Donors give for various reasons, including the following:

1. They believe in the cause or vision of the organization;
2. They were asked;
3. They are motivated by emotions that include altruism, sympathy, pride, obligation, reciprocity, nostalgia, recognition, or a sense of community;
4. They will receive tax credits or deductions;
5. Giving is part of their faith or religion;
6. They will be publicly acknowledged;
7. Giving improves their social status/position.

But many organizations forget about these motivators when they write their year-end appeals, email campaigns, or online donation pages. Instead, they emphasize a laundry list of programs — with little focus on the outcomes, benefits, or accomplishments.

The ‘feel good’ of giving may even be physically manifested. Research conducted at the University of Oregon (and subsequently published in Science) used brain imaging technology to map the effects giving had on test subjects. While the results were mixed, about half of the test subjects’ brain scans showed that they had a ‘warm glow’ that resulted from giving, similar to one they’d experience from socializing with friends.

At the end of the day, most people will give because they are moved to do so: they have a feeling that it’s the ‘right thing to do.’ So how do you create that feeling in a donor?

A compelling story about an individual will yield much greater giving than the same story told from the point of view of how an entire community is impacted (see this Op-Ed from the New York Times and some of the supporting research from the University of Oregon for more). This is what we call the ‘warm fuzzy’: the personal and emotional connection that we feel when a story moves us — most effectively at the one-to-one level.

As you look ahead to the second half of this calendar year, what’s the ‘warm fuzzy’ your organization will use to connect with donors’ hearts — not just their heads?

The Duck Pond e-newsletter, Big Duck

New features and other enhancements have been added to Facebook since Wild Apricot’s Beginner’s Guide to Facebook for Non-Profits, and nonprofits are learning more about making the best use of the popular social networking site. We’ve talked about setting up a Facebook account and Profile, and a bit about Groups. Let’s take a quick look now at Facebook Pages for nonprofits.

The first thing to know is that a Page is not the same thing as your personal account Profile, as Facebook says:

Your personal account is the regular user account that you log into when you sign in to Facebook, and this is the account you use to manage your Facebook Page. Your personal account profile is separate from your Facebook Page. When you edit your personal account profile or add content to it, these changes will not be reflected on your Facebook Page. Likewise, when you edit your Facebook Page, these changes will not be reflected in your personal account or your personal account profile.

Note that only the official representative of your organization may create a Facebook Page. It’s a way of controlling the message that goes out. For example, a politician would certainly not want his opponent to set up a Facebook Page in his name — or even a well-meaning supported who might misinterpret his position on an issue.

Similarly, nonprofits will want to put some thought into who has Page Admin status, what information is included, what applications are added, and what permissions to add content are given to fans and users.

Browse the Nonprofits directory to see examples of how other nonprofits are using the Pages feature. Or read more on exactly how to do this!

Published on Wild Apricot, June 16, 2008 by Rebecca

In the 1990s, marketing experts routinely told their clients to avoid using HTML in email messages since it hampered functionality, triggered spam filters and took too long to download. Improved technology has since resolved those issues, and made the coding language virtually de rigueur in online campaigns.

But Adam Covati says HTML still has one major hurdle to overcome: compatibility across all major email accounts (eg, Hotmail, AOL, Gmail). Until the industry adopts uniform standards, Covati recommends taking these steps to ensure your HTML messages render properly:

• Use table-based positioning. CSS positioning is among the least-supported email HTML features among major email clients.


• Use a good balance of text and images. And always send HTML emails with a text version as backup. Also, avoid embedding Flash, as it does not work consistently in most email clients.


• Use multi-part alternatives. These enable recipients to choose between text or HTML versions of your message, a critical option for those who receive messages on mobile devices.


• Test, test, test! Testing in each email client is the best way to guarantee proper rendering.

The Po!nt: Maximize your HTML compatibility. “Businesses that [use] HTML effectively continue to see better results from email marketing,” says Covati. “[M]ore clicks, qualified interest and actual sales.”

Source: MarketingProfs.

