Presentation: Your Website Doesn’t Matter!

If your nonprofit is truly committed to raising money online you must have a great email list filled with engaged donors who support your mission. Why? Because studies show that email remains the primary driver of online donations. During Care2's latest webinar Your Website Doesn't Matter, Why Email Still Rules Online Fundraising panelists Lauren Miller of Blue State Digital and Dionna Humphrey of Greenpeace USA discussed tactics they have used to engage their email list and turn prospects into donors.

It's important that new sign ups to your email list get accustomed to your organization before you ask them for money. A fundraisng pitch should never be your first follow up email with prospects. However, don't wait too long in asking them for a donation. Stale lists don't donate. Miller said that new prospects will most likely make a donation to your organization in the first two weeks they're on your email list.

During the webinar, panelists also discussed how younger people should be communicated with given their preference for texting over email. Nonprofits should optimize what they are already doing with different devices rather than abandoning email. Use email for more storytelling and try coordinating your email campaigns with texting campaigns. Test these different channels and see what your response rates look like.

Speaking of testing - nonprofits who have the strongest email and online fundraising programs have focused their energy on doing a lot of testing to find the sweet spot.  While there are plenty of nonprofit benchmark studies that have been conducted over the years, every organization is different. This is why it's important that your organization monitor your own statistics to find out how many open rates, click through rates, response rates, and unsubscribe rates you receive. Then make adjustments based on your own metrics.

Listen to the webinar here.