Get With the Program and Be Good to Your

Donors OnlineWayne Elsey

Funds2Orgs.com2

If you’re a regular reader of my blog or have read my books, you know I am a big believer in using what is hap-pening in the world to your advantage, particularly with the incredible power of technology. Nonprofits have a great opportunity; probably like never before, to engage at a very low cost and more broadly with their donors, constituents, prospects and the general public–globally.

We know that the Internet is the present and the future. Around the world, over 2.5 billion people are using the Internet, and according to the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union, there are nearly as many mobile account subscriptions as there are people on this planet.

With virtual wallets and so much dis-cussion about moving from paper checks, cash and even credit cards to operating in a world where trans-actions are made with one’s phone or smart devices, we know that en-gaging donors online is a critical component to success.

Many nonprofit executives and fundraisers, rightly, want to build personal relationships with donors––particular-ly major donors––where one shakes someone’s hand and speaks to him or her. However, understanding how to be good to general gift donors online is also an integral part of a successful nonprofit outreach, marketing, and fundraising program.

To effectively engage online with donors, supporters and the public, you want to make things easy for them. Consider that the secret ingredient in your outreach recipe.

Tell Your StoryFirst and foremost, people are interested in knowing the story of who you are and what you do! Individuals want to make a connection with your nonprofit to become supporters. So, when you start to develop your story or are looking to improve on it, consider the following:

• Keep it simple – When your nonprofit is looking to improve or reframe its story to communicate publicly, make sure to keep it simple. You want donors and potential supporters to understand what you’re trying to communicate easily. Additionally, remember that people share millions of articles and web pages each day. If you want them to share your information, it needs to be straightforward and compelling enough to understand.

• Use imagery – When developing or re-designing your website or writing articles to share on the Internet, make certain that you have great pictures. The fact of the matter is that a picture is still worth a thousand words. Use images of the people who are being served by your nonprofit organization, and don’t forget to include photographs of supporters.

Funds2Orgs.com3

• Facts and Figures – Today’s supporters want to know that you’re making an impact. They want to see concrete results. In addition to the qualitative information, potential donors want to see quantitative data. Ensure that you have some interesting statistics about those who are served by your nonprofit and the results you are having in their lives.

• Emotion – For decades, marketers have known that to get someone to buy their product or service, they need to provide people with an emotional reason to do so. So, while you want to provide the facts, you also want to make sure your story reaches people and creates an emotional reaction. That is what moves peo-ple to take action, support your organization or share your information with their friends and sphere of influence.

Website And Easy DonatingNot too long ago I read that 60 percent of nonprofits do not have a website. To be frank, I don’t know how that could be the case in this day and age. If you happen to be an organization that does not have a website because you probably think it’s too expensive to develop one, you’re penny-wise and pound-foolish. There are tools out there where you can develop a website for less than $50 a month––even if you have to do it yourself.

The world continues to move online and to the cloud. Make sure you have an easy-to-navigate website and a way for donors to easily donate online. It’s worth every dollar. Make sure your site has the following elements:

• 5 Seconds – You have less than a few sec-onds to grab someone’s attention. When indi-viduals go to your website, they will first see how it is presented. If your site looks dense and too text heavy or even if the colors are unappealing, they will immediately leave. Don’t give them a reason to leave. Capture their attention with fan-tastic images and great, concise content.

• Be Current – Don’t have events listed on your website from anything that occurred in the past. I’ve seen events listed as upcoming on sites that happened years ago! Update your website.

Make sure you keep your site relevant. Supporters and donors want to know that you are providing cur-rent information, and they will keep coming back to see what’s new if you give them a reason with a blog, updates, news, social media or press information.

Funds2Orgs.com4

• Skim Proof – We live in the technology and information age. It’s important to remember that we have never had so much information, ever in our history, than we do at our fingertips today. What this means is that even in the best of circumstances, most supporters will only be spending a few precious minutes on your website. For them, less is more, so make it easy. If people are interested in reading more on a certain issue that has a lot of information, add accompanying links where they can click. But make your site very easy to navigate. That is a golden rule.

• Call to Action – Always have a call to action. High-quality pictures and content are excellent, but you also need to make the ask! Therefore, ask your supporters to donate and invite others to join the cause. To have more genuine engagement, also ask people who visit your site to follow you on your various social media platforms. Ask them to take a survey. Ask them to buy your book. Bottom line––Ask!

