Last month I donated online to 25 of my 32 Favorite Nonprofits in celebration of reaching the benchmark of following 100,000 nonprofits, nonprofit staff, and nonprofit service providers on Twitter. Usually I donate to one or two nonprofits at a time, but to go through a list of 25 nonprofits in less than two hours made it abundantly clear that many nonprofits still need to tweak their “Donate Now” process to maximize online donations and their social media ROI. The rise of social media has significantly changed how our supporters digest our messages online and as a result website and e-newsletter design has evolved dramatically in recent years. The “Donate Now” process of many nonprofits, however, still seems to be stuck in 2005. That said, here are five common mistakes that nonprofits are making in their online fundraising campaigns:
1) No social networking icons/pitches on the “Thank You” landing page.
Your nonprofit’s “Thank You” landing page is the page that your donors land on after they have entered all their personal and credit card information and clicked the “Donate Now” button to process their donation. Out of the 25 nonprofits that I donated to recently, only one had integrated a social networking pitch into their “Thank You” landing page – and it was text-based and buried at the bottom of the page after multiple paragraph’s of arial 10-point text about the nonprofit’s mission, vision, benchmarks, and annual reports (boring). What a lost opportunity to convert their donors into Facebook Fans, Twitter and Pinterest Followers, and blog subscribers!
Online donors give a lot of attention to “Thank You” landing pages because they want to confirm their donation went through and out of the 25 nonprofits that I donated to, all 25 times I was presented with text-heavy, too-overwhelming to read, spamish thank you messages… or simply white space. My suggestion: Cut the text to a couple of sentences, increase the font size, add social networking icons or graphics with a message to donors to “like/follow/subscribe to stay current on progress” being made by the nonprofit, and add a “Thank You” video or slideshow/graphic. In short, make your “Thank You” landing page more visually-appealing, social, and action-oriented:
2) No social networking icons/pitches in the “Thank You for Donating” follow-up email.
Honestly, I was shocked that not one of the “Thank You for Donating” follow-up emails that I received included a message to “like/follow/subscribe to stay current on progress” or a “Thank You” video or slideshow/graphic. It was like no time had passed at all… that the Web had never gone social and I was in a time warp of online fundraising best practices circa 2005. Most of the emails were text-only with the focus on the nonprofit’s “tax ID number and please save this email for your records.” What a tragic lost opportunity! Donors open these emails to confirm their donation went through… you have their attention, so why not encourage them to follow your progress on Facebook or Twitter or to watch a video or view a slideshow of achievements? You want to be able to further inspire your donors to give again through social media, but must they actually go and search for your nonprofit on those sites of their own free will to like or follow you? What are the chances of that happening? Yikes. This is a huge missed opportunity and if your “Donate Now” vendor does not have the ability to customize “Thank You” follow-up emails and landing pages, then I’d find a new vendor:
3) No “Thank You” video or slideshow/graphic.
I am huge believer that people don’t read like they used to and that nonprofits need to make a significant effort to build their video and digital libraries. With peak fundraising season beginning in four months, you still have time to create a “Thank You” video or slideshow/graphic that you can add to your “Thank You” landing page and “Thank You for Donating” follow-up email. With the rise of social media and thus information overload, how your nonprofit says “thank you” needs to evolve to accommodate today’s online donors. To help you get inspired, here are Eight “Thank You” Videos Created by Nonprofits.
4) Hard to find “Donate Now” button.
At least half of the nonprofits that I donated to made it difficult to find their “Donate Now” or “Donate” button. It was either buried within “How You Can Help” or “Support Us” links or non-existent on the homepage. So, in 2012 to maximize online donations, the best practice for “Donate Now” or “Donate” button placement is to embed it in the navigation of your website so it’s visible on every page of your website. Also, placing it in the upper right-hand corner ensures that it is quickly found and making it a bright color makes it “pop” at first glance, such as:
The Nature Conservancy :: nature.org
World Wildlife Fund :: worldwildlife.org
5) A multiple-page, multiple-choice donation process.
