Today’s Tips for NGOs 020915

NGOs and nonprofits depend on donations to fulfill their missions and I’ve written about the importance of outreaching to key donors and then regularly expressing your gratitude to them.

In order to maximize your fundraising efforts, experts are advising NGOs to invest time and creativity in upgrading their online donation service to ensure that they’re meeting the needs of today’s online donors, which are growing in numbers.

The best tool for that is the “Donate Now” button on your websites. It may be ubiquitous but is it as effective as it can be?

Nptechforgood.com offered the following 10 best practices in web fundraising for NGOs:

1. Embed the donation process inside your website and ensure that it is mobile compatible.

Six times more money is raised through custom-branded donate pages than through third-party donate pages.

To successfully fundraise online, nonprofits must invest in a premium, mobile-compatible online fundraising service, such as Network for Good, Stay Classy, Givlet, or DonationPay, since responsive design doubles contributing on mobile devices.

2. Prominently feature a “Donate” button on every page of your website.

Add a “Donate” button to every page of your website and blog which is mostly easily done by integrating it into your site’s navigation. The color of the button should be bold to ensure that donors can immediately see and tap or click the button.

3. Add calls-to-action to your “Thank You” landing page.

The vast majority of “Thank You” landing pages are text-only and lacking in interesting content. Add visual calls-to-actions to better motivate your donors to take further action on behalf of your nonprofit.

 4. Create donation impact graphics for social media.

Your followers on social networks are much more likely to take notice of your fundraising asks if you create a series of donation impact graphics. The ideal size for Facebook/Pinterest/Google+ graphics is 500 x 500 pixels. The size necessary for Twitter is 500 x 250 pixels.

5. Have a “More Ways to Give” page.

“Donate” buttons should always link directly to a page where donors enter their credit card information, but in addition your nonprofit should have a “More Ways to Give” or “How to Help” page the lists all the ways supporters can donate to your nonprofit. Again, prioritize images of text.

6. Launch a sustainer program.

Use an online fundraising service that easily allows supporters to make monthly donations automatically. Monthly donors give an average monthly gift of $52 ($624 annually) and give 42% more over one-year than one-time donors.

7. Enable tribute giving.

Use an online fundraising service that easily allows donors to make tribute or honor gifts, such birthday, holiday, and wedding gifts.

8. Prioritize yearend fundraising.

Thirty percent of all online donations are made in December and 10% of all annual giving happens in the last three days of the year. Online fundraising campaigns should be focused on the online giving habits of their donors.

9. Advertise your fundraising campaigns on your blog.

In addition to a “Donate” button on every page of your blog, create ads for other fundraising programs, such as products your nonprofit sells, apps you have available for download, crowdfunding campaigns, monthly giving campaigns, etc.

10. Publish an e-newsletter.

When polled, 25-30% of nonprofits do not use email to promote their programs and fundraising campaigns which is a mistake since email is the primary source of online donations. In fact, for every 1,000 fundraising messages delivered, nonprofits raised $17.

While it may seem like an obvious to you, outreaching is an exercise that needs to enjoy a great deal of your time and effort. Great nonprofits spend as much time working outside their four walls – with the global assortment of stakeholders – as they do managing their internal operations.

High-impact NGOs build social movements and fields; they transform business, government, other nonprofits, and individuals; and they change the world around them. Experts have determined these six patterns and practices that high-impact nonprofits use to achieve extraordinary impact and success:

1. Work with government and advocate for policy change

2. Harness market forces and see business as a powerful partner

3. Convert individual supporters into evangelists for the cause

4. Build and nurture nonprofit networks, treating other groups as allies

5. Adapt to the changing environment

6. Share leadership, empowering others to be forces for good

Indeed, these NGOs are ready to cast a wide net to increase their chances of success – the attainment of the goal that they created for themselves in their marketing or outreach plan.

In addition, Heather McLeod Grant and Leslie R. Crutchfield in their work “Creating High-Impact Nonprofits,” advise: “High-impact nonprofits have also mastered several basic management principles that are necessary to sustain their impact. They have all developed enduring, somewhat diversified sources of financial support, including large individual donor bases, government contracts, corporate donations, and foundation grants. Typically, they have aligned their fundraising strategy with their impact strategy. Those that are the savviest about inspiring evangelists are also able to build a broad individual donor base.”

Some of their other business-oriented observations state:

“These nonprofits have also learned that they need to invest in their human resources, and so the majority of them compensate their executives very well compared to organizations of similar size.”

“Rather than doing what they’ve always done, high-impact nonprofits continuously move in new directions. And by working with and through others, they find levers long enough to increase their impact.” Solid business advice to be flexible, to review and adapt to new circumstances, and to revise and change paths to their goals.

Successful NGOs need structure to succeed in their work but not rigidity. They should have an outreach path to their goal and they need to measure their achievements. Along the way, they should touch a wide range of stakeholders as well as major and minor donors to promote their mission and projects as well as to solicit funds.

Contact me for more ideas and guidance.

For a global view of what NGOs are doing, please visit my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BoostingNGOOutreach