EMBARKEMBARKon your way to eff ect ive market ing and fundraising

June 2017June 2017

SESERVIVICE | | STRTRATEGIESEGIES | | SOSOLUTLUT IONIONS

GOOGLE GRANTSGOOGLE GRANTSThe Nitty-Gritty of SuccessfulThe Nitty-Gritty of Successful

Recruit, Build, Educate, FundraiseRecruit, Build, Educate, Fundraise

+Check Out:Check Out: - 3 Proven Strategies for Email Success - 3 Proven Strategies for Email Success - Website Optimization - Website Optimization - Social Media Secrets - Social Media Secrets

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If you're simply using a Google Grant to drive traffic to your website homepage, you're missing out. The Google Ad Grants Program, made available through Google for Nonprofits, provides $10,000 of in-kind advertising credits on the Google Search Network each month.

Brand AwarenessText ads can be written to build awareness of your brand, your products and the services you provide. RKD Alpha Dog’s Media team will integrate your programs and services with frequently searched keywords to make your organization more visible in search results. Are you the only organization to offer pet grief counseling in your area? Or a food bank that offers support when applying for SNAP benefits? The Grant is a good tool to promote your services at the moment when people are searching for that information.

Email AcquisitionGrant traffic is even more valuable when you use it to drive people to your website and provide valuable content in return for an email address. Turn this content into a resource and make it easy to download the content in exchange for signing up to receive info from your organization. The right content can help grow your email list by 3% or more.

GOOGLEOOGLE GRANTSRANTSThe Nitty-Gritty of SuccessfulThe Nitty-Gritty of Successful

We have helped

some clients more than

DOUBLE their DOUBLE their

email list sizeemail list size

through

Google Grant

Campaigns.

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RKD Alpha Dog has seen Google Grants

generate

or more of an organization's monthly

website sessions.

33%

GOOGLE GRANTS GOOGLEOOGLE GRANTSRANTSThe Nitty-Gritty of SuccessfulThe Nitty-Gritty of Successful

RKD Alpha Dog’s Digital & Media teams are here to help you maximize your Google Grant. If you need help securing a grant or using it for brand awareness, traffic

building, email acquisition or fundraising, please contact us at 800.730.0668. We’re here to help!

Site TrafficAs an advertising tool, the Grant should also be designed to help drive traffic to your website and not just to your homepage. RKD Alpha Dog can identify new content on your website that takes advantage of frequent keyword searches – leading people to your site.

FundraisingDriving donations is just a small part of the value of a Google Grant. Because Grants are ads shown in response to Google searches, keep in mind that most people don’t wake up in the morning and think, “I’ll search for a charity to support today.”

However, people may be more inclined to search for a charity with a donation in mind after receiving something in the mail or hearing about a cause on TV or through other channels. The Grant can help feature your organization at the top of search results.

Getting and Managing a GrantIf you don’t already have a Google Grant, the application process has recently changed. It now requires a validation code provided by TechSoup. Once you have the code, you will use it to set up your Google for Nonprofits account.

Greetings!

You can be the different between hunger and hope.

Karrie and her husband, Josh, have three young children. At first, they could pay the bills and buy their children the things they needed. But then Karrie was laid off from her job. A year later, Josh's company closed down and things went downhill from there.

"Today, we are down to our last dime," Karrie says. "If it wasn't for the food bank, we would definitely have to choose between paying for utilities and buying food."

The food bank was the critical link for Karrie and her family. With your support now, we can continue to feed hungry families and change lives. Every $10 you give helps provide 40 meals!

Greetings!

You can be the different between hunger and hope.

Karrie and her husband, Josh, have three young children. At first, they could pay the bills and buy their children the things they needed. But then Karrie was laid off from her job. A year later, Josh's company closed down and things went downhill from there.

"Today, we are down to our last dime," Karrie says. "If it wasn't for the food bank, we would definitely have to choose between paying for utilities and buying food."

The food bank was the critical link for Karrie and her family. With your support now, we can continue to feed hungry families and change lives. Every $10 you give helps provide 40 meals!

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Email MarketingTried and tested strategies that lead to better digital fundraising results.

The first strategy we use in all channels of fundraising is testing. Testing is the number one way to find out which groups of supporters respond best to which strategy. It gives us insight into how different layouts, copy, and colors can affect results. Here is an example of how adjusting the colors and layout of an email can positively impact how an

email campaign performs:

Seeing Double? One way to increase response from an email campaign is to resend the original email to those who

did not open the first one.

