What’s A/B Testing?

A/B testing, also known as multivariate testing or multi-variable testing, is the process of testing multiple versions of a single digital asset in order to find out which version performs the best.

Some sophisticated marketing automation software programs and website content management systems will allow you to test multiple variations of text or a button at the same time. Users will randomly see one while other users will see another.

Even if you don’t have access to these kinds of tools, you can still test things manually by swapping out website assets and varying your emails. Here are 15 things you can A/B test to increase clicks, conversions and donations:

Email:

1. Delivery date

2. Delivery time

When you send your email can have a significant bearing on its open-rate. Keep in mind where a majority of your subscribers live (timezones) and where they work (are they in an office all day? do they work at night?). Keep in mind that some people check email in the evenings on their mobile devices.

Note: there’s a lot of data, studies and opinions about when the best date and time are to send an email, and they all vary wildly. The best way to know for sure what works best for your organization is to test and retest until you find out for yourself.

3. Subject line

Since the subject line is the first thing an email recipient will see, it must be compelling and eye catching. Don’t be afraid to experiment widely here. During the 2012 elections, the most effective email subject line for the Obama campaign was “Hey.”

Website buttons:

4. Button text

5. Button size

6. Button color

7. Button shape

Button testing is an often-ignored exercise, but one that can pay off massively for your organization. “Donate Now” is a pretty standard button, but have you ever considered trying “Support Us?” You could also try something tied closely to your mission, like “End Hunger.”

Colors also have an interesting psychological effect on users. Check out this color image guide to see what emotions are triggered by certain colors:

Do keep in mind the action that the button makes: is it a donation or a volunteer sign-up? Which emotions correspond best? Be sure also to make sure that the color matches or compliments your branding.

Want to A/B test your buttons right away? Download our free Donate Now Button Kit >>

Pages:

8. Headlines

9. Paragraph text

10. Images

11. Calls-to-action

The text and images on your page can have a huge effect on whether or not your sign-up and donation forms get filled out. Be sure to test headlines, paragraph text and any images. Consider placement and arrangement as well. Make sure nothing distracts from or pushes the form below the fold (you don’t want people to have to scroll to get to the form).

CTAs, or calls-to-action, are also very important to consider and test. These, like buttons, should be compelling and encourage an action. User experience is paramount here. For example, “click here” as a text link isn’t a great CTA, since some of your visitors may be using a mobile device. Plus, it’s not very compelling. As with your buttons, try something like “give now” or “support us now.”

Note: all four of these items also apply to emails. Test, test, test!

Forms:

12. Form length

13. Field size

14. Field questions

15. Premiums

Your forms themselves can also be tested. Keep in mind that the shorter the form, the most completions it gets typically. Don’t ask too many questions, or you might scare off the website visitor. You can also test the verbage of the questions themselves. What happens if you ask for “Phone Number” instead of “Cell Phone Number?”

If you offer premiums, you can test different options. If you don’t offer premiums, what would happen if you did?

If you feel your website isn’t quite performing, try changing a few of items listed above and see what happens. Even if they perform worse, you can always switch it right back.

What have you A/B tested at your nonprofit? Let me know in the comments below!

Want to A/B test your buttons right away? Download our free Donate Now Button Kit >>

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48 million Americans move each year. This is 17% of the adult population in the US. This means for a database of 15,000 accounts, potentially 2500 constituents may have different addresses if your addresses haven’t been cleaned in the last year, which could result in a significant cost in returned or delayed mail.

NCOA explained

The NCOA (National Change of Address) update involves both standardizing your address formats per recommendations from the US Postal Service and comparing the addresses on file to the information in the National Change of Address database. This database contains data for all change of address requests filed by US postal customers in the past 48 months.

NCOA doesn’t just find movers, it also corrects addresses such as adding St, Ave, Rd, etc. if missing from your address or changes it if incorrect. It also adds/changes the directional (N, E, S, W, NE, etc.) if necessary, corrects misspellings, adds the +4 to ZIP codes, and formats the address according to USPS standards.

There are times when a person has moved but the new address couldn’t be returned. Examples of this would be a PO Box that’s been closed with no forwarding address, people who have moved to a foreign country or people who have moved but did not provide a new address. Even though a new address can’t be provided, this information is provided to help you know who may need follow up or who may need to be removed from your mailing list.

There may be people who may or may not have moved, but because a key piece of the address is missing or invalid a match can’t be made to the NCOA database to know for sure. NCOA can tell you if the secondary address (apartment or suite number) is missing or invalid.

Having all of your addresses up to date helps facilitate duplicate checking.

If you are considering a data enhancement service such as a phone, email or birth date append, or a deceased suppression service, clean addresses can improve the match rate for these services as they all use the address as part of the primary matching criteria.

If you claim preferred mailing rates, USPS requires that your mailing list be run through an NCOA processing within 90 days of the mailing. A CASS Summary Report is provided with the cleaned addresses. CASS stands for Coding Accuracy Support System and means your addresses have been checked for accuracy against the Postal Service’s database using an approved system.

Bloomerang has partnered with TrueGivers to offer nightly data stewardship updates. With the click of a button, all individual constituents with US addresses will be scanned and updated each night with NCOA information that includes address updates, deceased information (when applicable), and some optional demographic information.

Yes, that’s right – it’s included with your standard Bloomerang subscription!

We are committed to helping the helpers by saving you time and allowing you to focus on what’s important. Say goodbye to yellow return labels and hello to Bloomerang nightly updates today!

The post The ultimate guide to NCOA processing for nonprofits appeared first on Bloomerang.

STICKERS!

Yes, this is a blog post about stickers, and why they’re another in a long line of things that you should be thinking about.

They’re not important in the same way that board governance, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), gift acknowledgements, communication segmenting, etc., etc. — but important in a way that’s fun, impactful, affordable, and achievable.

A vinyl sticker​ is one of my most favorite things I can receive from a nonprofit I support.

Why Stickers?

Because it allows me to publicly display my pride for supporting the organization and my passion for the cause. Stickers invite supporters to be participants in promoting the brand, albeit in a passive way.

Perhaps the shining example of stickers in the nonprofit sector is the Human Rights Campaign. Their logo is one of the most recognizable symbols in the fight for equal rights for LGBTQ Americans. You’ve probably seen it on a rear windshield or bumper:

I asked Caitlin Toynbee, CFRE, the Associate Director, Member Relations and Monthly Giving at HRC, what their sticker strategy is. She told me:

• We go through about 2 million logo stickers per year.
• In fundraising, we place them in our acknowledgement letters, appeals, and cultivation mailings.
• Our outreach team uses them at the 300 Pride events that HRC attends annually as a tool for engagement.
• We also utilize the logo stickers as an incentive to opt into our mobile-app/SMS platforms or to complete an action. It’s an effective way to collect information that can be used in our acquisition and conversion efforts.