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8 Tips for an Effective Online Survey

We thought these were some good ideas that Wild Apricot posted on their page a few weeks back and wanted to pass them along…

Your organization may send out a feedback request with its appeals or reports to members. And perhaps you routinely ask those who attend your special events to fill out a quick survey. But if you need data quickly, or from a broader range of respondents, why not consider an online poll or survey? Here are 8 quick tips to help you get started:

1. Identify your goals

What information do you want to get from your respondents? More importantly, what information do you really need? Keep a clear focus on the goal of the survey as you craft it.

2. Choose the right format

Should you ask respondents to tick off a checkbox, or to write out a response in their own words?

Nonprofit consultant Paulette Vinette notes that multiple-choice surveys will produce a group of responses that are easy to tally and compare.

Some questions simply won’t lend themselves to a series of checkbox choices, however. If you’re looking for more detail than a multiple-choice format will allow, consider asking permission to do a follow-up interview.

3. Count your questions

Time is a most precious commodity. Let respondents know what they’re getting into, before they start the survey — tell them how many questions you’ll be asking, or give an estimate of the time needed to complete your survey.

4. Pay attention to privacy

What’s readily divulged by one person may be considered private by another — sharing opinions and information can be a very personal matter. Honor that with a link to your privacy policy, and make it clear how and where and by whom the collected information will be used.

Offer your respondents the choice of staying anonymous, and/or the option of opting out from any question. If you want to maximize the response to your survey, do avoid an “all or nothing” set-up, where respondents must answer every question in order to successfully submit their response.

5. Offer an incentive

Acknowledge the value of your respondent’s time with a small but meaningful reward. For example, TicketPrinting.com’s Raffle Survey offers a 10% discount on future orders and an entry in a prize draw. Respondents to NTEN’s Rate Your CMS survey are given a copy of the resulting report. How might you reward your own constituents for taking part in a survey?

6. Post your survey

See our list of Top 10 easy-to-use web poll and survey tools for ways to put your survey online.

7. Spread the word

Start with your membership mailing list. For a broader survey, however, you’ll want to reach out beyond your organization’s members to a wider audience. Invite those on your “interested others” mailing list to participate in the survey, as well as your members, friends, and business contacts.

Put out the word in forums and online groups that are related to your cause. Browse through Google groups, Yahoo’s Issues and Causes directory, or the Open Directory Project as a starting point.

8. Follow through

Do post an update on your website or blog to report your findings. Share as much information as is compatible with your goals for the survey, and with the privacy policy you established for it.

Reporting the results of a poll or survey not only meets the terms of that (possibly unwritten) contract with your respondents, it can also generate more interest in the topic of your survey (and any reports you might publish as a result), and may help to build anticipation for any future polls and surveys.

Above all, reporting back is a way to show that your organization is accountable, responsive, and actively engaged with its members and constituents — working in partnership for the good of a cause.

Rebecca, Wild Apricot

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Since Margaret Battistelli still doesn’t have her own blog page, we like to help out occasionally and post stuff from FRS that hits us as well… Relevant? Cool? Something to think about? Here goes a little web 2.0 food for thought from our FRS friends’ Giving 2.0 e-newsletter.

Facebook and MySpace and Twitter, oh my! While I’m not the yellow brick road to lead you to the Emerald City of social-networking Utopia, I am a real, living, breathing, Facebook-surfing, Gen Y, nonprofit professional. My goal for this column, which will appear bimonthly in FundRaising Success‘ Giving 2.0 e-letter, is to help nonprofits understand the who, what and why of Web 2.0. This medium shouldn’t be viewed as a frightening, unknown forest filled with predators, but a world of opportunity to share your message with new demographics in a plethora of innovative, creative ways.

By breaking down the world of Web 2.0, I hope to make social-networking seem less daunting and, I hope, help you to start getting in on the fun! Here are my top five things to think about before venturing into Web 2.0.

1. Get the organization behind your efforts. Start with an internal meeting. You’ll need support from your staff in order to make 2.0 endeavors successful. The Web team needs to understand what direct mail is doing, what television is doing and vice versa. Working in silos will never work with this medium.
   
