E-Philanthropy

“Not a known member.” “Undeliverable.” “Deleted.” These e-alternatives to the old postal pain-in-the-neck message “Return to Sender” can be annoying at best. At worst, they can signal a sad state of affairs in your e-mail files that can waste your organization’s precious time and money — not to mention eroding delicate donor relationships because your advocacy, fundraising, educational and thank-you messages, etc., simply aren’t getting through.

Let’s have a look at six types of landing-page conversion killers. Avoid these mistakes, and your chances of creating a high-converting page will dramatically increase. 1. Are you wishy-washy? 2. Are you too clever? 3. Are you using meaningless graphics? 4. Are you a hype machine? 5. Are you irrelevant? 6. Do you rely too much on the power of free?

Here are four pointers you’ll want to share with your fundraisers as they e-mail their networks of family and friends, asking to support your mission: 1. A strong subject line ensures a higher open rate. 2. Personalized copy keeps a reader engaged. 3. A fundraiser's story ignites a reader's empathy. 4. Recommend giving levels, and tie them with impact.

E-mail is an important part of our fourth-quarter fundraising strategy, but this old dog sees too much wasted opportunity in her inbox.

At bbcon, two fundraising professionals shared the key attributes of engaging e-mail and ways to optimize e-mail communications in their session, "Email in a Social Media/Mobile Device World."

Our research surfaced five actions nonprofits can take to grow their donor pools and maximize their exposures during the holiday season: 1. Get an early start. 2. Use digital to drive discovery. 3. Video turns viewers into donors. 4. Mobile is a must. 5. Build your brand around your mission.

Whether you've prepared all year for December fundraising or are playing catch-up, there are still opportunities to make simple changes to help raise more money for your cause this year. Use this quick checklist to improve your odds of making the most out of this season of giving.

FundRaising Success announces the 2013 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence E-mail ($10 Million and Up) winner: Canine Companions for Independence.

FundRaising Success announces the 2013 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence E-mail (Less Than $10 Million) winner: NARAL Pro-Choice America.

You've optimized your acquisition process. You're gaining new donors. You're sending them the content you promised when they signed up. You should be growing your donor base, right? Not if you aren't able to plug the leak on the other end. You may want to consider opt-down and other options, rather than a simple "Bummer, see ya later." There are three ways to do this effectively: 1. Reduce frequency. 2. Focus content. 3. Facilitate e-mail address changes.