiveled to face him.
He looked awful. He was perspiring profusely, though it wasn’t all that warm out. The rivulets of perspiration that had flowed from his forehead to his chin had left little trails of grime, and his eyes were as large as saucers. I noticed it had become as quiet as an abandoned mortuary, as everyone in the room strained their ears to see what Jim was going to say next.
“Jim, let’s go over to a booth and discuss this.”
He started moving with me, but he didn’t wait until we got there to continue. And, he didn’t tone it down any, either.
“Floyder, I swear to God I've never removed my clothes in public. I mean, I’m considered one of the pillars of the community! Good Lord, what is Martha going to think if she reads this.”
“Jim . . . JIM!!, “ I fairly shouted, until I got a look that reassured me he was finally back with me. “Jim,” I began more calmly, “what the smash are you talking about?”
“You gotta help me, Floyder. There must be something you and Randall can do."
Jim was alluding to Randall Mains, co-owner of PATHMAKER MARKETING, a firm that specializes in Internet Marketing and Premier Blogging Services, as well as other Internet projects ranging from Online Fund Raising for Non-Profit Marketers to Search Engine Optimization Services. For the life of me, though, I couldn’t connect Jim’s nudity proclamation with Pathmaker Marketing!
Jim’s facial expression could now only be described as pleading, so I knew I was going to have to get down to the bottom of what was going on.
“Jim,” I began succinctly, “tell me exactly what happened.”
“Well, “ he began, “remember last night when you told me the importance of Search Engine Optimization, and how that both me and my Sporting Goods store should have a presence on the Internet?’
“Yes,” I assured him.
“Well, I had a few minutes this morning so I typed my own name into a Google search and it popped up right there on my computer screen that I am a Nudist. And, Floyder, it even had pictures!”
“You saw a nude picture of yourself?” I asked, my voice almost as excited as his.
“Of course not! Floyder, I already told you, I ain’t no nudist!”
More than a little confused, I whipped out my laptop and set it up. By the time I had logged in and started my search, we had quite a crowd forming a half circle around the table. Everyone was so interested I didn’t have the heart to ask them to leave, and, apparently, Jim didn’t have the inclination to. Finally the link popped up, and when I clicked on it sure enough, there was a photo. Only it wasn’t Jim, and he wasn’t nude.
“See, see what I mean. That’s not me,” Jim proclaimed.
I took a moment and read the brief bio. The gentleman pictured had the same name as Jim, of course, but was nearly forty years his senior and lived in Pensacola, Florida. Everyone drifted away, apparently disappointed the man was adorned in a bathing suit and beach robe rather than being au natural, and Jim and I were again alone.
“Floyder, what am I going to do?”
“Well, Jim, you have discovered what a number of other people are learning. It is important that you protect your personal branding online - - both of your personal name and your business. What you need to do is spend either the time, or money, to make sure that when your name, and your company’s name, is typed in for a Google Search, the Jim they find is the one they are looking for.”
“Can Pathmaker do that?” Jim asked.
“Yes, we can, and very effectively I might add.”
“Good! I’m going to call Randall right now and set up an appointment. But before I do, will you do me a favor?’
“What’s that?”
“Will you call Martha and tell her I ain’t never been a nudist?’
The plea in his eyes was greater than the one in his voice, and there was no way I could say “no” to either!
Get Pathmaker Marketing to evaluate your personal brand on Google, Yahoo, Bing and AOL, and determine what you can do to displace any adverse listings that might appear. Contact us at 1-623-322-3334 for a free consultation.
Posted Thursday, September 3, 2009 by
Karen Randau
If you’re a non profit or church who raises funds, then you need to include online fundraising in your marketing tool kit. And when you start doing that, you’ll want to consider the advantages of working with various fundraising companies. Just because you work with someone who has been managing your direct mail for the last several years doesn’t mean they’re the right choice for your email fundraising or search engine marketing efforts. You’ll want to look for Internet savvy fundraising companies for that.
When interviewing fundraising companies, here are some helpful questions you’ll want to ask.
What is your experience raising funds online? You’ll want to make sure they have several years of experience, but also be sure that they deliver good return on investment for their clients. Ask them for specific examples, and look for at least a 4:1 ROI for their current or past clients (not just a promise that they can do that for you).
What is your strategy for raising funds online? While strategies for individual tactics may vary, there is a general philosophy for fundraising that need to understand before choosing from your list of fundraising companies. How do they come up with each eAppeal strategy? How will you be involved? What is their eAppeal blasting schedule and strategy? How will they avoid colliding with direct mail strategies? How they make sure you’ll be able to see results from all online strategies? Make sure their strategies agree with your philosophies.
What is your experience in my industry? People surely can learn your industry, but it helps if they already offer experience specific to your industry. If you’re a Christian organization, it helps a lot for them to understand Christianity and the way Christians communicate.
What is your billing schedule and terms? Be sure you can afford their services and thoroughly understand the services you’ll get.
How do you resolve conflicts and disagreements? You don’t plan it, but disagreements occur. Go into it knowing how you’ll deal with them.
These basic questions may launch you into other discussions, but these will help you springboard into a thorough understanding of how various fundraising companies stack up against one another.
Pathmaker Marketing LLC is ready to help you raise funds online and would love to talk to you about how our strategies and experience fit with your organization. Visit our website or call us at 623-322-3334.
When interviewing fundraising companies, here are some helpful questions you’ll want to ask.
What is your experience raising funds online? You’ll want to make sure they have several years of experience, but also be sure that they deliver good return on investment for their clients. Ask them for specific examples, and look for at least a 4:1 ROI for their current or past clients (not just a promise that they can do that for you).
What is your strategy for raising funds online? While strategies for individual tactics may vary, there is a general philosophy for fundraising that need to understand before choosing from your list of fundraising companies. How do they come up with each eAppeal strategy? How will you be involved? What is their eAppeal blasting schedule and strategy? How will they avoid colliding with direct mail strategies? How they make sure you’ll be able to see results from all online strategies? Make sure their strategies agree with your philosophies.
What is your experience in my industry? People surely can learn your industry, but it helps if they already offer experience specific to your industry. If you’re a Christian organization, it helps a lot for them to understand Christianity and the way Christians communicate.
What is your billing schedule and terms? Be sure you can afford their services and thoroughly understand the services you’ll get.
How do you resolve conflicts and disagreements? You don’t plan it, but disagreements occur. Go into it knowing how you’ll deal with them.
These basic questions may launch you into other discussions, but these will help you springboard into a thorough understanding of how various fundraising companies stack up against one another.
Pathmaker Marketing LLC is ready to help you raise funds online and would love to talk to you about how our strategies and experience fit with your organization. Visit our website or call us at 623-322-3334.
