October 2002
13 tips for raising money online by Nick Allen
All right, already! by Mal Warwick
What's up online by Dan Weeks
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13 tips for raising money online
By Nick Allen
WHEN YOU'RE TRYING to raise money online from your members, Web visitors, or other constituents, keep these 13 tips in mind:
1. Ask for money for special projects or other hot items, not for general support -- and set a deadline. It's generally easier to raise money for something specific with a deadline than for institutional support. "Your gift of $25, $50, $100 -- whatever you can afford -- will help us get these families through the holiday season." If the gift is tax deductible, say so.
2. Ask as many people as you can (without spamming). The more people you ask, the more gifts you'll get. If you don't have a big list, see if other organizations will send your message out to their members for you. (It's usually not OK for another organization to give you its e-mail list, because the people on it didn't give you permission to e-mail them. In every e-mail, use a "tell-a-friend" feature to make it easy for people to pass along the fundraising appeal.
3. Make the "Ask" the main message in your e-mail. While you're probably sending a regular monthly e-newsletter and/or activist alerts to the people on your list, when you want money, don't bury the Ask in a longer message with other items -- it won't get enough attention.
4. Make sure recipients know (and like) the sender of your e-mail. In the "From" line, use a celebrity or your President or Chair if that makes sense, or just use the name of your organization.
5. In the "Subject" line, make sure it's clear why you're writing -- and don't be deceptive.
6. Keep the copy short and punchy, and give people links to the donation page within a few lines of the top. Repeat it every paragraph or so. (Some people get the idea and just want to click to the donation form.)
7. HTML (Web-like) e-mails generally get a better response than plain text, though they do take more time to format and test.
8. Localize your messages according to users' zip codes, if that's relevant.
9. Make sure the content of all your messages -- fundraising, informational, activist -- is interesting and useful to readers, not just to staff and board. Track clickthroughs, so you know what gets read, and send e-mail surveys from time to time.
10. Ask everywhere you can -- on your Web site, in your e-mails, in the "signature" at the bottom of your e-mail messages, and offline too.
11. Build your list. Via every channel -- meetings, events, parties, at the workplace, in your e-mails, and on your sites -- ask people for their e-mail addresses, so you can build your list. Put an e-mail signup form on every Web page, and include a link at the bottom of every e-mail.
12. Test. E-mail makes it easy, quick, and cheap to test different messages, subject lines, and Asks ($15 or $25 or $32.50?). If you've got a list of about 40,000 or more, you could send out two versions of your e-mail, each to 5,000 or 10,000 people, monitor the results through an e-mail service like GetActive, then "roll out" the more successful one 48 hours later to the rest of the list.
13. Integrate your e-mail with your mail, phone, and events fundraising. It's good for prospects to hear your message via several channels, and you can also use e-mail to alert people that a letter or call is coming, or ask whether they read the letter.
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Nick Allen is President of Donordigital, a direct marketing firm that provides consulting and implementation for online fundraising, advocacy, and marketing campaigns. Nick is co-editor, with Mal Warwick and Ted Hart, of the all-new Fundraising on the Internet, Second Edition (Jossey Bass, 2001). E-mail nick@donordigital.com, phone (415) 278-9444, ext. 203.
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E-mail wanted!
Nick Allen wants to know about your organization's fundraising experiences online -- for good or ill -- and whether you're willing to allow him to write about them in this column. Get in touch with Nick at nick@donordigital.com, call (415) 278-9444, or check in on the Web at www.donordigital.com. Those of us involved in the emerging field of online fundraising are all learning the hard way. Let's learn from one another! Maybe that will make it a little easier for us all.
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All right, already!
by Mal Warwick
BACK IN FEBRUARY 2001, I sent a $50 credit card contribution to the Republican National Committee (Washington DC). In the 17 months that have passed since then, I have received more than 40 subsequent RNC solicitations. Counting the appeals that arrived in 2000, when I'd made a similar gift, I have received a grand total of 84 direct mail packages from the RNC in just a little more than two years.
That's right. 84. I must say that I've gotten my money's worth. If the cost of these packages averaged $1 (and some of them clearly cost far more), the Republican Party has just about broken even on my contributions.
Still, the RNC consistently puts out the best political direct mail in the business. On this page, for example, I'm reproducing elements of its most recent appeal.
This mailing is upscale all the way, resembling an American Express Platinum Card offer. The carrier envelope is printed in silver on luxurious-feeling laid-finish stock. The two-page letter is printed on two sheets, not one. The response device includes a silvery ("platinum") plastic card tipped on under a flap. But the letter copy is this package's outstanding feature.
After all, how could I resist reading that "I believe your exemplary record of loyalty and patriotism proves you are the caliber of leader President Bush can count on in this historic struggle"? Somehow I did, of course.
But I have a strong hunch that many others didn't.
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What's up online
by Dan Weeks
Visit www.ucsusa.org and check out The Union of Concerned Scientists' excellent website. It's colorful without being distracting, and includes nine issues that UCS is involved with, along with copious background papers, press releases, commentary, positions, thank you letters, and frequently asked questions.
They offer several giving options -- via the web, phone, mail, or fax -- and offer member-premiums, including a booklet and screen saver. When you give via the web, you also have the option of creating a login to a free account that enables you to easily make future donations and view previous web transactions.
I also like the postcards and e-stickers you can send and download, as well as the fact that their Action Network signup includes areas of interest to check off for email alerts.
UCS's website includes interesting "meet the experts" and "featured members" sections. While not every organization can claim celebrity members such as The West Wing's Bradley Whitford and Malcolm in the Middle's Jane Kaczmarek, it is perhaps an idea worth including in your organization's website.
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