Social Media Fundraising: Past, Present, and Future

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Social media fundraising is still a curiosity - big opportunities for some, frustration and challenges for others. We'll discuss the history of social media fundraising since 2005, and draw lessons from successful campaigns. We will identify specific reasons to start fundraising on social media, and good reasons not to. Finally, you'll be prepared with a set of easy best practices you can do to prepare for the road ahead.

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Social Media Fundraising: Past, Present, and Future

Ehren Foss

April 18, 2012

Sponsored by:A Service

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Advising nonprofits in:

• Strategy

• Planning

• Organizational Development

www.synthesispartnership.com

(617) 969-1881

info@synthesispartnership.com

INTEGRATED PLANNING

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Affordable collaborative data

management in the cloud.

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Today‟s Speaker

Ehren FossCEO

HelpAttack!Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership

Assisting with chat questions:

Riley Croft, Nonprofit Webinars

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Ehren Foss@ehrenfossehren@helpattack.com

Welcome!Social Media Fundraising: Past, Present, and Future

HelpAttack! is social media fundraising:• Turns Facebook updates, Tweets, #hashtags, blog

posts...into microdonations.• Facebook & Twitter Apps for nonprofits• Consulting too

http://info.helpattack.com | @helpattack | support@helpattack.com

Who the heck is HelpAttack?

• From email to blogs to social networks• Convert offline & email fundraising expertise• Social CRM, social media is a channel

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Past, present, future

• How is social media fundraising different from online fundraising or email? How is it the same?

• Case studies and best practices: What goals are realistic, and what effort is needed?

• How can smaller organizations find success?

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Best practices:

Past

• Ashton Kutcher? Brands?o "Action triggered" cause marketingo Companies taking risks & innovating

• Email = biggest social networko Focus on email acquisition

• Coordinate multiple channels• One-offs

o Twestivalo 12kfor12ko Tweetsgiving

• Some Infrastructureo Facebook Causeso Rt2Give

http://bit.ly/IFdLI5 - historyhttp://bit.ly/HZTh0V - 10 lessons

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Present

• Interest but not demand• Shiny new thing syndrome?

o Becoming process & results driveno "Donor database" ==> "Supporter database"

• Small slice of $20B given onlineo Most people not yet habituated to $ on SM

• More infrastructureo HelpAttack!, SmallAct, Causes.com, donation

tabs...o Mobile & native app developers

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Future

• Social media fundraising becomes a channel• NFC (near field communication)• Portable payment information• We will assume...

o Donation an option through major SM networkso Coordinated supporter experienceo Coordinated fundraising, awareness, advocacy

campaigns

• How people share - you can forward a fundraising email, but do you?

• Friends asking friends - peer to peer fundraising• Platforms driven by both:

o Causes, Crowdrise, CauseVox, FirstGiving, Greater Giving, HelpAttack!, etc

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NOTE: it's up to you, not the tool, to grow a relationship with those donors outside of the particular tool they are using.

Social Media vs. Email

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Why is sharing important? Response and conversion rates.

Slide from Sarah Durham / Big Duck http://slidesha.re/GKtWDH

Social Media vs. Email

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Why is sharing important? Response and conversion rates.

Slide from Sarah Durham / Big Duck http://slidesha.re/GKtWDH

Social Media vs. Email

Sharing may boost response rates. FreeArtsNYC campaign for example:

1,200 Facebook fans, 500 Twitter followers. Retweets and shares from other organizations expanded audience

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Social Media vs. Email

Unique Visitors 291/1,700 (17%) 28x better than email

Pledges 26/1,700 (1.5%) 19x better than email

(vs 0.08%)

• Audience is crucialo How big?o Who are they, and what do they care about?

• Experiment, test, and improve• Move donors up engagement ladder • "house file" is crucial• People give because:

o People they know giveo There's an immediate needo They are asked

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People give to faces and heartbeats, not

statistics!

How are they similar?

• Not everybody sees each message.• Not everybody responds.

o Conversion rate• Each step in a process reduces response.

o Conversion funnelo 10% x 10% x 10% = 0.1%! (need 1,000 people to

start)• Part of every community is dead weight.

o Abandoned accounts, bots, spam folders..

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How are they similar?

• Grown the sameo Starts with zero peopleo Takes time and effort

• Cost resources at firsto More than donations produced

• Worth it!

Where would you be without your email list today?

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How are they similar?

Return on Investment (ROI)Like email, the ROI of social media should be measured

as a long term investment with compounding growth, rather than a short term balance sheet.

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How are they similar?