   
   
   
2. Understand and establish what Web 2.0 actually is. Think of it as a gateway. It’s a way to gain recognition, knowledge and mission-driven advocates. Notice how I didn’t have the word donations in the above sentence. While I do believe that donations can be driven through this network, I don’t believe that should be the initial goal, and, even more importantly, I believe that you’ll hijack your efforts if you go into this world with fundraising as your main purpose.
   
   
   
   
3. Start small and build. Start to think about your mission and what makes it special. Find correlations to your mission and the programs it funds in the world today. Once you find topics of current interests that can relate to what your organization does on a daily basis, you can make a connection to what people are talking about on Web 2.0. Locate a social network that emphasizes that aspect of your mission.
   
   
   
   
   
4. OK, so I found them. Now what do I do with them? Once you find a group of people who are supporters of one or more elements of your mission inhabiting a social-networking site, what do you do to utilize their interest? Communicate! It seems simple enough, and it is, but it’s also time consuming. In order for your organization to create a presence for itself, it needs to establish a connection with the members inside a networking platform. That connection could be with videos, blogs or personal messages.
   
   
   
   
5. How do I cultivate these people into action? This is an aspect of social networking that really takes both creativity and understanding of the Web 2.0 populations. Some quick ideas are creating an event on your social-networking site (most have the capability to do this), and inviting people within your network you think would be interested based on their profiles or group memberships. An event could be as simple as a Moment of Silence for Holocaust Survivors Event on National Holocaust Remembrance Day, or a National Wear Green Day for the Environment Event. These are great and simple ways to engage people, and make them gradually start to become personally attached to your mission by allowing them to display what is important to them.

These are just a few ideas of how to begin implementing Web 2.0 tactics into your organization. Just keep thinking … there’s no place like 2.0!

Christina Johns is the project coordinator for radio and TV
at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

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Support and reinforce your Web-based initiatives with offline campaigns. When an email gets buried in an individual’s inbox, it might be rediscovered after a reminder received in the mail. By taking a multi-channel approach to fundraising or advocacy, you will remind constituents to participate in your campaign, and at the same time you will reinforce your brand and mission.

Proof That it Works

By managing its Web-based initiatives and offline development efforts together, the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) successfully integrated the messaging for its e-campaigns and direct mail programs. This multi-channel marketing approach improved the CMMB’s Web presence, which led to increased revenue for the organization’s direct mail program.

Leveraging the services of Amergent for direct mail campaigns, and NPAdvisors for strategic online consulting, CMMB’s integrated online campaigns included messaging and customized donation pages complemented with direct mail appeals. The amount raised through the organization’s online giving program increased from just over $32,000 in FY03 to more than $168,000 in FY07. From 2005 to 2007, CMMB’s email list grew from 4,000 to 32,000 through new online registrations and donors, as well as through email appends that were followed by confirmation emails to the appended constituents.

Benefits

• Remain top-of-mind;


• Reinforce your brand through multi-channel campaigns; and


• Improve campaign results and grow your list.

Mandy O’Neill, Director, Business Development, Convio, Inc.

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It’s almost spring and everything will be turning green soon…the trees, grass and your organization? That’s right. Is your organization doing all it can to help the environment from a direct mail fundraising aspect?

Here’s where we are today:

• Studies show all direct mail makes up only 1.8% of all waste and 4.7% of paper waste.


• The paper and wood industry is planting 1.7 million trees a day to more than make up for what is harvested.


• Production of household ad mail consumes only .13% of the energy used in the U.S.


• Direct mail fundraising’s impact on the environment is even smaller than the percentages shown above.

However, we can do better.

• Ask your printer about all the green options available for example environmental-friendly inks, recyclable papers, and paper from suppliers with sustainable forest certification. There are now envelopes made using wind power, envelopes with biodegradable window film and much more.


• List hygiene can significantly reduce the number of pieces mailed. Removing duplicates and bad addresses help you and the environment.


• Apply donor models to better target prospects and lower the number of pieces mailed.


• For more ideas, see the Green 15 at www.the-dma.org.

Make everyone green with envy this spring with your environmental efforts.

Scott Swedenburg, CEO, Mail Enterprises

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