Christopher Speron, the Senior Vice President, Development and Membership at HRC, chimed in as well:

“It might just be a three-inch sticker, but since 1995 it has become one of the most recognizable symbols in the LGBTQ equality movement. You can easily find a Human Rights Campaign blue and yellow equal-sign sticker on a car bumper, your local grocery store and even around the world. I’m so proud of the work of our staff, volunteers, members and supporters who are working for equality and acceptance in all areas of life and that our logo stickers have become a visual representation of those efforts. We’ve come a long way in the push for equality, and I’m certain that HRC’s logo sticker will continue to be a symbol of progress, hope, and equality.”

They aren’t the only ones embracing stickers.

I spoke to Billy Price, the Social Media Manager at Preemptive Love, an organization that maintains a strong sticker strategy.

“For us at Preemptive Love, our message is our mission. The most important thing we do isn’t providing food, water, or medicine. It’s not creating jobs or helping refugees start new businesses. At the red hot center of everything we do—every food delivery, every family we serve—is the pursuit of peace between communities at odds. Therefore, we’re always looking for ways to invite people into that mission and into living that message. Stickers with our name and important mantras that we hold dear—like “Love Anyway” and “Love Across Enemy Lines,” are a manner of spreading that message organically through the lives of our staff, donors, and allies.:

Preemptive Love sends stickers to monthly donors, partners, and other high-engagement advocates. They also “sell” a pack of stickers on their website:

I love how they promote the stickers:

When hate is loud, love cannot be silent.

Use these stickers to decorate your car, computer, water bottle—as a reminder that we are the people who love anyway. When others step back in fear, we step forward in love.

Every sticker pack funds our peacemaking work on the frontlines of conflict in Syria, Iraq, and beyond.

It’s clear that stickers can be a powerful addition to your promotional toolkit. But how can you ensure sticker success? This quick guide covers all the bases.

Let’s start with…

Who should get stickers?

Despite my enthusiasm for stickers, they should be used somewhat selectively. Here’s a list of common donor segments and my recommendation for whether they’re sticker-worthy:

• 1st-time donors: No. There’s a case to be made for a “yes” here, but my gut says it’s too early in the relationship. If you really know something about that donor, and you know it will be received well, go for it. But if you don’t know much or anything about this donor, which is probably the case, I’d save it for when you get another engagement signal or inbound interaction.
• Monthly donors: Yes! This is the best group for stickers, in my opinion. The fact that they’re trusting you with their payment information to automatically charge them every month is a strong signal of affinity for your organization. There’s already pride there; give them a way to show it off.
• Repeat donors: Yes. A second annual gift is a good time to send a sticker. They’ve renewed their support and made a big jump in average retention rates (from 20% to 60%).
• Event attendees: Maybe. Have them available for folks to take if they want them. No need to force them on everyone. This will help you control inventory and costs.

Julie Edwards, the Executive Director of Humane Society of Northeast Georgia follows these guidelines:

“Our recurring/monthly giving club gets a sticker when they sign up. We also have stickers of some of our rescues we used at the holidays on ornaments and on thank you notes. We are in the process of having “fun” stickers made for other events and HSNEGA in general to hand out at said events or make for sale.”

How should you promote stickers?

You basically have two options here:

• “Surprise and delight” – don’t tell donors they will get a sticker, and instead surprise them with it after they become a monthly donor.
• Premium model – when promoting your monthly giving program, tell donors directly that they will receive a sticker upon becoming a monthly donor.

Your mileage may vary, but I lean more towards “surprise and delight” – if a prospective donor is turned off by the idea of a premium, they may not make the donation. Another way to avoid this is to include an opt-out to receiving the sticker, but this is adding an extra layer of complication that might confuse the donor (not to mention your time setting up the mechanism).

HRC takes a third approach: simply giving them away for free through a custom landing page:

Enclosed with the sticker is an appeal:

What HRC is doing is essentially spending $0.40-$0.50 to acquire a lead (contact info) while also creating a mobile advertisement. This is an extremely good value.

Yes, they’re a large organization with the means to pull this off, but this isn’t terribly out of reach for any sized org.

“This week I got year-end statements from most of the nonprofits I give monthly to. None of them sent me a sticker (of their logo or whatev). I wish they had. I’d put them on my laptop, car, etc. to show off my pride in supporting them. Thank you for attending my TED talk.”

— Steven Shattuck (@StevenShattuck) February 6, 2019

What about the cost? Should we really be spending money on this?

The question of cost is a fair one. Budgets are already tight, and It’s reasonable to fear that at least some donors will find it off-putting that you’re spending their donation on a premium of some kind.

Let’s compare the cost of stickers to other, more common premiums:

• Stickers: If you use a vendor like Sticker Mule or Canva, you can get 1000 3 x 3 die-cut stickers for about $350. That’s $0.35 per sticker.
• Calendars: If you use a vendor like Vistaprint, you can get 500 8.5 x 11 calendars for about $6000. That’s $8.33 per calendar.
• Ceramic coffee mugs: If you use a vendor like Discount Mugs, you can get 1000 ceramic coffee mugs for about $930, or $0.93 per mug.

None of this includes shipping to your recipient.

With stickers, you can easily slip it into an envelope and not incur any additional postage. Calendars and mugs being larger, you’ll likely exceed the cost of one stamp (not to mention having to protect both items, especially the mugs). Sure, you can hand them all out in person to avoid some of this, but that requires you to have an event.

But the cost of a sticker is so low that it shouldn’t register in the donor’s head as a big expense (and it won’t be a big expense if you buy in bulk, especially in greater quantities than the example above). The stamp for the envelope might even cost more than the sticker you’re sending.

What do we actually get out of it?

Let’s continue comparing stickers, calendars, and mugs.

Beyond the impact that it has on the recipient, a premium’s value is in the impressions (eyeballs) it generates, and what revenue those impressions generate.

Stickers have the potential to generate more impressions than the other two. Why? They’re just more mobile.

Where does a mug or calendar live? Probably your kitchen or your cubicle. A few co-workers or houseguests may see them, but that’s about it.

Buttons and magnets have a similarly-low price point as stickers but suffer from the same lack of mobility (buttons to a lesser extent, but a sticker won’t accidentally draw blood).

Plus, apparently, refrigerators aren’t magnetic anymore???

“We moved this summer and our new fridge is non-magnetic. Please millennials don’t grind us oldsters up for food we will behave and accept our middle management limitations.”

— Jeremy Hatch (@naptownjeremy) August 28, 2019

A sticker, on a car, laptop, or water bottle is going to move with you. Unless you’re wearing a calendar like a necklace, it won’t have the visibility as a sticker (but shout-out to branded water bottles!). Sure, the sticker might not be immediately recognizable to a stranger in a coffee shop, but neither would a calendar or a mug.

That leads me to our next topic:

What should our sticker actually be?

The easy answer is your logo, but with just your logo you run into the challenge I alluded to above: recognizability.

Few of us have the recognizability of a national organization, like HRC or Komen. That’s why it’s not a great idea to only use the “mark” in your logo.

Take a closer look at Preemptive Love’s stickers:

You can see that they take a “slogan” approach, turning value statements into a sticker.

Additionally, they have two stickers centered around the brand itself. Spelling out the name of the organization (like in the top-right sticker) does more for the viewer than the bottom-right sticker, which is just their logo mark.

