Future Fundraising Now

OMG! NFTs are going to upend everything we know about fundraising!

It's predictable. A few weeks after some new digital phenomenon gets a lot of press, you start seeing blog posts about how this Next Big Thing is going to change everything about fundraising, overturning everything from direct mail to the offering plate.

Then a few months or years pass, and everyone has forgotten the old Next Big Thing, because they're talking about the new Next Big Thing.

That's why I appreciate this post at Heroic Fundraising: Are NFTs the Next Big Thing in Fundraising?

So are nonfungible tokens set to destroy direct mail, or anything else? Maybe, but probably not. Because fundraising is not driven by Next Big Things. It's driven by:

... forging relationships between donors and organizations, giving them a way to work together to help solve problems and create a better world, is what matters. Relationships should drive fundraising. Tactics follow.

Things are changing all the time. Some of the new things are important. Most are not. But what matters most is how we think about donors and the way they connect with our causes.

That's always the Big Thing.

Study shows a big shift in donor behavior online

What changed for fundraisers during the pandemic.

The big change according to the 2021 M+R Benchmarks Study (and several other sources too) was a big jump in online giving.

The M+R found that online revenue increased by 32% over 2019.

It was even more for hunger and poverty organizations: for them, online revenue increased by 173%.

More broadly, organizations that provided COVID relief, saw a 40% increase in online revenue, while those not involved in COVID increased 22%.

What happened? Here's how the M+R report put it:

... when the pandemic swept across the world and into our lives, people responded with a heart-swelling urge to help. Uncertainty, fear, and chaos were the daily reality -- and the reaction was compassion. It was empathy. It was generosity.

That's right: Donors want to make a difference! When the need is great, their generosity grows.

And when the need is urgent, they increasingly turn to the speed and convenience of giving online.

Most email metrics -- open rates, click-through rates, response rates, and page completion rates -- went way up in 2020.

What does this mean for fundraisers now?

• Get (or stay) serious about online fundraising. While it may drop back from the highs of 2020, it will most likely stay at a new high level. More and more of your donors are giving online!
• If your organization was one that went silent during the pandemic, you will never get back the opportunity you lost. But it's not too late to start connecting with the donors who stuck with you through the hard times.
• If you had a great fundraising year, don't just assume it's all over. Focus especially on your new and upgraded donors and make sure they have a great experience in stepping up for your cause.

Donor behavior usually changes slowly. This past year, it surged dramatically forward. Don't miss the opportunity to be there and be relevant for your donors.

6 ways to get more from your fundraising emails

It's essentially free, but response is off-the-chart low most of the time. Everyone (including many donors) says it's the preferred way to communicate. But it sure doesn't seem like it.

Email: You have love it and hate it.

From Marketing for the Modern Nonprofit, here are 6 Ways to Improve Your Nonprofit Email Marketing Right Now:

1. Set up a welcome series. Just getting someone to sign up for your email list feels like such a great victory. But it's only a step toward a victory. Be ready with a series of emails that encourage engagement -- especially getting them to tell you about themselves. The first bunch of emails, coming right after they've signed on, is the make-or-break moment.
2. "Scrub" your email subscriber list. Purge the bounces, cold subscribers, spam bots, and fake accounts regularly. If you don't you can be flagged as spam by many email providers.
3. Work to improve deliverability. Send from a real email address (not a "donotreply"), ask people to put you in their senders list, use double opt-in to confirm they want to hear from you.
4. Send more emails. If you email only once a month or less, it's likely your open rates are dropping. Stay in front of your people.
5. Optimize for mobile.
6. Break the email marketing rules. Be surprising. Email at different times of day. Send very short and very long emails. Include videos or photos as well as text-only emails.

On top of all that, emails still have to be compelling, relevant, emotional and all the other things fundraising has to be. But getting these "background" things right really makes a difference.

Should you be pouring your fundraising budget into Clubhouse?

Still trying to crack the social media nut for your fundraising?

Check out this, from the Marketoonist:

If your donors aren't engaging with you on Facebook, it's not going to be better on some other platform.

If traditional channels aren't working, digital channels aren't going to bring some kind of new magic.

Fundraising is hard. There's not an easy way that will make it all come together for you.

5 ways you may be blocking your online donor from giving

When a donor completes an online donation, they have persevered against an army of distractions. A lot of those distractions are innate to the digital world -- no matter what you're doing, you're always one click away from something more interesting.

But some of the distractions are avoidable. You may put them there, costing yourself lost donations.

The Wired Impact blog has some good advice for helping donors stay on task, at Wondering How to Get People to Donate Online? Remove These 5 Barriers:

1. Your donors don’t trust you. Many donors assume your organization is a scam -- until they confirm otherwise. That may seem incredibly cynical, but it's not a bad starting point, given the number of real scams. The burden on you is to show each donor that you are for real. Give them clear signs of your transparency, authenticity, and results.
2. You don’t ask for gifts. If you want people to give, you have to ask.
3. Making a donation is complicated. Keep donation forms as simple as possible. Don't ask for information you don't really need. Suggest some amounts. Make it mobile-friendly.
4. They’re not convinced it’ll make a difference. This is the main barrier to charitable giving in all channels. That's why you need to express needs as solvable, not huge. And keep it simple. Teaching them how your programs work doesn't move people to give. Making them care and showing them they can make a difference is what it takes.
5. They see too many choices. Once someone is on a donate page, completing that donation should be the only thing for them to do. Don't distract them away with other choices.

