Nonprofit Bridge

If you haven’t yet completed the 2010 Nonprofit Social Networking Survey, please do so now.  This initiative is co-sponsored by Common Knowledge, Nten and The Port, and results will be announced at next month’s Nonprofit Technology Conference in Atlanta, GA.  All survey participants will be entered in a drawing for an Amazon Kindle (don’t forget to include your email address at end) and will receive a copy of the report.

Can’t wait?  Below are recent reports on social media usage in nonprofit organizations:

• M&R Strategic Services - Nonprofit Social Media Benchmarks Study
• Idealware – Using Social Media to Meet Nonprofit Goals
• Blackbaud / Charity Dynamics – Successful Event Fundraising with Social Media
• Website Magazine (not nonprofit specific) – Social Media Survey

When you present, do you get frustrated with attendees who seem to be paying more attention to their phones / computers than to your presentation?  In her presentation this week on the Trainer’s Social Media Tool Box, Beth Kanter explained how to use social media to enhance your sessions by encouraging sharing of information.   A new book, the Back Channel, details this phenomenon in more detail.  (If you’re still waiting until the end of your talk to take questions, you definitely need to see Beth’s notes.)

Jeff Brooks also spoke on a Network for Good call on what not to do in online fundraising – slides are available here.  (Hint – if your figures are not growing, you’re missing something.)

Do you maintain a database for advocacy that’s separate from your main donor database?  Care2’s webinar on Connecting Advocacy to Fundraising showed how activists can also be top fundraisers, if you take the time to cultivate them.   Activists also consistently open emails more frequently than other supporters.

If you need help in selecting tools for your organization (who doesn’t?), take a look at Idealware’s just released Field Guide to Software for Nonprofits.  Laura Quinn’s organization has always provided great information through her web site, blog and enewsletter.  I helped with some edits for this book – it is definitely worth getting.

Now that there’s so many ways to communicate with constituents, are you taking the time to make sure your messaging is consistent and on brand across channels?  See notes from Kivi Leroux Miller’s talk this week on Integrating Your Website, Email Newsletter and Social Media Sites.  Also see Blackbaud’s tips on Multi-Channel Engagement.

Like most nonprofits, Idealist has having some challenging times and has asked for our help.  Ami Dar’s work has long benefited the nonprofit community.  Please help.

Finally, are you helping your constituents to run their own fundraising events, or do you only help with events run by your organization?  If so, you’re missing a huge opportunity. Read Independent Fundraising Events Bring Big Returns, which links to a recent white paper by Blackbaud and Event 360; you can also register for a webinar on Feb. 3 to learn more.

This week’s disaster in Haiti has again highlighted online fundraising, as well as an expanded role for text messaging to raise money.  Apparently giving through your mobile phone is now a viable option and doesn’t always involve large fees to carriers – see post from Tech Soup, interview with Katya Andresen and CARE2’s advice that it’s Time to Get Mobile.  How sad it is that logistics have made it difficult to get the help to those in need quickly (hopefully this will change shortly).   Whatever channel you prefer, please give to the charity of your choice.

Hopefully, it won’t only be disasters that sends donors online.  Network for Good offers 5 Trends That Will Affect Online Fundraising in 2010.

But please don’t throw out the old tools when implementing the new.  Direct mail still has its place but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try some new approaches.  As Steve MacLaughlin writes, Direct Mail is Not Dead, but single channel communication is.

Thanks to Katya and Jocelyn Harmon for this week’s session on how to thank donors.   It’s amazing to me that some nonprofits still don’t always acknowledge gifts, other than a generic auto reply (and sometimes not even that).   And don’t only communicate with your constituents when you’re asking for money – this is a year-round dialogue.

Care2’s Frogloop surveyed some of our brightest stars to summarize the Best Nonprofit Strategies for 2010.   Network for Good’s  Katya Andresen and Blackbaud’s Steve MacLaughlin provide some early statistics on 2009 online giving.   Convio, which offers a a 2010 Resolutions Guide to help plan online initiatives, recently asked nonprofits what they most want to focus on in the New Year:

1. Reconnect with donors by giving new options of engagement
2. Increase fundraising for participant-led events
3. Use social media to reach the next generation of supporters
4. Improve multichannel engagement/integration
5. Evaluate website’s effectiveness

Some of my thoughts:

1. Despite the recession, online giving continued to be a strong fundraising source.  If you already accept online donations and regularly communicate with your constituents, congratulations.  But if you haven’t worked to optimize your forms and don’t analyze how well your email marketing is working, you’re probably leaving money on the table.
2. Don’t obsess about the ‘best’ tools to use for online fundraising.  It’s more important that you select a vendor / product that will likely be around for awhile (ask colleagues at other nonprofits for recommendations) and that you consider how it will connect to your other systems.
3. Social networking is not a fad.  Yes, it’s still better to make sure your web site, database and email marketing strategies are in place first, but don’t overlook tools such as Facebook and Twitter.  Remember that conversations about your cause and organization are going on all the time;  make sure you’re a part of them.
4. Fundraising is everyone’s responsibility, not just the development department.  Ideally, marketing/communication and fundraising/development strategies should be planned together since one supports the other.
5. Still think that your constituents won’t respond to online fundraising initiatives?  Think again;  use all available channels and let your supporter decide which to use – direct mail recipients often choose to respond online.