After donating to 25 nonprofits one after another, I had a new found appreciation for the nonprofits that only asked for my name, mailing address, and credit card information with the donation process being completed in one single page (without a mandatory phone number field!). Some donations lasted 3-4 pages and required that I create a username and password or choose to give between multiple campaigns or opt-ins. I kept thinking of the impulse donors that read, watched or viewed something inspiring on Facebook or Twitter and were ready to donate and then presented with a relatively tedious and long donation process. I am convinced many donors lose that fleeting inspiration to give and drop out of the process when presented with multiple-pages and multiple choices. If there is anything that nonprofits should be learning as result of the proliferation of the Social Web is to keep it simple. For example, study the “Donate” page on Water.org:
All that said and on a final note, I would suggest that someone on your social media staff donate $10 to your own nonprofit at least twice a year to gain first-hand experience of your own “Donate Now” process. Many of the suggestions above would be obvious to a good social media manager if they experience the process themselves. Donating to your own nonprofit on a regular basis also helps you catch any glitches that may have popped-up since you first signed up for your “Donate Now” service. I just donated online to client of mine and did not receive any “Thank You for Donating” email at all even though according to the vendor that my client uses to process online donations, I should have. 
Related Links:
11 Donate Now Best Practices for Nonprofits
Webinar: How Nonprofits Can Successfully Utilize Online Fundraising and e-Newsletters
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Must-Read Reports for Nonprofits
The eight reports listed below are just a small sampling of the research available to nonprofits about online communications and fundraising, social media, and mobile technology. These reports are, however, some of the most valuable in terms of insight, useful and practical data, and how-to advice. Many of these reports are published on an annual basis, so please be sure to bookmark this post and I’ll keep the the list updated as new reports are released.
If you would like to suggest a report be added to the list, please post the name and the link to the report in a comment below. All the reports currently listed are based on U.S. nonprofit research, but I would also like to add similar reports from other countries. As the reports come in, I’ll organize them by continent. Thank you.
1) 2012 Nonprofit Social Networking Benchmark Report :: Download
Published by NTEN
View: All NTEN Reports
2) 2012 Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark™ Study :: Download
Published by Convio
View: All Convio Reports
3) 2012 Funding Mobile Strategies for Social Impact: The Future is Now :: Download
Published by ZeroDivide
View: All Reports by ZeroDivide
4) 2011 Online Giving Report :: Download
Published by Blackbaud
View: All Blackbaud Reports
5) 2011 donorCentrics Internet and Multichannel Giving Benchmarking Report :: Download
Published by Blackbaud
View: All Blackbaud Reports
6) 2011 The Mobile Frontier: Successful Strategies from Text-to-Give and Beyond :: Download
Published by Convio
View: All Convio Reports
7) Giving USA 2011: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2010 :: Download
Published by the Giving USA Foundation
View: All Giving USA Foundation Reports
8) The Future of the Internet: An Ongoing Series of Reports :: Download
Published by the Pew Internet & American Life Project
View: All Pew Internet & American Life Project Reports
Related Links:
Social Media for Social Good: A 268-Page How-To Guide for Nonprofits
Social Media and Mobile Technology Webinars for Nonprofits
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11 Excellent Examples of Nonprofit Avatars
Every second of every day nonprofits around the world are posting status updates, tweets, and messages on social networks attached to avatars with cropped art work and/or unreadable text. Would you ever send out a print or e-mail newsletter, or sign off on a business card with a cropped or visually-defective logo and text so small that it was indecipherable? Absolutely not. However, and unfortunately, the importance of using a visually appealing, perfectly-square avatar consistently on all social networking sites to build a powerful, recognizable online brand has yet to make its way into the communications and fundraising plans of many nonprofits.
Logos, on the other hand, are primarily designed with a horizontal orientation and when uploaded to social networking sites either get cropped to the point of illegibility or shrunk to a size too small to read or make a strong visual impact. This is one of the most obvious mistakes nonprofits (and small businesses) make on the Social Web, and fortunately, one of the easiest to remedy.
That said, a good nonprofit avatar should:
- Be simple in design and use strong, eye-catching colors that match the overall online branding of your nonprofit.