The same is true for the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia:

This is an “alternative” logo that lends itself better to a sticker than their standard logo that you’ll find on their website. Using the state outline is also savvy, as it’s a common design strategy for other common vehicle window stickers (plus, you simultaneously allow the recipient to show pride in the organization and the state).

They also have a sticker specifically for members of their giving society:

This one checks all the boxes: understandable by the viewer, pride-inducing for the recipient.

Stick to the plan

If I’ve convinced you to dip your toes into the stickers water, click the image below for a discount on your first order through Stickermule.

Be sure to let me know how it goes.

Does your organization have stickers? How do you use them? Let me know in the comments below!

AND SEND ME SOME STICKERS ಠ_ಠ

The post Stickers: Your Nonprofit’s Secret Weapon appeared first on Bloomerang.

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• Essential DEAI Reading for Nonprofits
• Sample Policies, Templates, and Tools
• Webinars on Nonprofit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Podcasts
• Peer Groups for People of Color in the Nonprofit Sector
• Agencies Focusing on DEAI
• Additional Curated Lists and Resources
• For Event Organizers
• Speaker Directory

We update this page as we become aware of and create new resources. Please send additions and revision suggestions, as well as general feedback, to dei@bloomerang.com.

Essential DEAI Reading for Nonprofits

Bloomerang is committed to amplifying the voices of people of color, the disabled, and LGBTQ professionals working in the nonprofit sector. If you would like to contribute an article to our blog, email press@bloomerang.com. Guest bloggers will be compensated for their submissions.

• Why Do Nonprofits Struggle with Diversity?—by Kishshana Palmer, CFRE
• 4 Steps for Bringing Up Equity and Inclusion At Your Nonprofit—by Mazarine Treyz
• The RACE to Philanthropy—by Michelle Drinks
• 3 Ways To Decolonize Your Nonprofit—by Neesha Powell-Twagirumukiza
• Dear Philanthropy: These Are the Fires of Anti-Black Racism—by Will Cordery
• Have Nonprofit and Philanthropy Become the “White Moderate” that Dr. King Warned Us About?—by Vu Le
• Why Are We Still Struggling with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nonprofit Governance?—by Elizabeth A. Castillo
• Options and Opportunities for White Social Justice Leaders—by Dani Robbins
• Reparations, the Duty of White Philanthropy, and Posture Necessary to Fulfill It—by Chris Conroy
• Why Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Matter for Nonprofits—from the National Council of Nonprofits
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Nonprofit Bylaws—from NEO Law Group
• AWAKE to WOKE to WORK: Building a Race Equity Culture—from Equity in the Center
• Race to Lead—from Building Movement Project
• The Groundwater Approach—from The Racial Equity Institute, LLC

Sample Policies, Templates, and Tools

• Conscious Style Guide
• Hello Seven Guide To Inclusive Language
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Policy Template
• The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Toolkit
• The Inclusivity Crawler

Webinars on Nonprofit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Whiteness at Work: Reset 2020—from equity at work – June 11th, 2 pm EST via Zoom – Desiree Adaway will offer free training to share concrete ways we see white dominant culture manifest in organizations and actions to mitigate them
• Getting Ahead of the Curve with Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity—from Candid – Carly Hare, National Director/Coalition Catalyst at Change Philanthropy will discuss with a birds-eye view of actions being taken across the sector with regards to DEAI and ground the language and frameworks being used.
• An Important Conversation: Diversity and Inequity in our Fundraising Communications – presented by Lynne Wester and Avery Howard from the University of Tennessee
• Jodi-Ann Burey webinars
• Beyond the Board Statement: How Can Boards Join the Movement for Racial Justice?—from Nonprofit Quarterly, nationally recognized governance, strategy, and equity consultants Vernetta Walker and Robin Stacia have an in-depth set conversation about how boards of directors can and should join the movement for racial justice.

Podcasts

• Khayriyyah MuhammadSmith’s Bring Your Own Chair
• Name It! Podcast – from Helen Choi and Mazarine Treyz

Peer Groups for People of Color in the Nonprofit Sector

• The Rooted Collaborative: A Community for WOC Fundraising Professionals (Facebook)
• Blacks In Nonprofits (Facebook)
• AADO African American Development Officers
• F3 Fabulous Female Fundraisers

Agencies

• Equity at work—equity, inclusion, and social justice-centered programs designed and delivered by Desiree Adaway, Ericka Hines, and Jessica Fish
• EmbraceRace—a multiracial community of parents, teachers, experts, and other caring adults who support each other to meet the challenges that race poses to our children, families, and communities
• The Adaway Group—a black woman-owned consulting firm that brings together multi-racial teams to work on projects related to equity, inclusion, and social justice
• Paradigm—a group of diversity practitioners, adult learning facilitators, researchers, organizers, change agents, and passionate social justice activists who are dedicated to equipping mission-driven leaders and organizations with the language, tools, mindsets, and strategies for holistically advancing equity in their spheres of influence
• Deaf-Friendly Consulting—creating a deaf-friendly world is a two-way effort between businesses and consumers. DFC offers a variety of services to help businesses reach inclusion goals and deepen their toolkit of deaf-friendly actions.

Additional Curated Lists and Resources

• Anti-Racism Resources for White People
• Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources
• Ally Resource Guide
• Anti-Racism Resource List
• Free Courses to Help You Become a Stronger Ally and Have Inclusive Conversations
• Anti-Racism Resources for Nonprofit Folx—from Giant Squid Group
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity—from BoardSource
• Great Charity Speakers—from Mandy Johnson
• 13 lists of ways to learn and show up as antiracist* in this world—from Jen Bokoff
• National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes

For Event Organizers

Bloomerang will commit to sponsoring events and conferences only if speakers from diverse backgrounds are represented. We also strongly recommend events and conferences have the following in place:

• an equity statement
• an accessibility statement
• accessible pricing

Speaker Directory:

This list of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) consultants, fundraisers, and thought leaders includes those we have welcomed as guests on our webinar series and at our events or have seen speak personally.

• Jen Shang
• Elaine Lou Cartas
• Neesha Powell
• Cherian Koshy
• Ruth Peebles
• Charmaine Torma
• Karen Osborne
• Dr. Debra Jenkins
• Dr. Bev Browning
• Vu Le
• Andrea Somerville
• Jazzmine Marie Nolan
• Tycely Williams
• Michelle Drinks
• Felicia Harris
• Antionette Kerr
• Edith Molina
• Dannese Mapanda
• Jaime-Jin Lewis
• Kishshana Palmer, CFRE
• Alice Ferris
• Art Taylor
• Chris Hammond
• Jennifer Yarbough
• Ligia Peña, CFRE, MInstF
• Desiree Adaway
• Brooke Richie-Babbage
• Ericka Hines
• Frankie Gonzalez
• Rob Monroe
• Rahel Mwitula Williams
• Cassandra Bentley
• Ciara Ginyard
• Ian Adair
• Frank Velasquez Jr
• Adetola Olatunji
• Denise Jacobs
• Aliguma Young, MBA
• Cherrelle Duncan
• Kristal M. Johnson
• Paul Nazareth
• Christal M. Cherry
• Rickesh Lakhani
• Dominique Calixte
• Shanette D. Brazzell
• Marshall White
• Mallory Mitchell
• Helen Choi
• Rena Henderson Mason
• Suzanne Griffith
• Melissa Johnson Hewitt
• Whitney Wade
• Faren Jones, MPA, CFRE
• Terri Broussard Williams
• Robin Stacia
• Vernetta Walker
• Antoinetta Mosley, MPA

The post Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) in the Nonprofit Sector appeared first on Bloomerang.

