10 Online Marketing Strategies for Fundraising
in Challenging Times

1. Ensure your web site makes the right first impression

Prospective donors, including potential major donors, are very likely to visit your site before making a gift in any channel.

2. Collect email addresses of current donors

Communicating online with donors enhances their value. Few organizations have emails for more than 30% of their active donors.

3. Optimize your web site to convert visitors to email subscribers

Target a 3% conversion rate of unique visitors to new subscribers.

4. Make every communication count

Consumers are inundated with marketing messages. Write emails with a constituent-centric view and steer clear of sending non-compelling material just because your calendar indicates it is time to send a newsletter.

5. Inspire

Provide value and be transparent to your donors about how funds are spent.

6. Ask for money regularly

Include a soft ask in every communication and send direct mail appeals at least four times a year – as long as you are providing updates regularly outside of appeals.

7. Use multiple emails in a series to lift appeal response rates

Suppress those who respond to earlier emails in the series. Software tools make it easy to automate this process.

8. Make fundraising appeals tangible and compelling

People are presented with lots of appeals and offers. Does yours stand out? Does it compel an immediate response?

9. Empower volunteers

Raise money for your organization through online peer-to-peer fundraising software tools.

10. Encourage monthly giving

The lifetime value of monthly donors is much higher than single-gift donors – they give more per year and have higher retention rates. Present monthly giving as an option to new donors and create pathways to encourage single-gift donors to become monthly donors.