Tag Archives: M&R Strategic Services

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

M&R Strategic Services hosted an informative webinar last week on Facebooks metrics and strategy.  Listen to the recording or read highlights.  And if you haven’t heard, watch this 2:45 video about M&R joining forces with Watershed.

How skilled is your organization in developing content for the increasing number of online (and offline) communication channels?  Here’s 12 Ways to Repurpose Old Content into New.  And how well do you curate content from other sources.  Take Nten’s free webinar next week to learn How Content Curation Builds Staff Expertise and Reduces Information Overload.

Do you know that the most effective messages about your nonprofit’s impact don’t come directly from your organization?  Read about 10 Messengers Who Are More Effective Than You.

As a follow-up to my recent post on how social media can help your nonprofit, here’s a step-by-step guide with many great links, as well as How to Manage Social Media at Your Nonprofit.

Still think that only youngsters are computer savvy?  Learn how more than half of adults 65 and older are online in this report on Older Adults and Internet Use, and in this summary.

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

The million dollar question – how can you get your social media community to engage more with your organization?  Here are 8 tips for Facebook and a basic social media checklist, especially useful if you’re preparing for a big event.  And here’s how to create an organizational social media culture (e.g. do you have a social media policy?)

When you post is sometimes as important as what you post.  In addition to scheduling updates through tools such as HootSuite, Timely and Buffer, Facebook is now allowing page administrators to schedule posts.

Per Heather Mansfield’s advice on common mistakes nonprofits make in social media, you must take the time to view your organization’s website on smart phones and tablets.  Then work on optimizing your emails for small screens and consider adapting a responsive design for your website.

As a follow-up to my recent post on Blackbaud Acquiring Convio, consider this take on how they should handle such a huge portfolio of software platforms.

If you’re still struggling to create an integrated approach to your online and offline outreach, here’s why nonprofits must tear down their marketing silos.  (Hint – think about how your supporters see your organization, not how you do from inside.)  And offer your Executive Director these 5 Tips on How to Engage Online.

If you’re in NYC, perhaps I’ll see you at one of these upcoming events:

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

According to the recently released 2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report, the nonprofits that have been most successful have a clear strategy for social media, management support and have dedicated social media staff.   The average size of an organization’s Facebook (8,317) and Twitter (3,290) communities continues to grow yet few nonprofits are raising funds from social media.  Download your free copy.

(To kick start fundraising results, it will be interesting to see if development departments start to play a larger part in managing social networks – currently it’s usually marketing / communication that’s in charge.)

If you decide to go outside your organization for social media help, ask these 7 questions to anyone you’re considering hiring.  (My take – it’s always preferable to assign this work to a staff person who is more familiar with your nonprofit.)  And here are 10 things you may be doing wrong with social media.

Have you noticed the larger photos on Facebook’s mobile application?  Wonder where they got this idea (see new kid on the block Pinterest).

Blackbaud’s webinar series today included an important reminder that work on your website doesn’t stop after the redesign.  Websites must continue to evolve and most importantly,.must always have fresh content to keep your constituents coming back.  Need ideas?  Here are 58 ways to create great content.

In addition to checking out how your website looks on phones, how about tablets?  See 11 Nonprofit Websites That Look Great on iPads.  And what about your email messages?  Here’s how to optimize mail for mobile phones.

Finally, if you don’t have a specific campaign to recruit monthly donors, read this.

ePhilanthropy Highlights from eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, 501TechNYC Meeting

Attemded a webinar today highlighting the recently released 2012 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study. authored by M&R Strategic Services and the Nonprofit Technology Network.  Some interesting takeaways:

  • The average email open rate has ‘steadied’ at 14% (is this supposed to be good?) but some nonprofits get better results by segmentation, localization & personalization.
  • While mobile devices accounted for 15-20% of email opens, those who read email on phones are less likely to click thru and take action.  But it can also help if the email is formatted to look good on a small screen.  Here’s tips on how to do it.
  • The Red Cross demonstrated why segmentation doesn’t have to be difficult, identifying donors by monthly, institutional, emergency, lapsed and non-donors.
  • Monthly donors constantly outperformed other segments.  (For a great example of a nonprofit that realizes this, take a look at City Harvest Rescue Partners campaign that specifically asks for monthly gifts.)
  • While segmentation can improve email results, it will make even more of a difference if you prepare great content – as well as an engaging subject line.