During the coronavirus outbreak, fundraisers are being bombarded with advice urging them to reach out to their donors now.

As is the case during any situation, the more you segment your communications for specific audiences, the more likely those communications are to resonate with the recipient. Now, however, is a critical time to take inventory of your most valuable supporters (can’t lose people) and reach out contextually.

The following list of 10 supporter segments should be your top priority. What you say to these folks doesn’t have to look wildly different. Pick up the phone, break out the stationary, or fire up your personal email. Say thanks, recognize the type of supporter that they are/their past support, and remind them you’re still here and that you’re still providing services that are invaluable (or will resume doing so soon). But most importantly, check in to see how they are doing.

Here’s the list:

1. Top 80% of your funding (probably <20% of your donors) – Following the Pareto Principle, a majority of your funding is likely coming from a small, select group of donors. This is the only segment where gift amount comes into play.

2. “Long-term-loyals” (3-5+ years of giving) – According to Jerry Panas, these are the donors most likely to leave you a bequest later in life, regardless of their age, wealth and giving amount right now.

3. Monthly donors – With household budgets about to tighten, it’s possible that monthly expenses will start to go on the chopping block. Support for your org won’t be if you have checked in to say how much they’re appreciated. Do it now before the economy worsens.

4. Longtime corporate sponsors – Some of these folks may be especially hurting right now. Check in to see how they are doing. Perhaps have a board member or the head or your org reach out to their owner or CEO.

5. P2P fundraisers – Not, P2P donors. P2p fundraisers, the folks that in the past have gone out and done Facebook birthday fundraisers or ran a 5k for you. You might be leaning on them very soon to raise money for you again on social media.

6. Those who actively engage with you on social media – These are ideal, future P2P fundraisers, as well as those who can spread the word more broadly when you might need it. Start keeping track of who is and has in the past liked, commented and shared your posts.

7. Volunteers/members who have not donated – With in-person volunteerism likely prohibited, perhaps monetary support can be a replacement for volunteer hours. Members or direct service recipients (think YMCA) who cannot come on-site for classes, workouts, etc. may be willing to donate above their membership fees to keep the facility afloat.

8. Those with scheduled pledges – Similar to monthly donors, this is expected revenue that you don’t want to miss.

9. Board members – Do you have 100% board giving? Now is the time to ask if you’ve been avoiding the issue. Get them involved in calling, emailing or writing the other nine groups in this list. Messages coming from board members will have just as much if not higher significance than your staff.

10. New donors within 90 days (this should include Giving Tuesday and Year-End donors) – These are the donors at most risk of lapsing (other than P2P and Memorial/Tribute donors). Retention rates here are around 20%, and your window to retain them is already closing. Research shows that the faster you thank a new donor, the better:

• first-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to give a second gift.
  (McConkey-Johnston International UK)
• a thank-you call from a board member to a newly acquired donor within 24 hours of receiving the gifts will increase their next gift by 39%. (Penelope Burk)
• the faster you get a second gift, the higher the gift amount (AnalyticalOnes)
• Bloomerang research found nearly-identical results.

A lot of these folks may be waiting to hear from you – if they’re anything like the donors interview in Penelope Burk’s Donor Survey – so don’t delay.

“I could always expand giving a little, but I try to hold back in case there is a major need at one of the organizations I support. I always like to have a little in reserve in case a special need comes along.”

“There were two instances this year where I made gifts over and above what I had intended and they both involved personal contact from someone in the development office (director or gifts officer). Being thanked for my previous gift was much more persuasive than receiving multiple emails and direct mail letters.”

Many of these segments will include small donors. Don’t let your lizard brain disregard them. They are now more important than ever!

If you haven’t run an NCOA, deceased suppression, or another type of append (email, phone, etc.) recently, now is the time to do so to ensure that your communications are received.

Who else have you reached out to? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 10 Important Donor Types To Communicate To During the Coronavirus Outbreak appeared first on Bloomerang.

In the documentary Walk With Me, Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh is asked by a young girl how she can get over the sadness of the death of her dog.

After contemplating the question for a moment, he suggests that she think of a cloud.

“Suppose you look into the sky and you see a beautiful cloud. And you like the cloud so much, and suddenly the cloud is no longer there. And you think that the cloud has passed away. Where is my beloved cloud now? So if you have time to reflect, to look, you see that the cloud has not died, has not passed away. The cloud has become the rain. And when you look at the rain, you see your cloud. And when you drink your tea, mindfully, you can see the rain in the tea. Your cloud in your tea.”

John Haydon passed away over the weekend. A talented musician, doting father, loving partner, sharp dresser and almost frighteningly-prolific creator, John impacted thousands of fundraisers through his advice and trainings.

His passing is an immense loss to the nonprofit sector.

Often time, nonprofit professionals have no choice but to cobble together disparate tactics and best practices from multiple industries and disciplines in order to create a comprehensive, multi-channel fundraising campaign. You could get advice on how to boost Facebook posts, set up an email drip sequence, or optimize a landing page for form completions from almost anywhere, but John was arguably the best at contextualizing a vast array of digital strategies for nonprofits, specifically. What made him particularly effective was that he had an underlying knowledge of what made fundraising work. He understood donor motivation, psychology, and behavior.

“Is thanking donors obligatory, something that must follow giving? The real power of thanking donors is realized when the goal of thanking is forward-looking, focused on developing and deepening donor loyalty. Thanking is not about the past, it’s about the future.” — John Haydon

At the height of his productivity, John was writing blog posts and books, distributing newsletters, producing webinars, speaking at conferences, and broadcasting live on social media. Even while undergoing treatment for his cancer, he still found a way to work on a final book.

Like so many professional relationships these days, I first met John online. But though they were far outnumbered by the online interactions, the offline interactions were natural, effortless, effervescent even. It seems like a cliché to describe a practicing Buddhist as kind, inviting and considerate. But that was John. It’s why you’ll see so many tributes to and memories of him over the coming days.

I used to think that the Buddhist perspective rendered death into something of a trivial concept. After all, dying in the 21st century age means leaving behind digital artifacts, indexed and searchable.

But what I learned in getting to know John, specifically over the last couple years, is that perspective manifests in how one prepares for the inevitability of death, in a manner that is anything but trivial.

