Today I share some highlights from a terrific study by Russ Reid Company, Heart of the Donor.  They unveiled the results of their 2010 study during the DMANF Conference in New York in August.  The report will be available soon.

I was taking notes fast and furious as Lisa McIntyre (Senior VP of Strategy Development, Russ Reid Company) spoke.  Here are some of the highlights I captured:

Parental involvement trumps any other activity in terms of WHY and whether people give to a charity.  These six parental behaviors – and how many of them your parents did – have the greatest influence on your behavior toward charities:

- Gave money to their place of worship
- Gave money to other charities
- Talked about nonprofit organization in front of children and why they gave
- Take children to place of worship
- Parents volunteer for a nonprofit
- Parents take the child along to also volunteer

As I understand it, 80% of the children from parents with this behavior become donors.  And the more parents exhibited this behavior . . . the more generous the kids are when they grow up and start to give.

If donors are under the age of 40 . . . they’re seeking to get an “impression” about you through social media, talking to friends, and visiting your website. 

If donors are over the age of 40 . . . they’re checking for information about you; checking your credibility; they read the annual report and look at your overhead; and they check your website.

People over the age of 70 are still among the most valuable donors – most generous and most loyal.  Focus most of your resources on the donors giving you the greatest value.

NO CHANNEL stands alone.  On average, donors use 3 out of 10 channels listed to give:

64% – collection box
61% – mail
34% – online
29% – workplace
26% – place of worship
22% – telemarketing
18% – TV/radio
15% – automatic (auto-pay / sustainer)
14% – gift catalog
8% – text (mobile)

Website is your single most important communication vehicle at your disposal.  When people investigate charities . . .

62% go to the charity website
56% search the web
46% talk to a friend that already supports you
44% check your overhead
etc.

What do they want to find on your website, in your letters, everywhere?  What factors have the greatest influence on whether you receive that first gift?

- Is there evidence you do what you claim?
- How do you do it?
- What have you done so far?
- How much do you spend on overhead? 

If you want an illustration related to that last set of bullets, this post will help you see what you need to change on your website: Cartoon Shows Disconnect in Nonprofit Websites  

What donors want more than anything is VALUE.   And if you need to spend more on salaries to do it right and provide value . . . that’s okay.  And if it means you need to spend more on fundraising to give value and do a good job of helping others . . . that’s okay.  Lesson here is that IF you provide value (as perceived by donors), and you communicate that value CLEARLY, they won’t criticize you for spending more money wisely.

If you want to become a donor’s favorite charity you must accomplish three things: First and foremost you must be trustworthy.  And your mission must be relevant to the donor personally and through any experience they have with you.  Trust coupled with how relevant you are to them personally, and their experience with you all leads to a very loyal donor.

I recommend you get this study when it’s published.  It correlated exceedingly well with a study by Convio also shared during the conference.  I think that says a lot for how safely you can take this data and apply it to your nonprofit.

I’ve often written about website usability in my newsletter and here in the blog.  And I’ve shared links to show the good, bad, and the ugly of nonprofit websites. I’ve also used tables to compare and contrast “fuzzy” nonprofit language to “clear” terms donors understand.

But I just came across a cartoon that puts the usability issue in a whole new light.

This first cartoon by Randall Munroe (http://xkcd.com/) cracked me up.  Munroe created a cartoon that compares what a university puts on their home page versus what people are actually looking for when they come to the website.

Courtesy of xkcd.com

Notice that there’s very little overlap.  The only thing they have in common is the “full name of school!” 

I think that a big chunk of the nonprofit website usability problems stem from a disconnect.  Specifically, a disconnect between how a fundraiser thinks and how a donor thinks.  Your website will resonate with donors when you think like they do.

Munroe inspired me.  So I created a slightly less sophisticated cartoon of my own.  Mine illustrates the disconnect found on many charity websites . . .

Charity Website Disconnect

Advising you to “think like a donor” is sound advice.  I hope these cartoons demonstrate why that way of thinking is essential when you write any copy, or prepare any marketing communications. 

Eliminate the disconnect.  Make your nonprofit website reflect the thoughts of your donors.

For several reasons, I believe Goodwill has a good thing going on their ”Donate Movement” website. 

 What first caught my attention was the calculator which you’ll see when you visit the site.  When I find clever tools, ideas, devices or games on nonprofit websites that compliment and enhance their mission, as well as get people engaged, I highlight them on this blog.

