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What? You're Afraid
Of Clowns?

By Marla E. Nobles
"We are at a moment in time -- and I'm not saying we're clowns in a circus or anything -- that if it's not that we're jugglers, then it's that we're walking a tight rope," said Harry Lynch, CEO of Sanky Communications, a fundraising and marketing firm for nonprofits.

According to Lynch, whether it's placing a banner link on a social networking page over which your organization has no control or using man hours and revenue to overhaul your Web site with Flash and Web 2.0 technologies with no promise of more traffic, it's a risk you should take. "There are tremendous opportunities online," said Lynch, "but there's also a greater risk than ever to leave donors behind."

Lynch and Paul Habig, director of Internet Services at SankyNet, a division of Sanky, sat at the head of a jam-packed room, where audience members lined the walls and spilled out the doors of the Odets meeting room at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, the home of this year's Fundraising Day in New York. Along with examples of Web strategies used by Internet-savvy nonprofits, the colleagues engaged the audience of fundraisers with a tutorial on building a successful Internet presence.

Leveraging Demographics (i.e. remember your audience)

• Offer multiple ways to give. There remains a high percentage of donors who don't want to give their credit card numbers online. Add a printable form on your site - and add it very prominent - so donors can mail in a check.
  
  
• Consider the type size. If your audience skews older, bigger is better.
  
  
• Consider that 45 percent of the U.S. is still using dial-up (around 75 percent in rural areas). And, consider monitor resolution, which typically used to be 800 x 600. Today, you often have to scroll to see the whole page.
  
  
• Reassure security. Make sure your credit card processing is secure - and state it. Another way to show security is by having the word "secure" in the Web address that shows in the browser. Security logos often work well, including the "Verisign Secured" and "Hacker Free" logos.

Retaining Donors

• Nonprofits typically redesign their Web sites every 3-5 years, whereas in the commercial world it's every 1-2 years. If the coding and HTML are outdated, the search engines won't be able to find your site as well.
  
  
• Your site should have high usability. This includes logically delineated navigation, a limited amount of clicks (to donate online should be no more than one click away), an engaging homepage (studies show you have 30 seconds before a user clicks the "back" button), and pathways to interactive features. Most importantly, your site should be optimized for fundraising, with "asks" in various spots, and information and pictures that show what the donation will do.
  
  
• Create a "site architecture," a map for how Web pages are laid out. There should be continuity throughout the site.
  
  
• Engage with giving options and incentives, including e-cards, online monthly giving (often boosts online donations for nonprofits), tribute gifts, and matching gifts, which can build traffic to a site.
  
  
• Educate with updated content (give donors a reason to return), online acknowledgments and welcome packages, and email communications.
  
  
• Entertain with virtual events, gift catalogs, video and audio, and flash animation. Disclaimer: Know your audience to determine if it's appropriate, and don't do an entire site in flash - can slow it down, the "back" button won't work, and your search engine optimization will be affected.

Harnessing email.

• Cutting-edge technology is needed to send and track results. Only use Outlook for your normal communications, not to send a mass email - it will get you labeled a SPAMMER. Nonprofits with larger programs should invest in an application service provider (ASP).
  
  
• A robust email program is a must.
  
  
• Use e-newsletters for stewardship and cultivation to tell donors what you're using donations for. Also helps with donor retention. The "ask" should be passive. Follow with email communication.
  
  
• Use e-appeals carefully for fundraising. Time them so as not to over-solicit people. The multi-wave e-appeal must be carefully timed and should coincide with a compelling campaign. Prior to full test mailing, pre-test to 1,500-2,000, wait 24-48 hours and see result. Can do pre-tests on origin name (using executive director's name can boost results), content, length, subject line, etc. Don't have emails that scroll on and on.
  
  
• Paper direct mail should follow online direct mail, not the other way around.
  
  
• Check traffic log to determine best day of the week to email.

Synchronizing media.

• Move people from offline to online. Can do an email append to search your direct mail list for email addresses, which can be done for a small price and get a 15 percent return. Just asking for it works as well - albeit much slower.
  
  
• Online monthly giving programs are more cost- and time-efficient. Studies show that younger donors are comfortable with small charges, with $10/month being a good level.
  
  
• Coordinate, schedule and time your media.

Acquiring new donors.

• Drive traffic to your Web site to acquire new donors and prospects.
  
  
• Optimize your site for email collection since it's clear visitors aren't becoming donors with as much frequency as they're becoming advocates.
  
  
• Utilize search engine optimization (SEO). Choose what search phrases your site will be optimized for, and use throughout your site. Have link campaigns and ask people to place a link on their site to your site. Use header and header tags that contain the SEO search phrases. Update your content regularly, as search engines are indexing sometimes daily. Around 80 percent of nonprofits' traffic is coming from SEO, not to mention it's free traffic, thus every nonprofit should have a SEO strategy.
  
  
• If SEO doesn't work, try pay-per-click advertising.
  
  
• If all else fails, use Banner ads.

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This article is from NPT Instant Fundraising, a publication of The NonProfit Times.

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