Care2's Digital Engagement Blog

 So long sweet frogloop.com. On your 9th birthday, you have passed your right of  passage and deserve a new name – Care2’s Digital Engagement Blog.

In the ever-changing world of online fundraising, it is easy to get distracted by the newest thing that promises instant success.  We are so concentrated on the next big thing that we may neglect what really works!  I recently wrote an article for The Nonprofit Times outlining exactly what makes up a fruitful digital fundraising program.

Online fundraising is a numbers game, which I discussed in another Frogloop blog post about how many fundraising emails it might take per year to achieve a significant online fundraising program.

After working on over 400 nonprofit email recruitment campaigns, and helping clients plan successful recruitment strategies, I’ve realized that most nonprofits don't send nearly enough standalone fundraising appeals. I've seen clients make their money back on their investments with Care2 in as little as three months, or as long as four years. There are obviously lots of variables involved with raising money online – and ultimately in various direct response channels – however we now as an industry have enough data to know what’s possible for most organizations, and this article will hopefully give some insight into how to get the most out of your email fundraising program. 

We’ve talked about the importance of breaking down silos before. Frequently, the best innovative solutions to community challenges are those that creatively combine ideas from multiple disciplines. To find those creative solutions, it’s important for nonprofit advocates, communicators, and program directors to challenge barriers, habits, and assumptions that separate us from other offices, “competing” peer organizations, and disciplines.

Email is a numbers game.  With competition for attention becoming more of a challenge every day, paying attention to the details and best practices matters more and more.  Here are a few key tips from Samuel Mesquita, an expert email copy writer who spent years at ActionAid in the UK.  You can read his full article here:  "17 Things I Have Learnt About Charity Email Copy"

A couple of years ago I put together the "social network" calculator as a free resource to assess the opportunity cost of recruiting email subscribers and donors online.  It was ahead of its time and may still need some tweaking, but the basic assumptions hold true - if you're paying staff to spend time on social networks and the end goal is list-growth or dollars, then this tool is for you.