Tonight I attended the monthly 501 Tech NYC get-together, which featured a capacity crowd at the NYC Foundation Center to hear takeaways from the recent Nonprofit Technology Conference.  Would you believe 10 presenters offered mini-versions of their event sessions?  Some highlights:

  • US Fund for Unicef‘s Porter Mason stressed the neglected art of AB testing – emails, web pages, social media posts and added that ‘coding links must become normal practice.’  Take a look at WhichTestWon to test your instincts on what works best.
  • Big Duck‘s Farra Trompeter (recently honored with a Community Award at the Nonprofit Tech Conference) offered an interesting flow chart approach to Is It Time to Rethink Your Website.  Important reminder – the work doesn’t end when your new website is rolled out, it’s an ongoing task.
  • Causevox‘s Rob Wu finished the evening with tips on how to tell compelling stories, e.g. don’t talk about your organization, talk about your cause and your supporters.  Also, get everyone involved – not only the marketing / communications folks.

If you weren’t able to attend today’s events, make sure you download the eNonprofit Benchmarks Study and follow our 501 Tech NYC group on Facebook to stay informed.

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

Among the many tips offered at Friday’s session on Facebook Tactics That Get Results offered by M&R Strategic Services and Nten was the reminder that very few Facebook fans will visit your page – they will mostly see your posts in their newsfeed.  (So why invest in expensive custom Facebook tabs?)  Surprisingly, you are penalized for posting from third party services such as Tweetdeck and HootSuite (read more on why these posts are less likely to appear in your newsfeed then if you post directly on Facebook).

How do you get more engagement – i.e. likes and comments, which will give your posts more visibility?  Use different types of content, including photos and videos, and ask constituents to take a specific action – especially those that will result in providing their email address so you can build your list.  (Did you know that you lose 18% of your list each year through unsubscribes and email addresses that no longer work?).

Idealware offers help on measuring your results on social media and Frogloop advises on how well as how you can manage data across multiple channels.  Jocelyn Harmon offers some simple advice on why constituents don’t donate.

Many nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers, yet their importance has often been overshadowed by those of lucky to have ‘paid’ work.  LinkedIn now offers a section to highlight volunteer experience and causes, which will help nonprofits to find its most loyal supporters.

Sept. 11 was a sad day, marking a decade since we lost almost three thousand people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.  What can nonprofits learn when the unthinkable happens?  Here are some lessons and another view of the effect on nonprofits as we recover from a very emotional day yesterday.  Ten years ago, I worked for Cross-Cultural Solutions, which was able to help to coordinate recovery efforts in NYC after the horrible event.

Why You Need to Connect Advocacy with Fundraising

When planning your integrated communications / fundraising calendar, you may offer several opportunities for your constituents to take action on issues your organization is supporting, as well as scheduling fundraising appeals throughout the year.  You probably have a department that focuses heavily on advocacy, while another group is involved primarily in development.  But as will be clearly demonstrated during the upcoming Advocacy Live virtual event, you will get the best results if you connect online advocacy and fundraising, also detailed in this white paper available from Amnesty International, Blackbaud and M&R Strategic Services.

If you examine open rates and click-thru statistics from your email marketing (you are regularly looking at these, right?), you will find that advocacy focused communications consistently outperform other types of emails such as enewsletters and financial appeals.  Advocates for your causes often feel strongly about showing their support, and may often respond favorably to a fundraising ask at the same time that they are taking action to sign an online petition.

Per the white paper, these are your strongest targets for fundraising appeals:

  1. repeat activist who took action in the last 24 hours
  2. current donor who took action in the last month
  3. “super activitist” (took 6 or more actions in last year)

As I’ve discussed here, your constituents view you as one organization, not as multiple departments with differing goals.  If you’re still operating in silos (see Beth Kanter‘s inspiring book, The Networked Nonprofit), you’re missing an opportunity to allow your strongest supporters to help you in more than one way.  Online strategy works best when its a joint effort from many parts of your nonprofit.

