Promoting your online donations

Information technology is changing the way many community groups promote their activities to their members, supporters, potential donors and the wider community. Technology is also now being employed in the interminable quest for more funds.

For the community groups that are already part of the Bayside Gives online donations service, the main challenge to be overcome is that of prominence. A large majority of Australians - or even Victorian or Bayside residents - probably don't even know that your group exists, let alone that you have launched a new donation method. It's like having a bank account - just because you have it doesn't mean someone is going to make a deposit. You have to tell them where your bank account is, how they can use it, and - most importantly - why they should put their funds into it. It's all about promotion.

The advantage of online donations is that if you have the facility it keeps working even when you're not. People can give when they want to - at any time of the day, 365 days a year. And they can link the giving to the motivation. If they are inspired to give, they can do something about it then and there. They don't have to ring during office hours or wait till you're staffing the phones.

Using your website

Pushing the right buttons

You should have a prominently displayed donate button on every page - visitors should be able to reach that button from anywhere on your site. If someone is reading about your wonderful work they need to be able to reward you at the very moment they're most moved. It is helpful to use the same button on each page to allow users to navigate your site more easily. Better still, put a button on your navigation bar so that whatever page your visitor is on they are within easy clicking distance of becoming a donor.

Whatever you do, make sure your "donate" button works. It should link the donor with your online donation appeal page. Don't have a graphic saying DONATE NOW that doesn't do anything if you click on it. Anything that looks like a button should be clickable, and anything that's clickable should be clearly identified as a button. Take another look

It's probably worth reviewing your entire site to maximise your chances of turning a casual visitor into a committed donor.

Don't be scared to ask for donations - most people need a little push. "Please make a donation" is better than "All contributions are appreciated".

Have another look at your content too. Is there any information you can add that will bring people closer to pushing your "donate" button?

Make sure you make a compelling case for why people should make a donation:

• Tell them what your current projects or campaigns are.
• Tell them what their funds will do.
• Tell them how effective your organisation is. Show them with examples - case studies, stories, and good news on the impact your organisation or group is having.
• Make your mission and fundraising objectives clear and compelling.
• Give potential donors a choice about how they can support you. Some donors may feel uncomfortable using the web for financial transactions so don't forget to include information on traditional methods to donate.

Of course, none of this is going to work if no one ever visits your website. The sheer scope and size of the web can mean that people may find it difficult to find you.

How do you get people to your site?

• List your site on search engines.
• List your site on portals or web directories
• Make sure other sites - particularly those with similar interests - have links to yours. Ask all the relevant business, community and federal, state and local government websites to include a link to your site. This will increase your traffic and give you more chance of coming up in a search engine.
• Make sure your web address is printed on anything owned or issued by your group - emails, business cards, letterheads, pens, staff uniforms and even cars.
• Sending out a media release? An e-newsletter? An email to your aunt in Texas? Make sure everything you send electronically contains a hyperlink to your website or appeal page.
• Piggyback a ride with your sponsors. Make sure that Bill's Hardware has a prominent sign on its website along the lines of:
  Bill's Hardware is a proud supporter of the Bayside Goodcause Foundation. We encourage others to support it too.
• Claim a small spot in the corner of Bill's Hardware's prominent (and expensive) newspaper ad to print your internet address.
• Call up during talk-back radio discussions relevant to your group. Have your say and give your website a plug while you're at it.
• If you are doing a story in the newspaper to support your appeal ask if the journalist can include your website as well as your phone number.

Using a giving portal

Using Bayside Gives online giving service will help to give your appeal exposure.

In its newsletters, media appearances and other promotions, Our Community (which "powers" Bayside Gives} portal) promotes the concept of "giving" - this will also help channel people to your appeal page. Some people who visit the site actively look for causes or organisations to donate to.

The experience of Our Community, which now has more than 600 appeals listed on its site, is that there are many donors who come to the Our Community site to support one cause and then browse for other causes that appeal to their tastes or interests. They also have numerous examples of "trawlers" who are regular donors who return to the site again and again and who distribute money to up to six or eight different groups at a time.

