We had a blast on our webinar 20 Tests in 30 Minutes with Gaby Gollub from World Wildlife Fund. If you missed it, or if you want to relive the experience, you can view the recording and download the slides.
These are Raise HECK’s top 5 takeaways:
1. When in doubt, test it out
If you’re wondering whether you should write something one way or the other way, then try both. As nonprofit digital marketers, we sometimes have preconceptions of what will work, and we’re not always right.
Sometimes nonprofits do things a certain way “because that’s the way we’ve always done it.” If you have a great idea for how to do something differently, test it! Answer your question or try out your great idea through an A/B test. Then you’ll have data and you can learn from the results.
2. Donors want to solve problems
People support your organization because they support your mission. They don’t want to make a donation, they want to save elephants (by making a donation). As fundraisers, we can lapse into framing things from our perspective rather than the donor’s perspective. Always ask yourself this question when writing copy – does this sentence affirm my donor’s values as they relate to our mission?
3. Ask for what you want
Do you really want to build your sustainer program? Will monthly gifts help further your mission? Then ask for monthly gifts. Being direct, pre-selecting the “Monthly” option on your donation form, and making the donation amounts clear ($15/month) will net you a lot more recurring gifts than just offering the option and hoping people choose it.
4. People love to share and be heard
When you ask your donors to share what’s important to them about your mission, a lot of them will do it. Donors receive a lot of email from nonprofits about a variety of topics, and most of them are thrilled to be asked what they think. As an engagement tool, a survey is excellent. It’s also an excellent way to warm up a donor before you ask them to make a donation. Plus, you’ll collect valuable data through your survey that you can use to better communicate with your donors.
5. Improvement is a moving target
Digital marketing is as much an art as a science because it involves people. People are complex, simple, kind, rude, beautiful, terrible, stressed, and serene – sometimes all within the same day. Heck, these days, we sometimes run the gamut of all of these emotions in just one hour. Your message can reach the same person on different days and provoke different results depending on how that person is doing. Remain committed to the rigor of testing, keep track of your results, and keep learning along the way.
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