Power Shift: Succeeding Online in a Donor Centric World

5. Implement a "moves management" strategy.
This is about how to get people from prospect or lapsed status to one-time or multidonors, to monthly donors, and on up to major donors. Bhagat recommended giving distinct "treatments" based on behavior and affinity to advance constituents to higher value tiers.

Apply the moves management strategy across constituent programs so that event participants are moved to register, create a personal page and, ultimately, fundraise and recruit; donors are moved to give repeat gifts, monthly gifts and, ultimately, major or planned gifts; and prospects are drawn to your Web site, their e-mail addresses are captured and profiling data is collected on them.

For major donor treatment, Bhagat recommended organizations:

• Offer a highly personalized and donor-controlled Web and e-mail experience.
• Treat donors as serious program partners.
• Send a high ratio of cultivation to appeals.
• Provide opportunities for two-way communications.
• Give donors things they value to encourage word-of-mouth.
• Use video.
• Develop a quasi-directed giving program.

6. Empower constituents to act for you.

7. Organize for success.
He noted the following four key elements:

• Plan — Map organizational objectives into Internet marketing plan; establish key metrics dashboard, and set goals; and determine execution plan and staffing.
• Technology deployment — Design site and configure software to support marketing goals. Implement appropriate/effective data synchronization strategy.
• Operations — Content management, administration of Web site; e-mail communications (newsletter, ad hoc, services); engagement (surveys, advocacy, etc.); e-mail list building (offline promotions, viral campaigns, etc.); appeals (develop concept and case for support, design creative, implement landing pages, configure forms, select segments, create test cells, send e-mail, report results); and regularly track and report results.
• Review — Periodic reviews of online marketing program; analysis of file performance and composition; and benchmarking with comparable organizations.

Bhagat said it all begins with an organization's structure, as that impacts behavior, which impacts performance, and planning often is an afterthought. He advised organizations increase attention to how they organize their resources; how they plan and prioritize their work; who owns and is accountable for the work; and what interactive skills are required.