The Agitator

May 22, 2009

Convio has just published an excellent report on online fundraising trends, together with their advice on how nonprofits can improve their online fundraising programs.

This is a "must-read" document, for two reasons:

1) The report is full of stats from a broad range of nonprofits that you can use to benchmark your own online fundraising and communications program. For example:

• In 2008, online fundraising revenue increased 14%;
• 15-25% of online revenue comes from email communications, mostly direct appeals;
• The median open rate for email newsletters is 23%;
• The median open rate for email fundraising appeals is 2% (with median response rate of 0.13%);
• On average, nonprofits "convert" 2-3% of the unique visitors to their websites (i.e., get them to register for further e-contact).

And many more stats to benchmark against.

2) In addition, the report is full of suggestions about how you can do better.

For example, I liked their ideas on how to promote your website using offline resources:

• Feature specific calls-to-action that are only available online, such as response to specific articles, participation in surveys;
• Feed online-generated content — such as survey results, reader comments — into your offline communications;
• Highlight online donor relationship management, like ability to update mailing addresses or other donor preferences;
• Use story continuations to drive cross-over traffic — e.g., more photos to illustrate the story, additional resources.

All in all, it’s a great piece of work. Convio, you deserve a raise!

Tom

This entry was posted on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 at 1:00 am and is filed under You Deserve a Raise, direct marketing, email marketing, fundraising, marketing metrics, nonprofit management, online activism, online advocacy, online fundraising, online publishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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