After receiving his diagnosis, John started a Facebook group named “Watch John Beat Cancer.” In the preface to his forthcoming book, he described it as “…a way for me to put a specific and wildly positive intention out into the universe (“Watch me!”) with the love and support of my friends. I knew I could beat cancer if I had friends cheering me on, sharing their cancer stories, or sharing a GIF just when I needed it most. But the best part is seeing people make new friends through this group.”

Even in creating something ostensibly for himself, it became his final gift: to bring people together. And in doing so, he taught us all something about mindfulness and bravery. We got to watch someone beat cancer.

So goodbye, for now, John — and thanks for being the cloud in our tea.

The post Remembering John Haydon appeared first on Bloomerang.

Not since 2013 when the Leonardo DiCaprio-led movie adaptation was released has there been such a timely reason to encourage supporters to break out their flapper dresses and three-piece suits for a night of dancing and (possibly prohibited) libations.

But is the 100 year anniversary of an era enough reason to adopt this somewhat overdone theme?

Here are three reasons why you should reconsider hosting a 1920s or Great Gatsby-themed fundraising event:

1. The Not-So-Roaring Twenties

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

You might think that because the 1920s were a period of economic prosperity that your attendees will be feeling extra generous the night of your event. However, it’s hard to divorce that prosperity with the dread of the The Wall Street Crash of 1929 on the horizon.

In 2020 and beyond, when the threat of another recession (or worse) is ever-looming, the theme might have the opposite effect. The last thing you want at a fundraising event is for your attendees to be thinking about economic volatility.

From a more practical standpoint, the theme also creates a barrier to entry for attendees in the form of era-appropriate attire, resulting in either an extra expense to acquire the clothes, leaving them feeling alienated if they do attend without dressing appropriately, or keeping them from attending altogether.

2. The Nonprofit Brand

“Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.”

Unless your nonprofit provides flapper dresses to underprivileged youth, you would be hard-pressed to find a connection between your brand and any of the cultural aspects of the era or themes of the Great Gatsby novel itself. In fact, many of those themes may be counter-intuitive to your mission, causing brand confusion at best and alienating constituents at worst.

While some progress was made during the era, such as women’s suffrage, this was for the most part an era of extreme wealth, race and gender inequality.

For those considering an explicit Gatsby-theme, keep in mind that the major themes of the novel include social stratification, greed, materialism and betrayal. The novel also famously ends in (spoilers!) a murder/suicide.

If your nonprofit is attempting to directly or indirectly alleviate any of these societal issues (which is probably most of you) this isn’t an era that I’d rush to idealize.

For peak authenticity, any 1920s-themed gala should include an interlude wherein the police bust up your party and pour out all the booze on the sidewalk.

— Abigail Jarvis (@abigailljarvis) January 30, 2020

3. The Academic Research

“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

A ground-breaking 2017 report from Adrian Sargeant, then a Professor of Fundraising and Director of the Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at the University of Plymouth, outlines for the first time what overarching factors may have a part to play in distinguishing genuinely outstanding fundraising events from merely ‘average’ ones.

Nowhere in his findings is the suggestion that anything resembling a fancy gala, let alone a 1920s themed one, is a good idea.

In fact, the primary finding was that a fundraising event should not be an event where individuals pay for the privilege of enjoying the activity, but instead an experience creating attendee empathy towards your mission.

The study goes on to define 9 Steps to Great Fundraising Events:

1. Provide a donor-centric experience that transforms the attendee
2. Put your attendee in the middle of the fight for your mission
3. Follow-up to greatly enhance experience
4. Focus on transformation
5. Drive emotion with storytelling
6. Invest in your team (avoid burnout)
7. Constantly drive innovation
8. Focus on technology
9. Create board champions

What does an event like that look like? Look no further than Save the Children’s “Forced to Flee” event, described in Campaign Magazine as an event that:

…led guests on a journey which aimed to bring to life the real experiences of children affected by conflict and violence and their search for safety.

Groups were led into the space and were given a number, a headset through which to listen to real stories of children affected by these issues and a child’s rucksack.

During their journey they experienced the children’s endeavours [sic] to reach safety, passing through camps, being in a classroom with gunshots across walls, windows and blackboards and eventually reaching a play area, which represents the work that the charity does in areas of conflict to bring play to children.

The experience lasted approximately 45 minutes and was devised by agency Pd3, with guests able to meet with Save the Children staff and supporters afterwards.

Ellie McLeod, head of special events at Save the Children, said: “We’re overwhelmed with how the experience was received. I’m extremely proud we were able to deliver the stories of children authentically and provide a connection to the plight they have endured.

“‘Powerful’ was the word I was hearing from almost all event guests as they came out of the experience. The success we’ve seen is testament to my team and Pd3 who have worked tirelessly to deliver something so different, which shows forward-thinking in immersive, educational and impactful event delivery.”

You might be thinking to yourself “But our donors, especially major donors, like parties!”

Sure, it is possible on some level to create empathy for your service recipients at a fancy gala, perhaps through an emotional video played between meal courses (I made my living for almost a decade producing these videos), or a heartfelt speech from someone who your org lifted out of poverty.

Putting aside for a moment that “our donors like parties” is likely an assumption and not the result of feedback, there is also nothing in the body of knowledge to suggest that galas play any meaningful role in major gifts.

Again, we have research on this.

In 2015, Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE, author of the book Major Gift Fundraising for Small Shops, conducted a study into the critical success factors that enhance major gift fundraising. She teamed up with Adrian Sargeant and Rita Kottasz, who was then a research consultant at the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at Plymouth University.

They found the top 10 factors that led to major gift success were:

1. Donor Retention
2. Prospect Research
3. Staff Tenure
4. Staff Training (informal)
5. Staff Education (formal)
6. Donor-Centered Culture
7. IT Systems
8. Volunteer Engagement
9. Board Engagement
10. Metrics

Each item has actionable suggestions that you can read more about in the study, including:

• There is a strong correlation between the range of training and educational opportunities afforded to staff and overall fundraising performance. Each additional form of training/education is associated with an increase of $37,000 in income.
• Individuals who have been in their jobs for longer periods are more successful at generating major gifts.
• The quality of the IT systems in place to support fundraisers is a key factor in driving the number of major gifts received.

Simply put, if a gala is prioritized higher than any of the above items, your priorities are out of whack. Up-scale fundraising events often have a high opportunity cost, cutting into your ROI while burning out staff.

It’s interesting to see how many parallels there are between the event research and the major gift research, especially as it relates to staff burnout and board involvement.

As the spouse of a fundraiser who planned and executed an annual gala for almost a decade, I can attest to the dread and misery associated with the weeks leading up to it, as well as the marked relief following its conclusion.

So think long and hard before planning your next Gatsby Gala. After all, “there are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”

However, animal welfare groups can and should spend the next 10 years holding “Great Catsby” events.

The post 3 Reasons Why Nonprofits Shouldn’t Have 1920s/Gatsby-Themed Fundraising Galas appeared first on Bloomerang.

It’s efficient. It saves staff time. And it ensures no donor slips through the cracks.

But with first-time donor retention rates hovering around 20%, nonprofits have to ask: does an automated email welcome series actually improve retention—or could it unintentionally hurt it?

