The Big Picture

• Your mobile and social media campaigns are only as good as the staff that create and manage them.

• Instant success is a myth. Mobile and social media requires time and resources ($$$) to earn ROI.

• The strategy we will discuss today can be applied to all nonprofits, but the ability to implement the strategy depends upon your organization’s capacity.

Today’s Presentation

• The Power of Integrated Communications

• How to Write a Strategic Plan

• Website, Blog, and Email Newsletter Best Practices

• Online Fundraising Best Practices

• Fundraising Trends to Watch

The Power of Integrated Communications

The Power of Integrated Communications

Web 1.0: The Broadcast WebWebsites, Email Communications, and

“Donate” Buttons

Project Aware

Web 2.0: The Social WebBlogs and Social Networks

Mercy Corps

How to Write a Strategic Plan

How to Write a Strategic Plan

Your Mobile and Social Fundraising Strategic PlanPart One: Overview

The overview should include two or three paragraphs about trends in online communications and fundraising. Include stats about the rapid rise in online giving and smartphone and tablet use. Consider including a quote from a thought leader about the future of nonprofit technology and fundraising.

How to Write a Strategic Plan

Part Two: Goals

This section should list specific goals within a time frame of one year based on the previous year’s performance:

- 25% increase in website and blog traffic.- 2,000 new e-newsletter subscribers.- 25% increase in online donations.- 1,500 new Facebook fans, 1,000 new Twitter followers, 750 new Google+ followers, and 500 new Pinterest followers.- 10,000 video views on YouTube.

Create a Strategic Plan Success Spreadsheet to track and report success.

How to Write a Strategic Plan

Part Three: Action Items

This section should feature a list of actions items necessary to achieve the goals outlined in your strategic plan:

- Upgrade to a mobile-compatible online donation service.- Redesign e-newsletter so it is responsive.- Participate in #GivingTuesday and #GiveLocalAmerica.- Host a tweet chat.- Rebrand mobile and social networks.- Launch a presence on Instagram.

How to Write a Strategic Plan

Part Four: Budget

This section should summarize how investing funds in new technology will help your nonprofit achieve its goals by financing the action items listed in your strategic plan.

Create a Mobile and Social Fundraising Budget Spreadsheet.

Allocate Staff Resources

• Facebook :: 3 hours weekly• Twitter :: 5 hours weekly• Pinterest/Graphic Design :: 5 hours weekly• YouTube/Video :: 2 hours weekly• LinkedIn :: 2 hours weekly• Blogging :: 5-10 hours weekly• Experimentation with new tools such as Instagram, Snapchat,

Google+, Tumblr, Kickstarter, etc. :: 5 Hours Weekly• Research, reporting and strategy :: 3 hours weekly• Website and e-newsletter content :: 5 hours weekly• Average salary of social media staff nationwide.

Prioritize Creating Content

• Blogging/storytelling is often the missing piece in a nonprofit social media campaigns. (View NWF Blog)

• Brand your images and create images of inspirational quotes (ONE) and stats. (Adobe Photoshop, PicMonkey, Share As Image, Canva, BrainyQuote)

• Create videos, petitions and Infographics.

Create an Editorial Calendar

• Create an editorial calendar that allows for flexibility while at same time allocates a minimal number of required content creation and distribution.

Create a Social Media Policy

• Social media policies vary widely depending upon your nonprofit’s mission – do you reach out to minors online? Are you a political or religious organization? Do you respond to crisis situations?

• That said, social media policies should encourage empowerment and trust over restriction and fear. (Idealware Social Media Policy Workbook and the Online Database of Social Media Policies)

Website and Blog Design Best Practices

Website and Blog Design Best Practices

• For your website and blog to be compatible with desktops, tablets, and smartphones (and Smart TVs and smartwatches), your nonprofit must mobile-optimize your content.

• Responsive design doubles giving on mobile devices.

Website and Blog Design Best Practices

• Study and learn from worldwidlife.org:

1. Increase font size for title and body content.2. Prioritize images over text.3. Simple navigation and ample white space.4. Prominently featured e-newsletter opt-in, social network icons, and mailing address.5. Be bold in design.

Website and Blog Design Best Practices

• Study and learn from heifer.org:

6. Featured video on homepage.7. Prominently featured fundraising pitches.8. Large tappable buttons over text call-to-actions.9. Creative use of icons and infographics.10. Mobile opt-in form.

Email Newsletter Design Best Practices

Email Newsletter Design Best Practices

• Despite the rise of social media, email is still a powerful online communications tool.

• However, with the majority of email now being opened on tablets and smartphones, old e-newsletter design best practices no longer apply.

• The best option is to redesign your e-newsletter to be responsive.

Online Fundraising Best Practices

Online Fundraising Best Practices

• If you have not donated to your own nonprofit recently, please do so to experience the giving process through the eyes of your donors. 26% of donate pages fail!

• A simple, one-page donation process embedded inside your website results in the highest number of completed donations.

• Optimize your “Thank You” landing page and email.

Crowdfunding

• Crowdfunding enables nonprofits to create online fundraising campaigns for projects and programs in need of funding:

- School Desks for Orphans- New Website for Gray Wolf Press

• Integrate your crowdfunding projects into your online fundraising promotions.

Giving Days

• Tap into the power of Giving Days, such as Giving Tuesday (data) and Give Local America.

• Begin promoting via email and on social media at least one month before.

• Facebook referred 29.4% of traffic to donation pages on #GivingTuesday2013 and #GiveLocalAmerica2014 was the most successful online fundraising event in U.S. history.

Cause Awareness Days

• Tap into the power of cause awareness days that already exist or create your own.

• Create a page on your website that prominently features the date and hashtag of the cause awareness day and details as least three actions that your donors and supporters can take. This page should also prominently feature a donate button, e-newsletter and mobile alert opt-in forms, and social network icons.

• Begin promoting via email and on social media at least one month before.

Cause Awareness Days

• On the morning of the awareness day, your first tweet, update, and post should announce that it is a cause awareness day. For example:

It’s #WorldWaterDay! Help us provide clean water to the 780 million people worldwide who go without: water.org/waterday2014

Real-Time Communications

• Tap into breaking news.

• Tweet during important events (#SOTU) and during conferences (#FUSEcon2014).

• Host Google+ Hangouts and tweet chats.

Fundraising Trends to Watch

Fundraising Trends to Watch

1. Over the next few years we will see wide adoption of mobile and digital wallets, such as Google Wallet, which is the first wallet to enable digital wallet donations and last November Google replaced Google Checkout with Google Wallet. Facebook and Twitter are also working on digital wallet services.

2. Fundraising apps are maturing and becoming more relevant: Give, Face the Planet, I Can Go Without.

Conclusion

• Very few people innately understand how to use social media to build an online brand. The best new media managers have years of experience with online communications and fundraising.

• That said, if you can not hire an experienced social media manager, make sure volunteers, interns, and staff are properly trained in social media, HTML, photo and video editing, etc.

• Tomorrow at 1pm: The Math & Science of Social Media: 20 Tips & Tricks for Nonprofits