Today’s guest post is from Tonia Zampieri. Tonia’s the Mobile Strategist for Atlantic Business Technologies. She has nearly 10 years of digital fundraising and marketing experience and launched one of the very first nonprofit iPhone apps, Tap-n-Give on iTunes in 2009.  Say Hi on Twitter @iheartcharity

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I used to suspect with a career in mobile technology I was not normal.  Back even a year ago, some friends would say “Can’t you put your phone away and just enjoy our conversation?”  Mind you, these friends didn’t yet have a smartphone, how could they have known?

At a brunch last weekend I chuckled when those same two friends, smartphone in tote, were up to the same shenanigans they accused me of.  How soon we forget…

If you are like a rapidly growing number of American adults today, this blog is being consumed on your smartphone.  Maybe on a subway train, Starbucks line, sponsor’s reception area or at Tommy’s little league game.

In today’s Reality TV world - is this our new reality?  I would dare say yes.

According to a recent econsultancy blog Inforgraphic - by December more Americans will read emails from their phone than their lap or desktops.

Today 64% of Americans say they will dump emails not optimized for mobile.  Imagine what this stat will be by year-end?  Retailers, even states like Maine, are all over mobile web.  Why?  Because 50% of America, and growing, are all over mobile web.

How will charity year-end appeals fare as industries adapt? Our insatiable demand to consume content and calls to action effortlessly via mobile web is being met.

When compared to Internet growth, mobile web is killing it.  We have a love affair with our smartphones.

As a nonprofit leader, how can you guarantee we’ll be downright obsessed with your mission?

Here’s three easy steps to get you started:

1. Mobilize your online messaging, particularly when including a call to action.  Assume all your contacts are experts at multi-tasking.  If you’re asking them for something – be direct.  Say why you need it, when you need it and how it’s going to make a difference.  Don’t beat around the bush.
2. Mobilize any form accessed from email campaigns.  Donation forms, volunteer forms, event registration forms.  Try tapping your home page donation button from your smartphone to see what it looks like. Hopefully it’s simple to use. If not, you’ve got work to do.
3. Only send single column emails formatted for mobile web.  Use short email subject lines.  Regardless of your urgent plea,  if it’s hard to navigate it’ll be tap trash, as I like to call it.

Beginning with these small but important changes will ensure your long-time and newly cultivated supporters will continue to listen & give.  But proper timing is a must before they assume you are out of touch with who they are and what they need.

Win a Free Mobile Strategy Session

Developing a mobile strategy addressing both mobile technology and mobile marketing opportunities is your next step.  For a chance at one of 12 FREE mobile strategy sessions, check out The Atlantic BT “Gives Back” Mobile Grant Contest.  Initial submissions end Friday night midnight ET.  You don’t need to know exactly how mobile technology can best help your mission - but here’s some ideas to help.    Nonprofits from around the Country including Washington, Oregon, Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina have applied.

Download the complete 2011 Online Fundraising Report to learn more about the 13% YoY growth, double-digit growth since 2009 and the top reasons your nonprofit should invest in its online fundraising program. Download the report now! 

In our 2011 Online Fundraising Report we learned that every sector surveyed experienced double-digit growth since 2009, including roughly 13 percent* in the past year.

Online donors contributed significant amounts, too. The median online gift among donations of $1,000 or more was $1,200, and forty-three percent of 2011 donations were between $1,000 and $5,000. The largest online gift received in 2011 was $260,000 – more than two-and-a-half times 2010′s largest gift.

With that type of growth you’d be silly not to spend time focusing on improving your organizations online fundraising program. With that in mind, here are four online fundraising tactics that every nonprofit should have in place.

Retention, Retention, Retention

Most people who do online fundraising are looking to both acquire new donors and keep those donors giving on a regular basis.

However, according to our research, many organizations don’t have a well-developed retention strategy in place to ensure that first-time donors turn into repeated givers.

Since 2010 was an abnormal year for online giving - due to the wave of offerings for Haiti’s earthquake relief - many organizations received a gift that year, but never heard back from the donor. We found that organizations enforcing a retention strategy were able to keep 15 percent of their new Haiti-related donors the following year.

A retention plan will become even more important in coming years, as online giving becomes more popular. With a retention plan in place, organizations can count on more past donors continuing their support.

