Five Online Fundraising Tips to Raise More Money
Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 07:20PM
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.”
3. Ask for the Donation Upfront
People typically skim appeals; so provide an opportunity for people to donate (with a link) within the first paragraph of the appeal (preferably within the first three lines). Then repeat the call to donate at least three more times.
4. Make it Timely
The most successful organizations raise a lot of money around timely issues. Any opportunities your nonprofits can connect fundraising campaigns to current news, seize it!
5. Follow Up
Don’t forget to close the loop. I can’t stress how important this basic cultivation strategy is to engaging and sustaining donors. “All too often, nonprofits forget to thank their donors and close the loop in online fundraising campaigns. Donors want to know if you met your goals. So take the time to build better relationships with them and schedule follow up emails. Also make sure you include any compelling stories, successes, or photos so donors feel that their donation made a difference,” I said in an earlier fundraising related article on Frogloop. Two months later, many nonprofits still aren’t following up with their supporters.
What are your top online fundraising tips for nonprofits?
Top Online Fundraising Articles:
- Five Fundraising Tips to Add to your Checklist
- Is Direct Mail Really Headed for the Exit?
- Converting New Activists into Donors
- Punching Up Your Action Alerts and Online Fundraising Appeals
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Reader Comments (1)
Another great post! I recently wrote something up for Duck Call -- the Big Duck blog -- with some similar thoughts (http://www.bigducknyc.com/blog/?p=1821). As you've said here, a good subject line, making it timely, and saying thanks can really go a long way.
One thought re tip #3: Ask for the Donation Upfront
Generally, I tend to agree with you that the link to donate should come as soon as possible in the message, especially since some may be reading it in the 'preview pane' of their inbox. That said, sometimes a message needs to tell a good story and sticking a donate link in the first few lines can throw that off. If an org sends several appeals as part of a larger campaign (another good practice!), it may be worth testing placement of the link in the message. First things first though is having a good strategy and story for the campaign. Look at the the data for the messages and see if placement of the ask/link impacts clickthrough rates (and follow through to give).