The following is an excerpt from Robots Make Bad Fundraisers – How Nonprofits Can Maintain the Heart in the Digital Age by Steven Shattuck, published by Bold & Bright Media.

The “email welcome series” is a frequently-recommended tactic for communicating with new donors while saving staff time in the process.

The idea being that when a donor makes their first gift, they’re queued up to receive a series of emails (three, five, etc.) over a period of time (a few weeks, a month, etc.) with each email spaced out appropriately.

But is this really a good idea?

I think that, in general, automation and stewardship are mutually exclusive. Automation is great, but it can’t compete with or replace the personal touch (at least not until the robots are smart enough to wipe us out entirely anyway).

New donors, whose donor retention rates are typically around 20%, are perhaps the worst cohort of constituents to automate any type of communication towards for three reasons:

1. Research tells us that personal touch points increase first-time donor retention rates.
2. They are the donors you likely know the least about – among your new donors might be very different motivations, interests, etc.
3. The series may exceed the “honeymoon period” when an ask for a second gift is ideal.

Unless your organization has a high volume of lower dollar amount first-time donations, a multi-touch email series immediately after the first gift would not be my recommendation, even if it did also include a formal thank you letter in the mail.

3 reasons an automated email welcome series may hurt first-time donor retention

Here is my take:

1. The personal touch reigns supreme

There is a mountain of research that says a personal touch point within 24-48 hours of that gift is the best first touch:

• First-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to give a second gift. (McConkey-Johnston International UK)
• A thank-you call from a board member to a newly acquired donor within 24 hours of receiving the gifts will increase their next gift by 39%. (Penelope Burk)

I don’t think an automated email or emails that every new donor gets can be considered a personal thank you. We’re talking a phone call, handwritten note, voicemail and even a 1:1 email.

In today’s digital age, these touch points will stand out among the hundreds of emails we receive daily.

John Lepp from Agents of Good tells recently told me the story of a friend of h is in the donor love department at UNICEF Italy that ran a test on sending a handwritten, heartfelt card within 48 hours of getting a gift (from any donor) and a call on the anniversary of giving or on a birthday.

The results were a 30% yearly increase in retention and a 50% increase in donor lifetime value.

Andrew Olsen, CFRE recently told the story of a hunger relief org he worked with that eliminated paper thank you letters to online donors to save money on print and postage. They lost $300k to lower retention and fewer gifts the next year.

2. Not all new donors are built the same

There’s no better donor to get to know than a first-time donor. Without knowing the motivation for their gift, or what in particular they are interested in with regards to your programs/services, I’m not sure on what basis you would populate the content for an automated welcome series.

You’d either have to make assumptions about all of your new donors, or be forced to cover every single topic all at once and hoping that something sticks.

This is particularly problematic for organizations that have a wide service offering. If you’re an environmental organization, how will your email welcome series account for donors who are interested in wildlife versus those who are interested in the forests? Sure, it’s safe to assume that the donor will care about both, but targeted communications will always win out over a one-size-fits-all approach.

Even those with a very targeted mission focus run the risk of missing the mark with a donor.

Two donors who each made their first gift online and each gave $25 can be very, very different types of donors. Consider a donor who gave to you because they had a loved-one die from the disease you’re trying to eradicate, versus a donor who donated because they saw that a college roommate was raising money for you, or gave a memorial gift at a funeral home, or saw a television ad and donated in the moment.

Communicate to these donors the same way at your own peril!

Not only will gleaning and contextualizing donor motivation and gift channels reward you, but donors also like to be asked!

You’ll also see this emphasized in research from DonorVoice (of the top seven reasons cited by loyal donors for why they keep giving, the #4 item was that “the donor receives opportunities to make views known.”

3. The Honeymoon Period

There is no reason to wait an entire year to ask for a second gift. In fact, asking within 90 days of the first gift is a research-based recommendation. However, if a first-time donor is getting automated emails from you that do not ask for a second gift, you run the risk of missing that window of opportunity.

Analytical Ones found that the amount received in a second gift drops the longer you wait to ask for it:

Our own Bloomerang data confirmed as much, specifically in cases when that new donor is called within the first 90 days:

There is definitely a honeymoon period for new donors, but success is incumbent upon doing a good job thanking the donor personally, telling them stories and getting to know them so that you contextualize and personalize that second ask (rather than just automated an appeal on a set schedule that every single new donor gets).

A research-based alternative to an automated welcome email series

So what should you do instead?

Lori Jacobwith has a great first-time donor communication plan that, while hard to automate, does check all of the boxes that research tell us, and sets you up for an effective appeal:

1. Board thank you phone call (within 3 days)
2. Thank you letter/note in the mail (within 1 week)
3. Monthly email newsletter
4. Tour invitation (within 6 weeks)
5. Appeal for 2nd gift (within 90 days)
6. Thank you letter if second gift received (within 1 week)
7. Donor survey (within 6 weeks of second gift)

I think this is pretty solid, but you could definitely push a survey sooner. The tour invitation is a great idea if you have a facility or location that can be toured. Not only will they see your mission in action, but you’ll inevitably make small talk and possibly learn about their motivation (replacing the need for a survey).

Thinking again about that “90 day honeymoon period” it might be wise to create a stewardship plan that zooms in on those first three months:

Even though that sounds like a lot of work, it’s worth it. The retention rate on first-time donors is around 20%. So if your cost per acquisition is more than the donation amount from the first gift, you have negative ROI right off that bat. You have to get a second gift to get back above break-even. So spending time here is financially justifiable.

Is automation making things worse?

Not only is the first-time donor retention rate an abysmal 20%, but it’s been on the decline over the last five years:

Could it be that we’re leaning more on automation to communicate with these new donors?

Or is because more first-time gifts are made online, where retention rates are typically lower than gifts made offline?

What types of donor emails are smart to automate?

Automating your donor communications can save precious time and ensure every supporter feels valued—without sacrificing the personal touch that builds lasting relationships. But not all emails should be on autopilot. The key is automating the right messages that keep donors engaged and move them along their giving journey.

Here are some of the most effective donor emails to automate:

• Donation receipts and acknowledgments: Send timely, compliant receipts that also share impact stories to deepen connection.
• Event invitations and reminders: Automate invites and follow-ups for fundraising events or volunteer opportunities.
• Anniversary and milestone messages: Celebrate donor anniversaries or giving milestones to recognize loyalty.
• Re-engagement campaigns: Reach out to lapsed donors with gentle reminders and updates to rekindle their support.

How to get started with donor email automation

Getting started is simple with Bloomerang’s Journey Automation tool. Here’s a quick step-by-step to launch your first automated donor workflow:

1. Identify your goal: Choose the type of donor email you want to automate, like a milestone or event reminder.
2. Map the journey: Outline the sequence and timing of emails that best support your goal.
3. Customize your content: Craft messages that reflect your nonprofit’s voice and speak directly to your donors’ interests.
4. Set triggers: Use Bloomerang’s automation features to send emails based on donor actions—like a new gift or event registration.
5. Launch and monitor: Activate your workflow and track performance to optimize open rates, click-throughs, and donor engagement.

