Nonprofit Bridge

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.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year since it encourages us to stop and think about what is already wonderful about our life.  No matter what is happening (or not happening) in your life, feeling grateful is probably the best way to bring more good things to you.  I hope this weekend has given you an opportunity to focus on what is already good, not on what you don’t currently have.  Everyone is blessed in different ways, although sometimes we are too ‘busy’ to recognize it.

Answr.net is an interesting new resource which offers best practices in nonprofit technology.  The first ‘channel of focus is email outreach – read some questions submitted so far.

As a follow up to my previous post about going forward with online communication despite the financial meltdown, Robert Weiner offers links to several articles about how nonprofits can survive the economic downturn.  Guidestar also has released a recent survey which offers comparisons between 2007 and 2008 giving levels.

Nonprofit Times offers a look at microblogging, as well as an interesting look at how to plan to utilize social networking tools.

Finally, Nten has released a Donor Management Software Satisfaction Report, which is worthwhile reading for anyone who is considering a change in CRM platform.  Some of the top rating products may be some that you’re not familar with, such as GiftWorks (which I’ve used and can recommend) and Neon CRM.

Guidestar summarizes recent Giving USA online fundraising survey:

• while Internet giving is widely used, it still represents a small portion (under 5%) of overall fundraising
• most common way organizations raise money over the web is through an online donation page
• best results come from organizations that combine an online donation page with email appeals

Overall, social networking tools aren’t contributing much – yet, but an organization that utilizes online ‘communities’ is likely to improve results.

Care2′s FrogLoop blog interviews Phillip Artez, President of Artez on how to choose an eCRM.  Phillip says that successful nonprofit fundraisers “aren’t afraid to share brand, content and promotion with their supporters” and reminds us that a large portion of funds will come from a small group of fundraisers so we should “treat them differently.”  He mentions three areas where nonprofits should especially pay attention to: potential of social networking sites such as Facebook, donations originating from mobile devices and more organizations utilizing SalesForce (which has excellent connectivity to other systems and provides up to 10 free licenses to nonprofits).

Finally, the Nonprofit Times explains the importance of using multiple channels since many donors will visit the web before making a donation - even if it’s offline and, surprisingly, even more so for constituents 65 and older.  PerDonordigital‘s Nick Allen, “more people are online, more people are doing research online, checking out charities they support or are thinking about supporting.” But NPAdvisor‘s expert Rick Christ warns that “nonprofit’s Web site should try to support direct mail, but not replace it.” and that direct mail is still how many first hear about a nonprofit. Convio‘s Vinay Bhagat adds that while blogs and social networking are getting more attention, the core web site is still the main way constituents will evaluate a nonprofit.

Many contributors to the Nonprofit Times article, including Nten‘s Holly Ross stressed the importance of integrating the web site with email appeals.