Tag Archives: email marketing

Small Nonprofits Shine in New eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

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In the just released 2010 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, small nonprofits showed better email marketing metrics than larger organizations.  Statistics also varied based on types of nonprofits, which is consistent with results of the recent Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report.  Some highlights:

  1. nonprofits with small email lists (under 100,000 subscribers) had higher open rates, click-through rates and double the email fundraising response rate of medium and large nonprofits.  (However, unsubscribe rates were also significantly higher.)
  2. while overall online fundraising grew 4.5%, results varied by segment;  for for half of the nonprofits surveyed, 2009 online revenue either remained the same or declined from 2008.
  3. average email message open rate was 14%;  surprisingly, email newsletters had a slightly higher open rate than advocacy emails, but advocacy messages had much higher click-through rates and response rates.
  4. environmental and rights organizations had the best click-through rates;  international nonprofits had the lowest.
  5. health organizations get a large bulk of their online revenue from event fundraising;  international groups show the largest portion of monthly gifts, not surprising since monthly giving has traditionally not been as prevalent in the US as overseas
  6. tribute gifts – as well as online catalogs / symbolic gifts – definitely seem to have more potential to be promoted more prominently
  7. average one-time gift was an amazing $81, with international organizations showing the best results ($136)

There is much useful data here.  In addition to downloading the report, see summaries in the Non-Profit Marketing and Frogloop blogs, and also review Convio’s Online Nonprofit Benchmarks Study.  Thanks to M&R and Nten for sponsoring this study.

2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

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If you haven’t yet seen it, take a look at the latest eNonprofit Benchmarks Study released last week where you can also listen to the recording or view slides from the May 14 event.  The report covers major ephilanthropy topics: email messaging, online fundraising, and online advocacy.  Major takeaways:

  • email open and click through rates continue to decline, although less than in previous years;  but a message that is ‘opened’ may not be actually read by the constituent
  • the number of online gifts and total dollars raised online continue to increase;  the increase in number of gifts helped to offset a decline in average gift from $86 to $71
  • email lists continue to grow, but at a slower rates than in past studies;  almost 20% of email addresses go bad every year due to bounces or unsubscribes
  • email results vary dramatically by audience sent to;  are you still making the mistake of sending everything to everyone?
  • gifts of under $250 represent 97% of all gifts, yet donations of $250 or more make up 41% of revenue – don’t forget to recruit and acknowledge your major donors
  • while social media gets most of the buzz lately, email clearly is still king, at least for now.

Thanks to Nten and M&R Strategic Services for updating this very useful report.  Network for Good, which continually offers wonderful guidance in online fundraising and marketing, offers Creating an Online Fundraising and Marketing Strategy to Thrive in Tough Times next Tuesday, May 26 at 1 PM EST.  Also see my previous post, Online Fundraising Strategies for Tough Times, where you can also listen to a recording of the event I moderated at the Foundation Center in NYC. earlier this year.

Getting Started with ePhilanthropy Webinar – Wed, Jan. 21 at 7 PM EST

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Thanks to Allan Pressel of CharityFinders and Cristine Cronin of NY Charities for joining me at this week’s event at the NYC Foundation Center, Online Fundraising Strategies for Tough Times.  Over 120 attendees joined us for a two hour session on how to help our nonprofit organizations prosper, even in this difficult economic climate.  Thanks also to Charlotte Dion of the Foundation Center for hosting the event and allowing me to present.  If you could not attend, please view my slides, Ten ePhilanthropy Tips for Tough Times

As a follow up, I’d like to offer an one hour webinar, Getting Started with ePhilanthropy on Wed, Jan. 21, 2009 at 7 PM EST.  This will be the first of what I hope to be monthly online classes on how you can use online strategies at your small or medium sized nonprofit organization.  This month’s session will focus on inexpensive and easy ways you can improve your web site, utilize email marketing techniques and promote multichannel strategies.  Best of all, you can attend from any place where you have a phone and an Internet connected computer.  Register Now.

Online Communications – More Important Than Ever

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A few nonprofit organizations I’ve spoken to recently have told me that in the light of the financial crisis, they are reconsidering the need for positions responsible for online communications, particularly the web site.  In a recent survey by the DMA Nonprofit Federation, respondents expressed an expectation for smaller gifts and fewer individual donors during the upcoming holiday season.

