Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in Allison Fine’s monthly Social Good podcast [2] for the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Together with Tom Watson, we discussed how organizations large and small are raising dollars and awareness through online fundraising contests. There’s certainly no shortage of these contests as we’ve seen in recent months, but as the end of 2009 fast approaches, contests aren’t the only way that organizations are raising money online. We know that a little creativity in reaching and keeping new donors has never been more important.
As the Nonprofit Times suggested to organizations [3] last week, “it might be time to check to see if your online donation page is working because more than 111 million people plan to use the Web to give to nonprofits this holiday season.” This according to a new report by Convio [4], that estimates more than $4 billion in donations will be made online this year, up about $1 billion from last year’s holiday giving season.
While the survey found that charity Web sites are the biggest influence on online consumers' decision to give (44 percent), it’s not just your online donation page you should make sure is up to snuff, because today’s donors will be looking for your Twitter handle, your Facebook fan page, or they may simply stumble upon you via Google. As John Haydon pointed out in a post today [5], you need to think of Facebook, Twitter and Google as your organization’s new homepage. After all, nearly 25 percent of respondents to the Convio survey said that what family and friends say on social media platforms and in personal e-mails influences their decisions on which charities to support.
I admit to being on a bit of soap box these days as I talk about the need for nonprofits to focus on cultivating the next generation of donors, my peers the Millennials. While we may not all have the financial means to give in a significant way today, there are two things that should not be overlooked: the collective power of our individual smaller donations, and our high expectations for a seamless experience when donating online or via mobile devices. It’s safe to say that we’ll be reaching for our laptops to donate to causes we care about much more quickly than we could ever find our checkbook and a postage stamp.
With this in mind, I turned to the data to see who was giving online and expected to see more of a discrepancy when it came to the breakdown by age (with Gen X and Gen Y leading the way). Perhaps it’s time to get off of the Millennial soap box, because on average about 60% of people across the board are giving online. Of the survey respondents, 66 percent of Younger Boomers, categorized as ages 44 to 53, said they would donate online this holiday season, followed by 65 percent of Generation X respondents, ages 30 to 43; 64 percent of Generation Y, ages 18 to 29; 60 percent of Seniors, ages 65 and older; and, 59 percent of Older Boomers, ages 54 to 64.
It’s clear there is still no silver bullet for fundraising. Charities must promote their causes across all channels and simply putting up a website, or having a presence on a social network site, is not enough. As Tom Watson was quick to point out in last weeks podcast, “organizations that do the best, fear the least – they let people do their own fundraising.” So, how can your organization use this holiday season to appeal to new donors online? This post started with a focus on how to reach Millennials donors, but these traits can be applied broadly to attract any donor who is among the 60 percent following this generation’s lead in going online for their end-of-year giving.
- Make an emotional connection, but make sure you do so in an authentic way
- Place a premium on involving peers and friends – remember, Millennials trust their social networks above anyone else and can see right through gimmicks and marketing ploys
- Try to go where they are, and do more than just ask for money. It can be as simple as follow us on Twitter, or share this link on facebook.
- Don’t expect a second chance to make a first impression, if they don’t give the first time, you may lose them forever
- Treat them (and all donors) with respect, and be quick to thank them for their support – yes, they expect that immediate recognition
- Don’t forget why you’re asking. If you can’t tell your story in a clear and compelling way, one of the 1.1 Million other nonprofits competing for their attention can
Comments
I appreciate this point, Kari, it's so timely too, given that it's just about that point in the calendar year where folks are reaching for their (electronic) checkbooks for holiday/end of year giving.
I was recently at a meeting of the Bay Area Non Profit Consultants group where John Kenyon (http://johnkenyon.typepad.com/ [7]) spoke compellingly about establishing strong and functional website platforms as a foundation for increased social media forays. His point was that in all the type about Facebook and Twitter that organizations are hurrying to get into the latest social media innovation, whilst their website may or may not be a compelling hub and inviting space (e.g. = is it current, do the links work, etc.). I wonder what you think? Is there an "order of things" (perhaps Foucaultian) social media-wise?
Thanks for weighing in here Pia - I'd be interested in hearing more about what John Kenyon thinks, but from my perspective it's a bit of a chicken and egg game. It's of course always important to have a site that's in working order, easy to navigate, interactive, etc. And while all of those things matter tremendously, I think it's safe to say that the entry points to an organization's website (as John Haydon suggests) are numerous and therefore it may feel overwhelming to keep everything up to date. With that in mind, I think it makes sense to pick a couple of places that you want to give some additional "care and feeding" to without feeling overwhelmed.
There are plenty of tools available that will allow you to quickly populate your different social media accounts. If you want to always drive people back to your website, give them something to do once they are there (whether it's donate, comment, share a link, etc). It doesnt have to be a big lift to manage multiple accounts, think of them all as inter-connected. You can write an article on your website/blog, tweet about it by sending around a link and post the same content on your facebook fanpage, etc - all with a couple of easy clicks. That way you're covered no matter what entry point someone chooses to enter.
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Alena
http://grantfoundation.net [8]