Pro Tip: Keep donors – both scarce and consistent – up-to-date with information on how their money is being used. Show progress, successes and new areas of focus. And do it all very shortly after they give their initial online donation.

Don’t Count On End-of-Year Kindness Alone

Most online giving occurs towards the end of the year with 20 percent happening in the month of December alone.

Whether December is the most popular month because of holidays or end-of-year joy, it does not have to be an organization’s only month with a spike in monetary gifts.

Educational organizations enjoy an online donation spike at the end of the academic school year in June, while healthcare organizations saw their spikes during fundraising events in April and September.

Pro Tip: Find a month during the year (not in Q4) – perhaps at the end of an annual year-long campaign, or during company events – where you can reliably increase online gifts. Start building this into your overall fundraising plan to ensure it get’s the focus and attention it needs.

Learn from the Best!

Everyone wants to be better.

The simplest  way to improve your online fundraising results is to imitate nonprofits who are successfully raising money online. What are their strengths? Where are they focusing? Can you use similar concepts? Adopt characteristics that work well for them and watch your online fundraising take off.

It’s also helpful look at organizations that are less successful than yours, and learn from their mistakes.

Pro Tip: Go check out http://www.charitywater.org … watch them. Learn from them. Imitate them.

Check out the report for an equation to find out where your organization stands compared to others.

Use Your Website

Organizations, depending on their size, should consider analyzing their website traffic.

An easy-to-navigate site featuring useful information is more accessible, and therefore more appealing, to potential donors. Take a look at the areas on you site that get the most traffic and ask your-self three things:

1. Is it simple for a website visitor to understand what my nonprofit does to make a difference in the world?
2. Is it easy for a website visitor to find ways to support my nonprofits work?
3. Can a website visitor quickly take action once they’ve decided to?

Larger organizations in particular should examine what they ask of each donor. Is your requested donation similar to your average online gift? Is it consistent with what donors have given in the past?

Pro Tip: Analyze past donations to look for how you might be able to strategically increase your online ask to receive more value per gift, or decrease it to receive more frequent gifts, depending on your needs.

Online giving and fundraising are key strategies for any nonprofit organization looking to bulk up its total annual revenue stream, and assessing and improving your organization’s current methods can help you expand growth significantly in the coming years.

For more information, download Blackbaud’s free 2011 Online Giving Report.

2011 Online Giving Report

Download the complete 2011 Online Giving Report to learn more about the 13% YoY growth in online giving, the double-digit growth since 2009 and the reasons your nonprofit should invest in its online fundraising program.

Part two of our four part series on Effective Nonprofit Websites. Make sure to read part one if you missed it: Create a More Effective Nonprofit Website Using These 2 Simple Suggestions

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“The Web is a world of first impressions, and quick ones at that.  Users form an opinion of a website within the first few seconds of loading it.” Jason Gross, “The Role of Design in The Kingdom of Content, www.smashingmagazine.com

Makes sense, right? On to the next two nonprofit website best practices …

Best Practice #3:  Share Your Mission

60% of all donors check out your nonprofits website before donating so you should tell them why they should give and what impact it will make…quickly before they change their mind.  Share your mission clearly, succinctly and make it actionable!

EX:  Helping People. Saving Gorillas.  Not just a tagline.  Not just a mission.  Rich links to compelling content that shares with site visitors what the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund is about, how they help and who they serve.

Best Practice #4:  Use Compelling Imagery

“Regardless of what your content actually says, the design around it controls what the users see first and how their eyes move across the sections of the page.”  Jason Gross, “The Role of Design in the Kingdom of Content, www.smashingmagazine.com. 

Compelling imagery can comes in many forms, but is an essential part of creating effective nonprofit websites:

• Infographics are my personal favorite.  They allow you to VISUALLY show all types of content -  from stewardship to impact to mission fulfillment to campaign progress – clearly and succinctly.  They are attractive and engaging, which are two key elements to successful imagery on any website.  Charity Water does an excellent job using icons and infographics to tell their story. Not just on their homepage, but throughout their site, check them out.

• Engage with eye contact.  Photography that uses eye contact will allow you to make a personal connection with your user.  You’re a nonprofit, you know that personal connections, trust and emotional engagement are keys to fulfilling your mission!  For example, which would better share the amazing impact Habitat for Humanity has on the community – an image of 5 volunteers building a Habitat Home with their backs to the camera?    Or the eyes of the man for whom the house was built?

