Let's have a tutorial today on lessons non-profits can learn from the staggeringly successful fundraising strategies the presidential candidates are using--online.
The New York Times reports that Barack Obama raised $36.1 million in January, with $28 million (78%) raised over the Internet. Think about it--78% of the monies were raised online. That means no printing costs, no postage, no design fees. My non-profit friends might ask, "Why aren't my online fundraising appeals working well?" As Patron Mail's Gene Carr says in his blog post about this subject, many willing donors do use the Internet to give. And the fact that your audience may not be responding to your appeals doesn't mean your constituents are unwilling. As Gene says, "People need to be motivated to give."
What can we learn from the candidates about how to motivate donors?
First of all, it's clear that the candidates have learned that appealing through email is easy and very effective, so no need to second guess that strategy. But take a look at the messages the candidates are using. Hillary Clinton's emails are simply requests for money. On her web site, it's just a plain old form. Barack Obama, on the other hand, uses what is always most effective in Web 2.0 marketing--he enters into "conversation" with his supporters. Obama provides comments or messages on various aspects of his campaign. The Obama campaign goes the extra mile to connect with donors through this "conversation." They further serve their supporters by doing simple things like inserting links to video clips they feel their donors will find informative and, yes, inspirational. And they do all of this several times a week.
Gene Carr also points out that by studying the the candidates' efforts, he sees a "standard template design for e-mails developing" for fundraising solicitations. The call-to-action, or the "ask," happens several times in the same email. There's always a graphic treatment on the right-hand side. Says Gene, "Apparently putting [the ask] in several times, separated by white space works."
Every non-profit has the opportunity to enter into this same kind of effective conversation with their supporters. Each institution has stories to tell that inspire, uplift, and motivate. And through email marketing, these stories can be told, the connections can be made, and the results had--all for a fraction of what fundraising solicitations used to cost. Maya Angelou has a great quote--"When you know better, you do better." I think the instruction book on how to do better has been written.
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