For a deeper dive into email marketing strategies tailored for nonprofits, check out Bloomerang’s comprehensive resource, Email Marketing for Nonprofits: The Ultimate How-To Guide. It’s packed with expert tips to help you craft compelling emails that inspire giving and strengthen supporter relationships.

Ready to save time and boost donor retention? Try Bloomerang’s Marketing & Engagement tools today and turn your email communications into powerful, personalized experiences that grow your mission.

How to improve your automated emails (if you use them)

One way to truly make automation work for you is to make sure that the automated communications online donors receive from you are less transactional and more appreciative.

Pay special attention to:

1. Confirmation page (the page of your website donors are redirected to after donating)
2. Automated receipt email (sent from your donor database/payment processor/online giving provider)

These two things can be optimized to thank the donor warmly, tell a story, preview future impact and maybe even collect information through a survey (“what prompted you gift today?”). These should be generic enough to apply to all donor frequencies (since every online donor will see/get them) but still communicate impact.

All that being said, If I was running a development department and wanted to increase my first-time donor retention rates, I would do the following:

• Make sure the website confirmation page and automated email receipt are engaging and not transactional (one-time fix)
• Create a standing report of new donors this week (or today if gift volume is manageably low)
  • View that report daily or weekly (whatever frequency is chosen)
• Have board members ready and available to call those donors within 24 hours
  • Equip them with a call list and loose call scripts/guidelines
    • If no board member availability, fall back on staff members
• Get a thank you letter to new donors within a week
  • Make sure the letter recognizes them as a new donor “welcome to the family!”
  • Include a handwritten note/signature (just to let them know we spent some time on the letter after printing
• Get them subscribed to the monthly email newsletter
• Send a personal, 1:1 email to the donor inviting them in for a tour
  • Again recognizing them as a new donor that we want to get to know

If you absolutely cannot do this for new donors, then an automated email series might be better than nothing. But you’d still run the risk of sending content that is one-size-fits-all.

Will automation win out someday?

Probably, but not yet.

Someday our software will have such sophisticated AI and machine learning that we’ll be able to deliver one of several automated emails cadences based on a specific combination of a donor’s gift amount, gift channel, gift method, geography, demographic and motivation (assuming it can collect or infer that at the time of donating), but until then (and maybe even after) I’d put my money on the personal touch.

Have you had success with an automated email welcome series, and think I’m wrong? Tell me why in the comments below!

FAQ: automated email welcome series for nonprofits

The post Should Nonprofits Use an Automated Email Welcome Series for Donors? appeared first on Bloomerang.

Achieve, with the help of their sponsor the Case Foundation, has released its final Millennial Impact Report: 10 Years Looking Back which shares insights into over a decade of research.

More than 150,000 millennials were studied throughout the decade leading researchers to identify ten traits characterizing young people’s approaches to cause engagement. Millennials are a societal force that today comprise the largest segment of the workforce. The report explores how this generation – 80 million strong – is doing good, how they have impacted the way good is done, and the consequences for ignoring their powerful influence.



Here are the 10 traits that were uncovered:

1. Millennials are Everyday Changemakers – they exhibit social good in small acts they perform every day: making an impulsive point-of-sale donation, bidding in an online charity auction, getting their friends together for a bike ride for charity, purchasing a product that supports its indigenous maker or from a company that shares its profits to help fill a need (or avoiding one that doesn’t) and making socially responsible investments designed to bring about a social good the investor supports.

2. Millennials Believe in Activism – In 2017, voting topped the list of the most actions taken by millennials and the action they deemed most likely to be influential; 71% consider voting as activism. Self-identified activists were more likely to contact their representatives and/or take part in marches/rallies than to use social media for cause support.

3. Millennials Care About Social Issues – Civil rights/racial discrimination, healthcare (for themselves and their aging parents and grandparents), education and employment are the causes millennials in this country consistently care the most about. As we have witnessed with such movements as #BlackLivesMatter and the Women’s March, millennials are willing to be active about issues that affect them directly. At the same time, however, they engage on behalf of people who cannot speak for themselves. To a degree not seen in any previous generation, millennials see themselves in the shoes of others who don’t look like them, speak the same language, have the same education or come from the same background, perhaps because of their high level of diversity.

4. Millennials are Passionate About Issues, Not Institutions – If passion for an issue drives millennials to get involved, trust keeps them true to an institution addressing their issue. More than 90% said they would stop giving to an organization if they began distrusting it. In a reflection of that trust, more than three-fourths would stop giving if they aren’t told how their contributions help.

5. Millennials Value Collective Action and Networks – Education has remained a priority for millennials throughout the decade – not just college affordability, but the quality of elementary education, too. But in the last couple of years, millennials have found their collective voice and used it to address other social ills. By 2017, education was joined by the headline issues of civil rights/racial discrimination, employment/job creation, healthcare reform and climate change (with immigration close behind) as priorities.

6. Millennials support the Greater Good, Not Partisan Politicking – Millennials expressed no trust at all in the government’s ability to address key social issues like poverty (33%), race and culture (32%), and student loans (30%). Millennials are also impatient with bipartisanship and politicking – a major reason they are developing their own ways to inspire and affect public policy change.

7. Millennials are Sector Agnostic –  As everyday do-gooders, millennials can be inspired to engage by point-of-sale requests for donations to food banks, by a peer’s request to join a fundraising team, by a suggestion they buy only from socially responsible brands, etc. They consider a company’s cause record when applying for employment, and they participate in employee giving campaigns based on the cause rather than the employer. Despite their mistrust in government and their belief that the country is headed in the wrong direction, they still willingly contact their political representatives and vote.

8. Millennials Take an Innovative Approach to Creating Change – Whatever ways millennials show their support for a cause, 81% are confident that those actions will lead to improvements. In interviews conducted for this report, interviewees indicated a belief that this generation’s aggregate engagement is already making an impact.

9. Millennials Believe All Actions Matter – Big and Small – Millennials have engaged in causes back and forth across a spectrum – some remain at the micro-level of involvement, some move to leadership roles and many move within the space in between. One significant, unique notion supported by 10 years of research is that millennials acting in small ways individually often create leverage as a large, active group capable of influencing great change.

10. Millennials are Influenced by Their Peers – A millennial is far more likely to become involved if their peers are already there. This influence has been evident throughout the decade of research. The chart below shows data that reflects a consistent preference for cause engagement with peers.

These findings provide important insights into the impact millennials are having on the nonprofit sector of society now and will have in the future.

Millennials are not just trying to change the world, they are actually changing the way that social change is made.

You can download the full report here >> 

The post 10 Key Takeaways from the Final Millennial Impact Report appeared first on Bloomerang.

The following is an excerpt from Robots Make Bad Fundraisers – How Nonprofits Can Maintain the Heart in the Digital Age by Steven Shattuck, published by Bold & Bright Media.

Recently a family of raccoons had to be removed from the attic of my in-law’s lake house.

When we asked the owner of the pest control company how he was able to remove them so quickly his reply was quick, succinct, funny and purely logical.

