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| Path: Main Street > Resources/Library > Research Articles > Feature Article |
Do we still need to make the case for the web?
By Pattie LaCroix
July 31, 2006
More than 65% of donors visit at least one of the web sites of the charities they support, and 40% always go online before making a giving decision. On average, donors who contribute online tend to give significantly more overall (over 50%), including both online and offline gifts, than donors who do not contribute online.
These were just two of the findings in the Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report. So whether or not you have integrated online giving into your multi-channel fundraising program, donors are visiting your web site as part of their donation decision-making process.
When your donor goes to your web site are they inundated with information that is important to your organization or information that would be important to a prospective donor? Is the copy web-friendly or more suited to print? Is your web site easy to navigate? Are visitors spending time on your web site or abandoning it after spending two or three seconds on your homepage?
Your web site is the virtual front door to your organization. For the vast majority of your supporters it may be the only experience they have with your organization. A study conducted by Blackbaud in May 2006 paints a picture of the typical online donor. Online donors tend to be:
- more affluent, with a starting income level of 50K, and tend to live in residences of higher value than the national average;
- well educated;
- male - 53% of online donors are men; and
- younger than the average offline donor, with the majority under 50 years of age.
Online donors match some of the major characteristics of those who donate in general. Canadian donors tend to be more affluent and have a post-secondary education. In a 2004 survey published by Imagine Canada, the top three reasons why people give were cited as follows:
- Feeling compassion toward people in need
- To help a cause in which one believes
- To make a contribution to the community
Your web site and e-communications are now an integral part of your donor communications. One of the most common areas that need improvement when it comes to nonprofit web sites is content. So often content is not appropriately written for the web; it is not engaging, there is no interactivity to engage end users in the content, and there is no option for end users to receive content that is of specific interest to them. When evaluating your web site from a donor's perspective ask yourself the following questions:
- Is the copy web-friendly? Is it written for the web medium?
- Are there opportunities for the end user to engage with the content (links, blogs, chatrooms, photo galleries, send to a friend options, etc.)?
- Is your copy current or regularly updated?
- Is your story, your case for support, easy to access?
- Can end users subscribe to content that is specifically of interest to them?
Addressing these issues is key to building an effective and engaging case for support online. If your audience can not access your content online you will fall far short of engaging them as donors in your organization. Equally important is to understand that how you appear online and the end user experience that you create online for your potential supporters reflects directly upon your organization's credibility. Establishing credibility is an essential ingredient in acquiring support from potential donors.
If you are still viewing your web site as an afterthought or as a mere delivery platform in your fundraising program you are missing an enormous opportunity to grow your base of support. When your web site is viewed as an integrated component of your fundraising program, much like direct mail, telemarketing or special events, it will open up the full possibilities that the Internet can offer in expanding the base of support for your organization's work.
Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.
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