Here are the good things I found on the Goodwill website:

1 – Engagement device.  The “calculator” gets them involved.  And more importantly, clearly shows how their donation helps.  Donors instantly see how they can make a difference.

2 – Clever take-off on the famous recycle symbol.  Pulls in a larger audience.  People who may not make this connection on their own: My donation of clothing to Goodwill helps the environment.  Less stuff going into landfills.

 3- Encourages participation and SUPPORT on many levels. 

• Social media communities – invites people to add the “Donate” symbol on their Facebook and Twitter profiles; and to tell friends about the “Donate Movement.”
• Bloggers – invites bloggers to show their support for the needy in their community, and their desire to protect the environment.  Just blog about the “Donate Movement” and display the “Donate” symbol.  On the page dedicated to how bloggers can help, Goodwill also provides the banners – with html coding to copy and paste – that will attract attention, and shows that the blogger is on the team. 
• De-clutter and donate – Goodwill has teamed with Lorie Marrero (best-selling author of The Clutter Diet).  Marrero is also the Donate Movement’s ambassador.  So as they encourage all of us to de-clutter our homes and eliminate the stress that can cause … Goodwill and Marrero point out how this also makes a difference in our community and helps create a healthier planet. Simply donate gently used clothing and household items to Goodwill a few times this year.
• Calculate impact of your donation – In more than one place on the website, there are links to the page with the calculator that I mentioned above.  Goodwill invites donors to “see the real world impact your donations have on the people in your community and your local environment.”  For example:  One pair of jeans can provide someone in your community with about 10 minutes of resume preparation services.

4 – Simple language, stories, and examples of how supporters can help, and how we can make a difference in other people’s lives.  This includes photos and stories of people who received help from Goodwill – mission beneficiaries. 

 Keep up the good work, Goodwill.

In Jocelyn Harmon’s blog, Marketing for Nonprofits, she has a bit of a rant describing “6 reasons your website sucks.” 

Like me, Harmon is frustrated that more nonprofits don’t take advantage of their website.  That they don’t make some basic, easy, and affordable changes so their website becomes the powerful online tool it’s meant to be.  So that it helps your charity grow through more donors and funds raised.

Harmon’s six reasons are:

1 – Lack of photos.  Or the lack of the right photos.  Hint: Don’t use stock photos of people that obviously aren’t tied to your work.

2 – Gabby-Gabby-Gabby.  Rambling text and too much of it.  Keep it brief and to the point.  Just the other day I shared some research that shows at most, people only read 18-20% of the text on your website.

3 – Can’t instantly find how to subscribe or how to donate.  Have more than one path to these critical “calls to action.”  Make them incredibly easy to find and understand.  Click here to read another nonprofit website article - point #4 – I wrote that may help you with this.

4 – It takes forever and a day for your website to load.  This is probably because you’re using flash.  Get too clever and “flashy” and people give up.  They don’t have time to waste on all that fluff.

5 – Time for a makeover.  How long has it been since you’ve overhauled your website and given it a fresh look?

6 – Content is out of date.  Special events listed that have already passed.  News article of your Executive Director from two years ago.  As Harmon says, visitors only want the latest and greatest.  Keep your content fresh!

Harmon goes into more detail than I have.  And she has examples of three websites that she likes.  So I encourage you to read her post.

To help you improve your website I also recommend you carefully read the following:

Nonprofit website usability – Part 1

How to boost usability of your nonprofit website

List of posts on making nonprofit websites better

If you want visitors to your website to read the content; make a donation; register for the conference; sign-up for your newsletter; or spend more than 5 seconds on your site . . . then you must make it EASY FOR THEM.

Your nonprofit will generate more online revenue, and support your offline fundraising better if you maximize website usability.

Below I share a few nuggets from Jakob Nielsen.  He’s a well-known usability expert with annual conferences and workshops on the subject.  Pay attention to what he’s learned through extensive testing and apply it to your own site design.

• User viewing time: 80.3% ABOVE the fold and 19.7% BELOW the fold.  
• Horizontal viewing: 69% of viewing time on LEFT half of screen and 30% of viewing time on RIGHT half of screen.  Recognize that the first 200-pixels in the left side typically have a navigation bar, so the user’s attention actually grows after the 200-pixel mark.  The most attention is spent in the 300-500 pixel area.
• Clicking hypertext links is the most-used feature.  Clicking buttons on the page is the 2nd most-used feature and the BACK button is the 3rd most-used feature.  
• If all goes well users will read about 18-20% of the content on a page. 

How can your website benefit from these nuggets?

