Online Fundraising

1
Online Fundraising

• Case Study Joanna Sharpe, COM 597

2
Online Philanthropy

• History and Trends
• Industry Research, Tools
• Websites and Design Usability
• Key Findings for Best Practices
• Conclusions, Questions

3
Online Fundraising Trends

• History on the Web
• Emerged in the early 1990s, growth began in
  1995 with online donor giving options provided on
  websites and via workplace giving campaigns.
• Who are the donors
• 50 million Americans over 18 with online access.
• Early Adoption Rates
• Slow to adopt online giving, most social
  activists/donors have never visited the website
  of a charity and only 3.5 million say they have
  given online.

4
Advocacy and Online Philanthropy

• Who are the Donors?
• Nearly 50 million Americans over 18 have
  Internet access and currently either give their
  time and/or money to such causes as poverty,
  housing, human rights, civil liberties,
  international relief, or the environment.

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Online Fundraising Trends

• Online philanthropy represents a tiny fraction of
  overall charitable giving in the United States at
  0.14 percent of the estimated 241 billion given
  yearly to charities.
• Potential for growth is huge over the next ten
  years. Industry analysts predict that as much as
  1 of every 4 contributed to nonprofits will be
  donated on the Web by the end of the decade.

6
Offline and Online Direct Mail Donors, the
Potential Universe of Online Donors

• Direct Mail Donors, 64
• percent were aged 60
• or older
• 85 percent of socially
• engaged Internet users
• are under the age of 60
• Average age of this
• latter group of potential
• online donors is 42

7
Traditional Direct Mail Approximately eight
percent (8), or 12 million individuals.
Willing to DonateEight percent (8), orabout
16 million adults, are willing to make a donation
to a charity or public interest group over the
Internet.

Eight Percent on Both Sides
8
Donor Giving Trends
Traditional Methods Persist Right Now

• Donor giving
• Seven percent say they have made an online
  contribution.
• Eighty percent say
• they contributed donations using traditional
  means.

9
Slow Adoption Not Too Engaged, Yet

• Twenty two percent
• say they have sent an
• email to a charitable
• organization or special
• interest group.
• Only seven percent
• report having made a
• donation online.

10
Trend Setters Represent theUntapped Online Donor
Potential

• 7.5 million Americans so-called Progressive
  Pace-Setters that has already begun to embrace
  advocacy and charitable giving online.
• Another 7.3 million dubbed Thresholders who
  appear to be on the verge of following suit.

11
Privacy and Security Issues

• CMS industry study showed donor concerns about
• privacy and credit card security are significant
• Seventy one percent said they were very or
  extremely concerned about the security of their
  personal information online.
• Nearly ninety percent said they would never give
  their credit card information out to a charity or
  public interest group.

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Online Fundraising Where

• Websites offering tech tools to give online
• Non-profit Organizations
• United Way, American Red Cross, ACLU, NPR and
  PBS on the affiliate level arts organizations,
  health association advocacy, university funding,
  and more.
• Political Campaign Support
• Over the past three months, Howard Dean raised
  17 million online by sending people e-mail evites
  to attend nationwide events.

13
Pledge Technology Tools

• Convio, Kintera, and web service companies
• Convio
• Founded in 1999, clients include ASPCA,
  Georgetown University, Mothers Against Drunk
  Driving, and Democratic presidential candidate
  Howard Dean.
• Kintera
• Founded in 1999, the company markets software
  and services to help nonprofit organizations
  raise money, putting together Web sites and
  providing hosting services.

14
Public Radio and ePhilanthropy

• Public Radio stations were the
• pioneers in online fundraising
• Since 1995, many NPR stations offered online
  pledging and had successfully promoted it as part
  of their larger campaigns, including on-air,
  direct mail, and telemarketing.
• Online donors pledged an average of 75 per
  person, much higher than the average radio pledge
  outside the online environment.

15
Message Strategy, Pledge Pitch is Tired

• In March, 2001, PBS conducted a planning meeting
  to examine pledge trends, they identified that
  the pitch is tired and people tune it out like a
  bad commercial.

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Its only human nature!

