Becky Powell Presentation

Track One

“Optimizing the Basics”

Overview of Today’s Discussion• Building relationships with current and potential donors

• Why email matters more than ever

• 51 seconds to e-newsletter success

• Getting your message passed around

• Measuring online success

Building relationships with current and potential donors

Most non-profit websites have three goals:

•INFORM

•ENGAGE

•RAISE FUNDS

Fundraising efforts should account for 1/3 of your site messaging

Tell personal stories about your cause, the people you help and why donor support makes a difference

Convert site visitors to registered prospects

•Non-profits typically register 2 - 3% of all site visitors - Convio

•Measure your conversion rate

(# of registrations / # of unique visitors = conversion rate)

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Why email matters more than ever

Low cost

84% of marketers view email as leading all other channels in overall effectiveness - Econsultancy and R.O. EYE

40% of receivers said they more likely to respond to and organization that sent them email - Epsilon and ROI Research

Tips for effective email campaigns

Determine if you have enough email addresses to make it worthwhile

Source an Email service provider

Get set up to take online donations

Get strategic

Develop email campaign tactics

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51 seconds to e-newsletter success

The average reader spends 51 seconds reading an e-newsletter...19% read the entire newsletter - Email Newsletter Usability Study - Nielsen Norman Group

Consider a short and memorable name...Most iconic names are brief and incorporate: “Life”...“Time”...”People”

Include the organization name in the subject line

Place everything important on the initial screen (above the fold)....Add a short table of contents for with article anchor links

Develop a mobile (text only) version...64% of decision-makers regularly view email on a mobile device - Marketing Sherpa

51 seconds to e-newsletter success (continued)

Archive your newsletters on your website

Post, link and repurpose your e-newsletter content to your social networking profiles...FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo...etc.

Keep content brief and make your calls-to-action distinct and overt

Think about what message you want your readers to take away from their 51 seconds on your e-newsletter

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Social SuccessGetting your message spread through social or professional networks and providing tactics for your audience to communicate with you is paramount in today’s marketing environment

Lead with strategy and follow with tactics

Common tactics used: viral, buzz, word of mouth, and sites that incorporate interactivity and/or allow user-generated content

First understand who will be participating - Look at the profile tool from “Groundswell” - www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html

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Measuring success for your objectives

Improving outreach

•Measuring your web site traffic growth

•Achieving a higher conversion rate

•Growing your email address database

Building relationships

•Email open rate (30% or more is good)

•Email click-thru rates (4 - 6% is typical)

•Response curve to surveys and polls (1 - 2% response rate is typical)

•Opt-out rate on e-newsletters (.1 - .2% is the goal)

Measuring success for your objectives (continued)

Driving Response

•Response rate for email solicitations

•Average online vs. offline donations

•Overall offline plus online funds raised

•% of email campaigns that lead to donations

•% of new donors from each online campaign

•Number of online donors

List of resources

Email providers

•www.MyEmma.com

•www.ConstantContact.com

•www.VerticalResponse.com

Online Donation Gateways

•www.networkforgood.com

•www.clickandpledge.com

Donor Provider Tool

•www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html

Professional resources

The Powell Group

•www.powellgroup.net

•Becky Powell-Schwartz, President | bp@powellgroup.net

•Liz McCann, Digital Strategist | lm@powellgroup.net

NarrowSearch & Switch Creative

•Strategic Partner to The Powell Group

•www.groupswitch.com | www.narrowsearch.net

•Glen Collins, Partner | glen@groupswitch.com