Retention

Engaging your audience and getting them to act is one of the most important goals of any nonprofit organization. Though online fundraising has become extremely competitive, the advent of interactive marketing and the latest in Web site development have helped that goal become easier to attain. It’s simply a matter of knowing how to implement the technology and maximize your fundraising efforts with the use of a few simple creative elements. The Nature Conservancy and marketing agency Crew Creative put interactive marketing strategies to work for them when they launched the nonprofit’s large-scale reforestation campaign, Plant a Billion Trees. Creative techniques helped

It’s been a long wait, but business-intelligence technology finally is within the reach of nonprofit organizations. Business enterprises have had these tools to play with for some time, but many nonprofit fundraisers are new to the game and are left scratching their heads, wondering what to do with them. Since nonprofits are without established best practices, they first need to get a clear understanding of business intelligence and start asking themselves some questions. They should find out whether the staff is effectively managing the donor pipeline, if the board has clear insight into the organization at all levels, whether real-time campaign-performance monitoring

In tough economic times, fundraisers must use all the tools at their disposal to ensure their organizations can continue to meet the demand for their services. Even with the growth of electronic communications, traditional direct mail remains an important tool for raising donations. Savvy fundraisers can make their investments in direct mail work harder by ensuring that their production vendors are using all available means to optimize their postage spends. Using nonprofit Standard mail postage rates is easier than ever. Qualified nonprofit organizations can stretch scarce fundraising dollars by using discounted Standard mail rates for nonprofit religious, educational, scientific, philanthropic, agricultural, labor, veterans and

Editor’s Note: The October issue of FundRaising Success features a story by cartoonist and direct-mail consultant Stu Heinecke on using customized cartoons in direct-mail fundraising efforts. This is a sidebar to that story, “Drawing Attention to Your Cause.” 1. Focus on the recipient’s identity, not yours. Or your client’s. One of the biggest mistakes I see marketers making with personalized cartoons is that they forget who’s important: the recipient. The cartoon’s job is not to sell the product (or cause), but to reveal the truth — the reason why your product is needed or your cause is important. Sell them in the letter copy.

Here’s a shout-out to Rick Christ at NPAdvisors for compiling these useful stats about seniors and their online habits. To read the full post (and sign up for this free, on-point newsletter) click here. * 65 percent of those 50 to 64 years old and 32 percent of those 65+ use the Internet. Only 22 percent of the 65+ crowd was online in 2004, and only 15 percent in 2000. (Pew Internet, Feb-March 2007) * Of those 65 years and older, 34 percent of men and only 21 percent of women are online. This is the only age group where men outpace women online.

Nonprofits interested in beefing up their planned-giving base should reach out to potential donors in their 40s, according to a recently released study dubbed “Discovering the Secret Giver.” Conducted for The Stelter Company, a Des Moines, Iowa-based fundraising consultancy, the study examined how and why people age 40 and up make bequests to nonprofit groups. These “secret givers” aren’t generally on fundraisers’ radars, the report found. Bev Hutney, creative director at Stelter, says the study shows that nonprofits should be reaching out to people in their 40s, which is at least 10 years earlier than the timing that is widely accepted as ideal in

“A tagline is a terrible thing to waste,” says Nancy Schwartz, president of Nancy Schwartz & Co. and blogger at Getting Attention. “But seven of 10 nonprofits do just that, ranking their taglines as poor — or not using one at all.” The Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Report shows nonprofits how to make the most of their taglines to effectively engage audiences — both today and in better economic times. “Pithy, relevant messaging is more relevant than ever in tough times, when nonprofits’ audiences are more distracted than ever,” Schwartz says. “A strong tagline is a powerful way of connecting, especially in these

Even in a “healthy” fundraising program, only 30 percent of newly acquired donors give again after their original gift! What can you do to keep more of your new donors interested in your cause and eager to support you again and again? You have a critical window of opportunity to motivate donors to give a second gift — usually within three months of their first gifts. As more time passes, it’s less and less likely that new donors will give again. But if they do, they’re much more likely to turn into generous, loyal supporters. Here are five essential things you must do

The country’s economic crisis will force donors, especially older adults, to cut their contributions to charities for the rest of the year, according to a recently released survey. But those between the ages of 25 and 34 will increase their donations, according to the survey by direct-response marketing and fundraising firm Grizzard Communications Group, which is headquartered in Atlanta. The survey showed that only 13 percent of respondents expect to increase their giving for the remainder of 2008, while 29 percent plan to decrease it. Bill Jacobs, vice president of research and analytics and senior strategist with Grizzard, says the surprising

Organizations never want to say goodbye to a donor. And they don’t have to, says Nicole Titus, director of client services for the Washington, D.C.-based fundraising and communications agency OMP Direct. During the session “Baby Come Back! Wooing Lapsed Donors” at the 2008 New York Nonprofit Conference last month, Titus said wooing back donors comes down to four things: strategy, message, channel and technique. Strategy is based on what you know about your lapsed donors. * What has the biggest impact on your donor’s long-term value? Is it channel, gift or something else? “Target your most valuable donors first,” Titus said. *