Now is your time to join The Fundraisingology Lab. It's the top membership for smart fundraisers around the world -- with the best training, best resources, and best community you'll find anywhere. Enrollment is open until March 4. Check out The Fundraisingology Lab here!

2 weird subject line tricks for fundraising

Want to improve response to your fundraising emails?

The most important element to work on is the subject line. When you don't get a winner there, it really doesn't matter how brilliant the rest of your work is.

Strange thing about subject lines: There are two contradictory "tricks" to win eyeballs. You can read about them on the Bloomerang Blog, at Fundraising Magic Tricks to Boost Year-End Response.

Trick #1: Clarity. Use the subject line to tell the recipient exactly what they'll find inside.

Trick #2: Curiosity. Create mystery. Don't reveal what they'll find inside.

In my experience, #2 is the go-to approach most often. #1 works better only when the thing you're revealing is either an amazing "deal" or some situation everyone is thinking about -- like a natural disaster.

How not to feel like a failure next Giving Tuesday

Early reports are that Giving Tuesday was huger than ever this year.

Not a surprise, given that almost everything in fundraising has been huge this year.

Which raises the question for next year: "Should we 'do' Giving Tuesday?"

Here are my answers:

1. Don't decide next November. Think about it now.

One of the most common causes of Giving Tuesday Failure is hasty, half-baked strategy and execution, thrown together in the days before the big day, often because someone insisted that you "do" Giving Tuesday.

Decide now. If you're doing to pursue it, give yourself time to do it right.

2. It's okay not to do Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday doesn't work for everyone. If you've tried it and it hasn't done well for you, it may be your donors just aren't dialed in to the idea. If that's the case, don't waste your time.

The real "Giving Tuesday" for most organizations is on a Thursday this year: December 31. That's the biggest online giving day of the year for many, many organizations, including most that do very well on Giving Tuesday. You almost certainly should "do" December 31!

However, it may be that it hasn't worked because you haven't done it right ...

3. If you do it, do it right!

The most common mistake organizations make on Giving Tuesday is they don't actually raise funds. They just send out messages about Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday is not a reason to give. It is (for some people) and occasion for giving like birthdays, Christmas, Hannukah, and others.

My inbox was filled with subject lines like Today is Giving Tuesday and messages that went like this: It's Giving Tuesday, so give us a donation!

That's not fundraising. Fundraising is giving donors the opportunity to make something happen that they care about. Even on Giving Tuesday. That's what the organizations that do well are doing.

If your Giving Tuesday fundraising hasn't worked, take an honest look at it. Is it really fundraising, or is it just telling people to give because it's a random Tuesday?

4. If it's working, keep doing it.

13 ways to make your donation pages keep donors on task

Want your donate pages to work better? Check out these tips from the Hubspot Marketing Blog, at 13 Simple (But Critical) Tips for Creating Better Landing Pages. They're aimed at commercial landing pages, but can really help you improve your donation pages:

1. Include all critical elements of an effective landing page. Make sure the donor has everything she needs to complete her donation.
2. Remove the main navigation. Seriously. Don't create an encouragement to abandon the donation before it happens.
3. Match the headline of the landing page to its corresponding CTA. There should be no change of topic, mood, or words between whatever got them to the page and what they see on the page.
4. Remember: Less is more. Do one thing: get the donation.
5. Emphasize the offer's value. As always, remember what's in it for the donor.
6. Encourage social sharing. But not until they've completed the transaction.
7. Create more landing pages to generate more leads. More offers mean more donations.
8. Only ask for the information you really need. Don't ask for anything you don't need for the donation at hand. You can ask for other things later -- but not if they abandon before they complete.
9. Consider whether To Submit, or Not to Submit? "DONATE" is the default button for landing pages. Can you mnake it something more targeted and interesting.
10. Reduce anxiety with proof elements. Let them know the donation is secure, and you are a reputable organization.
11. Make the form appear shorter. Simpler is better, and looking simpler is better yet.
12. Include rich media on your landing pages.
13. Pay attention to the copy. This is where you win or lose. Make sure everything is clear and compelling.

Are you over-emailing or under-emailing?

Afraid you're annoying your donors by emailing them too often?

Are you also afraid that you contact them so infrequently they don't know you exist?

Both are potential problems.

But under-emailing is far more common.

There's a "sweet spot" between the extremes, and you can read about it at How to Avoid Being a “Spammer” or Being Forgotten: How Often Should Your Nonprofit Keep In Touch? on the Bloomerang Blog:

... e-mail marketing statistics tell us that between one and two e-mails a week prove to be the most effective. Additionally, good social media practice says to try to post once a day to stay in your audience’s “feed” and top of mind.

Of course, being relevant, interesting, and welcome are part of the job too!

4 ways to keep online donors from leaving before they donate

Are you getting all the online donations you should, or is your website causing donors to lose their way before they can make the donation they mean to give?

Here are some important tips on keeping your online donors on task as they move from thinking about giving, to completing that online donation form, from the Big Duck blog, at Four ways to ensure your online donors don't get lost on their way to giving:

1. Don't be subtle. Make your DONATE button stand out like a beacon. Don't make it blend in with your tasteful brand color palette.
2. Don't bury the ask. Make it easy for any visitor to quickly and easily see why they might give. And don't make them jump through hoops to do so. The donate page should be one click away from everywhere -- at most.
3. Don't overcomplicate it. Make it easy to give. Don't ask for information you don't have to ask for. Don't give them extra decisions to make. You can engage in all those other ways later.
4. Don't give them a reason to walk away. Make your donation pages secure (and tell them so), make sure it's readable and works on smart phones, and accept as many payment methods as possible.