Online fundraising tips for nonprofits.
Online
fundraising is rapidly becoming the dominant form of
fundraising for nonprofits. According to the American
Express Charitable Gift Survey of 2007, of those who
gave to charitable organizations in 2007, one in 10
did so in the form of online donations. Internet
fundraising allows you to reach a global audience of
supporters, remain in constant contact and avoid the
high costs of print campaigns. When news travels around
the world at lightening speed, you can use the Internet
to get the word out about an urgent need—and raise funds
immediately. If
your nonprofit isn’t taking advantage of online fundraising
methods—and not just by having that “donate now” button
on your Web site—start now! Many
fundraising campaigns can be effectively conducted over
the Internet, rather than with printed materials. This
includes using direct email, an electronic newsletter,
social media marketing for nonprofits and publishing
well-written, optimized content on your Web site and
elsewhere on the Internet. Advertise
your ability to collect online donations. Include your
nonprofit’s Web address in all your communications with
members and press releases. The
most important online fundraising tip for nonprofits
is also the simplest: Everything you publish on your
Web site, or elsewhere online, needs to be search engine
optimized if you want visitors to be able to find you. Below
are some additional online fundraising tips for nonprofits: Develop
your Web site. A nonprofit’s Web site
must be supremely visitor-friendly. Otherwise, you will
lose potential members before they even learn what you’re
about.
Bad
Web sites not only fail to draw traffic, but they inspire
fewer online donations from visitors. Think about it:
Would you trust someone to properly manage an organization—and
your money—when they can’t even manage their Web pages?
This
was proven with a Nielsen study, which showed that poor
quality nonprofit Web sites received fewer online donations.
The study also found that what made the difference in
the minds of donors was the quality of the information
on a nonprofit’s Web site.
Donors
want to see informative, well-written, engaging articles
about your nonprofit’s mission, goals, objectives and
work. But even more important—online visitors want to
read about how
your nonprofit uses its donations and contributions.
Powerful,
compelling articles that tell the stories of how your
group is carrying out its mission can inspire more Web
donations than anything else. In addition, include these
types of articles in email campaigns, or publish them
on other Web sites, to further enhance your online fundraising
efforts.
The
study found that other Web site “donation killers” include:
- Poor page and site design with unintuitive organization
of information
- Confusing or incomplete content
- Poor coordination of local chapter sites with their
parent site
At
Hired Gun Writing, our team includes Internet experts and professional
writers. We write powerful, original Web-optimized content
that answers your donors’ questions and inspires them
to give. We can help you design your site layout for a
pleasant visitor experience. Contact
us to learn how quickly you can
start using your Web site to raise maximum support.
Draw
traffic to your Web site. The best way
to attract new visitors to your Web site is by having
a high search engine ranking with Google and other search
engines. And the way to get a high ranking is by having
a Web site full of unique, search engine optimized content.
An
abundance of optimized content simply means your site
has a lot of articles on it that are written in the
way that search engines like (that is, they are optimized).
The
more online content you have on your Web site—with the
proper keywords and expert lingo that your supporters
are searching for—the more relevant search engines will
deem your site to be. And that means more visitors directed
straight to your site. Then, once there, your online
content should inform, engage and inspire them to join
in your mission.
If
you lack the time, resources or know-how to write optimized
content for your Web site, consider hiring a Web copywriter.
The professionals at Hired Gun have written for a wide
variety of nonprofit Web sites, and are uniquely qualified
to produce engaging, keyword-rich content. Our team
includes SEO experts and experienced Web copywriters—a
combination that guarantees your online content will
be attractive to both search engines and visitors. Contact
us for more information on our
Web copywriting services for nonprofits.
Use
email marketing. Today, email marketing
is a valuable fundraising tool for nonprofits. Effective
email marketing helps to keep your current members engaged
and informed—and compels new members to visit your Web
site, where they’ll be inspired to join your mission.
Use
email marketing to announce an event, share a recent
success and call for support.
The
most common form of email marketing is a direct email
campaign. Direct email is rapidly replacing direct
mail as an effective fundraising strategy. When done
correctly, any type of nonprofit can benefit from incorporating
direct email into their fundraising program. When done
incorrectly, however, email marketing can waste staff
members’ time and alienate your supporters.
Make
sure the purpose of every email is clear, and that it
quickly and effectively communicates your message. Never
bombard supporters with messages, and don’t be a spammer.
Try to connect your email to a recent news event, include
a new fact or statistic, or relate other useful information
so that recipients feel they’re getting something valuable
from your email and your organization.
Email marketing campaigns should include direct links
to your Web site, with easy access to the donation and
volunteer pages. The subject line of your email is a
very important aspect of launching a successful email
marketing campaign. In fact, those few words could make
or break your organization’s email campaign.
The
subject line should never be more than 50 characters
long, and must compel recipients to learn more. It should
convey why the recipient must open the message now—instead
of putting it off and forgetting about it—and why, once
they do open it, they’ll find the contents to be worth
their time.
At
Hired Gun, we craft effective direct email campaigns
for nonprofits of all kinds.
Contact us
for more information on our email marketing services
for nonprofits.
Use
an electronic newsletter. Instead of
sending out a print newsletter, send out an electronic
newsletter. Newsletters in general are a great way to
keep your current members informed and involved in your
work. Newsletters also help grow your support base by
reaching out to potential new members.
E-newsletters
contain all the same information as traditional newsletters,
but are sent electronically. Do not send out newsletters
too frequently just because you don’t have to make a
trip to the post office to do it. You want every newsletter
to contain valuable information and special stories,
so recipients will continue to look forward to every
issue. Include news updates, articles, recent successes,
photos, member stories, upcoming events, planned giving
information and calls for support.
Always
include convenient links to your nonprofit’s Web site
with easy access to donation and volunteer pages. Make
sure your newsletter sign-up box is clearly visible
on your Web site home page.
If
you plan to publish your newsletter online, make sure
it is optimized to contain the keywords and phrases
your future supporters are searching for.
Hired Gun Writing
creates newsletters for a variety of nonprofits. Contact
us to learn more.
Use
social media marketing. Social networking
sites like MySpace, FaceBook and Twitter, to name a
few, can provide a rich pool of potential supporters.
Indeed many businesses and nonprofits are now using
social networking sites to promote their organizations
through social media marketing.
If
one of your staff has experience with social networking,
they will be able to help you as you enter the world
of social media marketing for nonprofits.
After
you’ve selected a network (or networks) to join and
established your group’s profile, start attracting “friends.”
The content you post will need to be eye-catching and
edgy to create a “buzz” and get people to pass around
your articles.
Update
your social media pages regularly, and post bulletins
and notes on other users’ pages to spread the word about
important happenings and drive traffic to your page.
Devote time every day to accepting new friends, posting
comments, and inviting others to become friends.
Remember—even
if your progress is slow at first, social media marketing
is about getting the younger generation involved, and
building a large base of supporters who’ll help you
raise more support in the future.
If
you lack the time or resources to coordinate your social
media marketing efforts, a Hired Gun professional will
manage your accounts. We will regularly update and disperse
original content about your organization, send out notices
of upcoming events and build your network. Contact
us for more information on how
you can grow your nonprofit using social media marketing.
 See samples of our work for nonprofits.
Read
the next article: Grant funding for nonprofits.
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