Posted Friday, August 14, 2009 by
Karen Randau
Before I began working for a search engine optimization agency, I wasn’t really sure how to get qualified traffic to the non profit website for which I was responsible a few years ago. I’d heard larger organizations were raising significant funds online, and I could see that the site I managed was at least as professional looking as the others (albeit smaller), but the art and science of bringing qualified traffic to the site (and then converting them to assets) was a mystery to me.
If you’re in a similar situation, I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned while working in a search engine optimization agency.
First, remember that search engine optimization, or SEO as professional online fundraisers like to call it, is indeed both an art and a science. It isn’t enough to have a killer website design or to write witty and professional text. Search engines look for keywords for which people are searching, and you need to have those keywords in all the right places – not too many times and not too few times.
Just one example of a common mistake that a search engine optimization agency can help yo overcome is makng sure you don't put headlines into graphics. When you do, you’re giving up opportunities for your headlines to help get you into the top 10 listings for searches that apply to your content. Content trumps design when it comes to search engine optimization.
Pathmaker Marketing uses a tool for professional web developers to help clients analyze and impelment strategies that (1) identify the best keywords for your organization to target and (2) get those keywords into all the right places on your site so you show up in the top 10 results of searches in major search engines on those keywords.
But that’s only one of the ways a search engine optimization agency can help your non profit website. SEO should be part of an overall Search Engine Marketing strategy that includes optimizing the site, developing a targeted-keyword blog, building strategic links to and from your site, strategically using social media accounts and and implementing a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign.
You can call Pathmaker Marketing at 623-233-3334 to schedule an appointment to discuss how a search engine optimization agency can get your non profit website consistently into the top 10 results for searches on keywords that apply to you – thus turning your site into a much more significant player in your overall fundraising efforts.
If you’re in a similar situation, I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned while working in a search engine optimization agency.
First, remember that search engine optimization, or SEO as professional online fundraisers like to call it, is indeed both an art and a science. It isn’t enough to have a killer website design or to write witty and professional text. Search engines look for keywords for which people are searching, and you need to have those keywords in all the right places – not too many times and not too few times.
Just one example of a common mistake that a search engine optimization agency can help yo overcome is makng sure you don't put headlines into graphics. When you do, you’re giving up opportunities for your headlines to help get you into the top 10 listings for searches that apply to your content. Content trumps design when it comes to search engine optimization.
Pathmaker Marketing uses a tool for professional web developers to help clients analyze and impelment strategies that (1) identify the best keywords for your organization to target and (2) get those keywords into all the right places on your site so you show up in the top 10 results of searches in major search engines on those keywords.
But that’s only one of the ways a search engine optimization agency can help your non profit website. SEO should be part of an overall Search Engine Marketing strategy that includes optimizing the site, developing a targeted-keyword blog, building strategic links to and from your site, strategically using social media accounts and and implementing a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign.
You can call Pathmaker Marketing at 623-233-3334 to schedule an appointment to discuss how a search engine optimization agency can get your non profit website consistently into the top 10 results for searches on keywords that apply to you – thus turning your site into a much more significant player in your overall fundraising efforts.
Posted Saturday, July 25, 2009 by
Erica Cleofe-Kononen
Sending monthly email fundraising is our 11th of Ten (BONUS IDEA) Top Ideas for Church Outreach on the Internet.
A friend of mine once received a genuinely well-written email about a Christian orphanage in need of money so that they can send a few kids to school. My friend, so touched by the story, sent some money and was extremely happy to know that she has helped her fellow Christians in need.
There is a multitude of possibilities to reach possible donors, supporters and beneficiaries through the World Wide Web. With the advent of online paying systems, it is very easy to give and receive financial help.
Your church should grab this opportunity because there are many people out there who are willing to support various Christian causes through online giving. As long as you have a strategic e-fundraising campaign, your resources will continuously grow. Thus, it will contribute to the fulfillment your mission to share God´s glory and enlarge His territory.
Pathmaker Marketing has solid experience in assisting non-profits and churches raise funds via the Internet. One recent email campaign in June 2009 yielded over $30,000 in gifts from 375 donors. a 13-month campaign for another not for profit organizaton raised $192,000 in gifts through the email fundraising channel. We have a proven track record of increasing our clients´ funds multiple times over in proportion to what it costs our clients. For more details on this subject, visit this Pathmaker webpage.
Posted Monday, July 13, 2009 by
Randall Mains
Another good strategy is to cross-pollinate your monthly direct mail appeals with an online fund raising effort. Our typical email fundraising approach, when synergized to snail mail, is to start Split Testing 10 days AFTER the snail mail arrives in homes, then go to full blasting 3 days after that. The email will stand on its own results, plus give LIFT to your snail mail this way. After reblasting and remarketing for another week, you can have your email efundraising efforts done in 10-13 days total, and be out about 1 week before the next fundraising snail maill effort arrives.
The combination of the two channels – direct mail and email fundraising -- working in tandem with each other to promote the same initiative will raise the water table overall on your results. Combine telemarketing in this mix and you have a powerful one-two-three punch for your fundraising efforts.
Posted Friday, July 3, 2009 by
Randall Mains
I wanted to present you with a GENERAL analysis of one client's current email fundraising results to assess the effectiveness of remarketing splits and reblasting to non-openers.
I'll present a fuller analysis later after I analyze every single motive code.
In this case a three-way Split Test was developed (three different creatives) and run out to three 7% random samplings of the master file (no overlapping names). The strategy was short cause email to long cause landing page (A), long cause email to short cause landing page (B), and short premium offer to short premium landing page - no cause (C). The blasting process then unfolded as shown below:
June 18 Split Test (A,B,C) = 36 gifts for $2897 from June 18-21.
A had 11.6% Opens, 22% Clicks, 6% gift conversions fo 14 for $1,150 total
B had 11.2% Opens, 10.5% Clicks, 12.6% gift conversions of 13 for $1,555 total
C had 9.9% Opens, 19% Clicks, 7.7% gift conversions of 12 for $680 total
Based of these numbers we executed the following schedule of blasts:
June 22 Full Blast to B = 114 gifts for $8905 from June 22-23
June 24 Re-blast of B to Non-opens = 68 gifts for $4615 from June 24-28
June 29 Full Blast to A = 86 gifts for $6444
July 1 Re-blast of A to Non-opens = 75 gifts for $5503
Total Campaign (gifts still coming in) = 379 gifts for $28,364
Many of the details and nuances I have excluded from this post in order to display these general results that convey various blasting points re: fundraising for non profits.