- Not have text that is too small to read.
- Be square.
- Not have obvious visual defects such as copped art work and blurriness from low resolution.
- Be used consistently on all social networks to build a synergistic, recognizable brand across the Social Web.
Related Links:
Free Webinar on June 6: 10 Common Mistakes Nonprofits Make in Social Media
Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits
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11 Blog Content Ideas for Nonprofits
Initially a reluctant blogger, I launched Nonprofit Tech 2.0 in August 2009 and within a few months came to the conclusion that blogging had been the missing piece in my social media campaigns. That first month Nonprofit Tech 2.0 received 13,000 visitors. It was much more traffic than I would have ever thought possible, but thanks to the burgeoning “Nonprofit Organizations” communities that I had built on Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, launching a blog was much easier in 2009 than it was when I tried and failed in 2004. As of last month, Nonprofit Tech 2.0 received 93,000 visits and as traffic grows consistently from month to month so does my ROI. Nonprofit Tech 2.0 has turned out to be the glue that holds it (the “Nonprofit Organizations” brand) all together and makes it work, surprisingly.
All that said, the following is an excerpt from Chapter 7 of my book Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits. If your nonprofit has yet to start a blog or already blogs but struggles with ideas for fresh content, then hopefully the 11 blog content ideas listed below will help. Also, in my upcoming webinar on How Nonprofits Can Successfully Launch and Maintain a Blog on WordPress, I will give concrete examples of the nonprofit blog content ideas below as well as how to set-up and design your blog and craft your blog content to ensure that your supporters and donors will actually read your blog.
Thanks to the Social Web, there is no shortage of possible topics for your nonprofit to blog about. From 10-paragraph editorials to 2-paragraph commentaries on breaking news, when you use the ideas given here, you should have no problem publishing the required minimum of one blog post per week (less than that and your blog starts to look abandoned). Still, understand that the more good, high-quality content your nonprofit blog publishes, the higher your ROI. That said, mix it up! Post a wide variety of blog content and have some fun with it. Finally, remember that blog posts make great content for e-newsletters. Definitely integrate your blog posts with your e-newsletter.
1. Share and Comment on Breaking News
One of the more effective ways to generate buzz for and traffic to your blog is to tap into the breaking news cycle. If a news story is breaking when you get to work in the morning, and it is related to your mission or your programs, write up a quick two-paragraph summary of or commentary about the breaking news story, add a link to the original source, and then distribute your blog post to your communities. People are much more responsive and likely to share your blog post if its subject matter is related to a breaking news story. Most nonprofits distribute the original source of the story to their communities (the New York Times, for example), but while that is generous, it does not help build the nonprofit’s brand recognition, e-newsletter list, or social networking communities; rather, it builds those of the New York Times. That said, you should be careful not to become a breaking news spammer by overusing this strategy, but you will discover that some of your most trafficked blog posts will be related to breaking news.
2. Post Calls to Action
Often tied to breaking news stories or internal developments at your organization, a blog post calling for action is often well received. A call to action can be an urgent donation pitch, a request to sign an online petition, or a call for volunteers. It’s amazing what your supporters will be willing and able to do for your nonprofit if you just ask.
3. Share Stories, Photos, and Videos from Events
You should be regularly photographing and recording videos at important events that your nonprofit hosts. A day or two after the event, write up a brief blog post summarizing the event, with a Flickr slide show or YouTube video recapping the event. It’s also good to feature quotes from supporters who attended the event. Quite often, a good slide show or video will entice supporters to give priority to attending your next event.
4. Provide Organizational Updates
If your nonprofit is launching a new program or campaign, definitely write a blog post to share the news and summarize the new program or campaign’s goals. Your supporters will probably help to share the news and provide valuable feedback. Organizational updates can also include announcements of conferences or fund-raisers, staff changes, or any recent awards or accolades your nonprofit has received. It’s also a good idea that every time you launch a new social media or mobile technology community or campaign, you write a brief blog post and list specific ways in which supporters can participate. If you start using QR codes, write a blog post explaining how you will use them. If you launch a new TwitPic campaign, write about that, too. Again, you’ll be surprised by what your supporters will do to help your nonprofit online if you just keep them informed.