In my view, this is exactly the time to utilize online communications strategies to reach out to constituents, many who have demonstrated in the past will continue to support our causes even during tough economic times.  Below are some ideas to stimulate online fundraising and engagement:

  1. Give your web site a fresh look with new examples about how your organization has been effective.  Sharing a personal story is always more effective than a general appeal.
  2. As Seth Godin suggests in Flip the Funnel, appeal to your strongest supporters to spread the word about your work.  (Do you have a segment of these constituents already created that you can email to separately from your general email list?)
  3. Make sure to thank your supporters often and personalize the messages – don’t just use the default auto responders that come with your software.
  4. Find pictures and videos that tell your story, and make them available in places where your constituents are, not only on your web site.
  5. Examine your web site statistics to find out which parts of your web presence are receiving the most attention – then actively keep this content fresh and stimulating.
  6. Take the time to develop multiple email templates that can be used quickly by non-technical staff – and make sure the branding is consistent with other types of communications.
  7. Don’t be afraid to use newer technologies such as blogs and social media.  Not all constituents will respond to the same approach, so why not use many techniques, especially when they can be setup without much financial investment.

Is this the time to cut back?  No, more than ever, this is when online communications is critical to surviving until the financial situation improves.

Web 2.0 Becoming Mainstream?

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This recent OnPhilanthropy article suggests that Web 2.0 technologies are now in use by all ages of Internet users, not just the young.  More ‘traditional’ email appeals aren’t having the same impact, with open rates dropping to 14% in the latest Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmarking Index Study.  Facebook Causes and YouTube’s nonprofit channel have started to play a large role in online fundraising and constituent engagement.  Yet Harry Lynch of SankyNet says the email is not dead yet in this AFP article, Isn’t Email Just Like Regular Direct Mail—But on Steroids.

Nten’s WeTheMedia Project offers an interesting challenge this month to Create the Ultimate Nonprofit Social Media Toolbox, categorizing web 2.0 tools by:

  • listening - monitoring conversations, using RSS readers and social bookmarking
  • participating - commenting on conversations
  • sharing your story - using blogs / podcasts and sharing photos / videos
  • spreading awareness, generating buzz - accessing ‘crowd sourced’ news and content, using micro media to broadcast content to targeted communities, and using a ‘life stream’
  • social networking for action and fundraising - using social networks and fundraising widgets / applications.

My take: when even the value of email communications is being questioned, it’s time to sit up and pay attention to the many new ways a nonprofit can develop ongoing relationships with its constituents.

Addendum 10-15-08
Social networking expert Beth Kanter offers How Much Time Does It Take to Do Social Media, – apparently enough to fill a full time position.

Resources: Online Communications, Fundraising & More

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The SPIN Project provides a online communications tutorial that offers many suggestions how nonprofits can develop online communications strategies.  Most organizations begin by focusing on their web site, email newsletter, and creating donation forms to provide online fundraising.  But many additional tools are suggested:

  • blogs.- can you provide useful content while keeping it current?
  • surveys - find out what your constituents are concerned about with a low cost tool such as Survey Monkey
  • podcasts - audio or video – can require a “significant investment” of time to create and maintain
  • message boards - can be moderated so that content submissions are reviewed before posting
  • photography - use a service like Flickr to share images of organization events / activities
  • commerce - but how will you handle order fulfillment and deciding what merchandise to sell?

How can you enhance your online fundraising strategies?  Fundraising Success provides many tips.

Whether or not you’re a customer of Convio, you can access resources covering online fundraising, integrated marketing, email marketing and online advocacy.

Finally, for a one page summary of many prominent nonprofit web sites, try Alltop’s Nonprofit page.  You can preview the content by just mousing over the title to decide if it’s worth clicking through to read the full story.

2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

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Nten and M&R Strategic Services have released a fascinating study which provides metrics for online messaging, fundraising and advocacy.  Some highlights and observations:

  • open rates (compared to a study in 2006) declined from 21.3% to 17.6%;  click-through rates dropped from 4.9% to 3.6%.  I’ve found that many NPO staff don’t take the time to analyze reports which clearly demonstrate that most constituents who get email are not bothering to open them, fewer are clicking on any included links.
  • on the average, constituents are emailed 4 times / month.  Seems like once a week is still too often, making more of a case to use segmentation to target content to selected constituents.
  • About 20% of an email list ‘goes bad’ each year due to unsubscribes and other changes in email addresses.  So a nonprofit that wants to grow its list needs to first make up for this loss in numbers first.
  • Advocacy mailings consistently show higher response rates than other types of mailings.  How many of these constituents can be effectively converted to other types of engagement?
  • $1000+ gifts were only 1% of the total number of donations, yet represented over 20% of online giving revenues.  Major gifts still deserves consistent attention.

Thanks to Holly Ross at Nten, and Sarah Dijulio at M&R  for collaborating on this report and the 21 nonprofit organizations that participated in this analysis; a webinar discussing the study is available.