Ranked by dollars given
$8905 from "winning" B Full Blast (114 gifts)
$6444 from "losing" A Full Blast (86 gifts)
$5503 from "losing" A Re-blast to Non-opens (75 gifts)
$4615 from "winning" B Re-blast to Non-opens (68 gifts)
Analysis of "Winning" version vs "Losing" version blasting
"Winning" B version of the eappeal: $13,520 from 182 gifts
"Losing" A version of the eappeal: $11,947 from 161 gifts
Remember, this is a first blush analysis, but it illustrates the point in general WHY it's often meritorious to send both split test versions of your email fundraising efforts. If we had NOT sent the "LOSING" version, we would have FORGONE $12,000 in income from 161 givers.
Analysis of First Blast vs Re-blasts to Non-opens
First Blasts = $15,349 from 200 gifts
Re-blasts to Non-opens = $10,118 from 143 gifts
Same disclaimer here, but it illustrates the point WHY it's often meritorious to send to non-openers. If we had NOT sent to Non-opens we would have FORGONE $10,000 in income from 143 givers.
Crazy idea:
If we HAD NOT SENT the "LOSING" version NOR SENT to Non-opens, we would have RAISED $11,802 from 150 givers and FORGONE $16,562 from 229 givers.
These are real time online fund raising results that have occurred during June 2009, also showing that despite the rotten economy, the right offer at the right time with the right executional effort can yield some very substantial results.
If you'd like some help to implement a plan like this, contact Pathmaker Marketing today at 623-322-3334 and we'll do our best to help your not for profit organizations.
I'll present a fuller analysis later after I analyze every single motive code.
In this case a three-way Split Test was developed (three different creatives) and run out to three 7% random samplings of the master file (no overlapping names). The strategy was short cause email to long cause landing page (A), long cause email to short cause landing page (B), and short premium offer to short premium landing page - no cause (C). The blasting process then unfolded as shown below:
June 18 Split Test (A,B,C) = 36 gifts for $2897 from June 18-21.
A had 11.6% Opens, 22% Clicks, 6% gift conversions fo 14 for $1,150 total
B had 11.2% Opens, 10.5% Clicks, 12.6% gift conversions of 13 for $1,555 total
C had 9.9% Opens, 19% Clicks, 7.7% gift conversions of 12 for $680 total
Based of these numbers we executed the following schedule of blasts:
June 22 Full Blast to B = 114 gifts for $8905 from June 22-23
June 24 Re-blast of B to Non-opens = 68 gifts for $4615 from June 24-28
June 29 Full Blast to A = 86 gifts for $6444
July 1 Re-blast of A to Non-opens = 75 gifts for $5503
Total Campaign (gifts still coming in) = 379 gifts for $28,364
Many of the details and nuances I have excluded from this post in order to display these general results that convey various blasting points re: fundraising for non profits.
Ranked by dollars given
$8905 from "winning" B Full Blast (114 gifts)
$6444 from "losing" A Full Blast (86 gifts)
$5503 from "losing" A Re-blast to Non-opens (75 gifts)
$4615 from "winning" B Re-blast to Non-opens (68 gifts)
Analysis of "Winning" version vs "Losing" version blasting
"Winning" B version of the eappeal: $13,520 from 182 gifts
"Losing" A version of the eappeal: $11,947 from 161 gifts
Remember, this is a first blush analysis, but it illustrates the point in general WHY it's often meritorious to send both split test versions of your email fundraising efforts. If we had NOT sent the "LOSING" version, we would have FORGONE $12,000 in income from 161 givers.
Analysis of First Blast vs Re-blasts to Non-opens
First Blasts = $15,349 from 200 gifts
Re-blasts to Non-opens = $10,118 from 143 gifts
Same disclaimer here, but it illustrates the point WHY it's often meritorious to send to non-openers. If we had NOT sent to Non-opens we would have FORGONE $10,000 in income from 143 givers.
Crazy idea:
If we HAD NOT SENT the "LOSING" version NOR SENT to Non-opens, we would have RAISED $11,802 from 150 givers and FORGONE $16,562 from 229 givers.
These are real time online fund raising results that have occurred during June 2009, also showing that despite the rotten economy, the right offer at the right time with the right executional effort can yield some very substantial results.
If you'd like some help to implement a plan like this, contact Pathmaker Marketing today at 623-322-3334 and we'll do our best to help your not for profit organizations.
Posted Tuesday, June 30, 2009 by
Randall Mains
Here's a nifty tip to your ongoing email fundraising list segmentation efforts:
Once each month after you are done emailing, proceed to establish the following basic sub-segmentation lists from your prior month's efforts:
1. Givers or Buyers (those who gave or bought something)
2. Clickers but no Actions (those who made it to your landing pages but never made a donation or bought a product)
3. Openers but no Clicks (those who opened your email but never clicked to your landing page)
You can then begin to combine the givers from January with February etc to formulate a master file of all those who have responded to email solicititations. This sublist will become your prime email fundraising list for your nonprofit fundraising efforts.
Over time your lists will begin to be parsed into better subgroups. You'll have an ongoing file of all your customers; an ongoing file of those who clicked but never purchased or donated; an ongoing file of those who open email but never click.
Your future ephilanthropy strategies can then begin to take shape as you understand a little more about the behavior patterns of your various subgroups.
You can pull off these online fund raising steps easily in blasting systems like ExactTarget, even iContact, although in some cases you may need to reimport your Givers lists back into your blasting system.
If you need prefer to use our fundraising services to help you generate significant $$ from email fundraising, contact Pathmaker Marketing today online or at 623-322-3334, and we'll do our best to see if we can assist you further.
Once each month after you are done emailing, proceed to establish the following basic sub-segmentation lists from your prior month's efforts:
1. Givers or Buyers (those who gave or bought something)
2. Clickers but no Actions (those who made it to your landing pages but never made a donation or bought a product)
3. Openers but no Clicks (those who opened your email but never clicked to your landing page)
You can then begin to combine the givers from January with February etc to formulate a master file of all those who have responded to email solicititations. This sublist will become your prime email fundraising list for your nonprofit fundraising efforts.
Over time your lists will begin to be parsed into better subgroups. You'll have an ongoing file of all your customers; an ongoing file of those who clicked but never purchased or donated; an ongoing file of those who open email but never click.
Your future ephilanthropy strategies can then begin to take shape as you understand a little more about the behavior patterns of your various subgroups.
You can pull off these online fund raising steps easily in blasting systems like ExactTarget, even iContact, although in some cases you may need to reimport your Givers lists back into your blasting system.
If you need prefer to use our fundraising services to help you generate significant $$ from email fundraising, contact Pathmaker Marketing today online or at 623-322-3334, and we'll do our best to see if we can assist you further.