- Stick to a conventional design.  Place navigation on the left and your most important content above the fold and to the right of the navigation.

- Some people will scroll, and some will even read to the bottom of the page.  So you still need to have a useful item at the bottom.  And have your most important content above the fold.

- Nielsen’s research shows that for every 100 words added, users may spend an additional 4.4 seconds.  Just bear that in mind and realize not too many people to read more that 15 – 20% of the content.

- Write your content and design your pages for skimmers. 

- Each page has ONE primary goal … one action you want users to take that is more important than any other.  The copy, the link, the button, the image, etc. connected to that most desired action must be above the fold.  And it probably ought to be showcased between one-third and halfway across the page (i.e., the 300 – 500 pixel area).

Keep to the basics and your website will help you meet your business goals.  It will help you raise more funds, acquire more donors or members, get more people to sign-up and on it goes.

Chris Stiner – Search Marketing Standard blog, shared “The Super 7 Reasons to Blog (Aside From Linking)”.  Of course, blogging is a significant boost to your SEO results.  And it’s also a smart marketing strategy in terms of ROI – lot of bang for your buck.  But Stiner goes beyond all that. 

For each of his seven “super” reasons I have added the nonprofit perspective:

1.  Promote products and services from credible, insider point of view.
              Nonprofit: Share why your cause or mission is so important to you, the individual blogger.  Share your personal excitement over what your nonprofit is achieving.  Use “I” much, much more than “we” or “our” in your writing.

2.   Establish authority in the marketplace.
               Nonprofit: Stand out as the best.  There’s a lot of competition for donor and grant dollars.  Show your expertise at solving problems for those you serve.  Don’t brag.  Talk about the issues and what they mean for society.  Share your depth of knowledge on the issues and softly, subtly weave how your nonprofit addresses them.

3.   Show a human side to your business. People are loyal to companies that are transparent and real.
               Nonprofit: It’s okay – and still professional – to share some of your personality in a blog.  Supporters connect with and stick with friendly people so be personable. 

Allow comments on your blog.  Give donors and members a chance to say why they like what you’re doing.  This is transparency.  And for prospects you want to convert to supporters, seeing outsider comments gives your nonprofit more credibility.  They are more confident in their decision to help you.

In addition, if by chance a “problem” arises within your organization (e.g., a scandal or any negative news about how you do business), talk about how you’re solving it.  Bad news travels faster than the speed of sound.  Be the pilot openly sharing the status of the problem with your passengers who just might be able to help you.  Don’t let the plane crash with your thunderous silence.

4.   Communicate with customers even after a purchase.
               Nonprofit: Say thank you for donating or joining.  Follow-up with a welcome package, renewal mailings, and get them on your newsletter list.  Practice great donor/member cultivation strategies.  Share success stories about your mission.  Give supporters the information they want.

5.   Blogs blend well with other social media such as Digg and Twitter.
               Nonprofit: You wrote a touching success story in your blog. The plug-ins are there so anyone can Tweet or Digg your post with a mere click or two.  Now your supporters and followers are doing the work for you.  And when they pass on news about your nonprofit, it’s more credible than if you did it yourself.  These easy-to-use tools are great for spreading awareness and for gathering in more supporters from the grassroots level. 

6.   Discover keyword phrases you rank well for that you never thought of.
             Nonprofit: In the normal course of writing a blog, you’ll appear high in organic searches for phrases you couldn’t have foreseen.  This is the beauty of blogging and natural search.  Think of it as extra frosting on the cake that you didn’t even ask for.

7.   Quality blogging can lead to exposure on other blogs and media channels in your industry.
              Nonprofit: Your stories, comments, insider expertise … can all start to appear in other blogs, newsletters, etc. like magic.  All you did was consistently write quality blog posts.   And the visibility just might make it more likely that a journalist will contact you – for your expert perspective – when a news story breaks related to your mission.

No doubt about it: Blogging is a powerful tool offering your nonprofit many benefits.  It’s an easy and fast way to keep current news and stories on your website.  You need to be personable, and write messages focused on your donors and members.  Do this well and supporters will spread the good news for you farther than you ever could on your own.

How much of the potential $4-billion will your nonprofit organization receive?

A recent survey conducted by Forrester Research for Convio is quite interesting.  The results were developed from a nationally-projectable, weighted sample of people with Internet access.  They estimate 111 million online donors will give $4-billion this holiday season.  So take a critical look at your site today and make any necessary website usability updates to ensure donors have a positive experience.