Go MobileNot too long ago Google changed its algorithms and websites that are not optimized for mobile will sink in the rankings. In other words, your online presence must be mobile. A Google and Nielsen study found that 3 out of 4 mobile searches trigger follow-up action. The majority of people who do searches on their mobile device typically have their laptops or desktops nearby, but they still use their mobile device. Why? Convenience. Tech-nology and business experts know that people rely on their mobile more so than probably any other device or thing they carry with them. Again, you want to make it easy for your donors and supporters. So, making your website mobile is doing just that!

Social Media KingsOnce you have made your site easy to navigate, compelling and mobile, you need to make sure you have a regular presence on at least two of the top social media platforms: Facebook and Twitter. There are dozens and dozens of other social networking sites, but these two are the kings. Over 1.35 billion individuals use Facebook monthly around the world, and they are using it on their mobile device at least 18 percent of the time. Twitter has over 330 million active monthly users, and there are over 500 million tweets generated per day.

Facebook – Facebook too changed its algorithms for its newsfeed. “Organic reach” plummeted for many non-profit organizations that use Facebook, which refers to unpaid posts that are seen on the newsfeed of followers.

In 2012, Facebook became a publicly traded company. If you have followed the news about this particular social media platform, you know that it has been working to generate a profit from its users and others for its share-holders.

Therefore, nonprofits need to understand and realize that the days when organizations had a 15 percent or more

Funds2Orgs.com5

organic reach on their posts are finished. Since the changes, nonprofits have been experiencing less than a 5 percent or even 1 percent outreach to the people who have liked their pages. Facebook is looking for organiza-tions to pay for them to “boost” their post or nonprofit page outreach.

Understanding that nonprofits often have limited financial resources, because Facebook is so important, organi-zations should consider test boosting their posts and pages. There are several opportunities in paying for boosts: 1) your organization has a chance to appear on a great many more newsfeeds; 2) your nonprofit has the oppor-tunity to raise awareness because you are reaching more individuals; 3) you are providing donors and followers with an opportunity to then share your posts or nonprofit page with their circle of friends; and, 4) depending on the type of boosts you are making for your page or posts, you can get donations.

Starting fees are as little as $5. It could be well worth the investment because it tells your supporters that you are present and active in a social media platform they use. If you choose to boost your posts or page, Facebook provides an analytics page so that you can understand the results of your boosted posts and reach. It also in-forms you how much your organization spent per individual reached, which will help you assess performance.

In 2012, Facebook bought the social media platform Instagram, which is a great place to share pictures and high-quality content. Although we have not yet seen a visible integration, we could surmise that Facebook is looking to put a premium on content that is shared with compelling imagery. Thus, telling your story visually is important when using Facebook or any other social networking tool.

Twitter – Although there are over 330 million users on Twitter each month, the company has been dealing with stagnant growth. One of the fundamental ways that it has developed to address this challenge is to strike a deal with Google. Not too long ago, Google agreed to begin indexing all tweets on its search engine. It provides or-ganizations such as yours with an incredible opportunity.

Why? It’s very simple.

Because Google is indexing all tweets, which is a massive amount of information, it means that your donors and supporters will be able to find you even more quickly on the search engine, which handles the majority of

Funds2Orgs.com6

Internet searches. It helps prospective donors find you and it enables you to raise brand awareness. But you have to be on Twitter to benefit.

Twitter is fascinating, and it provides an incredible opportunity for nonprofits to engage with literally 330 million users around the world each month. By using great imagery, messaging in 280 characters or less and using the appropriate hashtags related to your messages, nonprofits can engage with the world much larger and broader than they could have ever thought possible some years ago.

What’s more is that active nonprofits on Twitter have found their tweets, linked to their content, being retweet-ed by followers and supporters. What this does is expand your sphere of influence beyond the organization’s followers on Twitter. Each time a tweet is retweeted it is being sent out to the followers of that Twitter account.

Additionally, Twitter allows comments to be aggregated to accompanying retweets. That is an incredible way to have additional engagement. Supporters see your tweets, retweet, and can add their own comments and hashtags in support of what you are trying to commu-nicate!

Again, don’t forget to try to engage followers and sup-porters in your online engagements. There are several means to accomplish this:

• Tell supporters what you need via a wish list and get it out in a visually compelling way on social media.

• When you have a success story, promote it on so-cial media and thank your followers and support-ers. You will have individuals who will dialogue back with you or share your message with their own followers.

