Fundraising

Mobilize Those Mobile Eyes

Confession time: not more than ten years ago I was one of those people who said I would never have a cell phone. I simply did not want to be that accessible, I would say.

But one recent weekend morning, when I found myself walking around the house with an iPhone in the pocket of my bathrobe, I knew the assimilation was complete.

I am one of the nearly half of all Americans who now own not just a cell phone, but a smartphone, according to the latest Pew research. That’s a lot of eyeballs.

If your organization is thinking about starting or deepening mobile engagement with your constituents who, like me, are rarely out of arms-reach of their mobile device, then allow me to summarize my takeaways from the Nonprofit Mobile Day event I recently attended, presented by the Direct Marketing Association’s Nonprofit Federation (DMANF).

And if your organization isn’t thinking about these things, it might just be time to wake up, put on the ol’ bathrobe, and smell the coffee.

Know the possibilities
“Mobile” isn’t just one thing, it is many. Today, the term “mobile” covers four primary types of engagement:

• Mobile messaging: sending text messages to your constituents
• Text-to-give: enabling your constituents to text a $5 or $10 donation to your organization, paid via their mobile bill
• Mobile Web: presenting content and engagement opportunities in a way that is optimized for mobile device browsers, including things like donation forms and advocacy action forms
• Mobile Apps: taking your place beside Angry Birds and Flixster with packaged content or functionality

Beyond these four primary uses of the mobile channel, there are other possibilities:

• Mobile advertising: placing your ads on other people’s mobile Web sites or in their apps
• QR codes: enabling constituents to use the camera on their mobile device to snap a picture of a special bar code that then directs them to a mobile landing page or phone number
• Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS): sending multimedia via text, such as photos or video
• Augmented reality: taking advantage of the mobile device’s camera, compass, and GPS to overlay content or features on what the user “sees”. Think of apps like Pocket Universe that let you point your camera at the night sky and see an overlay of constellations and planets drawn on the screen.
• Responsive design: new capabilities made possible through HTML5 and CSS3 that blur the line between mobile Web sites and apps. For an example, browse to the Financial Times site on your mobile device.
• Phone calls: and, oh yeah, a lot of these mobile devices also have this thing called a telephone on them. This can also be great way to communicate with your constituents.

These are the different facets of the mobile channel to consider as you think about engaging with your constituents via mobile. In part 2, I’ll cover who the players are you can to bring to the table to help you harness these capabilities, and talk about creating a mobile plan.

Guest post by Watt Hamlett, Lead Solutions Engineer with Convio. He loves working with nonprofit organizations to help them access the strategies, software, and services they need to achieve their goals.

Gear up: Event homepage must-haves

Spring is in the air. (Breathe it in.) Can you hear the pattering of feet hitting the pavement, or smell the Gatorade as it splashes into rows of cups at the “fuel stations”? That’s right – event season is well upon us! While your participants are airing up their tires or breaking in their new pair of running shoes, there may be some tune-ups you can make to their experience with your event website.

If you are gearing up for an upcoming event, there are five essential elements you should have on the homepage of your event website. Check out the list and then check out your event homepage. If you don’t have these items front and center, add them. It will make things easier for your participants AND you.

1. Action buttons/links: This includes links to register, donate, donate to a participant, join a team, start a team and a login to fundraising center (if available through the software your org uses). If you have these actions in your website’s navigation, that may not be enough. Include them, also, front and center within your event homepage content. The easier these actions are to find, the more likely your constituents will find them (and click on them)!
2. Event date: When is this inspirational walk, run, or cycling event happening? I’m a constituent interested in participating, but if I don’t know what day it is then I can’t check to see if it works with my calendar.
3. Event location: Where, again, do I need to show up at 7am? It’s 5am the morning of the event and I need to check the website again to see where to go. I hope it’s easy to find so I can get out of the door and on my way.
4. Event start time: Don’t make your participants go digging for this information the night before the event. Simply list it on your homepage so it’s easy to find and they can move on with their race preparations and get plenty of rest.
5. Event details (learn more): Do you have a course map? Parking information? Other important details that your participants need to know about for event day? If so, be sure to include links (or buttons) to a page with more information

If your event is just around the corner and you don’t have these items on your event homepage, I would still urge you to add them. There are plenty of folks who will register last minute or, like stated above, wait until the last minute to check for details on where to go and at what time.

Happy running, walking, cycling, swimming, climbing and jump roping!

Tests, Controls and Results

I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day around an End of Year online campaign and we were discussing the results.  I was really intrigued at trying to understand whether or not a mobile text that went out before the campaign had increased the open and donation rates. I kept thinking, surely if I text someone ahead of an email (another Multi-Channel campaign case) I would see a significant increase in open rates and donation rates. However, I was so regretfully disappointed as they didn’t set up their test appropriately for us to really understand the impact. 

So, what do you have to do to set up a test RIGHT so that you can read results and have the significance needed to be sure that the results will be the same going forward? 

1. Establish the metrics that will measure success. Think about your objectives…in this case, it would be can I improve my open rate by setting up a pre-email text message. 
2. Establish your test and control groups. You must have a control.  If you don’t, you really will never know if the text message really made a difference, because you didn’t set up a group that stayed the same OR didn’t get a text message.
3. Make sure your groups (test and control) will have enough observations (opened email) that can be statistically compared. If you are focused on a response (open) rate, use this calculator provided by The DMA.