Dear Supporter,

We've got something special for you. As a supporter of Any City Humane, we know that you care about the welfare of animals. Like me, you might also worry about people leaving their dogs in hot cars in the summer. Heat stroke is a terrible way to die. Now, you can protect dogs from the danger of summer heat by displaying an Any City Humane sunshade in your windshield that says "DON'T LEAVE DOGS IN HOT CARS."

They're just $15. We're allowing just 3 pe order until the end of May. Be sure to order yours before they're gone. Get an Any City Humane car sunshade and make a bold statement to protect dogs.

Dogs can't speak for themselves. Let's speak up and keep them safe.

Control Email

Dear Supporter,

We've got something special for you. As a supporter of Any City Humane, we know that you care about the welfare of animals. Like me, you might also worry about people leaving their dogs in hot cars in the summer. Heat stroke is a terrible way to die. Now, you can protect dogs from the danger of summer heat by displaying an AnyCity Humane sunshade in your windshield that says "DON'T LEAVE DOGS IN HOT CARS."

They're just $15. We're allowing just 3 pe-order until the end of May. Be sure to order yours before they're gone. Get an Any City Humane car sunshade and make a bold statement to protect dogs.

Dogs can't speak for themselves. Let's speak up and keep them safe.

You can prevent the horrific death of dogs who are left inside hot cars by ordering and displaying this sunshade.

Test Email

100%100% increase in

conversions for this sunshades campaign

20-50%20-50% average lift in revenue

from resending an email

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Email MarketingTried and tested strategies that lead to better digital fundraising results.

The Triple Match Campaign strategy has been popular among many of our partners, especially during the holiday giving months. Boost your match response with a special day that increases the match to 2:1. Send multiple emails, add a lightbox to your

website, and promote through digital banner ads to maximize campaign exposure.

75%75% of email revenue came from the

Triple Match day emails

2x2x Non-donors converted

at twice their usual rate

You help the humane society be the voice for the animals who cannot speak for themselves. And we humbly thank you for making our work possible.

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Website OptimizationHow simple design changes can increase access to giving opportunities.[ [

Want More?Want More?Talk to our team of digital experts about how you can implement these website upgrades and additional ways to increase your online giving!

Email acquisition widgets "float" on your page and capture email

addresses directly into your email marketing platform. This is the perfect

way to encourage email sign-up.[[m [[

3.7% increase in

email file size

Increase access to your online giving by including a gift array to your website footer. This adds another option to give on all of

your website pages.[g [e

o

f

Update your site navigation to make the donation button really stand out. Increase access to

other forms of giving by calling out monthly and planned donations.[o [ut

Before

After

7% increase in

recurring giving

71% increase in

memorial giving

10% increase in

traffic to donation form

households lacks adequate food

Food BankThe

1234 Main Street • Anytown, US 12345-6789 • (123) 456-7890 • www.website.org

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Personal Money Service recently published statistics dealing with social media strategy as it relates to each generation. Here are a few highlights we found interesting:

Millennials

Generation X

Baby Boomers

What it means: To connect with the Millennial generation, an organization needs a strong email marketing strategy. Emails should include compelling stories, call-to-action, and personalization.

What it means: Gen X wants to know about success stories, testimonials, peer-to-peer fundraising, and that their money or time is being used wisely. Consider increasing your organizational transparency with this group.

What it means: When was the last time you updated your online donation form? Baby Boomers will be more likely to donate online if your donation form is easy to follow and doesn't require a lot of time to complete.

Secrets Social Media

More concerned with their

fi nancial future than other

generations

More Men use YouTube

vs More Women use Facebook

43% want brands to reach

them via email

make decisions based on reviews

68%

76% will access

social media in 2017

200Billion

in annual buying power$

Visit https://personalmoneyservice.com to read the rest of the report.

48% rely on

credit cardsWhat it means: About half of the time Baby Boomers spend online is spent on Facebook. This makes it a great platform to reach this generation.

11+ hours a week on Facebook

15.5% spend 27

hours per week spent online

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STAY TUNEDSTAY TUNED2017 upcoming topics in the

Embark newsletter and RKD Alpha Dog blog include digital news, industry updates, case studies,

donor segments and more!

RKDAlphaDog.com | info@rkdalphadog.com | #RKDAlphaDog

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NEW IN NEW IN THE PACKTHE PACK

RKD Alpha Dog is pleased to welcome Jessie Falt, Production Artist;

LeAnn Lowther, Production Artist; andVal Middleton, Production Coordinator, to the team!

Bark Your CalendarsBridge ConferenceAugust 2-4 in Washington D.C.

Feeding America Mobilizing Th e Public August 21-23 Chicago, IL

SAWA Annual ConferenceNovember 23-24 Miami, FL