Email

• The cost of sending an email is negligible when compared with regular postage costs, not to mention the costs of printing and stationery.
• Emails can be forwarded on at the touch of a button and therefore have the potential to mushroom and broaden your reach.
• Emails present a low-cost way to make initial contact with prospective members or donors, encouraging them to engage with your group without incurring the expense of a mail-out.
• Email is instant. Your information can be received without delays.

Building an email list

Before you start issuing emails, you need a list of email addresses to send your emails to. If you produce an electronic newsletter (e-newsletter) you should already have a pretty good contact list. But don't stop there.

• Offer a free e-newsletter subscription on your home page and other pages of your website. Or give people the option of leaving their email address to receive more information about your group. Add these new email addresses to your list.
• Ask your members and supporters for email addresses at every point of contact. If you hold an event, have a registration form at the door with a space for email addresses. Have a space for email addresses on your membership and renewal forms.
• Collect the email addresses of all your donors, especially those who donate online.

Once you've got a comprehensive list, use it! Let people know about your campaign. Keep your emails short and include a link to your website (for people who want further information) and a link your appeal page (for those ready to donate straight away).

A word of warning – Don't alienate your supporters and potential donors by being pushy. Actually ask your contacts if it's okay to contact them by email and ensure you don't breach privacy rules. Issue email campaigns only when necessary. Explore the option of customising your campaigns - if a donor is interested in donating money to programs but not building projects, send them relevant campaign details only.

Email signatures

Email signatures are another good way of publicising your group and its online fundraising activities. An email signature is the electronic equivalent of a signature but often contains more than a name. Most email programs will have a function that allows you to build an email signature. Then every time you send an email, it will add it automatically to the end of your message.

To make the most of your signature, include:

• Your name
• The name of your group (and your group's logo, if available or practical)
• Postal address and telephone number of your group
• A brief mission statement such as "Providing care and practical support for Bayside's homeless since 1973"
• The hyperlinked address of your website (so that people can click on the address and be transported directly to your site)
• A few words about your fundraising campaign and a hyperlink to your donation appeal page.

Different email applications have different ways of creating a signature, but essentially they all involve the same principles. If you don't know how to create an email signature, the Help section of your email program should have instructions.

Consider using a different font colour or style for your email signature to make it stand out from your email text.

Using off-line activities to promote your online campaign

Online fundraising campaigns that successfully work are the ones that promote their online donation facility in all of their organisation's promotional and campaign information. This includes anywhere that people see information about your group: letterheads, newsletters, brochures, business cards, flyers, posters, etc. Update all your existing information so people know they can donate online. Direct them to your website, which will contain a prominent link to your appeal page.

The people who have given you money before also need to know about this new timesaver. It's certainly worth a mail-out. Our Community had one group using the www.ourcommunity.com.au service that set up an online donations facility and then waited… and waited. When it was suggested they let their supporters know, they blanched because they felt their donors had been generous enough. Eventually they agreed to send a mailout letting their supporters know about the online donations service and have since received several thousand dollars - enough to pay for their annual newsletters and administrative costs.

You should also issue a media release - but make sure you have a news angle. Provide details about your fundraising campaign (and, more importantly, what you hope to achieve by it) and mention your new online donation facility as well. In fact, mention it whenever you issue a media release. And don't forget to include details of how people can donate. Ask the reporter to include your web address and telephone number.

A media release template can be found at www.ourcommunity.com.au.

Checklist

Predictably, the higher the awareness of your fundraising campaign the greater the number of donations you will receive. The organisations that have had the most success with online donations are ones that:

• Have well established marketing channels, such as a newsletter (online and/or offline), to communicate with members and supporters about the fundraising campaign.
• Have a website with a prominent "donate" button that is not buried within the site.
• Conduct a "punchy" campaign that focuses on a particular cause, creating an emotion of the need to "do something".
• Include information about their online donation option as part of all their communications - online and offline.
• View online donations as a third channel for fundraising, alongside mail and phone, rather than seeing it as a "stand alone".
• Communicate clearly what the appeal is about. Donors want and deserve to know where the money is going.
• Carry out prompt and accurate receipting.
• Involve donors in the campaign, providing updates and information about outcomes.