• Share real stories of impact.   Sharing stories of how others are affected by your work, your outreach and your mission will build credibility and encourage empathy.

So far we’ve discussed that your nonprofit website should:

1. Resonate with Your Audiences
2. Have a Focused Homepage
3. Share Your Mission
4. Use Compelling Imagery

The best is yet to come. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll check back for part three next week.

Was this helpful? Do you have more examples to share? Please comment and share your successes!

Pinterest for Arts and Cultural Organizations, really?

I have 1021 pins. 1021.I knew I had a solid interest in Pinterest, but this confirms it – full blown obsession.

I wonder how long it took me to pin so many things. If I sent someone 1021 text messages, I could probably be given stalker status.

Good thing I’m not alone:

• Pinterest is now the no. 3 social network in the US (behind Facebook and Twitter)
• The average Pinterest user spends 14.2 minutes per visit
• In March 2012, Pinterest had over 4 million daily unique page visits

So what does all this mean for Arts and Cultural Organizations? Who are these users and should you be trying to reach them? Should you be on Pinterest?

Check out this infographic  from Tamba  and see if Pinterest attracts your target audience. (P)interested yet? As I am getting to know more about the Altru users, I’ve been convinced that you could benefit from being on Pinterest.

Here’s why:

1 – You have the images!

Pinterest is all about visual stimulation, showcasing beautiful images that move people to like, repin, or share, thereby supporting your cause. As Arts and Cultural Organizations (museums, zoos, galleries, festivals and foundations), you have so many powerful images to choose from.

You can pin images of your venue space, grounds, events, exhibits or patrons.

Museum of the Moving Image

Clyfford Still Museum

Grounds for Sculpture

Hands On Childrens Museum

Laguna Art Museum

2 – Your Supporters are Using Pinterest Already

I did a quick search for a few of Atrs and Cultural Organizations using Altru and almost every search returned images of your organizations. You already have fans on Pinterest: time to connect with them!

 3 – There’s a Category That’s perfect(ly searchable) for You 

On Pinterest, images are categorized. And many of the categories are perfect for Arts and Cultural Organizations to showcase their awesomeness!

For children’s museums and zoos, there’s Kids and Pets; for museums, Art, Architecture, or Design. If you host weddings at in your event space, pin images to Wedding & Events. There’s also Food & Drink, Gardening, Outdoors, Science and Nature, Technology … your organization could be a part of so many searches!

Still not sold? Here are 10 examples of nonprofits leveraging pinterest for social good and a couple more articles to check out:

• Nonprofit Infographics on Pinterest
• Nine Pinterest Best Practices for Nonprofits
• How To: Get Your Nonprofit Started on Pinterest
• 12 Ways to Use Pinterest for Your Nonprofit

Enough of the rehashing of internet articles; you could be pinning already!

Is anyone already using Pinterest for your Arts and Cultural Organization and loving it? Or did you decide against it? We’d love to know why you joined or didn’t! Maybe we can chat about it over in the Altru Community.

I have to admit when the whole Pinterest thing started, I thought to myself, “Oh great, now the internet is making me feel guilty about not putting my kids pictures in cute little scrapbooks.”

I just couldn’t see the business application.

Nor could I see how the nonprofits I work with would have time for yet another social network to their already hard enough social media struggle.

Really, Pinterest for Nonprofits?

Yet, where there is a will, there is a way. And Opportunity International found a way.

By launching a very creative campaign designed around “pay to pin”, the group hopes to raise money to help their mission of providing small loans to poor women overseas. This – and some of these other ideas – may set a blueprint for how other nonprofits can use this exploding technology.

Here are 5 Ways You Can Raise Money with Pins.

Once you’ve read these make sure to check out the full story on Opportunity International.