Just getting started online?  Here’s a helpful online fundraising primer.

Today’s Nten webinar led by Blackbaud Internet evangelist Steve MacLaughlin offered a comprehensive review of online fundraising.  See Steve’s Connections blog for links to reports referenced in today’s session.  Some of my takeaways:

• While online revenue represented only 5% of total fundraising in 2008, online receipts jumped 44% over 2007
• Event fundraising emails (e.g. friends asking friends)  have an incredibly high click through rate – 57% in period covered by study
• Only 16% of event fundraisers send emails – imagine how much more successful these events could be if more participants were encouraged to fundraise!
• Donor retention is much worse for online donors than for offline acquisition.  More analysis is under way, but this may be partially due to donors having the ability to make ’spur of the moment’ contributions without having a real commitment to the organization
• How to increase donor retention? It is critical to quickly respond to donors / event participants / those who take an action to solidify the relationship.  (How often have you not received an email confirmation, or have received a boilerplate document with no customization?)
• Senior management must drive integration of fundraising across channels – “We don’t live in a single channel world.”
• Facebook and other social networking platforms are still more useful as engagement tools than as primary fundraising techniques.
• Small organizations may be able to do as well or better than larger nonprofits since they don’t have the traditional infrastructure and can act more quickly

While most of these points weren’t a surprise, Steve’s summary provides a great overview for nonprofits that still need help in creating online fundraising strategies.

Addendum 11/5/09 – Hear me interviewed on Zonta Women’s Community Radio about how nonprofits should approach ephilanthropy and social media.  Thanks Roxanne Neilson, President, Zonta Club of New Rochelle for arranging.

eTapestry introduced their ’software as a service’ product in 1999, long before many others realized the benefits of a web based interface.  (eTapestry was acquired by Blackbaud in August 2007.)  This week I had the opportunity to attend a session given by CEO Jay Love who offered some interesting insights.

Social media is on everyone’s radar lately;  Jay described the value of monitoring comments about your company / brand and described a recent experience where eTapestry was able to respond quickly to a negative tweet by a customer.  Read about the happy ending.

It’s often frustrating when our donors stop giving, but sometimes the problem is hidden when the number of new donors more than make up the difference.  If we can find ways to re-engage lapsed donors, what a difference this can make in our list growth!  Here’s some recent Guidestar tips on how to reduce donor attrition rates.

Two important questions to ask:

1. How do you welcome new subscribers?  (Common Knowledge has also done considerable work on developing a welcome series of communications.)
2. How do you manage relationship after opt-in?

Jay described the importance of having a donor database what everyone uses to document constituent interactions, also detailing a personal experience where he is considering discontinuing support for a charity which ‘asked the same questions’ that he had already answered in a past meeting.  In my experience, organizations that have a fully functional CRM often have difficulty getting staff to use it.   In response to my question,  Jay recommended that nonprofits demonstrate that those who are the biggest ‘note takers’ are the most successful in fundraising – and publicize this information to all staff.

Another point which may seem obvious but isn’t always applied – make sure you direct constituents to specific landing pages so you can track where they came from, not to your general home page.

For more ideas, visit Jay’s blog as well as Blackbaud’s NetWits ThinkTank blog.   To learn more about social media, visit the Gear Up for Giving training offered by the Case Foundation.

In preparing for its upcoming  Online Nonprofit Technology Conference, Nten has asked What’s Holding Your Technology Back? I’ve posted a lengthy response, but make sure to read through everyone’s comments to this interesting question.

If you missed last week’s Blackbaud NetWits Summer Camp, all sessions and slides are now available for review.  I’ve known Steve MacLaughlin for years and his insights are very helpful.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Usability testing is a great way to find out how well your web site is really meeting the needs of your audience.  Take a look at Userfly and how Beaconfire is helping Nten to redesign its web site.

Often projects fail because of a breakdown in communication.  No Surprises: The Key to Good Communication offers suggestions on how to keep all stakeholders on the same page.

Need a general list of online services?  Try 100 Online Tools for Non-Profits.

