Interactive Fundraising: Test, Analyze, Repeat

Based on the simplicity of deployment and initial successes, Jeff is planning on doing further segmented appeals by building online “tribute” pages for alumni recognition award recipients and professors who are retiring after a long tenure. Tribute appeals will be sent to the alumni’s classmates or students of a beloved retiring professor.

Other segmentation that can be tested using these same principals is establishing specific donation pages for communication channels, such as Facebook or Twitter. A question development directors often ask is, “How do I quantify the value of social-media interactions in terms of donations?” Creating distinct donation pages for these channels provides an easy way of tracking the actual donations that result from a particular channel of communication. For example, in your Twitter communications, a bit.ly link to your respective donation form will enable you to track donations that result from this particular channel.

The lesson in all of this: Don’t be afraid to try new things. Some will probably not work as well as you had hoped, but the risks are low and the rewards are potentially great. Continually experimenting with new approaches to online fundraising will help you to determine the things that work best for your organization.

Mark Sutton is president of Artez Interactive, U.S. Follow him on Twitter at @marksutton