Running a Successful Online Fundraising Campaign – Notes from the 2008 NTC
by Niki De Soto
This article is based on a seminar called Running a Successful Online Fundraising Campaign. This is the second article with information learned at the recent NTC. The conference was packed with so many good tips, I want to share them with you. This article is based on a session called Running a Successful Online Fundraising Campaign. (Last month's article was on Targeting Your Message.)
Jeff Patrick, President at Common Knowledge gave a great class on running a solid online campaign. He covered everything from how to format your email letter to the best time to send your email and includes four important items to include in the banner of your email!
We started by discussing the best time to send the e-mail. Most folks in the room agreed that Wednesdays, typically just before the start of the lunch hour, were the best time to send out your first round of e-mails. However, it was noted that if your main donors are professional women, you will get a better response rate if you send your e-mail on a Saturday morning, usually to arrive before 8am. Most professional women will wait until Saturday morning to check their personal e-mails, and being more relaxed, they are much more likely to respond. And if the majority of your e-mail list includes home e-mails, it was suggested that the best time to send was either right before lunch or just after 5pm, so they would be at the top of the queue when folks got home from work and checked their email.
So how long before you should start seeing results? Typically, within 24 hours you’ll see 70% of your results. Within 72 hours, you’ll have received the stragglers. And by the time 96 hours have passed, your campaign is essentially done.
One of the most important factors from e-mail campaigns are the open and click through rates. Using tools such as Constant Contact and other e-mail campaign software will help you measure the true success of your campaign. A 15% - 20% open rate is considered a solid success. If you can get a 2% click-thru rate, you’re doing well with your message, and a 1% conversion rate is really okay.
So how do you improve that click-through rate? By making it as easy as possible for the donor to click and donate. You have to design your e-mail so that it appeals to all kinds of donors – the ones who just want to send money and the ones who want to understand why you’re asking and where their money will go. The easiest way to do this is with two very important tools: The Click to Action Box (CTA) and LOTS of clickable links within the body of text of your e-mail. We’re not talking just one or two – we’re talking at least one clickable link to your donate page in every paragraph.
With your CTA Box – make it simple, large and colorful – Click Here to Donate is a straightforward way to connect with the donor who just wants to give. Don’t add extra verbiage, or clutter it with graphics. Just keep it large and simple and at the top of your e-mail.
For your clickable links, highlight the action words within your text – items that reflect your mission and inform the reader as to the purpose of their donation. What’s the money going to be used for? How will it make a difference?
In the banner of your e-mail, you should have four very important items, and nothing else:
- Your logo
- 5 words or less expressing the urgency of your appeal
- A graphic (preferably a picture) that tells the story of what this campaign is specifically about
- And make the banner a clickable link to your donate page
Did you know that 59% of e-mail users have email images blocked or turned off? Because of this, it’s vital that you have a good descriptor for your image, so that the message gets through, even if the image is blocked.
It’s also vital that you see how your e-mail looks in a variety of programs – set up an account in gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail and aol – check that the formatting looks consistent. You’d be surprised how often something looks great in gmail, but formats very oddly in yahoo mail.
One last important tip – ALWAYS have a link on your donate page that goes to a printable PDF of your donation form. There are still many internet users who do not trust purchases over the web, and they will choose to download a printable form and mail it in. Don’t lose these potential dollars by not offering this alternative. By following these easy tips, your next e-mail campaign can be a real winner!
Niki de Soto is marketing director at FundRaiser Software. She's also active in the community, helping nonprofits with marketing, especially church and social justice organizations.
Resources
Targeting Your Message: Notes from the 2008 NTC by Niki de Soto