Beth’s Blog consistently offers wonderful material, even when she’s not the author – 4 Keys to Building a Successful Nonprofit Web Site.

Blackbaud is offering a good review of online strategies in a webinar series later this month.  Registration and details.

Some great Nten offerings coming up in September, offering an online version of events usually held live:

• Online Nonprofit Technology Conference - based on content from Nten’s recently published Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Leaders
• We Are Media – for a great review of social media strategy (For more on this topic, see What’s in a Social Media Policy and Why You Might Need One.)

Personally, my wife and I are finally moving into our new home Monday, Aug. 17 after living in temporary quarters for the last month.  We’re looking forward to entering the next stage of our lives together.

Currently I spend a few days each week generating reports for transmission of information between my organization’s online and offline systems.  Matt McCabe of Orange Leap hosted a NTen webinar this week, Meaningful Reporting: A Holistic Approach to Reporting Across Multiple Systems which highlighted this issue.  While there are no easy solutions, there are some options to consider:

1. Select vendors and products which connect well with other systems.  Salesforce is an example of a company which has many ways to link its CRM to other software.
2. Before implementing a new product, figure out how you will synchronize its data with your existing systems.  If you need to spend considerable time running reports and exporting / importing data, you’ll have little time to focus on developing the synchronization.
3. Consider how much information you really need to have in multiple systems.  Some products will allow you to transfer basic contact information, but may not  be able to handle synchronization of event data or custom fields.
4. Unless you have a lot of money to spend, it won’t be possible to have a ‘real time’ synch;  decide how often it is practical to have your systems connect with each other.
5. Make the synchronization run automated, preferably during off hours.  The more manual work you need to do, the more chance there is for error.  (But make sure you look at the error log to determine what didn’t work.)
6. Confirm that you’re including all activity.  Donations and event registrations may not be available in the same report;  you may need to find a ‘transaction report’ that includes all activity (then confirm this by sampling different types of transactions)
7. Stick to a schedule – and let your staff know when synchronization is taking place.  (My most common question from staff is why a particular transaction doesn’t appear in another system, and when they can expect it to show.)
8. If you encourage constituents to fundraise for your organization using a tool like Convio’sTeamRaiser or Blackbaud / Kintera’s Thon, you’ll need to find a way for offline donations to appear quickly on constituents’ personal web sites when developing your synchronization schedule.

In his presentation, Matt described the steps of data extraction, consolidation, reconciliation between systems and presentation, suggesting that you compute the staff hours spent in completing these tasks – and making management aware of the actual price in making integrated information available.  His overall recommendations included:

• develop standards, e.g. how does your organization define ‘online giving’?  Become familar with APIs (application program interface) and Active Messaging Protocols (XMLs)
• seek platform independent tools, e.g. using OLAP data storage and a data warehouse
• empower end users to generate their own reports

The benefit: more time to devote to mission, faster more informed decisions and higher morale, and an increase in staff morale, as they’re freed from tedious reporting tasks.

How are you dealing with this issue?

The recently released donorCentrics™ Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis offers many interesting insights about online giving.   Steve MacLaughlin’s blog offers  a good summary of its major findings.  My comments are below:

• online giving continued to grow rapidly in 2007 & 2008, even though there were fewer natural disasters which stimulated past years’ contributions – many of us take this for granted, but online giving is still relatively small compared to direct mail giving.
• online donors give larger gifts than ‘traditional’ donors but have slightly lower retention rates – why are we losing donors’ loyalty?  Is it too easy to opt out of email communications?
• while online giving is an important source for new donor acquisition, online donors may not be cultivated to their full potential after acquisition – this is an important point;  using a ‘welcome series’ of communications works much better than simply adding someone to an email newsletter list.
• online donors often migrate to other channels, especially direct mail – I’ve long advocated the value of multichannel marketing, but it’s still interesting to find out that many will start online than give offline.  When I asked long term fundraising expert Michael Johnston recently to predict how much longer direct mail would survive, he confirmed that it would be quite a while yet.
• direct mail donors rarely give online – so while online donors will go offline, offline donors usually won’t contribute online?  This was a surprise for me.

Twenty-four nonprofit organizations participated in this study, released by Target Analytics.  Interestingly, the headline of a NY Times article summarizing the study read Study Shows First-Time Online Donors Often Do Not Return. Clearly, we’re still figuring out what works but CARE’s Tobias Smith offered an interesting perspective, suggesting that we be “less worried about what channels donors use and offer them a variety of channels through which they can give.”  So if anyone tells you to focus only your efforts online when seeking new constituents, remind them that it’s too early to phase out traditional methods, such as direct mail.  Personally, I rarely pay much attention to direct mail, but many of our supporters still do.