Olivia Smith (Senior VP) of BKV, Inc. headed up a six month study on what charities are doing in email. Smith shared many of her findings during a session at the DMANF Conference in New York on August 25th.  It was quite fascinating and Smith told me they will be releasing a white paper on the study.

I want to touch on a couple of their findings here.  First a bit about their methodology as I understand it from Smith’s presentation:

Goal was to observe the emails from 100 charities of various sizes over 6 months

Their selection criteria included charities with the ability to accept donations online; and the ability to EASILY register/subscribe online to a newsletter or email updates.  This second criterion to “easily subscribe” eliminated 25 charities. That’s lesson number ONE – make it easy for prospects and donors to sign-up for your email communications.

Therefore 75 charities were chosen (none of which were clients of BKV, Inc.), in eight verticals: advocacy, animal, sponsorship, children, environmental, health, human services, and international. 

A $10 online donation was made with each charity with one email address.  And with a different email address than that used for the donation, Smith registered online with the same 75 charities.  Then the emails began to flow.

Over the course of six months she received 1546 emails as a result of the $10 donation; and she receive another 1583 emails by simply subscribing.

Want to stand out from the crowd?  Karen says . . .

Send BOTH a thank you email for online donations, and a thank you letter or card in the mail.  Why?  Because in Smith’s study only a handful of charities did this.

I was surprised by this – but maybe I shouldn’t have been – and also disappointed.  With the mountains of studies and proof that donors respond more often when communicated with across multiple channels . . . why not start off right by saying thank you online and offline?  Begin your relationship with a strong positive first impression through warm cultivation and gratitude.

Lesson number TWO – thank online donors in two ways: Online and offline. 

Welcome everyone and share more about what you do

Smith received more “welcome” messages when she subscribed than from her donations.  The welcome messages told more of “here’s what we do” and “how you can help.”

Surely the charities don’t assume that just become someone makes a $10 online donation, that donor knows everything about the charity! 

This is another MAJOR cultivation opportunity missed by too many charities.  Brand new online donors as well as non-donor email subscribers need to be welcomed to your nonprofit. 

Share success stories in your welcome that highlight in a simple “show and tell” fashion each of your programs.  Briefly introduce planned giving.  Share all the ways they can be involved and where to find you (e.g., social media, send them to your YouTube page, events, newsletters, etc.). 

Lesson number THREE – welcome everyone.  Don’t discriminate.

I could go on and on about this revealing study, but I’ll save the rest for another day.  Meanwhile I’ve given you three lessons on improving relationships with your supporters . . . three opportunities for your charity.  And they’re all comparatively easy to implement.

Today I share some highlights from a terrific study by Russ Reid Company, Heart of the Donor.  They unveiled the results of their 2010 study during the DMANF Conference in New York in August.  The report will be available soon.

I was taking notes fast and furious as Lisa McIntyre (Senior VP of Strategy Development, Russ Reid Company) spoke.  Here are some of the highlights I captured:

Parental involvement trumps any other activity in terms of WHY and whether people give to a charity.  These six parental behaviors – and how many of them your parents did – have the greatest influence on your behavior toward charities:

- Gave money to their place of worship
- Gave money to other charities
- Talked about nonprofit organization in front of children and why they gave
- Take children to place of worship
- Parents volunteer for a nonprofit
- Parents take the child along to also volunteer

As I understand it, 80% of the children from parents with this behavior become donors.  And the more parents exhibited this behavior . . . the more generous the kids are when they grow up and start to give.

If donors are under the age of 40 . . . they’re seeking to get an “impression” about you through social media, talking to friends, and visiting your website. 

If donors are over the age of 40 . . . they’re checking for information about you; checking your credibility; they read the annual report and look at your overhead; and they check your website.

People over the age of 70 are still among the most valuable donors – most generous and most loyal.  Focus most of your resources on the donors giving you the greatest value.

NO CHANNEL stands alone.  On average, donors use 3 out of 10 channels listed to give:

64% – collection box
61% – mail
34% – online
29% – workplace
26% – place of worship
22% – telemarketing
18% – TV/radio
15% – automatic (auto-pay / sustainer)
14% – gift catalog
8% – text (mobile)

Website is your single most important communication vehicle at your disposal.  When people investigate charities . . .