5. Share Stories from the Field
For nonprofits that have staff members or volunteers in the field, definitely encourage them to send in reports with photos for blog posts. A first-person voice is best. Nonprofits that work in international development, disaster relief, or wildlife conservation often do this sort of storytelling in print materials and website articles, but it also works extremely well as blog content. Another idea is to have staff members send in reports from important conferences, meetings, or protests.
6. Interview Experts
A 10-question blog interview with an expert in an area related to your nonprofit’s mission and programs can be interesting to your supporters. Interview a professor, government official, or esteemed professional, such as a scientist, social worker, activist, or artist. Be sure to insert and bold the questions in the blog post, keep answers limited to two or three paragraphs, and always include the expert’s photo. The easiest way to conduct these interviews is through e-mail or over the phone, but for the enterprising blogger with a penchant for journalism, in-person interviews provide the opportunity to get action photos and video interviews.
7. Allow Guest Bloggers to Post Commentary and Share Their Expertise
Additionally, you can ask experts to write guest blog posts. Some will be too busy to take the time to write, but others will happily embrace the opportunity. Your role is to give them a word limit, a general theme, and a deadline, and to solicit photos. Since there’s always the possibility that a guest blogger will be a poor writer or controversial in her subject matter or tone, it’s best to ask experts who are already closely connected to your nonprofit.
8. Share Resources and Useful Tips
Blog posts that share resources and useful tips are some of the most popular on the Social Web. For example, if you are a health nonprofit, write a post about foods that help lower blood pressure, or provide tips on how to exercise at home. If you are an environmental nonprofit, write about ways in which supporters can green their homes or garden without pesticides. If you are a nonprofit that works with low-income communities, write blog posts that share recipes for low-cost meals and energy-saving tips. Newspapers and magazines publish these sorts of articles regularly because they generate buzz. There’s no reason why nonprofits can’t capture some of that buzz, too.
9. Solicit Feedback and Direction from Supporters
When you are considering launching a new campaign or starting a new online community, go to the blogosphere for advice. Just be prepared to listen to people’s feedback! Let’s say you are considering investing in a text-to-give campaign, and you are about ready to sign the contract. Before you do, write a blog post asking your readers if they have any interest in donating to your nonprofit via text, and why or why not? They will surely let you know, either through an onslaught of feedback or through a defining, all-telling silence. It cannot be stressed enough that your supporters are eager to be engaged and useful, but you need to open your nonprofit to their feedback and direction. It’s also worth pointing out that if you can get your supporters engaged in a new program or campaign during the idea stage, they are very likely to assist throughout the launch and implementation stages as well.
10. Write Numbered Lists
Numbered lists are the most retweeted, liked, and shared blog posts on the Social Web today. Seriously! Some of the most successful blogs on the Web today regularly publish blog posts with numbered lists, and once you start, you will quickly notice that these posts are becoming your most trafficked blog posts. Some examples for nonprofits are “10 Ways You Can Help Fight Poverty,” “Four Reasons Why the Green Economy Is America’s Future Economy,” “10 Tips to Help You Quit Smoking,” and “Eight Benefits of Volunteering.” Your nonprofit should set a goal of publishing a minimum of four lists per year, and it’s worth noting that these lists make great content for e-newsletters as well.
11. Highlight Special Donors, Fundraisers, and Volunteers
Blogs are a great platform for highlighting donors, fund-raisers, volunteers, and other supporters through “of the month” posts. These posts help your nonprofit show appreciation to your most valuable supporters and create an incentive for other supporters to do and give more. Though most of them won’t come right out and say it, many people appreciate public recognition for their contribution. It makes them feel special and important. These posts can also be very effective in e-newsletters. Keep them brief, include a quote or two from the person being highlighted, and definitely add his picture.
