How to Create Fundraising Appeals that Work. Presented by: Mike Snusz Danielle Johnson-Vermenton

Transcription

1 How to Create Fundraising Appeals that Work Presented by: Mike Snusz Danielle Johnson-Vermenton

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4 As much as 34% of all gifts are received in the last 3 months

5 3,000 How media do you messages get a day See or listen to 52 beyond the noise? Remember 4

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7 Audience Theme Giving Levels Story Call to Action Spokesperson Subject Lines Incentives

8 When you write for everyone, you write for no one. Who is the target audience? Create a personas outline Then develop content that will resonate

9 Develop a campaign theme What is the elevator pitch? Short succinct sets the tone The theme is the glue that ties channels together

10 Add a spokesperson Who is going to send & sign the ? Pick someone that can tell your story best It doesn t need to be the CEO or ED

11 Stop being boring and tell a great story Science tells us we have to engage people s emotions to inspire action Make your story relatable Keep focused on the reader

12 There can be only one call to action Don t ask readers to volunteer, attend an event, learn more or share the message You want them to GIVE! Ask them multiple times in the through content, buttons and images

13 Tie giving levels to impact Keep your theme in mind, and create several levels of giving that connect to impact & mission $25 provides books for a classroom $50 funds vital life saving research in your community $100 feeds a family of four for the holidays

14 Spend as much time on subject lines as you do on content 33% of recipients open s based on subj lines, make yours stand out 30 characters or less (think mobile!) The Last Walk for Water You re changing the story Join the Club & Serve Hope

15 Add a dash of incentive Optional and requires time & planning Matching gift Gift premium Honor or memorials Sponsor challenge One incentive is enough

16 The Inbox: A Cluttered, Competitive Place MOBILE DEVICE Design

17 Half of All s Opened on Mobile So

18 72% more fundraising s were sent last year (FY vs ) *Source: 2014 Luminate Online Benchmark Report 18

19 Nonprofit Click-Through Rates Declining 2.50% 2.00% 1.50% 1.00% 0.50% 0.00% Click-Through Rates % -11% 2013 Decline in Appeal Response Rates from

20 S Maybe They re Reading it Elsewhere? s only being opened on one type of device 98%

21 Desktop View

22 Responsive Design

23 Mobile-Friendly Design iphone shrinks the Android often cuts off right 1/3

24 Ditch 2 Columns Pro Tip: Surrounding text with significantly more whitespace improves comprehension by 20% (Source: Crazy Egg)

25 Reduce the Width 600 PIXELS 600 pixels 500 pixels 500 PIXELS

26 Keep it Simple Shorter sentences 1-2 sentence paragraphs Whitespace Use bullet points Bold important phrases

27 Larger Buttons

28 Give Links Space

29 Use Your Preheader

30 Mobile-First Landing Pages

31 Use Better Follow-Up Techniques Why? Only 13% of appeals are opened. Techniques: 1. In case you missed it 2. Progress update 3. Deadline alert 4. Related news

32 11/07/2014 Footer 32 Top Tips for Success

33 TIP 1: START EARLY Don t wait until December to kick off your campaign Tell donors how their gifts made a difference Run different campaigns & make different asks Utilize social media to engage your audience

34 TIP #2: RUN AN SERIES Multi-message campaigns can raise 3-4x more money Schedule messages over the course of several weeks

35 TIP #3: THINK MOBILE 51% Of all s were opened on mobile devices in Nov 2013

36 TIP #4: INTEGRATE OVER MULTIPLE CHANNELS Online Appeal The strength of integrated campaigns is the strategic coordination of both timing and messaging to create one synergistic message across multiple channels enews Direct Mail Social media Website PSAs

37 TIP #5: HAVE A GRATITUDE STRATEGY The first 2-3 months post donation is the engagement sweet-spot Send a special Thank You message to wrap up the campaign Implement a donor welcome series for 1 st time givers in Q1

38 11/07/2014 Blackbaud Confidential 38

39 Download the appeals workbook 11/07/2014 Blackbaud Confidential 39

40 Keep the conversation going! us directly: Research, Trends, Thought Leadership