1. If you are a humane society: Pin pictures of animals available for adoption. You could broaden this to include pins of people playing with their pets, new adoptions, shelter staff and volunteers, etc. Get creative by learning how to tell your story through pictures.
2. Do you have a thrift store: Put your sales items up every week. Research is showing that Pinterest users have above average incomes and are mostly women between the ages of 25 – 54. Wow – talk about demographic specific. AND the new social network is projected to account for 40% of all social media purchases. Start pinning your sale items on a regular basis.
3. Looking for a way to thank your volunteers and donors? Pin a thank you page. Take pictures of all your staff holding thank you signs to create a collage. Then have the last pin link to a donation or new event page.
4. Run anyone? If you have team fundraisers as part of your race event, you can pin pictures of those teams with a direct link to their fundraising site. What a terrific way to support the efforts of these people who are supporting you!! That’s just one example. If you take 10 minutes to think about it for a minute I bet you could come up with at least 5 more awesome ways to use Pinterest as part of your fundraising event.
5. Dance anyone? Or golf, or eat? Events are always great picture opportunities. Also a good place to post pictures of your auction items PRIOR to the big day. Just be sure to get permission to post and cite your sources. This is a great way to thank your donors … and encourage others. Looking for a unique way to promote your corporate partners? I think you may have found it.

Pinterest is pegged as a place to share things that interest you. In the beginning, founder, Ben Silberman, asked followers to “avoid self promotion”, but that didn’t last long.

Pinners no longer frown upon self-promotion or any other promotion for that matter.  So go forth and create a new landscape. I’m anxious to hear how it goes!

Email communications are a critical piece of every nonprofits engagement strategy. Maximizing the effectiveness of your email marketing includes understanding and leveraging the latest email design strategies and best practices.

But how do you keep track of them?

Here are 20 email design tips that will help you increase deliverability while maximizing the look of your email marketing campaign.

Email Design

1. Email should be no wider than 640px.
2. Avoid sending emails larger than 100k.
3. Email should be a table-based layout. DIV based designs do not function properly across email clients.
4. Consider how your email will look with images disabled. Many email clients disable images by default. It is important to make sure your reader still sees all the important information.
5. Keep important information and calls to action at the top of the email, often the first 400px, so it displays in the reading pane.
6. Use of animated gifs, flash, videos, iframes, forms, javascript, AJAX are not recommended.
7. Always use inline styling when formatting emails.
8. Avoid large blocks of text. Instead, include a couple sentences to create a teaser and have a “read more” link which links back to a landing page for full content.
9. Use a consistent “From” name to build your sender reputation.
10. You must include your address, privacy policy and unsubscribe links at all times.
11. Validate your code. Empty and unclosed tags can cause spacing and layout issues.
12. It is vital to test your email with different email clients for rendering differences.

Text

1. Avoid using symbols when possible, such as dollar signs and exclamation points, in email content and in the subject line.
2. Only use web-safe fonts.
3. Do not use fonts larger than 24px.
4. No more than 2 fonts should be used.

Images

1. Try to reduce the amount of images in your email. Use background colors rather than background images. This will also help with consistency, as many email clients do not support background images.
2. When including images, consider image size. Smaller images yield shorter load times and email size. All images should include alt tags for accessibility.

Links

1. Avoid using excessively long links.
2. Use text rather than image links. Some email clients block images.

Related Resources

· Code Validation: http://validator.w3.org/

· CSS Support in Email Clients: http://www.campaignmonitor.com/css/

“Go and do Good!”

That’s what Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) tells it’s event participants to do at the end of this video.

FMSC is doing something that every nonprofit who runs an event fundraising program should do.

The thing that turns regular people into fundraising pro’s.

Training (Event Fundraisers)

That’s right. Training is the name of the game. It’s the single most effective way to turn passionate supporters into successful fundraisers.

In this three-minute video, FMSC is able to blend both messaging around their mission and the global hunger crisis with clear, easy to follow steps about how to participate as a fundraiser.

They’ve created training that…

…  is easily accessible

… is centered on the work FMSC is doing

… shows the impact their work is having in children’s lives

… inspires event participants to act

… teaches event participants how to be successful

5 Question Training Evaluation

After you watch this video again, step back and think about the interactions your organization has with event fundraising participants. Ask yourself and your team a few questions:

• Are we helping fundraisers see how their efforts help change the world?
• Are we making it easy for fundraisers to participate?
• Are we doing enough to train our fundraisers so they can be successful?
• Are we helping our fundraisers easily communicate what they are doing with friends and family?
• How can we improve in all these areas and do a better job equipping our event fundraising participants?