Posted Thursday, May 28, 2009 by
Randall Mains
Find your ministry niche that can be transferred online.
As non profit fund raising professionals, Pathmaker Marketing often starts by asking our clients, "What is unique about your ministry or non profit organization that separates you from the rest?" Isolate that area of differentiation and then determine the ways you might convey that uniqueness online. One idea for accomplishing this objective is to think about the ways you already provide ministry:
* Do you have a radio show? Then place your radio broadcasts online in MP3 format.
* Do you preach sermons? Then have your messages converted into MP3 format and upload them online for people to hear 24/7.
* Do you have a television ministry? Then convert your TV programs into QuickTime or Windows Media file formats for online viewing. You can even upload your shows to YouTube or other online video portals.
* Do you have a drama ministry you can videotape? Then do the same.
* Are you a prolific writer? Then consider:
* Publishing your books online as e-books or using print-on-demand processing.
* Developing white papers on subjects of expertise for you.
* Creating an online library replete with articles on various topics of relevance to your audience.
* Starting a blog.
The key here is to isolate what ministries or services you provide offline, particularly those that are especially unique, and then determine if you can provide or enhance them through non profit marketing online. Here are some examples of the way this has worked in real life.
www.hearandplay.com
Here is a great example of transferring an offline service online. In this example, the business owner used to provide personal piano lessons. However, he was limited in the number of lessons he could give weekly-until he wrestled with the question, "How can I give piano lessons online to expand my business?" Once he resolved that question, he began experiencing a growth spurt in his business. Now he currently reaches more students and provides more lessons by marketing online, than he ever could have through private lessons.
www.oneplace.com
Here is a different example. OnePlace.com offers a service to ministries with radio programs. Through their site, you can publish your radio program online, and then link to it from your website. By doing it this way, you eliminate some of the technical challenges of publishing audio on your own site, and you also partner with numerous other broadcasting ministries that help drive traffic to the site. This is a good example of finding a niche in the non profit marketing arena.
www.whitsend.org
Here is an example of a children's ministry that enhanced its services online. Focus on the Family does a children's radio program called Adventures in Odyssey, and one of the characters, Mr. Whit, owns an inn. As a play on words, the official website of Adventures in Odyssey is Whit's End. When Focus on the Family placed Whit's End online, instead of just the radio programs, they took it a step further by adding games, podcasts, and other interactive features that make the site of interest to children and their parents. Because the program airs on a regular schedule, people are constantly coming back to the site to interact with Whit's End. I's also a good example of non profit marketing.
www.Mysecret.tv
In this case, the church involved is based in Edmund, Oklahoma, and has been recognized as one of the most innovative churches in America. Their website, www.Lifechurch.tv, is worth a review for many reasons. But one of the niftiest things I liked was the innovative way they have provided for people to confess their secrets online in anonymity at www.mysecret.tv. This is a great example of finding a niche in non profit marketing and transferring that ministry online.
As non profit fund raising professionals, Pathmaker Marketing often starts by asking our clients, "What is unique about your ministry or non profit organization that separates you from the rest?" Isolate that area of differentiation and then determine the ways you might convey that uniqueness online. One idea for accomplishing this objective is to think about the ways you already provide ministry:
* Do you have a radio show? Then place your radio broadcasts online in MP3 format.
* Do you preach sermons? Then have your messages converted into MP3 format and upload them online for people to hear 24/7.
* Do you have a television ministry? Then convert your TV programs into QuickTime or Windows Media file formats for online viewing. You can even upload your shows to YouTube or other online video portals.
* Do you have a drama ministry you can videotape? Then do the same.
* Are you a prolific writer? Then consider:
* Publishing your books online as e-books or using print-on-demand processing.
* Developing white papers on subjects of expertise for you.
* Creating an online library replete with articles on various topics of relevance to your audience.
* Starting a blog.
The key here is to isolate what ministries or services you provide offline, particularly those that are especially unique, and then determine if you can provide or enhance them through non profit marketing online. Here are some examples of the way this has worked in real life.
www.hearandplay.com
Here is a great example of transferring an offline service online. In this example, the business owner used to provide personal piano lessons. However, he was limited in the number of lessons he could give weekly-until he wrestled with the question, "How can I give piano lessons online to expand my business?" Once he resolved that question, he began experiencing a growth spurt in his business. Now he currently reaches more students and provides more lessons by marketing online, than he ever could have through private lessons.
www.oneplace.com
Here is a different example. OnePlace.com offers a service to ministries with radio programs. Through their site, you can publish your radio program online, and then link to it from your website. By doing it this way, you eliminate some of the technical challenges of publishing audio on your own site, and you also partner with numerous other broadcasting ministries that help drive traffic to the site. This is a good example of finding a niche in the non profit marketing arena.
www.whitsend.org
Here is an example of a children's ministry that enhanced its services online. Focus on the Family does a children's radio program called Adventures in Odyssey, and one of the characters, Mr. Whit, owns an inn. As a play on words, the official website of Adventures in Odyssey is Whit's End. When Focus on the Family placed Whit's End online, instead of just the radio programs, they took it a step further by adding games, podcasts, and other interactive features that make the site of interest to children and their parents. Because the program airs on a regular schedule, people are constantly coming back to the site to interact with Whit's End. I's also a good example of non profit marketing.
www.Mysecret.tv
In this case, the church involved is based in Edmund, Oklahoma, and has been recognized as one of the most innovative churches in America. Their website, www.Lifechurch.tv, is worth a review for many reasons. But one of the niftiest things I liked was the innovative way they have provided for people to confess their secrets online in anonymity at www.mysecret.tv. This is a great example of finding a niche in non profit marketing and transferring that ministry online.
Posted Thursday, May 14, 2009 by
Randall Mains
16. Test, test, test.
Some studies show that vertical banner graphics outpull horizontal banner graphics in online fund raising. But the only way to truly know is to test everything. Test headlines, test body copy, test graphics, test calls to action. Testing is the only way you can confirm or disprove your theories about what should work in email fundraising and what shouldn't. Once you start testing you may be surprised with the results.
17. Eliminate all CSS from your email fundraising code.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) code is great for web pages but it doesn’t work in non profit email fundraising. Many email clients will strip it out, like gmail, yahoo and hotmail, plus some macmail systems. You'll read advice about using "inline" CSS in email to get around the problem, but truthfully, that's just for people who are willing to concede that their emails won't render properly in various email accounts. Stick with coding your emails up in plain, old-fashioned HTML 101. Then test the rendering of your code across multiple email clients, fix up any issues, then test again. Once you have templates that are golden you can reuse your proven code by simply swapping out graphics and copy blocks for the next email fundraising effort.
