by Nannette Vilushis
Your Are you using effective online tools? I
f you work for a nonprofit organization, you’re probably using online tools to help promote and administer your fundraising efforts and events. Are you using those tools to their fullest capacity to help you streamline opera- tions and reduce your workload?
attendees and less revenue. Avoid over-sending email to your list to avoid your messages being labeled as spam. Many email program filters are programmed to recognize frequent emails from a particular source, and may start automatically sending your email to your recipients’ Junk or Trash folder, where it may not be read. Include at the bottom some brief instructions about how recipients can adjust their filters so your email always goes to their inboxes.
Fundraising Event Costs
Email Outreach Email makes it much easier for recipients to respond. They can answer immediately upon reading the email, without completing a written form or finding a stamp and a mailbox. For those few donors who do not respond to email, consider following up with a printed invite to those who have not already submitted an RSVP. You can explain to those donors that email reduces overhead costs. Your donors will appreciate your effort to maximize the value of the money they contribute. Email campaigns can generate buzz and awareness for your event and can be used to reach out to donors who cannot attend but would still like to donate. You may be surprised by the dollars you raise from people who cannot attend your event. Always give your donors another option to help. Use verbiage like “Can’t at- tend? Click here to donate.”
Prior to sending an email to your entire list, test your message and format. The key to a successful email campaign is preparation and refinement. Your presentation and message will help deter- mine the response rate for your email. If you have time, develop several options and poll key donors and your board as to which message is most appropriate. Ignoring this step may lead to fewer
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Online Registration and Donations Provide an online registration option for recipients of email in- vitations. You will eliminate the cost of including a pre-printed RSVP card and envelope in the invitation, and you will get reg- istration information more quickly so you can make sure procure- ment, event seating, food, and beverage are all lining up with your attendance numbers.
If your website is already equipped to process donations, the ad- dition of a registration page should be relatively straightforward. If you are not currently accepting donations online, this may be the right opportunity to implement an Internet strategy that covers year-round giving capabilities as well as registration for events. Set a goal to register a percentage of your invitees online. The target number of online registrations will be related to event size, donor habits, and how well you communicate your message. By setting registration benchmarks specific to your event and making increased online registration a goal, you should have no trouble increasing the online volume from one event to the next.
MIDWEST MEETINGS WINTER 2011
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