The theme here is, “Ask.”

Ask For Donations Via Email

Most people give because they were asked. The same holds true for online fundraising. Send email appeals several times a year - 6-12 at a minimum. The more you email, the more you raise.

Ask For Donations Via Social Media

Don’t expect an avalanche of giving via social media channels. Social giving is growing slowly, and some nonprofits do succeed in these channels. The successful ones invest time and other resources into making it work. Post a fundraising ask on your social media channels about as often as you ask via email, and coordinate them to get a nice 1-2 punch. Definitely use these channels to show donor impact, and to thank and celebrate your supporters.

Ask For Donations In Your E-newsletter

This could be a small feature box or at least a Donate link in your header and/or footer graphic.

Ask for Online Donations In Your Direct Mail Newsletter.

Make sure your direct mail subscribers know that they can make a convenient, secure online donation on your website.

These are tactics mature fundraising organizations use to boost fundraising results.

Optimize Your Landing Page

Make sure your donation page is clear, focused, and contains as few fields as necessary to obtain the donation.

• Keep the form to one page
• Include some short, passionate fundraising copy at the top of the form
• Display your charity credentials from the Better Business Bureau, Charity Navigator, et. al.
• Include a prominent security badge
• Experiment with gift strings (the suggested gift amounts)
• Make sure your form displays well on mobile devices
• Do not link to YouTube videos, reports, blog posts or other media that can take people off of your donate page.

Plan A Campaign

Move from a single appeal to a multi-channel, multi-email campaign. A brief outline of a campaign looks like this:

• GOAL (how much do you want to raise and by when)
• THEME
• NARRATIVE ARC (what stories are you going to tell)
• CHANNELS (map out how you will deploy your campaign in email, website, social, direct mail, search, telemarketing, etc.)
• SCHEDULE (when are you sending what)
• METRICS

Begin A/B Testing

Want to know what works? Don’t just go with your gut. Test. The best campaigners relentlessly test and refine as they go. Test one thing at a time. Google “A/B fundraising testing.” A few ideas:

• Subject lines
• Call to action, i.e. the words you hyperlink to entice the click
• Graphic
• Button color
• Short vs. long content
• Who the email is “from,” i.e. your executive director or just your nonprofit name
• Premiums (things you give away to people who donate)

Segment Your List
Don’t treat all subscribers and donors the same! Segment your list. For example, build one list consisting of volunteers only and another for donors. This allows you to create messages that are more targeted and relevant, which means they are more likely to be opened, read, and acted upon.