Here are some of the survey highlights:

• More than 63 percent of online consumers said they would donate via the Web during the holidays
• 44 percent of respondents who said they plan to give cite a nonprofit’s Web site as the most useful resource in choosing which nonprofit organization to give to
• 40 percent of those who said they plan to give cite “word of mouth” as the most useful resource in choosing a nonprofit to give to
• Other influencers to their giving decision include emails or enewsletters (27%), direct mail (28%), and peer-to-peer fundraising (23%)

Other survey results reveal that much of the influence on how and who people donate to is NOT coming from nonprofit organizations.  Growing influence is coming from word of mouth, peer solicitations and from social networks.

In other words, a growing trend is the very important role friends and family play in how people give and who they give to.  The other message they’re sending loud and clear is this: “I’ll engage with you in a variety of ways, but it has to be easy.”

The survey stats that emphasize the importance of having more than one way to engage a visitor on your nonprofit website include:

• 39% make an online donation after clicking through a nonprofit’s website
• 36% give their email address (You do make this easy for them, right?)
• 23% register for a newsletter (Again, verify this easy for them to do.)
• 5% use nonprofit web site info for their personal social network pages (e.g., Facebook and MySpace)
• 6% sign up for an event and use the nonprofit’s web site to solicit donations
• 6% listen to a podcast or an audio

Furthermore, these online visitors take other actions too.  For example, 61% said they mail a check.  But this is AFTER they first check out the nonprofit’s website.

Conclusions:

• Make everything EASY FOR THE DONOR – easy for the visitors to your website
• Have simple, straight-forward donation and sign-up pages
• Have a variety of ways for donors to engage with you online
• Update your website and improve website usability
• Find ways to integrate ecommerce into your website and holiday “asks.”  This eliminates the tough choice between buying a Christmas present and making a donation.

Read all the survey details in an article by The NonProfit Times:  http://bit.ly/8ReCYY

Each time you write web copy for your nonprofit – edit a page or add a new one to your site – you need to ask yourself a few basic, yet critical questions:

1. Who will read this page?  Will it be new visitors, long time donors, or another target audience?
2. What do I want this page to do?  What is its purpose?
   • For example: Is it to share a success story about a beneficiary of your mission?
   • For example: Is it to share breaking news on something happening in Congress that you want your donors, members, supporters to take action on?
   • For example: Is it to share important how-to information on your legacy program?  And do you want people to request more information; or download a PDF with info they can take to their attorney; or what?
3. Closely related to #1 is this . . . What is the call to action for this page? And is this “action” EASY for the visitor to find and complete?
   • For example: To have the visitor click the donate button
   • For example: To download a document
4. Why is the target audience coming and what do they want to know?  What are THEY expecting to find, read or do?   There’s a reason they’re coming (i.e., WHY) and your content needs to address it.
5. How have I written the copy?  Is it for skimmers as well as methodical readers?  And can they get the gist of the whole page within the first short paragraph?
6. How is the copy tailored?  Is it donor-centric?  And have I added value for the visitor?

Do all this correctly and you will enjoy visitors and donors who spend more time on your site and you’ll see an increase in conversions.

Click the link at the end of this sentence for more tips and techniques to boost the usability of your nonprofit website.

Good nonprofit copywriting ties everything together.  This means the carrier envelope, letter, reply device and anything else that’s in the package.

And these days it also means tying in your website.

55 – 68% of all direct mail recipients go to your website BEFORE deciding to give.  Many will still send in their gift through the mail.  But some may decide to give online.

You’ll boost response if you connect the acquisition mailing to your website in two ways:

1. On the Home Page: Have a clickable graphic or a short news item (with a text link) that match the acquisition mailing.  The links take prospects to your unique landing page.
2. Unique Landing Page: The content on this page is devoted to the same topic and theme as your mailing.  You could add in another success story.  But you must make it crystal clear how their donation will be used and how they will help make a difference.

And you might make it easy for them to find other information with additional text links to pages you know are frequently visited (based on your analytics).  These probably include the “about” or “history” pages, your financials, contact information (actually, have your contact data on the landing page instead of making them click again to find it), and so forth.

Finally, give them the option to donate right now online.  This means you can put their hard earned money to work even faster . . . people will be helped faster.

And if that first statistic wasn’t enough to grab your attention (i.e., 55-68% check out your website before giving), remember this:  90% of all donors in the U.S. are online daily.  Please don’t overlook your website and tie it in with your mailings for higher response.