Download - Donation Marketing Tips NTEN - April 2010
April 15, 2010
OBSERVATIONS OF MARKETING TRENDS
FOR DONATION SYSTEMS2010 NONPROFIT
TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
Green Moon Solutions
2 MARKETING
Q: How do we market our donation system to our supporters?
Get mentioned in more newsletters – online and traditional
Work with schools, scouts, other local organizations and reciprocate links
Facebook – set up a Causes page; become parts of giving programs like ChaseCommunityGiving
After some people have used it, ask for testimonials and post them on your website (example)
See steps 9, 10, and 11 in the Survival Guide; see chapters 2-6 in the Online Fundraising Handbook (includes case studies).
3MARKETING IDEAS -
WEBSITE
Set up online sign-up for membership.
Tailor the donation message – e.g., on your 10 Things to Recycle page include a button labeled “Donate to improve Roswell recycling!”.
Gather email address on your site even for those who don’t donate right away. Newsletters (sign-up on your site), polls, events, letter-writing campaigns all provide opportunities.
For Newsletters, use email broadcasting software (see resources slide).
Use “tell a friend” features to help spread the word.
Use a “contact us” form for questions and capture email addresses.
Add a “Find us on Facebook” button. Use AddThis or ShareThis links.
Interaction ideas: comments, discussions, wikis.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – tweak your website so that you are easily found by search engines – 10 steps.
4MARKETING IDEAS -
EXTERNAL
Charity shopping malls, such as iGive.com, GiveBackAmerica.com, We-Care.com
Portal sites like care2.com, enature.com, and enn.com.
Newsfeeds, such as enn.com and moreover.com.
Join and contribute to newsgroups and listservs.
Print your web address on giveaways, stickers.
Attend local events and set up a table: farmers markets, fairs, parades. Sign people up on the spot.
Write a periodic column for the local newspapers.
Get your events covered by the local news.
5MARKETING – SURVIVAL
GUIDE
Network for Good’s Online Fundraising Survival Guide
Step 9 – Dust off your email list
Clean up your list
Clearly ID your organization
Remind your supporters they are supporters
Make it personal, conversational
Step 10 – Build your email list
Drive people to your website and capture them
Put your donate button where they are likely to be
Incentivize them to sign up
Google Grants – free promotion
Step 11 – Make your emails sparkle
6BARE BONES
APPROACH
By comparison, a bare bones system can be set up with a donation button on your site
The button would be linked to an inexpensive processor such as PayPal (website payments standard)
You would have to download the data from PayPal to a spreadsheet. Alternatively, a simple database could be set up to capture transaction responses.
One step up is a service like Network For Good’s donation system. The cost is $30 per month. It includes recurring donations, tell a friend, demographic questions, track donors from multiple sources, and minimal reporting.
7 SUMMARY
Marketing is a constant effort
It involves the traditional and the latest social media trends
There are many approaches – some will cost money, others will just require time
8 RESOURCES
We have PDF and other resources we can provide (soon to be posted on our website)
The following websites are quite helpful:
http://idealware.org/topics/fundraising
http://www.idealware.org/field-guide
http://www.fundraising123.org/
http://www.techsoup.org/
9 EMAILRESOURCES
Email Tracking Software
Vertical Response -- 10,000 emails per month free for 501c3 ( > 10K can be expensive)
Network for Good Email Now -- strong features and templates $30 for up to 20,000 emails and $2/thousand after
Mail chimp -- free up to 500 subscribers up to 3000 emails a month
Constant Contact -- $10-$12 per month
10 CONTACT US
Feel free to contact us at any time
John Dukovich, john -AT- greenmoonsolutions.com, 703.827.2687
Lisa Patrick, lisa -AT- greenmoonsolutions.com, 412.585.2521
www.GreenMoonSolutions.com