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Allyson Kapin 3 min read

Converting New Activists into Donors

• Ask early!
Some people don’t want to be too pushy when it comes to asking for money. But your new activists are the ones most inspired by your work right now (they just took action!). Always provide secondary opportunities to donate as part of any advocacy campaign. So for example, if someone takes action, then lands on a page where they can tell their friends, the next page they should land on is a donate page. This is a great way to capture people who are motivated by the action their taking and feel passionate about your issue.

Build fundraising into your advocacy campaigns.
After people have taken action and told their friends about your campaign, ask them to donate as part of your campaign efforts. This doesn’t mean you’re fundraising ask has to be restricted to the issue you are working on, but let people know that their financial support can help bring about change on this issue and on the many other issues you work on. If you can include a deadline or add some urgency due to recent events, that makes your ask even more compelling and necessary.

• Make it a match.
If you are able to offer a challenge or matching gift opportunity, a two-for-one strategy works great in terms of motivating your prospects to become donors. Donors love knowing that even a small gift will go 2, 3 or 4 times as far in making a difference.

• Balance between average gift and low-dollar asks.
We’ve seen some great success with asking activists or long-time prospects to give at a lower dollar level. Quantifying those asks (e.g. “If just 500 people gave $10 right now, we’d reach our goal”) helps incentivize folks that might not give at your normal level. However, it is worth testing a standard ask against a low-dollar ask – you need make sure the trade off of more low-dollar donors is worth the dip in your average gifts.

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Allyson Kapin

Allyson has been named one of "Top Tech Titans" by the Washingtonian, one of the Most Influential Women In Tech by Fast Company, and one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes for her leadership role in technology and social media. As Founding Partner of Rad Campaign, she leads the firm's client and online strategic services. For over a decade Allyson has helped non-profit organizations and political campaigns create dynamic and award-winning websites and online marketing and recruitment campaigns. She works side-by-side with her clients to meet their web needs and maximize their online effectiveness to create real world impact.

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