• Set realistic goals• Grow your presence• Reward participation• Leverage a special event, celebrity ambassadors,

corporate sponsors• Thank donors!

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What are best practices for social media campaigns?

• Get 10 new donors• Learn who they are• Thank them personally• Stay in touch with them

Ten donors giving $25 per month all year is an extra $3,000. Not bad!

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What are realistic goals?

About* 6 hours of work over 6 weeks.

• 1 hour to brainstorm the right kind of campaign for your cause, and the supporters you want to reach

• 1 hour to invite other stakeholders• 1 hour to tell partners or super-supporters and ask them to help spread the

word• 30 minutes to write a blog post• 30 minutes to include in an email to your list• 2 hours of social media monitoring• 1 hour to download reports and upload into your supporter database

*can vary depending on you and your organization

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What time and effort are needed?

2,500 followers ≈ 5-10 donors

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How do you figure?If you have around 2,500 followers, you’ll probably get 25 hits to the linked URL, and a few will complete the action. Repeat the ask in different ways to get to 5-10 donors.

What should I expect?

• Celebrity ambassadors• Corporate sponsors (JetBlue/FreeArts)

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Partners, Advocates, Celebrities

• Reward participation• “Like” for a chance to

win…• Submit a picture for a

chance to win…• Nonmonetary gifts

(feature your picture, story, idea, etc)

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Reward Participation

• Borrow an audience• Reach out to 10 people with 500 followers• Volunteers, other nonprofits, media, activists

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Grow Your Presence

• Ads on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin• Advertise on Google, Bing• Special programs (Google Grants,

YouTube nonprofit program, Hope140) for nonprofits

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Grow Your Presence

Beth Kanter and AXIS Dance Company

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http://www.bethkanter.org/facebook-ads/, check it out!

Case Study with Facebook Ads

Who: AXIS Dance Company and Beth Kanter

Goal: get local likes

Method: 2 kinds, one general and one specific

Cost: $5/day for the general, $8/day for the specific and decided to go for pay/click because we wanted to them to click through to our AXIS Facebook page and „Like‟ us on Facebook

http://www.bethkanter.org/facebook-ads/

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Case Study with Facebook Ads

Axis Dance Company Results:• First 24 hours / $13 total budget• 67 Page Views• 28 Unique Page Views• 17 new likes (10 directly from the ad)• $13 for 10 likes

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Case Study with Facebook Ads

http://www.facebook.com/NationalParks

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Real World Example- NPCA

Thank supporters/donors right away on social

media. It's free and powerful.

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What's a free and easy way to keep supporters happy?

• Provide inspiring stories about what donors are accomplishing with their givingo "Susan just donated enough for 20 thanksgiving

meals! Thank you!"• Be personal• Be specific: "Thanks for volunteering today Brian!"

more:http://www.futurefundraisingnow.com/future-fundraising/2012/02/how-skimping-on-your-

donors-can-make-you-lose-your-shirt.htmlhttp://www.bethkanter.org/say-thanks/

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Best Practices for Thanking Donors

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Real World "Thank Yous"

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Real World "Thank Yous"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBrc4c_1jio&feature=player_embedded

Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest

Make it visual! Find your "inner Picasso"

from Noland Hoshino guest post on John Haydon's blog, check it out!http://www.johnhaydon.com/2012/02/not-pin-on-pinterest/http://pinterest.com/nolandhoshino/

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What NOT to post• Company logos

• Long paragraphs• Non-visual stuff

• Small images• Enormously long infographics. Instead, cut out sections

that‟s interesting• Anything that violates Pinterest‟s terms of agreement"

from Noland Hoshino guest post on John Haydon's blog, check it out!http://www.johnhaydon.com/2012/02/not-pin-on-pinterest/http://pinterest.com/nolandhoshino/

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Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest

• Find your ideal supporters• Friend them or Follow them• They will likely follow back if you engage them

with questions or content• Personalize the account with a picture, a voice

and even a brief bio of the person posting• Use tools like HootSuite, TweetDeck

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Small to Medium Sized Nonprofits

• You can really know your supporters

• Grow the right audience• Easier to ask them for things

Try this:Choose a random hundred and look at their profiles. How did they find you? Who are they? Why are they following you? What value

can you provide?

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Smallness as an Advantage

• Far more similar than different from other fundraising

• Sharing is criticalo Make it visualo Make it specific

• Focus on your foundationo General online donationso Supporter databaseo Create culture of listening & openness

• Then pick appropriate tools & campaigns

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Takeaways

Thanks for joining us!

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