Thursday, January 2, 2014

On Line Fundraising



Tips for Fundraising On Line

As you think about the best approach for your on line fundraising in 2014, let these steps (sourced from Network for Good) provide some help.

1. Inspire your donors.  Connect them with the passion and vision that inspired them to be interested in you in the first place.

2. Blaze trails to your donate page. Make it easy for donors to give by making it easy to find your site and your Donate button.

3. Optimize your donate form. Make it short, simple, easy, safe, and inspiring.

4. Test drive your online donation process. Sit down with a few friends and watch them try to give. What do you learn? What problems need to be fixed?  

5. Create a "Why Donate" page. This page should be laser-focused on making the case for why someone should care and explaining what happens when someone gives. Endorsements are also a plus.

6. Thank your donor at least three times.  Thank donors with a confirmation page when they complete a donation, when they get your email receipt and when they get your full thank you note via email a few days later. 

7. Launch a cultivation plan. Re-inspire your donors regularly with on-going contact, and listen to what they say. Build a relationship through conversation, not appeals. 

Bonus tips: 

1. People want vivid examples of how their donations will be used. So if your audience has given before, tell them all the great things they've done, then all the wonderful things that more support will bring. 
2. Emotion motivates. People are more inclined to give if the cause is local or if they know the person asking for help. Ask some of your biggest supporters to invite their friends and family to support you. The passion they feel for your cause may be equally compelling to their circles of influence. 
3. Trust is sacred. Be honest and transparent about your programs, your spending, your impact, everything.  Show exactly where the money goes and what the donor's investment will do. And then report back on that investment, again and again. 

And, of course, let them know their donations are tax-deductible when they donate through SCES!