• Public TV's pledge audiences pay as little
  attention
• to the routine pitch
• as airline passengers
• give to explanations
• about low and tight
• seatbelts.
• The human nervous system is built to detect
  novelty or what is new in a scene or
  situationnot what remains the same.

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Human Connections with Institutions Creating
Social Capital

• Public television and radio have evolved in a
• unique way in America
• Public broadcasting performs important social
  functions through its programming in a society
  rich in all forms of capital (fiscal,
  intellectual, human and social).
• Some people love public
• broadcasting programming,
• and this, in turn, generates
• social capital between the
• institution and the viewer that,
• they hope, results in fiscal capitalmemberships.

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Case Study Usability Critique

• NPR, National Public Radios local affiliate
• KUOW, 94.9 FM, Seattle _at_UW
• http//www.kuow.org/
• United Way of King County
• http//www.uwkc.org/

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NPR, KUOW

• Website Usability
• Well organized, user centered design with a
  simple information layout (except for text and
  tabs, confusing.)
• Large visual Pledge Now button presents clear
  navigation rules to cue the site visitor with two
  key words to indicate direction. Aesthetic,
  minimalist design provides a short labeled
  message presenting clear cue.
• Relevant content just one to two steps, or
  clicks, away from the main homepage. Forrester
  Research Study
• Some text lines up with tabs, appearing to be a
  link.

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Message Connects with the Audience
and a Call to Action

• An interface is human if it is responsive to
  human needs
• and considerate of human frailties.
• -Jeff Raskin, The Human Interface, 2000
• Easy navigation and relevant
• message placement equals
• good user centered design
• Top redundant channel sidebar
• has a Support KUOW link
• with info about the stations
• funding needs and sources.

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United Way of King County eWay

• eWay is an online pledging system that automates
  a company's United Way workplace campaign
• Pro It's a user-friendly application that allows
  employees to support the community by making
  their annual United Way contribution within a
  secure, Internet-based giving environment. eWay
  can be set up for local and national campaigns.
• Cons Limited product use, it is only used for
  United Way workplace campaigns and assisting
  state supported public universities. Database
  usability is poor, extra cost.
• http//national.unitedway.org/eway/

22
eWay Design and Usability Issues

• Usability Issue Current product design is
  cumbersome user interface for the donor to locate
  an agency and make a contribution.
• United Way is working on developing a better
  user experience through a more strategic design.
• http//www.unitedwaysatx.org/Pages/Eway20Demo.h
  tml
• http//www.uwkc.org/

23
Early Adoption, Survey Feedback

• United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County
• Early Adoption experienced 94.7 percent growth
  rate over the past year, 2002 2003, with donor
  giving up from 1.9 to 5.6 million dollars.
• Donor Survey Feedback Donors say they like the
  privacy of online giving more than the
  traditional paper process.

24
Survey Feedback, UWKC
Industry Survey Results Companies Gates
Foundation, The Seattle Times, Alaska Airlines,
Western Wireless, and Auburn School
District Positive feedback regarding ease of use
evenly split between positive comments about
privacy and concerns about privacy of their info
and high overall satisfaction. Negative feedback
regarding what United Way does (message
confusion) and ease of use issues selecting an
agency to donate via online database needs
information.
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Online Pledge Processes
Key Findings, Best Practices

• Industry research from television, radio, and
  fundraising leadership identify best practices
• Connect with the audience! Explain
• How To Give
• Why To Give
• Benefits
• Institutional Message
• Call To Action
• (repeat as necessary)
• And always say thank you!

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Conclusions

• Building strong relationships is integral to
  donor participation, paying attention to and
  meeting their needs is critically important.
  Dont put them asleep via the repetitive pledge
  pitch.
• Provide strategic messaging that connects the
  donor with all relevant information and a
  substantial reason why the organization needs
  their financial support and/or volunteer time.
• Provide an easy to use online pledge process for
  adoption. New donors tend to be young and have
  shown to be slow to adopt online giving now, but
  virtual pledging will become the standard process
  for twenty five percent of donors by the end of
  this decade. Nonprofit organizations need to be
  ready, right now.
• Providing high quality products, services, and
  real world results applies to the nonprofit
  organization world just as much.

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Questions?