• Ask a question and get a social media conversation going.

• Ask people to share or retweet (RT).• Use imagery, such as pictures or infographics, to

tell your story.

Supporters and followers want to be able to promote your organization, but again, you need to make it easy for them to do so! A recent study found that fifty-five percent of individuals who engage with a nonprofit using social media are inspired to take further action.

FeedbackWe’re all guilty of it. We disseminate a lot of information, but we sometimes forget that we want to have more than a one-way dialogue. Today’s public is very sophisticated and savvy. They want to have a two-way conver-sation. Ask for their feedback. It’s the most important thing you can do. Ask donors questions, online and offline. Their feedback will help inform your ongoing work. It will also provide an opportunity for donors to feel they are making a valuable contribution. A good strategy is to create surveys for participation. Promote the surveys online; gather the information and follow-up by updating your donors about the results.

Funds2Orgs.com7

Feature Donor StoriesIt’s important to inform your donors and prospects about what you’re doing and why on your website and across the social media sites you use. However, an important aspect of being good to your supporters online that many nonprofits miss is the opportunity to convey donor stories. Donors want to know about how others, similar to them, are supporting your organization. It also helps your followers and donors to see themselves in those stories. It provides them with an added emotional hook, if you will, to see the positive experiences other donors have in supporting you, and hence, they too could have in supporting your organization.

Build the RelationshipDon’t look at supporters as only dollar signs. The Internet provides you with many tools to create a solid relation-ship with your fans to build a relationship. It has the benefit of raising awareness and increasing your fundraising revenue. It costs more to acquire a new donor than it does to maintain a relationship with an existing one.

Your website and social media platforms are a way to stay in regular contact with your supporters. Your online presence is also a way for you to thank and acknowledge followers and others in multiple ways. Smart nonprofits understand that being good to their donors online is also an opportunity for them to create and maintain an ongo-ing and long-lasting relationship.

Donors today have more choices and opportunity to support their favorite organizations. Smart nonprofits are providing easy and multiple ways for donors to sup-port, advocate and donate by having easy to navigate, mobile websites, as well as being on social media. Non-profits should steer away from being penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to investing time and mon-ey in technology. You should also be mindful that being good to donors, supporters and followers online will reap rewards for your organization.

Funds2Orgs.com8

About the Author

Wayne Elsey has changed lives around the world. He is the founder and for-mer CEO of Soles4Souls, a nonprofit that helped put over 20 million pairs of shoes on the feet of those in need in response to some of the world’s largest natural disasters. He also grew this organization from zero to over $74 million in fewer than 5 years. Today, his company, Elsey Enterprises, of-fers consulting, fundraising and business services for nonprofits, social en-terprises and for-profit organizations looking to make a large social impact. He accomplishes this through the independent brands of Elsey Enterprises: str@tegic, Not Your Father’s Charity, Funds2Orgs, Sneakers4Funds, Shoes With Heart, CELG Freight and SocialGoodU, an online education platform for learning all things related to the social sector.

A nationally recognized authority on nonprofit and social enterprise lead-ership and topics related to motivation, business, and personal success, Wayne’s dedicates his life to business projects that have a humanitarian im-

pact. He also seeks to educate and inform social sector organizations, philanthropists and entrepreneurs on the latest trends in the industry through public speaking, consulting and as an author. His network appearances include NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, Today Show, & Fox News, and he’s also a member of the Forbes Business Development Council.

As a thought leader, all of Wayne’s books (available for cost on Amazon) dissect various business principles and teach readers that much of what is learned across multiple disciplines can be applied strategically and thought-fully to the nonprofit sector. In his first best seller, Almost Isn’t Good Enough, Wayne shows readers how to be successful in the social sector and not suffer financial hardship. His philanthropic ethos is to go from surviving to thriving.

With his subsequent, Not Your Father’s Charity book series, Wayne touches on the most important topics and issues based on his years of experience and success in the social sector. Books published to date include topics related to marketing, fundraising, leadership and the state of overall philanthropy. Wayne also published a moti-vational book, Get Off the Couch: Grip & Rip and Break the Barriers Holding You Back in Life, which is a resource of practical and no-nonsense advice and counsel for those who want to overcome obstacles that seem to be in the way of reaching their full potential.

© 2018 Wayne Elsey and Funds2Orgs. All Rights Reserved.