The Nonprofit Times produces an excellent, weekly e-newsletter with practical information on managing your organization. The following appeared in the September 4, 2007 issue. I am pleased to share it with you.
Moses had the 10 Commandments after coming down from Mount Sinai. Katya Andresen, Arlin Wasserman, Jonathon D. Colman and Matthew Degalan did not have any such earthshaking encounter, but they did offer their 10 Rules for Online Engagement Today at a recent national conference on nonprofit marketing.
- Engage in online cross-channel promotion. Email your donors before they receive postal mail appeals. On the telephone, offer your donors the option to donate online. Send emails to your best donors.
- Make marketing a conversation. It is not a monologue.
- Be accessible and easy, encouraging, intimate. Ask, don’t just tell. Respond in kind.
- Show accountability. Create an accountability report and include it on your site.
- Make it easy for people to find you. Search engines bring in a high percentage of visitors. At least 60 million American adults use search engines each day.
- Segment your way to success. Find common groups, analyze their actions and target your messaging.
- Test, test, test. You wouldn’t buy a car without taking a look at it, so why would you make a design change to your site or email without testing it? Find the time.
- Make your supporters the messengers. Friends and family motivate 76 percent of donors. Donors are experts at knowing how to speak about your cause to friends and family.
- Offer recurring giving.
- Don’t only ask. Thank and inspire too. Continue the conversation.
I encourage you to sign up for their free, weekly e-newsletter: Use the subscription link here.