62% go to the charity website
56% search the web
46% talk to a friend that already supports you
44% check your overhead
etc.

What do they want to find on your website, in your letters, everywhere?  What factors have the greatest influence on whether you receive that first gift?

- Is there evidence you do what you claim?
- How do you do it?
- What have you done so far?
- How much do you spend on overhead? 

If you want an illustration related to that last set of bullets, this post will help you see what you need to change on your website: Cartoon Shows Disconnect in Nonprofit Websites  

What donors want more than anything is VALUE.   And if you need to spend more on salaries to do it right and provide value . . . that’s okay.  And if it means you need to spend more on fundraising to give value and do a good job of helping others . . . that’s okay.  Lesson here is that IF you provide value (as perceived by donors), and you communicate that value CLEARLY, they won’t criticize you for spending more money wisely.

If you want to become a donor’s favorite charity you must accomplish three things: First and foremost you must be trustworthy.  And your mission must be relevant to the donor personally and through any experience they have with you.  Trust coupled with how relevant you are to them personally, and their experience with you all leads to a very loyal donor.

I recommend you get this study when it’s published.  It correlated exceedingly well with a study by Convio also shared during the conference.  I think that says a lot for how safely you can take this data and apply it to your nonprofit.

In the for-profit marketplace “lead nurturing” receives a lot of attention. It requires skill.  That’s because a lead can result in a sale.  A lead correctly nurtured generates revenue.

This is analogous to nonprofits nurturing prospective donors to a charity, or members to an association.  Each donor and member results in revenue.

LeadSloth by Jep Castelein has a blog post titled, “Finding Untapped Revenue in Your Marketing Database.”  Castelein says, “With a solid nurturing strategy you’ll find new sales opportunities from leads who you thought were not interested.”

Translated for nonprofits, Castelein’s wisdom means that . . . with a solid nurturing strategy, you’ll find new prospects you thought weren’t interested that become donors and/or members.  There are “untapped opportunities in your database.”

Castelein goes on to say there are six steps to uncover those untapped opportunities.  I’ve transformed his six steps into verbiage applicable to charities and associations, plus I added my thoughts on what it means to you:

1 – Choose The Right Audience . . . 100% of the population is not interested in your nonprofit and will not support it regardless of what you do. Stop trying to appeal to such a broad market.  If you want to attract more people, appeal to just a few.

2 – Know All About Your Audience . . . conduct more research into why people support you; surveys online and by anyone who answers the phone; talk to them at special events; study what they respond to and record all this in your database.

3 – Create Content That Your Audience Needs . . . and that they VALUE. This also includes donor-centric and member-centric copy.  It’s all about them and NOT you.  Cultivate your prospective donors and members. 

4 – Make Offers They Can’t Refuse . . . how you ask for a donation is an offer.  How you invite someone to join your association or renew their membership is an offer.  Is it a great offer from THEIR perspective?  Is it CLEAR?  Is it compelling?

5 – Have Conversations . . . ask for their opinion; invite comments on a blog; engage them in social media; talk to them on the phone; and do all this without always asking for a donation or for anything besides their thoughts!

6 – Collaborate With Your Communication Team . . . breakdown the silos. Development staff works with marketing and communications. Online staff works with offline staff.  Exchange ideas.  What’s working for each of you and what isn’t?  How can that knowledge be leveraged? Without integration at all levels, you’re hurting your bottom line.  You’re losing prospects.

Lead nurturing is just as important within the nonprofit industry as it is in the for-profit marketplace.  Do this well if you want to acquire more donors and members.  You’ll generate more revenue for you nonprofit as you simultaneously give supporters what they want.

Yes, yet another study on what boomers and seniors are doing online was released.  Specifically it addresses how they’re using social media. 

The primary finding is that “…social networking use among those ages 50 and older nearly doubled over the past year.”  They’re getting into the groove with networking sites. This is from a study by the Pew Research Center (“Older Adults and Social Media).

