social-media

Did you know that there is evidence substantiating that online donors are more valuable than offline ones in the long term? According to the Blackbaud 2011 Online Giving Report, online donors often establish far reaching long term relationships with organisations and give more generously.

In America, online giving has doubled in the past 5 years and 69% of donors said they preferred online communication to print. In addition, its been found that the average age of donors is increasing with the implication that organisations must find ways to appeal to the interests of a younger generation.

Emerging Social Media Trends-Snapshot — Snapshot taken from UNC’s “Social Media for Social Good” Infographic. See the full image here: http://onlinempa.unc.edu/social-media-for-social-good-infographic/

Sometimes setting up a fund raising strategy feels daunting as you don’t know which path to follow – direct mail, social media or email or…or…. Here’s a few tips extracted from the report to help you along:

1. Be accessible online: increase your visibility by using social media, blog and share information. Online accessibility is not simply about your bank details and pleas for support being visible. It’s far more than that and includes you developing a strong communication profile and network.

2. Explore creative ways for people to give online – build a culture of ‘gifting’ that attracts young givers. Its been found that online givers are younger, have higher incomes and give far more generously than offline acquired donors. So go there!

3. Have a retention strategy that converts online donors to offline ones as these are the givers who, according to studies, show the most loyalty. In other words, build a personalised relationship with them.

4. Use a multi level approach – offline and online. Your NGO must be agile enough in order to inspire donations from anyone, anywhere, anytime. In order to support this multi pronged approach it might be a good idea to enlist a range of people from your organisation as donor drivers. Create a team of mixed skills, opinions and ages who can contribute to a fresh approach..