He simply replied: “I think like a raccoon!”

Not only does that make total sense, but it’s the best and most future-proof SEO strategy you can have.

What is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of modifying your website so that you appear in search results for the terms you want to appear for.

If you wanted to appear for “animal shelters Indianapolis,”

When it comes to SEO, thinking like Google is the #1 way to be successful.

Why? Because even though there are many search engines, the vast majority of searches are done so through Google.

Its algorithm (the secret formula that decides who shows up for what searches) is an ever-changing and closely held secret. Thousands of SEO consultants and agencies spend every waking hour trying to optimize and often-times manipulate their websites in order to ensure their employers and clients appear as high as possible in as many searches as possible.

For nonprofits, and specifically fundraisers, SEO is somewhat less important than it is for for-profit businesses. It’s on the programs and services sides that its importance really comes into light.

For example, it’s unlikely that a donor would open up Google and search for “animal shelter Indianapolis” because they’re looking for an animal shelter to donate to. What they’re likely doing is looking to adopt a pet, or perhaps even volunteer.

Were a prospective donor to use Google in order to facilitate a donation, it’s likely that they’ve already made up their mind to do so (because your marketing has reached them some other way), and simply need help getting to the mechanism from which to donate. In other words, they would search for your brand name “People for Puppies Indianapolis,” find your website, and hopefully complete the donation.

That being said, it’s important to look at SEO from both perspectives:

• Terms that describe your programs and services
• Terms associated with your brand, or your brand name itself

Searching for “Google SEO Ranking Factors 20xx” will net you the latest thoughts on what works and what doesn’t. SearchMetrics is one of my favorite sources for this information.

Like donor psychology, the core philosophy around ranking factors do not change, though some minor shifts in the importance of each factor may fluctuate from year to year.

At the time of publication, the current most significant ranking factors are as follows:

• Page Speed – does your website load quickly, even on mobile devices?
• Security – does your website begin with https:// instead of just http:// (do you have an SSL certificate)?
• Mobile Friendliness – is your website responsive?
• Optimized Content – do they keywords and phrases you want to appear in searches for also appear on your website, including your location and brand name?
• Technical SEO – do you have things like page title tags, meta descriptions, H1s
• User Experience – do users spend a lot of time on your website, visiting multiple pages?
• Backlinks – do other reputable websites link to yours?
• Social Signals – are Facebook and Twitters users posting status updates that include links to your website?

Recently, Google has shifted away from links and content (the things that were easy to game) to a greater emphasis on user experience signals. When it comes to user experience, responsive web design is likely the most important consideration. It’s a mobile world, after all, and Google cares whether your users have a good experience viewing your website on a mobile phone.

For nonprofits, having a good mobile experience goes beyond how Google feels about it. Potential donors need to be able to find what they’re looking for on your website, and fill out your donation forms from any device. Not only could you get higher rankings on Google, but you’ll definitely get more revenue.

What doesn’t work in increase your search engine rankings are things like stuffing your page title tags, meta descriptions and on-page content with with keywords, building as many links as possible to your site no matter who it is that’s linking to you, and publishing as many random webpages as possible just to increase the size and content-depth of your website.

Trust me; many, many SEO service providers have literally gone out of business because their business models were based on either what Google used to value, or trying to shortcut what they currently value.

So what are nonprofits to do?

Other than using a dedicated website content management system (Squarespace, WordPress, Firespring, etc.) and perhaps even engaging with an SEO consultant who can further optimize your website from a technical perspective (use this blog post as a way to test their mettle), there are two main ways that nonprofits can catch the eye of Google while providing a useful service to their website visitors: owned media and earned media

1. Owned Media: Frequent blogging (to generate new on-site content)

Blogging has become absolutely indispensable with regards to the SEO conversation, especially for nonprofits.

Frequently adding new blog posts to your website increases your site’s word count and thus increases the opportunity for that content to appear in search results. Craft useful, relevant, educational and/or entertaining content. The more it gets read and shared, the higher its value in Google’s eyes.

Don’t Just Talk About Yourself

It’s fine to blog about your recent fundraising event or to send an email about a new volunteer, but if your communications start and end with what’s only going on in your world it’s unlikely that you’ll create real engagement. What would happen, instead, if you published expert content that your community could view as a resource?

Find Out What People Want To Know… and Answer Their Questions!

If your organization supports a specific cause, there are likely a lot questions about that cause or issue that you can answer. For example, a quick search on Quora for “alzheimer’s caregiving” returns dozens of questions. These are potential blog, seminar, webinar and newsletter topics that you can tackle in order to create value for not just your current constituents, but prospective ones as well.

Harness Your Internal Experts

If you’re worried about who will write all of this expert content, look no further than those within your organization. Your employees, volunteers and board members likely have some expertise around the cause you support – harness this knowledge! The more authors you have contributing, the more expert content you can publish.

As you start to create expert content, your nonprofit organization can evolve from just a cause to support to being a true resource in the community. Give it a try and see what happens!

2. Earned Media: Publication relationships (to generate reputable backlinks)

A backlink is a link from another website that points to yours. Link building has been the bread and butter of SEO for as long as search engines have existed. You want other people linking to your website.

However, low-quality links can hurt you, so strive for a low quantity of high-quality links. For example, it’s better to have one link from a major publication or media outlet, than 50 from random directories.

That’s exactly what earned media does.

To put it simply, earned media is getting someone else to talk about your organization. Paid media is advertising, and owned media is your website, blog, social media channels, etc. Earned media is getting someone else to talk about you, like a newspaper, blog or other media outlet.

Building relationships with journalists and bloggers, as well as crafting relevant and compelling press releases are the key steps towards a winning earned media strategy. Again, working with a dedicated public relations professional is probably your best course of action (don’t be afraid to bring on a PR student as an intern to concentrate specifically on this; there should be plenty for them to do!).

One way of looking at things that might encourage you is that SEO isn’t something you do, but the result of doing other things well. Once you have your website in technical order, owned and earned media will pay dividends beyond higher search engine rankings.

Know that SEO is a long-term play. There are few things you can do that will generate an immediate change in rankings. Like planting a tree, the best time to get started was yesterday.

The next best time is today.

The post Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Nonprofits: A Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Bloomerang.

You can’t run a donor report by constituent type if information is not consistent. You can’t filter a report by a city, or a town if you’ve entered the full name of the city in one record and an abbreviated version in another record. And if multiple staff members are entering data into the database, it’s likely that the format of your data will be all over the map.

Documented and accessible data entry policies and procedures also protect you from staff turnover. Imagine if your database is managed by only one team member, and that team member were to suddenly leave the organization. Without a policy document, not only would you not know how things were done, but you can be sure that they would be done a different way by the next person, resulting in even messier data.

That’s why we teamed up with our friend Robin L. Cabral, MA, CFRE, Principal of Development Consulting Solutions and a 25+ year expert in interim development staffing and consulting services to create this free Donor Management Software Data Policies and Procedures Template.

You can download this template and customize it for your organization’s unique way of doing things. Once complete, be sure to make it accessible to your whole team!

Download it for free here >>

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