18. Optimize your graphic sizes and pixel widths.
You’ll get better response to your non profit emails if people stick around long enough to read them. You need to make sure your jpg or gif graphics are fully optimized for the web to improve load times. One software we use to do this is the Advance JPEG Compressor 2008. Also, shoot for pixel widths of 600-650 for emails and pixel widths of 900 on landing pages to optimize presentation widths. Design Horizontal buttons starting at 375x80.
19. Indent paragraphs.
While it is common practice to not indent paragraphs on the Internet, studies show that the eye prefers to see indented paragraphs. You want to make your emails and landing pages as eye-friendly as possible, so put a little effort into indenting your paragraphs.
Some studies show that vertical banner graphics outpull horizontal banner graphics in online fund raising. But the only way to truly know is to test everything. Test headlines, test body copy, test graphics, test calls to action. Testing is the only way you can confirm or disprove your theories about what should work in email fundraising and what shouldn't. Once you start testing you may be surprised with the results.
17. Eliminate all CSS from your email fundraising code.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) code is great for web pages but it doesn’t work in non profit email fundraising. Many email clients will strip it out, like gmail, yahoo and hotmail, plus some macmail systems. You'll read advice about using "inline" CSS in email to get around the problem, but truthfully, that's just for people who are willing to concede that their emails won't render properly in various email accounts. Stick with coding your emails up in plain, old-fashioned HTML 101. Then test the rendering of your code across multiple email clients, fix up any issues, then test again. Once you have templates that are golden you can reuse your proven code by simply swapping out graphics and copy blocks for the next email fundraising effort.
18. Optimize your graphic sizes and pixel widths.
You’ll get better response to your non profit emails if people stick around long enough to read them. You need to make sure your jpg or gif graphics are fully optimized for the web to improve load times. One software we use to do this is the Advance JPEG Compressor 2008. Also, shoot for pixel widths of 600-650 for emails and pixel widths of 900 on landing pages to optimize presentation widths. Design Horizontal buttons starting at 375x80.
19. Indent paragraphs.
While it is common practice to not indent paragraphs on the Internet, studies show that the eye prefers to see indented paragraphs. You want to make your emails and landing pages as eye-friendly as possible, so put a little effort into indenting your paragraphs.
Posted Wednesday, May 13, 2009 by
Randall Mains
12. Design harmonious headers and optimize your graphics.
Design attractive email fundraising headers and footers that are harmonious to your landing pages and web optimized. These are much more professional looking than plain text emails. But if the file sizes of your graphics are too large, your emails and landing pages will load too slowly, and you'll lose people, so optimize your graphics. Create harmony between your email graphics and your landing page graphics so there's no confusion when click throughs begin to occur.
13. Use fonts that are proven as easy to read.
Headlines and body copy are extremely important. Since you have a limited amount of time to capture your reader's attention and move them to action, you don't want to waste time making things hard for them to read. Only the first letter in each headline word should be capitalized (not all caps). Copy headlines should be designed in Times New Roman or Arial font because they are universally, the easiest to read. Body text should also be at least 12 point type and in Arial, which is the easiest to read, or Times Roman, which is next easiest.
14. Create an eye path that leads you to a destination.
Use bold text, photos and graphics to break up the page into smaller, easy to read chunks that move people to read all the way to the bottom. It's often the case that an "F" pattern is used to help envision a page layout: the best real estate for email fundraising is upper left running across the page (hero shots and headlines, for example) and the worst real estate position is lower right. Buttons should be action oriented (e.g., Click Here), and the text on them should be large enough for middle-age eyes (at least 12 point).
15. Stay away from reverse text in your email fundraising.
Studies show that reverse text (white on a dark background) is much harder to read. You should avoid it if at all possible in body copy, on graphics, etc. Your online fund raising efforts are likely to suffer if you insist on using it.
Design attractive email fundraising headers and footers that are harmonious to your landing pages and web optimized. These are much more professional looking than plain text emails. But if the file sizes of your graphics are too large, your emails and landing pages will load too slowly, and you'll lose people, so optimize your graphics. Create harmony between your email graphics and your landing page graphics so there's no confusion when click throughs begin to occur.
13. Use fonts that are proven as easy to read.
Headlines and body copy are extremely important. Since you have a limited amount of time to capture your reader's attention and move them to action, you don't want to waste time making things hard for them to read. Only the first letter in each headline word should be capitalized (not all caps). Copy headlines should be designed in Times New Roman or Arial font because they are universally, the easiest to read. Body text should also be at least 12 point type and in Arial, which is the easiest to read, or Times Roman, which is next easiest.
14. Create an eye path that leads you to a destination.
Use bold text, photos and graphics to break up the page into smaller, easy to read chunks that move people to read all the way to the bottom. It's often the case that an "F" pattern is used to help envision a page layout: the best real estate for email fundraising is upper left running across the page (hero shots and headlines, for example) and the worst real estate position is lower right. Buttons should be action oriented (e.g., Click Here), and the text on them should be large enough for middle-age eyes (at least 12 point).
15. Stay away from reverse text in your email fundraising.
Studies show that reverse text (white on a dark background) is much harder to read. You should avoid it if at all possible in body copy, on graphics, etc. Your online fund raising efforts are likely to suffer if you insist on using it.
Posted Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by
Randall Mains
9. Include a Web Preview link.
Some people's inboxes may default to NOT display graphics in their email client. To address this issue, always include a hyperlinked line at the top that says something like: "Can't see the graphics? Preview online." link this line to a published version of your email fund raising letter online.
10. Your emails must link to well-crafted landing pages.
It is important to have your emails connect to landing pages that are well-crafted, namely: 1) they offer more information about your cause; 2) they have a carefully engineered checkout process. By providing more in depth information about your organization’s needs on the landing pages, your readers will get answers to issues unaddressed in your email copy. By designing checkout pages that contain minimal friction and mitigate against anxiety and tension about doing business online, you'll reduce abandonment and increase giving. For more details about reducing friction (time it takes to complete the process) and anxiety (concerns about providing sensitive information) search our blog for posts on the subject of Best Practices for Landing Page Optimization.
11. Eliminate landing page navigation in your online fund raising.
The only navigation you want on your landing page are links to (1) your checkout page and (2) possibly, if you are offering a premium, a page that tells more about the premium. This keeps visitors focused on your email fundraising offer rather than allowing them to get sidetracked while browsing your site. If your higherups insist, you can provide back door methods to your home page by hyperlinking your header of footer graphics, for example. Make it covert though, not overt, or your online fund raising will suffer.
