Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Click-it! I know you can!
This week’s links include some thought-provoking stuff. And a reminder of what you need to do to prepare for Halloween!
Email Frequency
Click-It: How Many Fundraising Emails Should You Send a Year? In this very comprehensive article by Justin Perkins on the FrogLoop blog you’ll find out why you should ask for gifts via email more often. And why it may be a better investment to grow your email list organically rather than rent lists to send direct snail mail. There’s also a Breakeven/ROI Calculator you can download to figure out what type of investment makes sense for your organization. Interesting food for thought, to be sure. Even if this doesn’t make dollars and sense to your organization, there’s a nice list of tips on the art of fundraising (i.e., what “good fundraising typically involves”) at the end of the article. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Good timing (riding news cycles, sending urgent appeals tied to a deadline, piggy-backing on related moments of opportunity)
- Use of integrated CRM platforms (such as Salsa, Engaging Networks, Convio/Blackbaud etc.) rather than email blasting tools (such as MailChimp, Constant Contact and Vertical Response) that don’t enable a seamless, one-to-one user experience optimized specifically for fundraising.
- Integration with advocacy campaigns – this is a huge missed opportunity that I see across the sector, especially when research shows that advocates are up to 7x more likely to donate money
Donor-Centricity
Click-it: “Your Call Is Important To Us. Please Continue To Hold.” I laughed out loud when I read Agitator Editor Roger Craver’s title. It was the laughter of recognition. He’s reminding us that close to 20% of donors who lapse do so because of poor service. This is a wake-up call! The article includes an insightful customer service infographic from Kissmetrics. Plus some tips from Disney – and we know that’s the happiest place on earth! Check it out, share widely with your team – and make some donors happy.
Blog Promotion
Click-It: The Blog Promotion Checklist: 10 Ways To Gain Exposure #Blogging comes from Social Media Marketing University (SMMU). I know you focus on content – and “Content is King” – but I always add that there’s a “Promotion Queen” standing behind the king to make sure anything gets accomplished. If no one reads your posts, then… what’s the point? Check this post out for some great tips. Which one do you like best?
What Fundraising is all About
Click it: Fundraising is about money. And the moon’s a hunk of stinky green cheese. I love this post from Tom Ahern. Just read it! (BTW: Did you know that the average donor will stay with your nonprofit less than two years?). Get some advice on how to stop this. Right here.
We’re stirring up some MAJOR fun this coming Monday!
Don’t forget: The October Nonprofit Blog Carnival flies in on it’s Halloween-themed broomstick this coming Monday. It will be filled with advice about creating and sustaining a major gifts program – no matter what the size or shape of your charity. So don’t miss the fun ride!
Photo: Flickr, Anna Lee
