May 19, 2010

When Communities Come Together to GiveWhat Haiti Taught Us About Online Fundraising

CanadaHelps.orgWhat is CanadaHelps?

A public charitable foundation that provides accessible and affordable online technology to both donors and charities.

For Charities

A cost-effective means of raising funds online.

For Donors

A one-stop-shop for giving.

CanadaHelps is a charity helping charities.

Today’s Presenter

Kirstin Beardsley

• Marketing & Communications Coordinator

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Webinar recording and slideswill be available on

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Earthquake in Haiti

January 12, 2010

Donations through CanadaHelps

January 12 – Earthquake in Haiti

Urgent Issues

• Your mission is profiled in a media story

• A high profile citizen draws attention to your cause

• You are called on to respond to a local issue

LESSONS

1. Online giving is the preferred rapid-response donation method

Why Online?

• Immediate

– More people are accessing news online

• Donations reach charities more quickly

• Easy

• Best source of information

TAKE ACTION

• Integrate online channels in all fundraising campaigns

• Monitor news feeds

• Make sure you can easily update your website

2. Be prepared!

• Organizations that have online strategies in place fare better

TAKE ACTION

• Can you accept donations online?

• Does your Donate Now! button work?

• Can people find your Donate Now button on your website in less than 3 seconds?

TAKE ACTION

• Do you know how to add a fund designation quickly?

• Can you draft and send out an email to your supporters?

• Do you know how to use social media tools during an urgent situation to reach people?

3. Good websites = more donations

• Supporters WILL leave unusable, confusing websites

• Good websites inspire action

• What you do• How you do it • The impact you have• Where the money goes

What are donors looking for?

TAKE ACTION

• Review your website to make sure it’s easy to navigate

• Can you easily find key information

• Do usability testing to make sure

4. Check your site for technical issues!

TAKE ACTION

• Call your website host and check how much bandwidth you have

• Check with your online donation provider to find out if they can handle high volumes

5. Mobile is here to stay

Donate Now!

TAKE ACTION

• Stay on top of the mobile trend

6. People respond to URGENCY

• Create a sense of urgency with all of your major appeals

TAKE ACTION

• Look at your next campaign through a new lens

• Answer “Why Now?”

7. Focus on tangible, solvable issues

• Don’t present people with a problem (eg. homelessness, climate change, poverty) –show them how your organization helps to solve it

Instead of:

• Over 1 million Canadians live below the poverty line.

Try:

• Meet Joanne. Your donation of $40 will help her get a shelter bed this month.

Instead of:

• Climate change is threatening to destroy our world

Try:

• We help schools become more environmentally sound. Support our work.

TAKE ACTION

• Does your communication focus too much on the big picture?

• Make your fundraising appeals personal, focus on the individual stories.

8. Demonstrate Impact

• People want to be part of success

• Show people what happens when they support your organization

TAKE ACTION

• What difference does your organization make? Tell that story!

• Tell success stories through text, images & video to inspire connection

9. Matching donations work

• Donations through CanadaHelps picked up close to the match deadline

Matching deadline

TAKE ACTION

• Find partners to sponsor a match donation during your next appeal

• Promote the match as doubling the donor’s impact

10. Don’t forget stewardship

• High-volume times are not the time to forget to thank your donors

• New donors expect to receive an acknowledgement of their gift

TAKE ACTION

• Have a plan in place to contact & thank every donor who gives to your organization

11. Canadians are very concerned about fraud

• Canadians contacted CanadaHelps for help in identifying “legitimate” charities

• Increased awareness of scams

TAKE ACTION

• Don’t use high-pressure tactics, even during a crisis

• Always display your charitable business number

• Provide financial information on your website

• Make sure your online donation process is secure

ABOUT MYCHARITYCONNECTS

• Two days packed with great information about online fundraising & social media for charities

• Get familiar with the stuff you don’t know, moving on the stuff you do, and correctly evaluate the stuff you’ve done

• Part of Net Change Week, and in collaboration with SiG@MaRS

MYCHARITYCONNECTS CONFERENCE 2010

JUNE 7 – 8 | TORONTO

Register Today @

www.mycharityconnects.org

Free online resources:

• Information about technology

• Video demonstrations

• More webinars

• Past webinar recordings

• Learning opportunities

• Events

Next Webinar:

“Measuring the Impact of Social

Media”

June 16, 20102PM – 3PM

(Eastern Time)

www.mycharityconnects.org

Question and Answer

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Thank you for attending!

Webinar slides and recording will be up on:

www.mycharityconnects.org/pastwebinars

Check out www.mycharityconnects.org for more resources!

Questions, feedback, comments?

Email us at: info@canadahelps.org