Online Fundraising

New App Uses Push Notifications to Reach Nonprofit Donors Faster
May 4, 2016 at 10:28 am

Here’s a new way to reach nonprofit donors on their smartphones. Greg McHale, founder of charitable auction site BiddingForGood, launched a new mobile app called LetsAllDoGood last week. The app lets users connect directly with partnering nonprofits through push notifications that stand out in the flood of communication on mobile devices. The key is that users can…

How Do You Measure the Value of Passion?
May 3, 2016 at 10:51 am

Let's talk about passion, specifically, what it means for nonprofits and their online relationships. When you consider your organization’s online community, you may think of your social-media groups. For a long time, there has been a push to develop as many relationships as possible...

Infographic: 7 Ways to Upgrade Your Nonprofit Donation Page
May 2, 2016 at 10:41 am

When website visitors arrive at your nonprofit donation page, you have seconds to turn that donor from a well-intentioned visitor to a donor. Whether donors arrive via email, social media or your blog, your nonprofit donation page needs to be banging all eight cylinders. Or, at least seven. Elevation recently published this snazzy infographic running down seven…

Oh #$%@! This Chat Bot Gives to Charity Every Time You Cuss
April 22, 2016 at 9:38 am

If you're not familiar with Slack, you should be. The messaging app is a productivity godsend, allowing teams to do everything they'd normally do over email, but in real time. If you are familiar with Slack, then you already know how that slightly less formal feel lends itself nicely to the occasional swear. What's a couple four-letter words among friends and co-workers, you know? It's inevitable. And now, thanks to a new Slack bot, you can cuss for a cause...

Some Users Hit 'Delete' After Pledging Charitable Donations Online, Study Shows
April 13, 2016 at 9:53 am

Do charitable campaigns conducted on social media platforms actually "click" with the public? A new study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School suggested that such campaigns can draw the attention of social media users, but not always their commitment to donate money. Published in the March 2016 issue of the journal, Sociological…

The Instagram Algorithm: What Nonprofits Need To Know
April 13, 2016 at 9:35 am

Instagram recently announced that it would be adopting Facebook’s model of algorithm-controlled content. Rather than seeing the posts of people you follow in chronological order, you’ll now see them based on "the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post." Many brands and individuals…

The Early Bird Gets the (Online) Worm: Nonprofit Lessons From Amazon's Remarkable Success
April 7, 2016 at 11:07 am

Did you order anything from Amazon this past holiday season? Are you already an Amazon Prime Member, along with 25 percent of all American households? You may be one of the 3 million new Prime members Amazon added during the third week of December alone. This month’s column is devoted to Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos’s winning playbook, and which pages nonprofits can take for their own success in 2016...

Old Dog Advice for Really Young Fundraisers
April 7, 2016 at 10:31 am

Ah, April—flowers blooming, birds chirping, and mailboxes and inboxes overflowing. But wait, there’s something new—the seasonal arrival of requests to fund a school event, mission trip, service project or a similar extracurricular activity for a Gen Y or Gen Z overachiever...

The Next Big Thing in Fundraising: Emoji Appeals ;)
April 1, 2016 at 10:25 am

We all know that mobile technology is changing the way we communicate, work and give. It only was a matter of time before the popularity of emojis, those cute little icons you see in text messages and social media updates, made their way onto the fundraising scene. Now, entire appeals are being written just with…

Infographic: When Do People Unsubscribe From Email Marketing Campaigns?
March 31, 2016 at 10:30 am

You don’t need to be an email marketing expert to know that you don’t want people to unsubscribe from your emails. However, an unsubscribe isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it can actually serve as a helpful signal. For example, if you notice that your unsubscribe rate is starting to climb, it might…