Go, and Do Good!

Is the message here about creating awesome video? No. It’s great if you can, but it certainly isn’t a requirement.

What’s more important is that you take participant training seriously.  It can have a HUGE impact on your event fundraising results.

Go and do BETTER!

Download the complete 2011 Online Giving Report to learn more about the 13% YoY growth, double-digit growth since 2009 and the top reasons your nonprofit should invest in its online fundraising program. Download the report now! 

A report released earlier this year by the UK User Experience Agency Nomensa indicated 47% of people who visit a website intending to make a online donation give up before completing the process.

Yes, 47%!

How frustrating.

Which leads me to the main point of this post. Getting visitors to your website is only half the battle. Once there, nonprofits need to inspire, overcome reservations and make it easy to make an online donation.

How, exactly, can you accomplish these things and ensure more potential donors complete the giving process? Here are a few ideas for you.

6 Ways to Improve Your Online Giving Experience

1) Allow giving to specific projects

I know unrestricted money is your top priority. But it may not be a donor’s top priority.

If they’ve lost someone to breast cancer, they’re most likely interested in funding that type of cancer. Instead of just offering what you want (annual fund, matching gifts, etc.), let donors also give to projects that are meaningful to them. The Nomensa report offers a great example from Cancer Research UK:

2) Offer the opportunity to “join the club”

Monthly giving is important. In addition to Frank Barry’s recent post on why you need a recurring giving program, the just-released 2012 eNonprofit Benchmark study found that online monthly giving is growing at a much faster rate than one-time giving.

But don’t just offer recurring giving. Brand it as an exclusive, meaningful, and fun online experience. Some nonprofits do this by asking monthly donors to “join the club” and give them names like Miracle Makers, Partners for Change, and Guardian Angels.

Create your own “club” with perks that enhance the giving experience. Things like first-to-know email alerts, discounted store purchases or drawings for celebrity meet-and-greets. Also, detail how monthly donations impact your mission. Let monthly donors know they’re part of a team really making a difference.

3) Creatively convey how donations are used

The 2011 Money for Good study found that donors are looking for information on how donations will be used.

Although this is a common theme in many studies, it still is overlooked. And while it’s important to say how donations are utilized, you don’t always have to use long paragraphs to explain this. Be creative here. Incorporate visuals and shorter text to communicate the impact of gifts. Here’s one example I like:

4) Providing (unbiased) proof you’re legit

The 2011 Money for Good study also found that even though donors rarely research organizations, they want to give to reputable nonprofits that won’t waste their money.

So, be transparent about how donations are used and provide (unbiased) proof that you can be trusted. Use logos from and links to ratings by Charity Navigator, GuideStar Exchange, Better Business Bureau, and other third-party organizations to show donors you’re responsible. The right column of CARE’s donation form provides all of this:

5) Add a compelling photo to your donation form

Motivate and engage donors on every step of the donation journey, including your donation form. Remember, visitors may be considering making a donation at that point.

Or, perhaps past donors are considering a larger gift. Use a compelling photo that inspires donors. Those of someone or something looking into the camera work well. CARE’s example above does this well, as does this one from The Peregrine Fund:

6) Create a feel-good post-donation experience

Does your confirmation page and email just regurgitate payment information? Is it a lukewarm “thank you?”

Be creative and leave no doubt about how appreciative you are. Help donors walk away from your website feeling great about themselves and the financial sacrifice they just made. Here’s what one organization includes on their confirmation page:

A boat full of people (literally) smiling, waving and thanking you for your gift. What’s better than that? As a bonus, they also include a link to their Annual Report (transparency), Facebook (connect socially), and matching gift details (doubling some gifts).

Make them believe their gift will make a difference for someone. Create a feel-good experience that begins the cultivation process for the next gift.

What other ways can you think of to enhance the online giving experience?

Make sure to check out Steve MacLaughlin’s post on 5 Donation Form Bad Practices to avoid.

Effective nonprofit websites don’t exist as boutiques to show off information. But you already know that.

You know that your nonprofits website is a tool that should be used.

Used to engage, interact with and mobilize your audience – A tool that should ultimately inspire action.

From our extensive research and work with nonprofits in creating strategic, impactful websites, we’ve uncovered and organized a list of the top 10 elements of an effective nonprofit website.