In fact among those ages 50-64 that are online, nearly half (47%) use social networking sites (an 88% increase).  And for those users over the age of 65, one in four (26%) are socializing online (a 100% increase over the previous year).

Significance to Nonprofits

Seniors (over the age of 65) comprise the vast majority of donors for the vast majority of charities.   

Boomers also ought to be a target market that charities are reaching out to.  This group is worthy of much attention and cultivating so they too become a major segment of your donor pool . . . so they’re already supporting you in one way or another before they reach age 65.

And if these two groups are using more social media then this is where you can find them.  Go where the people are.

1 - Start now to expand your donor profile to include the “young donors age 45-55.”  Reach out to them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube to name a few.  Have a presence on these networks and seek out those who fit your target donor profile.

2 – If most of your donors are over 65, keep your website design simple.  Minimize the raz-a-ma-taz, flash, etc. This drags site loading to a death crawl.

This is always good advice but the Pew research found that “seniors over 65 are among those least likely to have high-speed Internet access at home — less than one-third of them have broadband.”

Make it easy for web visitors to enlarge font size

Also have a way for web visitors to increase the size of the font.  Make this prominent and EASY to find.  The graphic to the left illustrates what I mean.

3 – Email is a great way to communicate with seniors and boomers.  60% of boomer Internet users send or receive email; and this is true for 55% of seniors.

4 – Consider online ads (i.e., Google Display ads) to reach those who visit other types of websites. For example: A very large segment of web users also get their news online (42% boomers, 34% seniors), do banking online (22% boomers, 19% seniors), and fewer use online classifieds (6% boomers, 5% seniors).

Why boomers & seniors use social media

Knowledge of your target audience is priceless.  Knowing why boomers and seniors are using social media will help you tailor your communications so they resonate with the readers.

According to Pew research, the three primary reasons are these:

1 – Connections with friends and colleagues from their past can “…provide a powerful support network when people near retirement or embark on a new career.” 

Takeaway: If you’re on the staff of a membership association, how might you use this knowledge to attract more members?  How might you tap into the experience and knowledge of these people to educate and train more of your younger members?

2 – “Older adults are more likely to be living with a chronic disease.  Those living with these diseases are more likely to reach out for support online.”  Blogging and online health forums or listservs are popular with some people coping with a serious illness.

Takeaway: How might this knowledge help your health or disease research charity grow?  Can they find you and the help they need on social sites?  Are you giving them the web communication channels they want?

3 – “Social media bridges generational gaps . . . these social spaces pool together users from very different parts of people’s lives and provide the opportunity to share skills across generational divides.”

Takeaway: Similar to #2, health charities can also reach out to younger age groups who may have parents or grandparents suffering from a chronic disease.  They may well want to support a charity that’s helping a family member.   And there are many types of nonprofits that can use this generational diversity to their advantage.

Proceed with a Plan

But I don’t want you to blindly dive head first into the deep water.  You might drown.  What I mean is that without a nonprofit social media plan you could easily use precious resources inefficiently.

Therefore, first have a plan on how you’ll integrate social media into your fundraising and marketing strategy, and know what you want it to do for your nonprofit.

With your plan in place . . . here’s one idea on how to leverage your time and the content you create: Add a blog to your static website. No one needs to know it’s a blog (have your web designer create a header that matches the rest of your site). 

But it’s a super easy and fast way to add content – to keep your website fresh.  And if it’s not “obvious” that it’s a blog then you won’t feel burdened to update it every other day or so. 

The advantage is that each time you add a success story from the field to your website (i.e., the blog), you can have it automatically update your Facebook page. 

More detailed results from the study

• One in five (20%) online adults ages 50-64 say they use social networking sites on a typical day, up from 10% one year ago.

• Among adults ages 65 and older, 13% log on to social networking sites on a typical day, compared with just 4% who did so in 2009.

• One in ten Internet users ages 50 and older now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves or see updates about others.

As the study says, they’re using these sites to connect with old friends, keep in touch with family (especially those far away including nieces, nephews, and grandkids), building networks for finding jobs and furthering their careers, and to keep current on events.

