December 2002
Case Study: Making a Go of Online Fundraising by Madeline Stanionis
Getting the most from testing by Mal Warwick
What's up online by Dan Weeks
Case Study:
Making a go of online fundraising
By Madeline Stanionis
SAY YOU'RE A MID-SIZED, national nonprofit with strong direct mail experience and a solid communications strategy. You've probably already begun building your online program, but now you're ready to get serious about it. Here are some of the questions you might be asking:
• What's the best way to grow?
• What's reasonable to expect from a big investment in online fundraising?
• What tools will help me get the most from my investment?
This case study should give you some answers to these questions-and maybe a little inspiration, too!
Earthjustice (San Francisco, California), a nonprofit environmental law firm, represents — without charge — hundreds of public interest clients, large and small. Founded in 1971 as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Earthjustice has played a leading role in developing and enforcing environmental law. From nine offices across the country, Earthjustice attorneys take on powerful special interests. We began working with Earthjustice to develop and implement its online fundraising strategy in 2001. The results have been dramatic and exciting. We've been able to:
• Influence environmental policy with thousands of faxes and e-mails sent by constituents
• Achieve more than 500% growth in Earthjustice's online constituent list
• Generate more than 300% growth in online giving — during a time when, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the median rise in online giving was 120%.
In the words of Adelaide Roberts, Earthjustice Director of Public Support: "We're thrilled with what's happened online over the last year. Our constituents love being able to act online quickly, we get great response to our monthly e-newsletter, and seeing our online income grow is, of course, terrific."
This work unfolded in four steps over a 16-month period.
Step 1: Growing the list
Initially, a key goal for Earthjustice was to grow its e-mail list. Several tactics resulted in increasing the list from 4,800 to 25,100 names in a little over a year, most notably:
• Placing e-newsletter sign-ups prominently on the group's Web site.
• Arranging for partnerships with portals like Care2 to generate Action Alert sign-ups.
• Inviting donors via postcard to give their e-mail addresses and enter a raffle.
Step 2: Cultivation
Earthjustice's e-mail program and Web site have become important parts of their donor and prospect cultivation. Key tactics now include:
• Sending a monthly text and HTML e-newsletter, which generates average click-through rates of 10% or more. (Click-throughs on the HTML version are routinely higher.)
• Inviting donors and prospects to take action online, which increases their level of engagement with the organization.
• Surveying donors and prospects online — 22% of recipients completed a recent survey, with the highest segment (donor/activists) returning more than 39%.
• Creating an online supporter center with special insider information especially for donors — but open to prospects, as well.
Earthjustice Supporter Center
Step 3: Raising money
In 2001, Earthjustice began a more aggressive Web appeal program. Specific methods included:
• A year-end holiday appeal to prospects that generated 43 gifts — all from new donors.
• A renewal campaign that included reminder e-mails — sent to direct mail membership renewal recipients whose e-mail addresses were known — and on-site renewal appeals. A total of 137 donors gave $8,145 online.
• Special campaigns, including "Donate Your Rebate" and Earth Day. The latter campaign consisted of a series of messages during the four weeks of April: Learn, Act, Teach, and Give.
Earth Day Campaign e-appeal
Step 4: Integrating online with offline fundraising
A recent integrated matching grant campaign generated particularly impressive results. The annual appeal ran both off- and online, comprised of the following elements:
• A direct mail series that offered an online giving option.
• Appeals on the home and other Web pages.
• A series of e-mails to 18,000 donors and prospects that included hard and soft Asks in the e-newsletter and a "last chance" e-mail postcard, which generated almost $15,000 in one day.
"Last Chance" e-postcard
As a result of this integrated campaign, 447 donors and prospects gave $26,875 online, representing a 2.5% response rate from the Earthjustice online list and 5% of the total generated from the campaign as a whole.
Advocacy adds to the mix
Earthjustice began its online activism program in 2001. Not only has the program influenced environmental law and allowed donors and prospects to engage more deeply with the organization, but the group has also developed a growing list of staunch activists.
• Since October 2001, Earthjustice launched 29 campaigns with over 47,000 participants taking action.
• Over 65,000 letters were sent via e-mail and fax to specified targets.
• Over 10,000 members were recruited via advocacy campaigns.
Using the right tools for the job
At the beginning of 2001, Earthjustice used low-cost, stand-alone vendors for its e-mail messaging and online donation processing. While not the most robust tools, they were sufficient at the time. However, by late 2001, Earthjustice's online program had taken off, and the organization was ready for a more powerful, integrated solution.