Here are two of the ten key elements every nonprofit website should have. To get all ten make sure to check back in with us over the next week or join us for a live discussion on this topic during our Free Guide Series!

Best Practice #1: Know Your Audience

Without knowing who your website is serving you’re shooting in the dark. No matter how hard you try, it will be nearly impossible to create an effective nonprofit website – one that meets the needs of your constituents and helps you achieve your mission.

• Focus on their needs – who are your key groups and what do they care about?  How do they interact with your site? By understanding the #1 Reason Nonprofit Websites Fail and How to Fix It Immediately you’ll be well on your way to creating an excellent nonprofit website.
• Use the right language – know that writing is an art…AND a science.  Every bit of content should showcase your mission.  Avoid industry jargon and acronyms.  Keep it simple, but include descriptors for clarity and SEO improvement.
• Keep mobile in mind!  In 3 years mobile will be the #1 method your audience accesses your site.  Are you ready?

Best Practice #2: Focus Your Homepage

“The Web is a World of First Impressions…Users form an opinion of a website within the first few seconds of loading It.” –Jason Gross, “The Role of Design in the Kingdome of Content” www.smashingmagazine

To create an effective nonprofit website you’ve got to focus on your homepage.

• Prioritize content – Wireframes are a key step in creating visual hierarchy. What content elements are most important and deserve prime real estate? Remember YOUR goals as well as your AUDIENCE’S during this exercise, and stay strong – not everything everyone wants fits, or even belongs, on the homepage.
• Make sure it’s scannable – Use of headers, content blocs and visual design will allow for users eyes to follow the right path of content.
• Provide choices – not everyone accesses your site in the same way; make sure you provide different ways to access information to accommodate.
• Test – Show your homepage to audience members, and then ask them a series of mission and organizational questions.  If they cant’ answer them, consider refocusing and prioritizing your homepage.

Learn more about best practices in nonprofit web design during our free Guide webinar Series the week of April 23^rd.  Register now!

Your brand isn’t as simple as a logo or website. It’s a living, breathing and ever evolving thing that must resonate throughout all aspects of your organization.

It’s intangible and emotional while at the same time tangible and based in real life.

It’s what your constituents think of you, the energy your organization portrays, and the feeling evoked from your communications.

In short, your brand is the gut feeling your supporters and the world have when thinking about, hearing about, seeing and interacting with your nonprofit organization. 

Inconsistency is Your Worst Enemy

As a nonprofit, you can’t afford to dilute your brand with inconsistent messages. Inconsistency in your message causes distrust and over time will make your supporters skeptical about who you are and what you do.

Obviously, you’re not trying to create skeptics. You’re building a base of loyal fans who support your wholeheartedly.

But if you lack focus it’s likely you’re sending inconsistent messages on a regular basis without even knowing it.

How do you avoid this inconsistency?

Branding 101

You avoid sending inconsistent messages by creating and living by a brand manual – a document that provides all of the pertinent information needed to communicate your brand – internally and externally.

A solid brand manual includes:

1.  An overview of your mission – on which you should strive to focus all communications.
2. History – if appropriate, share your history and how your brand has evolved over time.  This will help your audiences (internal and external) understand how you’ve evolved.
3. Positioning in the market – what’s your niche and brand promise, and how do you fit into the competitive landscape?
4. Brand architecture – are you part of a group, consortium or national organization?  Or does your brand exist alone?
5. Brand Assets – Usable colors, fonts, logo options, digital use, print usage parameters and styles.

An Excellent Brand Manual Example

If you don’t already have a brand manual it can be helpful to see an example that will get the creative juices flowing.

American Heart Association has done an excellent job with their brand manual, which is posted online and used for guidelines, continuing education, history lessons and education.  Check it out for inspiration!

Your Turn

From writing press releases and blog posts to designing banner ads and publishing fundraising websites, having a published set of brand standards will help ensure everyone working for and with you understands your standards and expectations.

You’ve worked hard to find a niche in the nonprofit market, and to continually serve your mission through a strong brand. Protect it by documenting (in a brand manual) and enforcing brand standards throughout your communications.

Join Us

If you’d like to dig into nonprofit branding a bit more I’m co-hosting a webinar on, April 24^th. Join us!