Some people's inboxes may default to NOT display graphics in their email client. To address this issue, always include a hyperlinked line at the top that says something like: "Can't see the graphics? Preview online." link this line to a published version of your email fund raising letter online.
10. Your emails must link to well-crafted landing pages.
It is important to have your emails connect to landing pages that are well-crafted, namely: 1) they offer more information about your cause; 2) they have a carefully engineered checkout process. By providing more in depth information about your organization’s needs on the landing pages, your readers will get answers to issues unaddressed in your email copy. By designing checkout pages that contain minimal friction and mitigate against anxiety and tension about doing business online, you'll reduce abandonment and increase giving. For more details about reducing friction (time it takes to complete the process) and anxiety (concerns about providing sensitive information) search our blog for posts on the subject of Best Practices for Landing Page Optimization.
11. Eliminate landing page navigation in your online fund raising.
The only navigation you want on your landing page are links to (1) your checkout page and (2) possibly, if you are offering a premium, a page that tells more about the premium. This keeps visitors focused on your email fundraising offer rather than allowing them to get sidetracked while browsing your site. If your higherups insist, you can provide back door methods to your home page by hyperlinking your header of footer graphics, for example. Make it covert though, not overt, or your online fund raising will suffer.
Posted Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by
Randall Mains
6. Give your readers multiple paths to the action you want them to take.
Some experts say the typical email should have nearly 20 ways to click through to your landing pages. I'd shoot for having at least 5-10 for starters. Start by providing at least three ways where people can click to your donate page, and make these online fund raising links (text or graphics) benefit and action oriented (e.g., Click Here to Help Save Lives, Read More Now , Get More Details >>, Go Here to Help).
7. Develop Dedicated Landing Pages.
Sometimes I like to think of it this way: If you are trying to get the attention of a kid in a candy shop, most likely you will fail because they are distracted by all the goodies that surround them. Likewise, don't send email fundraising out that takes people back to your homepage, whereby they can give easily distracted from your primary purpose, which is to get the gift. Take them instead to a dedicated landing page that includes few, if any, links to the rest of your website - you lose people when you let them browse too much, rabbit-trailing all over the place. Some folks like to think of building a greased chute thats keep your online fund raising path speeding people to one destination.
8. Improve response with well-chosen premiums.
If there is a premium, your email fundraising should clearly describe the value of the item and how the reader can get that premium. If their gift of $50 will get them a book, what will they learn from this book? What often motivates people is what they will learn, discover, experience, etc. No matter how altruistic and selfless they are, your reader wants to know what's in it for them. People generally give to your non profit because they want to make a difference, and you need to specifically tell them - in words that address them directly - the difference they're making. You also need to succinctly assure them that you will use their funds appropriately and efficiently. Having said that, a well-chosen premium is like a bonus on your offer. It doesn't hurt to sweeten the deal with something that looks appealing.
Some experts say the typical email should have nearly 20 ways to click through to your landing pages. I'd shoot for having at least 5-10 for starters. Start by providing at least three ways where people can click to your donate page, and make these online fund raising links (text or graphics) benefit and action oriented (e.g., Click Here to Help Save Lives, Read More Now , Get More Details >>, Go Here to Help).
7. Develop Dedicated Landing Pages.
Sometimes I like to think of it this way: If you are trying to get the attention of a kid in a candy shop, most likely you will fail because they are distracted by all the goodies that surround them. Likewise, don't send email fundraising out that takes people back to your homepage, whereby they can give easily distracted from your primary purpose, which is to get the gift. Take them instead to a dedicated landing page that includes few, if any, links to the rest of your website - you lose people when you let them browse too much, rabbit-trailing all over the place. Some folks like to think of building a greased chute thats keep your online fund raising path speeding people to one destination.
8. Improve response with well-chosen premiums.
If there is a premium, your email fundraising should clearly describe the value of the item and how the reader can get that premium. If their gift of $50 will get them a book, what will they learn from this book? What often motivates people is what they will learn, discover, experience, etc. No matter how altruistic and selfless they are, your reader wants to know what's in it for them. People generally give to your non profit because they want to make a difference, and you need to specifically tell them - in words that address them directly - the difference they're making. You also need to succinctly assure them that you will use their funds appropriately and efficiently. Having said that, a well-chosen premium is like a bonus on your offer. It doesn't hurt to sweeten the deal with something that looks appealing.
Posted Monday, May 11, 2009 by
Randall Mains
3. Write an action-oriented headline that carry through the email fundraising process.
Your headline should lead people toward the action you want them to take but still speak directly to what's interesting to them. Plus, your email subject line needs to flow onto the email headline which flows onto your email landing pages. They don't have to be exact, but harmonious enough so that people know they are where they belong when they open the email and click through to any landing pages. This avoids confusion, which can lead to process abandonment, and instead carries your message through to the end objective in online fund raising: a gift.
4. Create urgency with your email fundraising copy.
What will happen if the reader doesn’t give a donation as a result of this email? Will hurting people continue to suffer? Will dogs like the one described above continue to be abused or homeless? Your reader needs to visualize the results of both helping and not helping. Appeal to your readers’ senses in our copy if you can: smell, touch, taste, sound, and sight. Be urgent, but don’t cry wolf just to overstate the urgency or consequences; they’ll see right through that ploy after you've done it once or twice.
5. Include clear calls to action in your email fundraising.
Your readers need to know specifically what you want them to do. Should they give $50 now? Should they sign a petition today or take a survey in the next few moments? Use active words to clearly describe the action you want them to take. Tell them exactly what they need to do now (e.g., click here). Include "click here" or "call or click" phrases in your copy, but particularly in your graphics, since words like “click here” can raise your spam score. Put these onine fund raising calls to action in graphic buttons that link to the place where the reader can take the specific action you’re requesting.
Your headline should lead people toward the action you want them to take but still speak directly to what's interesting to them. Plus, your email subject line needs to flow onto the email headline which flows onto your email landing pages. They don't have to be exact, but harmonious enough so that people know they are where they belong when they open the email and click through to any landing pages. This avoids confusion, which can lead to process abandonment, and instead carries your message through to the end objective in online fund raising: a gift.
4. Create urgency with your email fundraising copy.
What will happen if the reader doesn’t give a donation as a result of this email? Will hurting people continue to suffer? Will dogs like the one described above continue to be abused or homeless? Your reader needs to visualize the results of both helping and not helping. Appeal to your readers’ senses in our copy if you can: smell, touch, taste, sound, and sight. Be urgent, but don’t cry wolf just to overstate the urgency or consequences; they’ll see right through that ploy after you've done it once or twice.
