ABCs of Online Fundraising

Raising money online can affordably provide your organization with a new donor base. Online giving can be extremely cost-effective for non-profits.  A 2006 report produced by Network for Good indicated that while "it can cost $1.25 to raise a dollar from a new donor through direct mail and more than 63 cents through telemarketing, the costs per dollar of raising money online can be as little as five cents."

While it is certainly possible to generate gifts just by placing a "Give Now" button on your website, you will do far better if you consider online fundraising a campaign akin to direct mail.  To get a campaign like this off the ground, you'll need to take some preliminary steps:

Make sure your website works for you

Your website needs to encourage people to make gifts.  The site has to be easy for visitors to navigate; your mission and case should be presented in a clear fashion.  Perhaps most importantly, research has shown that the number one reason that people give online is that it is easier than writing a check.  Therefore, the process of giving online must be clear, not too time-consuming and bug-free.

Email address collection

If you are going to ask people to give online, you should be able to ask them via email.  Before you execute an email solicitation campaign, you need to gather as many email addresses as possible. This can be done in a number of ways:  sending a paper mailing to your constituents giving them the opportunity to receive an emailed publication or graphic if they visit your website and create a login including their email address; including a line for email addresses on response devices; asking phonathon callers to request email addresses when talking to donors, etc.

Establish trust

Just as in direct mail solicitations, appeals targeted to a specific audience who can respond to it and, ideally, pass it on to others are the most successful.  Furthermore, you will likely have far greater success with people who know the organization and its mission before you ask them to give.  Your first emails should not be a solicitation.  Emails that inform constituents and drive them to your website will help you build a relationship and establish trust.

Take the plunge

When you are ready to begin email solicitations, find a way for people to track the progress of the campaign to which they have contributed on your website.  This is hardly a new idea – if you've ever watched a telethon, you might have felt the emotional pull of seeing the tote board get updated.  Online fundraising gives donors a place to see progress graphically (and quickly), whether it be via a thermometer filling up, links added to a chain, pots filling with money, etc.

Expect to spend a great deal of time crafting compelling email messages.  Email is an inherently casual mode of communication, so effective fundraising emails should be casual while still clearly making a strong case for support.

Here are some points to think about as you write your fundraising email:

• Develop a voice.  Write your email in a casual, personal tone, and send them from a specific human being, not an organization.  Develop a unique voice for the author(s) of your emails—a real voice to which readers can relate.

• Keep it simple  Too many graphics and overly-stylized emails can be distracting and can open so slowly that recipients lose interest before they can begin reading.  Use graphics that serve a purpose—a contribute button, photo, or image summarizing the ask.

• Timing is everything  Always send email earlier in the week during normal business hours  Emails sent during the night are more likely to be perceived as spam, and beyond that, you will have better open rates if your email arrives while people are checking and reading their email

• Use links, not locks  Links to your website or contribution page are bolder and easier for readers to find when they stand alone.  Avoid locking people out of the giving process with links that are buried in the text of the email.

Implementing a successful online giving campaign will take time, effort and perhaps some trial and error as you learn to navigate this newer fundraising method.  The potential rewards for your organization, however, are substantial.

Network for Good, a service that processes online contributions for non-profits, conducted a study of online giving to 23,000 organizations over a 5-year period.  In our next article, we will recap the findings of the study to help you understand the power of online giving.