Boomers and seniors are groovin’ online.  More and more are expanding their online use every day.  Go where the people are.  Integrate your fundraising and marketing plans to include social media.  But do this wisely.  Do this with a plan.

Based on the questions after the session, and comments from attendees during the rest of the conference . . . our “Top Nonprofit Bloggers Tell It Like It Is” session was enjoyed by all.  Jeff Brooks organized this for the DMA Nonprofit Federation New York Conference (Aug 24-25, 2010).  Thanks, Jeff.

In the 12 minutes I had to “spout off” my goal was to open people’s minds to ALL the possibilities of mobile. As I often say, mobile giving is only the tip of the iceberg. 

I believe the true potential of mobile is CULTIVATION.   You can build stronger relationships and cultivate all your target audiences: donors, prospects, members, advocates, volunteers, and beneficiaries of your mission via mobile.

Are most of your donors over age 65? 

My idea on how to address this fact sparked considerable interest.  First let me say that there are MANY seniors and matures that use mobile devices. And a good percentage of them already send and receive text messages. 

But if you have mature supporters who don’t know how to text . . . help them learn.  Create a guidebook, video or another tool that shows them how to do this.  Yes, I know there are many different types of mobile phones and devices.  Choose the top 5 or 6 and create tutorials for them.

Second: Promote your texting learning tool to your mature donor database by appealing to the grandparents in the crowd.  Ask how many would like to communicate more often with their grandkids?  Texting is one of the best ways to do this. 

Why?  Because their grandkids probably do almost nothing but text. Teens and youths spend very little time talking on mobile phones.  Studies show they’re not too keen on talking.  They find it rude and invasive.  So although the grandparents may prefer to talk, at least they’ll be able to keep in touch via text instead of getting nothing but silence. 

Teach them how to send and receive text messages from their grandkids and you’ll definitely build a stronger relationship with these mature donors.  And then invite them to also receive mobile updates from your nonprofit via text.  Send them success stories, or other valuable content to help them keep their texting skills sharp for the grandkids. 

Remember, mobile is an extremely personal communication channel . . . the most personal channel available.  And personal touches are ideal for cultivating stronger relationships. 

What do you think of using mobile for cultivating stronger donor and supporter relationships?  Spout off with your thoughts and leave a comment.

More about the blogger’s panel for DMANF in New York:

Each of us spoke frankly on whatever topic we chose.  Anything that was happening within the nonprofit industry, impacting it, what we liked or didn’t like, where we thought things were headed, and so forth.  It was a fun time with my fellow bloggers.

Members of the Blogger’s panel were …

 Jeff Brooks, Future Fundraising Now    

Katya Andresen, Katya’s Non-profit Marketing Blog  

Sarah Durham, Duck Call (Big Duck) 

Roger Craver, The Agitator, and            

myself, Karen Zapp, Zapp Nonprofit Blog

I’ve often written about website usability in my newsletter and here in the blog.  And I’ve shared links to show the good, bad, and the ugly of nonprofit websites. I’ve also used tables to compare and contrast “fuzzy” nonprofit language to “clear” terms donors understand.

But I just came across a cartoon that puts the usability issue in a whole new light.

This first cartoon by Randall Munroe (http://xkcd.com/) cracked me up.  Munroe created a cartoon that compares what a university puts on their home page versus what people are actually looking for when they come to the website.

Courtesy of xkcd.com

Notice that there’s very little overlap.  The only thing they have in common is the “full name of school!” 

I think that a big chunk of the nonprofit website usability problems stem from a disconnect.  Specifically, a disconnect between how a fundraiser thinks and how a donor thinks.  Your website will resonate with donors when you think like they do.

Munroe inspired me.  So I created a slightly less sophisticated cartoon of my own.  Mine illustrates the disconnect found on many charity websites . . .

Charity Website Disconnect

Advising you to “think like a donor” is sound advice.  I hope these cartoons demonstrate why that way of thinking is essential when you write any copy, or prepare any marketing communications. 

Eliminate the disconnect.  Make your nonprofit website reflect the thoughts of your donors.

You can grow your subscribers and followers by integrating email and social media.  They feed off each other and the result is more people reading your content.

How might you integrate email and social media?