5. Include clear calls to action in your email fundraising.
Your readers need to know specifically what you want them to do. Should they give $50 now? Should they sign a petition today or take a survey in the next few moments? Use active words to clearly describe the action you want them to take. Tell them exactly what they need to do now (e.g., click here). Include "click here" or "call or click" phrases in your copy, but particularly in your graphics, since words like “click here” can raise your spam score. Put these onine fund raising calls to action in graphic buttons that link to the place where the reader can take the specific action you’re requesting.
Posted Monday, May 11, 2009 by
Karen Randau
If you want to do fund raising online, your non profit website design needs to incorporate eCommerce. That may sound like a term reserved for the for profit world, but your non profit can benefit greatly from not only learning from your for profit colleagues but also taking the concept to new heights in your non profit website design. Here are some tips.
- Plan your online store carefully. As with everything else you do – including driving across town – you need to know where you want to go before you understand how to get there.
Your eCommerce strategy needs to include traditional products that non profits offer (e.g., books, mugs, pens, t-shirts, hats, etc.) along with “products” that only a non profit could offer. These include sponsorships, memberships, and aspects of your projects (e.g., buy a cow for a family in a third world country, plant a tree in the rainforest, save a whale, etc.).
Key components of your non profit store design strategy include (1) understanding the resources necessary (people, finances, education, etc.) and (2) getting commitment from the decision makes to provide and maintain these resources.
- Set up your store as professionally as the for profits do. The days are gone when you can simply create a static page on your non profit website that tells people to call to make a donation. Your non profit website design needs to include a store with a catalog, search and browsing functions, a shopping cart (and don’t be concerned that people will be offended by putting your virtual products in a shopping cart – if they buy things online, they know what this concept means and are comfortable with it) and an easy checkout process.
The search/browse function is vital to making it easy for people to find your products, whether they be t-shirts or trees in the rainforest.
Checkout is often where non profits lose donors. You need to make the process simple and collect enough information without over doing it. Initially, you may only need the name and email address, but you will be collecting more inforamtion as part of taking a credit card.
- Cross promote. You see it happen on Amazon.com: “People who bought this product also liked these.” You can do it too: “People who bought this hat also liked this book” or “People who proudly wear this t-shirt often also like to sponsor this event or provide funding for this project.” You can also offer certificates to people who buy the virtual products.
- Build relationships. As you collect information about people, find out what parts of your non profit interest them. Be sure to include a privacy policy on the site to ease people's concerns about providing their information.
Once you’ve gotten their permission, keep them informed about what your non profit is doing and what kinds of funding needs you have. Don’t abuse them by selling their information or sending too many emails, but stay in touch. You’ll want to email them a couple times a month with information that they will find valuable.
As you craft your relationship-building messages, remember people want to know “what’s in it for me.”
Posted Monday, May 11, 2009 by
Randall Mains
Email fundraising is a proven internet marketing tool that can help your charitable organization raise substantial online donations. When properly executed, an email fundraising campaign can provide your ministry with a additional source of ministry revenues, an engaged donor base, a regular branding tool, and in some cases, even improve your offline fundraising efforts.
Email campaigns can be very effective at online fund raising, sometimes providing up to 35% of a ministries total annual fund revenue. Plus, they are relatively efficient at raising funds because the costs to email can be generally lower. Of course, it's a myth to think that email is free, given that there are typically costs associated with writing copy, developing HTML email and landing pages, getting proper rendering in multiple email clients, blasting and beyond.
There are many important factors and techniques to apply to create effective email fundraising campaigns. You need to do some up-front strategic thinking. What are your campaign needs? What goals do you want to accomplish? Who is your target audience? Who will be receiving this email, and what Is most likely to move them to the action you want them to take?
Once you have a clear strategic outline of what you want to accomplish through email fundrasiing, here are some practical steps to follow to assist in the over-all effectiveness of your online fund raising campaign.
1. Make them personal.
Speak directly to your audience using “you” centric statements instead of the less personal “we” or, even worse, “one.” Personalize your email fundraising if possible, inserting First Name data in your Subject lines and body copy. You are more likely to engage your readers if you speak to them individually, not collectively. This, of course, also means you need to understand who your audience is, what inspires and motivates them, and what causes them to take action.
2. Engage the reader’s heart.
People often give to causes and non-profits that fulfill an emotional need in their own lives. Your readers gave you their email address because they trusted you...thought your non-profit worthy of their time and attention...believed in your purpose in life...saw how they could make a difference in the world through you, etc. When you ask for their support, you need to tell them through a short, heartfelt, and compelling story how your non profit is making a difference and why you need their support.
One school of thought says that your heartfelt story needs to be told in no more than one or two short but effective paragraphs in the email, with an option for readers to get more details by clicking through to your landing pages. Another school of thought says that you can tell your whole story in the email, with the click-through process going straight to your checkout process. I've seen both methods be successful.
Email campaigns can be very effective at online fund raising, sometimes providing up to 35% of a ministries total annual fund revenue. Plus, they are relatively efficient at raising funds because the costs to email can be generally lower. Of course, it's a myth to think that email is free, given that there are typically costs associated with writing copy, developing HTML email and landing pages, getting proper rendering in multiple email clients, blasting and beyond.
There are many important factors and techniques to apply to create effective email fundraising campaigns. You need to do some up-front strategic thinking. What are your campaign needs? What goals do you want to accomplish? Who is your target audience? Who will be receiving this email, and what Is most likely to move them to the action you want them to take?
Once you have a clear strategic outline of what you want to accomplish through email fundrasiing, here are some practical steps to follow to assist in the over-all effectiveness of your online fund raising campaign.
1. Make them personal.
Speak directly to your audience using “you” centric statements instead of the less personal “we” or, even worse, “one.” Personalize your email fundraising if possible, inserting First Name data in your Subject lines and body copy. You are more likely to engage your readers if you speak to them individually, not collectively. This, of course, also means you need to understand who your audience is, what inspires and motivates them, and what causes them to take action.
2. Engage the reader’s heart.
People often give to causes and non-profits that fulfill an emotional need in their own lives. Your readers gave you their email address because they trusted you...thought your non-profit worthy of their time and attention...believed in your purpose in life...saw how they could make a difference in the world through you, etc. When you ask for their support, you need to tell them through a short, heartfelt, and compelling story how your non profit is making a difference and why you need their support.
One school of thought says that your heartfelt story needs to be told in no more than one or two short but effective paragraphs in the email, with an option for readers to get more details by clicking through to your landing pages. Another school of thought says that you can tell your whole story in the email, with the click-through process going straight to your checkout process. I've seen both methods be successful.
Posted Tuesday, May 5, 2009 by
Karen Randau
Credit cards are an essential tool for online fund raising. You have several options for setting up your site to take credit card donations.