Earthjustice selected GetActive Software because it combined powerful e-mail messaging and a brand-new, easily customized donation processing system with a well-established online activism product (which Earthjustice's communications department was already using). Not only have the tools proved effective, but collaboration between the communications and development departments has significantly increased.
Some final thoughts
In many ways, Earthjustice's results are not unusual. However, they demonstrate a particularly well-rounded approach to taking a fundraising program online. The Earthjustice staff is committed to investing online, willing to be creative and take risks, yet has realistic expectations. As a result, we've tested different strategies and learned a great deal about the group's list. The online fundraising effort is positive now, and it will only continue to grow.
Madeline Stanionis is Vice President of Donordigital, a firm that helps nonprofits use the Internet for fundraising, marketing, and advocacy. She can be reached at 182 Second Street, San Francisco CA 94105, phone (415) 278-9444 ext. 204, fax (415) 901-0112, e-mail madeline@donordigital.com, Web www.donordigital.com.
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Getting the most from testing
by Mal Warwick
WHY SHOULD a minimum suggested gift of $20 yield both higher response and a higher average gift than a $25 Ask? Blatantly illogical, isn't it? Yet I've seen that happen, as often as not.
Too bad. There's no way to avoid the ambiguities and uncertainties that testing delivers: If you want to make more money for your organization through direct mail, you've got to test.
But be careful when you test. One of the all-time masters of direct mail made the following claims some years ago:
• That he got good results in the mail only when he used #10 or 6 x 9" envelopes.
• That he could remember only a single time in his career when a list test was successful and the retest results were poor.
• That if a test lifted results, the rollout always reflected the lift.
Not one of those three assertions is consistent with my experience. Granted: Usually, a #10 envelope is the best choice. And usually good test results point the way to successful rollouts. But there's not much certainty in my world when it comes to testing.
From my perspective, the key to successful testing in direct mail fundraising is to minimize the ambiguities by following seven simple, common-sense guidelines:
1. Select statistically valid test panels. Follow rigorous procedures to ensure statistical validity and thus the comparability of the test panels you'll be mailing, and mail every test panel against a "control."
2. Mail test panels on the same day from the same place. Our complex world is different from one day and one place to the next. Tests are unreliable if test panels are mailed on different days or from different places.
3. Mail test panels calculated to produce 100 responses. Decide how many names to include in each test on the basis of the likelihood that each panel will produce 100 responses at the rate of response you might reasonably expect.
4. Don't trust other mailers' test results. One organization's test results don't necessarily apply to another's circumstances. In fact, they fail to translate with such frequency that you would take another's test results as gospel only at great risk.
5. Above all else, test lists. My rule of thumb is to devote 20% of each acquisition mailing-20,000 out of each 100,000 names-to test new lists. The list is the single most important variable in a fundraising mailing.
6. Test elements that can dramatically affect results. Next to lists, the most important elements to test are:
• Whole new packages (as opposed to individual package components);
and
• Significantly different offers, including membership or donor benefits, involvement devices, front-end or back-end premiums, or Ask amounts.
7. Retest if the confidence level of results is less than 95%. Given all the little things that can go wrong and skew test results, that "unlikely" tenth chance out of 10 seems to come along much too frequently for my taste!
Even if you follow all these seven guidelines to the letter, you'll probably stumble across your share of brain-teasers when you test. But this straight-and-narrow path will minimize the confusion and doubt you're likely to encounter -- and maximize the chances you'll raise more money for your organization.
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This article is excerpted and condensed from Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 . . .: Raise More Money Through Direct Mail Tests, to be published in 2003 by Jossey-Bass Publishers. Copyright © 2002 by Mal Warwick.
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What's up online
by Dan Weeks
National Wildlife Federation's website is exceptionally clean and pretty, and seems to have myriad ways to keep you surfing there. For one thing, it's quite interactive, with "Learn, Test, and Send" sections right up front and center. Their online shopping mall includes a 5-minute survey — answering it gets you a discount. There are sections on taking action, getting a NWF checkbook, purchasing videos and DVDs, signing up for their e-newsletter (receive a free screen saver!), as well as special sections for gardeners, kids, teachers, and travelers.
Currently, they have a "Holiday Central" section, with lots of holiday e-greetings, tips for a greener holiday, information on holly plants, and holiday shopping. Kids won't want to miss "VaMoose," the moose snowboarding game (requires a FLASH 6 download).
They list copious membership benefits, while offering secure online giving with this additional blurb: "Our donation form uses 128 bit encryption for your safety." Sounds extra safe to me!
Check it all out at www.nwf.org.
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