- deliver blog posts via email

- share email newsletters on Twitter

- insert links to blog posts within emails and newsletters

- In a manner of speaking, Facebook does a simplistic form of integration for you.  Facebook requires an email address to log-on, and their emails notify you of updates, friend requests and comments.  

Again, by driving your social media followers and fans to email lists – and vice versa – you can build your subscriber base (and yes, follower/fan lists also grows).  This also gives subscribers the choice of reading your content in their preferred channel.  It’s good service (cultivation and building relationships) to give them a choice whenever possible.

Will you really see growth in your lists/databases? 

A recent survey by AWeber of email marketers found that . . .

33% reported an increase in their email subscriber base after integrating social media and email marketing.

30% reported an increase in friends/fans/followers after integrating social media and email marketing.

20% reported an increase in loyalty after integrating social media and email marketing.
 

Not all the marketers track their numbers.  If they did I firmly believe the numbers would be higher. 

There’s more.  A study by the Nielsen Company indicates that “…social media use makes people consume email more, not less…particularly for the highest social media users.”

Bottom Line:   It pays to integrate email and social media.  It will yield more subscribers and followers.  But don’t stop there.  Nonprofits today must have a complete mix of offline and online channels in order to survive.  And they must also do it well in order to thrive with their fundraising and marketing.

Ain’t technology great?  Imagine taking a snapshot of a Mesozoic Era dinosaur with your cell phone.  That’s what you can do at the American Museum of Natural History.  But that’s not the only way 21st Century mobile technology is meshing with history at the Museum.

Earlier this month the American Museum of Natural History rolled out its “Explorer app” for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.  This application is designed to make it easier for Museum visitors to navigate through the various exhibitions.

Cultivation via Mobile

I view this as a terrific example of how mobile can be used to cultivate supporters . . . whether they’re visitors/prospects, donors, or anyone. This app provides several engaging activities to enhance the experience people have with this nonprofit. 

The Museum is really thinking hard about all the ways they can make it easier for people, and to maximize the quality of their experience with the Museum. 

For example: Visitors can use their own mobile device or borrow one of 350 that are available for free.  Plus they have an “App Support Team” of 25 young people to answer any questions visitors might have about using the mobile devices and the app.  That’s service.

What can visitors do with the Explorer app while at the American Museum of Natural History? 

 - pinpoint your location and get step-by-step (or turn-by-turn) directions to the next place you want to go.  Find your way through 45 permanent exhibition halls, theaters, restrooms (always an important room to find quickly when you need it), where to get a bite to eat, and of course the shops for gifts and souvenirs. 

 - create your own custom audio and visual tour

 - go on a fossil treasure hunt (that sounds fun)

 - get more information on the displays in the exhibit halls

Cultivation centers on creating a rich experience. Giving supporters content they want and value.  Making it easy for them.  Engaging them in a positive way.  Making them feel important.  I think the Explorer app by the American Museum of Natural History achieves all this.

When all is said and done, nonprofits are all about people in one way or another.  It’s also about the relationship with those people – your donors, advocates, prospects, volunteers, members, etc.  Mobile is an important way to create and maintain donor relationships . . . cultivation.

Read more about the Explorer app on Mashable along with a demo video, Navigate the American Museum of Natural History with New iPhone and iPad Apps

How can your nonprofit engage and cultivate supporters via mobile?  How can you build a stronger relationship with them?  What ideas does this example prompt for you, even if you don’t create your own app?

NOTE: Ready to discover more ways mobile can build donor relationships for your nonprofit? I’ve written a guidebook – or primer – that’s a soup to nuts aid to help you see the potential of mobile.

Sample Email Format

1 – Salutation.  A warm, personalized greeting.  If your audience is all seniors (over age 65), it’s probably best to use “Dear” in the greeting.

2 – Insert a click-able graphic or video in the upper right-hand corner below your header.  Ideally have a call-to-action within the graphic and not merely a cute picture.  Remember that many people won’t see the graphic unless they “click to download” it.  So don’t depend on the picture. 