2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

If you haven’t yet seen it, take a look at the latest eNonprofit Benchmarks Study released last week where you can also listen to the recording or view slides from the May 14 event.  The report covers major ephilanthropy topics: email messaging, online fundraising, and online advocacy.  Major takeaways:

  • email open and click through rates continue to decline, although less than in previous years;  but a message that is ‘opened’ may not be actually read by the constituent
  • the number of online gifts and total dollars raised online continue to increase;  the increase in number of gifts helped to offset a decline in average gift from $86 to $71
  • email lists continue to grow, but at a slower rates than in past studies;  almost 20% of email addresses go bad every year due to bounces or unsubscribes
  • email results vary dramatically by audience sent to;  are you still making the mistake of sending everything to everyone?
  • gifts of under $250 represent 97% of all gifts, yet donations of $250 or more make up 41% of revenue – don’t forget to recruit and acknowledge your major donors
  • while social media gets most of the buzz lately, email clearly is still king, at least for now.

Thanks to Nten and M&R Strategic Services for updating this very useful report.  Network for Good, which continually offers wonderful guidance in online fundraising and marketing, offers Creating an Online Fundraising and Marketing Strategy to Thrive in Tough Times next Tuesday, May 26 at 1 PM EST.  Also see my previous post, Online Fundraising Strategies for Tough Times, where you can also listen to a recording of the event I moderated at the Foundation Center in NYC. earlier this year.

New Ways to Approach Online Fundraising in Tough Times

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, online giving continued to increase in 2008, but at a slower percentage than in 2007.   M&R Strategic Services reports that while the average online gift has decreased, the number of online donors has gone up, more than making up the difference for most organizations.  And while online donations are still a small piece of total giving for most nonprofits, some such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society have raising a significant portion over the Internet.  Some techniques that are most effective:

  • Including deadlines in e-mail appeals
  • Seeking small sums
  • Combining text messages and e-mail appeals
  • Asking corporate sponsors or like-minded charities to send ‘chaperoned’ e-mail messages on an organization’s behalf
  • Using multiple channels, e.g. social networks, video, e-mail, and text messages

Many nonprofits (including mine) raise significant revenues through athletic events, such as walks and endurance type events.  But the Chronicle reports this too is also getting harder, encouraging us to provide lower-cost ways to participate, adding new types of events, encouraging more constituents to actively fundraise, and aggressively seeking more participants.  This article encourages us to stay positive and seek creative approaches to stay afloat.  Helping supporters to raise funds through third party events is sometimes overlooked as a further stimulus to overall fundraising.

More online fundraising tips are available from Alica McKee of Sea Change Strategies at Nonprofit Marketing Guide and the Nonprofit Blog Carnival.

2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

Nten and M&R Strategic Services have released a fascinating study which provides metrics for online messaging, fundraising and advocacy.  Some highlights and observations:

  • open rates (compared to a study in 2006) declined from 21.3% to 17.6%;  click-through rates dropped from 4.9% to 3.6%.  I’ve found that many NPO staff don’t take the time to analyze reports which clearly demonstrate that most constituents who get email are not bothering to open them, fewer are clicking on any included links.
  • on the average, constituents are emailed 4 times / month.  Seems like once a week is still too often, making more of a case to use segmentation to target content to selected constituents.
  • About 20% of an email list ‘goes bad’ each year due to unsubscribes and other changes in email addresses.  So a nonprofit that wants to grow its list needs to first make up for this loss in numbers first.
  • Advocacy mailings consistently show higher response rates than other types of mailings.  How many of these constituents can be effectively converted to other types of engagement?
  • $1000+ gifts were only 1% of the total number of donations, yet represented over 20% of online giving revenues.  Major gifts still deserves consistent attention.

Thanks to Holly Ross at Nten, and Sarah Dijulio at M&R  for collaborating on this report and the 21 nonprofit organizations that participated in this analysis; a webinar discussing the study is available.