Related Links:
Webinar: How Nonprofits Can Successfully Launch and Maintain a Blog on WordPress
Five Reasons to Consider Launching a Blog for Your Nonprofit
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Until recently, I have gone to exceptional lengths to avoid getting video recorded. I have always felt very uncomfortable in front of a camera and even more so watching myself recorded. I’m usually the person behind the lens. Know what I mean? In fact, one of the reasons that I have pursued a career in nonprofit technology, ironically, is that I can do it in solitude and mostly in the comfort of my own home. However, nonprofit technology and online communications are changing rapidly and becoming much more visual and with the rise of camera and video-enabled smartphones worldwide, it has come to a point where I have to practice what I preach and get in front of lens every once in a while.
So, last week when I had the honor and the privilege to present a social media training to a group of young social entrepreneurs and future nonprofit leaders in Singapore at the #Innovate4Good Conference sponsored by Microsoft Citizenship Asia Pacific (facebook.com/citizenshipmicrosoftasia), I was asked to give a video interview discussing my top three social media tips. With hundreds of tips swirling through my head it was tough to narrow it down to three on the spot and on camera, but here’s how it went:
Finally, a special thanks to Microsoft Citizenship for bringing together these amazing young people from all over Asia Pacific – all expenses paid! Many of them had never been outside their own country, so it was a joy to see and hear their excitement and an eye opener for me to be exposed to such a dynamic group of young people that will no doubt shape the future development of rapidly changing Asia – and our world.
For More Info: @MS_CTZ_APAC, @msftcitizenship
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11 Nonprofit Websites That Look Great on iPads
Soaring tablet use and an online commons increasingly battling information overload has fundamentally changed web design as we know it. Bigger pictures, less text, larger fonts, and easy-to-tap and click buttons and navigation are the new Web design aesthetic. That said, consistency in Web design is becoming more complicated with each passing day. Do you attempt to create one website that looks good on desktops and laptops, tablets, Internet TVs, and smartphones using responsive Web design – or have multiple websites to accommodate viewing on different devices? Either way, both options are difficult to implement for nonprofits with limited budgets. Hopefully in time content management systems will make it easy and affordable for most nonprofits to publish content visually-compatible with multiple devices. Until then, since the iPad is the top selling tablet and its dimensions are compatible with desktop and laptop devices, if your nonprofit is considering launching a new website, then the following eleven nonprofit websites will help guide your design decisions. That said, during the design process make sure you have physical access to an iPad (and other tablets) so you can view and experience how your site looks on the iPad when held vertically and horizontally:
1. WildAid :: wildaid.org
2. Save the Children :: savethechildren.org
3. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art :: sfmoma.org
4. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital :: stjude.org
5. One World One Ocean :: oneworldoneocean.org
6. The Nature Conservancy :: nature.org
7. Natural Resources Defense Council :: nrdc.org
8. Humane Society International :: hsi.org
9. Human Rights Campaign :: hrc.org
10. charity: water :: charitywater.org
11. American Heart Association :: heart.org
Related Links:
Webinar: How Nonprofits Can Successfully Utilize Mobile Technology and Mobile Fundraising
Five Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Mobile Website
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Date: Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Time: 1pm-2:30 EDT
Cost: Free
How to Register: Sign up!
Presented By: Heather Mansfield
The Social Web has dramatically changed how nonprofits communicate with supporters, donors, and volunteers. In fact, most nonprofits in the United States now regularly use social media in their communications and development campaigns, but few nonprofit social media practioners have been properly trained how to best utilize sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+. Your organization’s return on investment (ROI) from using social media is directly related to whether your staff fully understand each sites’ unique functionality and toolset as well as how to best integrate these tools into your long-term online communications and fundraising strategy. Many nonprofits are making simple mistakes that are draining their social media ROI, but fortunately these mistakes can be easily fixed.
That said, this webinar begins with laying a foundation for understanding the role of social media in the context of Web 1.0 [The Broadcast Web], Web 2.0 [The Social Web], and Web 3.0 [The Mobile Web) and then moves on to explore 10 of the most common mistakes made by nonprofit social media practitioners. This webinar cuts through hype and demonstrates clearly where the ROI is from social media – and where it is not.
Related Link:
Social Media and Mobile Technology Webinars for Nonprofits