- Open your own merchant account. You can do this through your bank or credit card company, and you may want to shop around until you find the one with the best fee. The company will do a credit check, so give yourself plenty of time for this process. Read the fine print in the agreement carefully. The biggest advantages for opening your own merchant account for online fund raising are (1) you can design your site so funds flow directly into your bank account and (2) your non profit’s name shows up on the users statement. The latter helps eliminate confusion and protests to changes.
- Choose a third party processor. A well known third party processor is PayPal, which charges your non profit a fee for using their merchant account to take credit card donations for your online fund raising. It’s relatively easy to set up and use an account such as PayPal, and many users trust PayPal. The disadvantage is the confusion that could result when users don’t see your company’s name on their statement and have already forgotten about the donation. Charge backs could result. If you choose to go the third party processor route for your online fund raising, be sure to include a message on your “Thank You” page about what the user will see on their credit card statement.
- Spring for the cost of a Credit Card Processing program. This option is most affordable for the online fund raising of larger non profits. The advantage is that the system includes tools to help you efficiently manage customer relationships. Disadvantages are costs and the limited number of companies that offer this service. Smaller non profits will want to stick to one of the first two options.
Posted Friday, April 24, 2009 by
Jilaine Beu
Even if you don’t frequent them, you’ve probably heard sites such as Myspace, Facebook and Linkedin. You may see these sites as youth-based social circles for kids to interact with each other via the Internet. But you can take advantage of these sites to benefit your non profit fund raising program.
These sites are known as social networks … places for individuals to interact with each other and share information. These sites can be very useful tools for building contact groups and relationships with specific communities and markets.
One of the greatest features of these types of sites is the amount of interaction you can have with your network of friends. For example, if you are an author, you can send out an announcement to all of your friends about your newest book release. In a sense, you can use these sites as mini press releases. So, not only are you able to connect and share information at a lightning speed, but it is also free! All it takes is a little bit of time and energy on your part. The more time you put into it, the more you can get out of it.
Social networking sites also offer many amazing features—from bulletin boards to blogs to event calendars. Features like this help to keep your network informed. You can also have direct links to your newsletter sign-up sheet (for email fundraising),your website and web stores through social networking sites. These sites can be used a sampler of what your site actually offers. A newer development with these networks is that they are now available through cell phones using the 3G networks. This means that there is a constant connection between you and your social network, fan base or friends, which ever you feel most comfortable calling them.
A bonus with social networking is its link development or link building abilities. This helps to drive traffic to you or your cause and assists in your online fund raising needs. I highly recommend social network web sites and services to improve your sites overall popularity and link rankings.
Posted Friday, April 24, 2009 by
Karen Randau
Article Marketing is nothing new. Ever since there was a printing press, businesses have been writing articles pertinent to their niche and trying to convince publications to distribute them. It helps increase awareness of your business and creates an image of expertise on the author’s part. It helps the publication by giving them good content for less investment than having staff do do the writing, and the publication can charge other businesses for the right of advertising on those pages.
What has changed is how people are using Article Marketing in non profit online fund raising. Most good content sites won’t pay for your article. You still get the good exposure (what amounts to free advertising), and they still get the chance to charge others to pay for that page of your content. But online Article Marketing can turbo charge your non profit online fund raising efforts!
You can use your articles of search engine optimization, for example. Write well-researched articles that fill the needs and concerns of readers of a certain niche of people. Use keywords appropriately, so search engines will find your articles. Be sure to include language that tactfully persuades readers to click to your website. Find websites that cater to that niche, and then dole out your articles to a variety of content publishers. The link back to your website increases your site traffic, and if the publishing site distributes your articles via RSS feeds, the number of exposures to your article—and the people clicking on links to your site—greatly increases.
Another advantage of links to your website from within a widely-distributed article is that search engines rank sites higher in search results when you have more links to your site. This gives you even more exposure than just the article creates.
You'll need to be sure to link back to pages that convert the visitors to assets (email lists, sales, donations, etc.) Pathmaker Marketing LLC can help you devise a traffic conversion strategy that complements your non profit online fund raising efforts.
Questions to help you be more strategic when incorporating Article Marketing into your non profit online fund raising include:
As experts in Search Engine Marketing, Pathmaker Marketing LLC, wants to help you create as many good paths to your site as possible, and Article Marketing is one of many. Contact us for a free analysis of your Search Engine Marketing efforts.
What has changed is how people are using Article Marketing in non profit online fund raising. Most good content sites won’t pay for your article. You still get the good exposure (what amounts to free advertising), and they still get the chance to charge others to pay for that page of your content. But online Article Marketing can turbo charge your non profit online fund raising efforts!
You can use your articles of search engine optimization, for example. Write well-researched articles that fill the needs and concerns of readers of a certain niche of people. Use keywords appropriately, so search engines will find your articles. Be sure to include language that tactfully persuades readers to click to your website. Find websites that cater to that niche, and then dole out your articles to a variety of content publishers. The link back to your website increases your site traffic, and if the publishing site distributes your articles via RSS feeds, the number of exposures to your article—and the people clicking on links to your site—greatly increases.
Another advantage of links to your website from within a widely-distributed article is that search engines rank sites higher in search results when you have more links to your site. This gives you even more exposure than just the article creates.
You'll need to be sure to link back to pages that convert the visitors to assets (email lists, sales, donations, etc.) Pathmaker Marketing LLC can help you devise a traffic conversion strategy that complements your non profit online fund raising efforts.
Questions to help you be more strategic when incorporating Article Marketing into your non profit online fund raising include:
- Will you be promoting the business, the website or yourself? Tailor your articles to focus on the one you’re trying to promote.
- Are you a good enough writer? People won’t read your articles if they aren’t interesting and well crafted.
- What are you going to write about? Don’t go down any other path, no matter how tempting it is to overcome writer’s block by writing about what’s on your mind on a particular day. Remember that your goal is to appeal to a niche and secure relevant links to your site.
- Where will you send your articles? Find as many relevant article directories as possible, and make sure they have good traffic. Don’t duplicate the articles on your own site because content sites won’t want to use content that is used in too many places. It could also hurt your own site’s search engine rankings.
- How much are you going to write? As long as you keep having good ideas for articles in a specific niche want to read, keep writing. When you run dry, don’t write. It will hurt the quality of the content along with your overall Article Marketing strategy. In terms of article length, keep to the 500 to 800 word range.
As experts in Search Engine Marketing, Pathmaker Marketing LLC, wants to help you create as many good paths to your site as possible, and Article Marketing is one of many. Contact us for a free analysis of your Search Engine Marketing efforts.
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