Why is it so important to have a control and statistically significant data to have a result? It is like building or buying a house, but not insuring it. Testing is expensive and has large opportunity cost both positive and negative. So, if you are going to test something, make sure it is worth it and you can after the test is complete, that you have a result. Otherwise, it is just interesting and the test was a fun exercise.

Convio and SXSW 2012

It’s that time of the year again folks! Dust off your Tom’s, iPads, and lanyards- SXSW is finally upon us and no one is more excited than we are here at Convio. For those of you who are wondering what this fun acronym is all about, South by Southwest is a 9 day festival that includes 3 portions: music, film, and our favorite, interactive (March 9th-13th). 

This year we are diving in with our feet first by co-sponsoring the TechMix Happy Hour on March 9th. We invite you to come out and mingle with the hosting teams, customers and SXSW attendees on a variety of topics. Because, honestly, when else are you going to be in a room with people who want to discuss leveraging the power of Twitter for nonprofits or debate whether or not Google+ is an influential tool, and over drinks to boot? If our happy hour wasn’t enough time to get the creative juices flowing, or other juices were flowing too much, our Social Media Marketing Specialist, Cheryl Black, will be hosting a nonprofit meet up in the Beacon Lounge March 10th from 1:30pm-2:30pm. We encourage people to take advantage of this fantastic networking opportunity, and of course the complimentary snacks.

On top of that we are sponsoring lunch every day (delicious eats for free, yes!) in the Beacon Lounge, where the theme is, “Lounge With A Conscience.” Falling in line with the theme, each day we will be accepting donations during lunch to go to a local nonprofit, and at the end of the day we will match up to $500 dollars. The nonprofits benefiting are:

• Saturday: Life Long Friends
• Sunday: Austin’s Chapter of American Youth Works
• Monday: Capital Area Food Bank
• Tuesday: Austin’s Chapter of American Red Cross

Nothing gets us more jazzed than to help out great organizations that are located right in our own backyard; because at the end of the day it is about the impact they are making in our community.

The icing on the cake that is our participation in this great festival is definitely our ability and fortune to be a supporting sponsor for the SXSW 2012 Interactive Awards. It’s kind of a big deal to receive it considering last year’s winners included, The Tiziano Project | 360⠁Kurdistan, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien Presents: Team CoCo, just to name a few.

I realize, this is a lot to take in, as is anything involving SXSW. Have no fear if you are new though, they provide a nice beginner’s guide and mobile app for those who are feeling overwhelmed.

In case this hasn’t revved up your engines for South by Southwest as much as it has for us, here is a sneak peek interview with our own Lori Bainborough, aka Convio’s own event guru, on why she can’t wait for this year’s festival.

Guest post by: Sarah Daniels, aka Marketing Intern. When Sarah isn't trying out new cooking recipes, reading a good book, or in class she likes to take long walks with her weenie dog.

The TED of Direct Marketing

Recent research suggests that economic and policy changes over the last five years are continuing to make things difficult for fundraisers.  Recession and slow recovery have reduced the total giving, more organizations are competing for constituent mindshare and walletshare , and there are proposals to reduce the charitable gift deduction and a rise in postal costs.

What are we to do?  I suggest that we kick back, grab a drink, and complain about the state of the industry with your comrades…wait, wait, wait… maybe I should start over.

Looking for new and fresh ideas on how to increase the frequency and intensity of engagement with your constituents?  Ready to explore mobile or social fundraising and don’t know where to start?  Or just looking for what’s new and hip in the world of direct marketing?  Check out the 2012 Washington Nonprofit Conference, hosted by the Direct Marketing Association, Nonprofit Federation this week, March 1-2.
 
That’s more like it! 

It’s the TED of the direct marketing world. The theme this year is something near and dear to my heart: “Ideas. Analytics. Results.”   Using your data to drive results is becoming a required method in direct response fundraising and marketing.  And this year you can hear from some of the industry’s best and brightest on how they are advancing their programs and their mission through analytics and other strategies.

• What if you could reasonably predict how your segments will perform? 
• What messages are resonating with your constituents? 
• What cohorts are performing well or poorly in which channels? 
• Would you make different decisions?

Convio is presenting a fantastic session featuring Dennis McCarthy and Mike Rogers from Convio and Joanne DelGiorno Bowers from CARE entitled, “The Multi-Channel Boost: Where to Focus Next for Success.”  In this session, they will present the findings from a research study that Convio and CARE completed last year to measure the success and opportunity of a multi-channel program.  If you are looking for a pick-me-up (trust me, it’s better than the conference coffee!) this is your session.

Convio is also hosting some educational sessions about strategies to incorporate analytics into your constituent engagement strategy.  These sessions will include Mike and Dennis (and you’ll even see me there!).  If you are going to be there and want are interested, contact your account executive and let them know.  These are small groups and they are filling up quickly!

This year’s conference program features some great Convio friends presenting on various topics, including:

• Monthly Giving
• Stewardship
• Multi-Channel Marketing
• Acquisition
• Social Media
• Mobile
• Analytics

If you’ve never been to a DMANF conference, I highly recommend you go and commiserate (I mean connect) with your peers!  There are so many ground breaking ideas out there, it would be a shame to miss the opportunity.  See you there!