Five Online Fundraising Tips to Raise More Money
Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 07:20PM | by
Allyson Kapin
Repeat after me. "I will no longer send out fundraising appeals with boring subject lines and long-winded pitches."
In today’s battle of the inboxes, tweets, Facebook updates, text messages, and banner ads flying across the screen, organizations can’t afford to ignore online fundraising 101 strategies to motivate and inspire supporters to donate money. Don’t have the budget to hire fundraising strategists to help you craft your online fundraising campaigns? No problem. Follow these five tips and you will be on your way to increasing open and click-through rates and more importantly - raising more money for your nonprofit.
1. Short, Catchy Subject Lines
Hook your supporters right off the bat with a short and catchy subject line.
Example of Bad Subject Line:
Renew Your Commitment to End Dog Homelessness
What’s Wrong with it?
Aside from this subject line being BORING, you are also intimidating your members to shoulder a very big issue – that they alone are responsible for saving all dogs. Bad idea!
Example of Good Subject Line:
Help Keep a Puppy Safe in DC’s Blizzard! 
This is a good subject line because it’s focused, local, timely, and a bit emotional. Who doesn’t want to keep a puppy safe from a terrible blizzard in their hometown?
2. Short and Sweet. Tell A Story
So you hooked your members with a short and catchy subject line, now continue to engage them in the body of the text with a brief (not 10 paragraphs), straight forward appeal that tells a story.
You don’t have to be the world’s greatest storyteller to tell a compelling story to your members. Why? Because every day you work on some of toughest issues facing the world or your community. You have access to the greatest stories at your disposal around the issues you advocate for and the people you help. Now share them. Tell your members how their $50 donation is going to help X, Y, and Z. And be as specific as you can. For example: “Your $50 donation will help feed 5 puppies in our shelter for an entire month.”
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