    Also, when you create the code for the graphic I recommend you add the “Alt Tag.”  This allows you to describe the graphic with a call-to-action and these words will show even when the picture doesn’t. For example the “Alt Tag” could read: Send petition to Senator Doe

3 – The first paragraph is your lead. Make it short, sweet and to the point. In fact, your offer and call-to-action should be here and contained within anchor text hyperlink.  Ideally send people to a unique landing page when they click your hyperlinks.

4 - In the next few paragraphs (one, two or three short ones), state your case.  What’s in it for your reader?  Why should they respond?  What difference will they make by responding?  Here and everywhere use donor-centric copy.

5 – Insert your second hyperlink.  It might be a stand alone link centered on the line. Or it may be within the paragraph(s) where you state your  case for responding.

6 – Briefly reinforce your case.

7 – Closing.  Quick summary of most important point and what you want the reader to do.  It’s paramount for you to be CLEAR.  Be redundant.  Keep it simple and spell it out.

8 – Signature.  This matches the from line. 

9 – P.S. is where you tie it all together in a sentence or two.  What impact the reader will have by responding, the offer and call-to-action, and your appreciation for all their support.  Include a 3rd hyperlink to your unique landing page.

That’s a template for your emails.  Remember not to get long-winded either.  Brevity and clarity are essential in nonprofit email marketing.  I believe you’ll also find it useful to read another post I wrote, 7 guidelines for emails readers respond to  . . .  along with, How to write email subject lines.

Would you produce a direct mail campaign on a whim?  Would you just “try it” to see what happens?  Or would you plan it carefully as part of an overall fundraising and marketing strategy?

I believe your answer is that you would plan it carefully as part of an overall strategy.

So why do so many nonprofits and for-profit companies venture into social media without a strategy?  This is the on-target question raised by Steve Richards in Econsultancy’s Digital Marketing Blog post, “Why you need a social media strategy, not a Facebook strategy.”

Richards’ point is that almost no one would experiment like this offline.  So why be so haphazard with social media?  To quote Richards,

“The paradox is that most of these same companies would not undertake offline marketing activities on a whim, but carefully plan their campaigns to the smallest detail. They are scrupulous about targeting their direct response campaigns, and every word of a print advertisement is carefully chosen.”

Even other online channels such as email and pay-per-click are done with care and a thought-out strategy.  This is in contrast to social media which is often viewed as “an add-on that we get to whenever we have a few extra minutes.” 

Yikes.  That’s risky.

To paraphrase Richards and to put this in context of the nonprofit sector:  “And when I say social media activities, I mean a structured, organised set of activities, which bring your social media strategy to life. It’s not about being on Facebook, or having a Twitter account, or creating a YouTube channel. Social media isn’t a set of platforms; it’s an attitude towards engaging with prospects, donors, and members in an open, honest way, and it has to be properly co-ordinated . . . “

Technology and new tools are great. I mean that. We simply need to be careful not to be dazzled by the shiny new toy.  We need to be careful not to start playing with the new toy without first reading the instructions and understanding how it works.  Or rather, without first understanding how social media fits in with your overall fundraising and marketing strategy, goals, and objectives. Including, what you specifically want to achieve with social media that contributes to your overall strategy.

Here are some points to consider as you develop your social media strategy:

- Who are you targeting?

- Where’s the best place(s) to find them? Which social media platforms are most relevant for your audience?

- Perhaps you’re also trying to expand your audience into a broader cross section of people.  That’s fine. But again, have a plan and choose social media platforms that match your target.

- What types of messages will resonate with your audience and inspire them to respond?

- Social media is a great way to drive traffic to your website. What will you have them do when they get there?

- Social media is also a way to monitor what’s being said about your nonprofit.

- How can social media build upon and compliment everything else you’re doing?  How can these platforms reinforce your other channels?

- Will you use social media to raise awareness, raise funds, cultivate donors and members, share news, market events, praise donors and volunteers, acquire more supporters, etc.?

- What are you striving for through social media?  And what is the sequence of steps you must guide them (i.e., donors, prospects, advocates, members, etc.) through to reach your goal?

Bottom line: Without a social media strategy how will you ever know if you accomplished your goal?  How will you know if your efforts have been worthwhile?