Ted Hart at Pareto Fundraising

Digital Integration, Ted Hart

Following Kate from Google, Ted Hart from p2pfundraising.org is telling us all about social media and fundraising.

Some key points:

- for all the technology out there, it doesn't change the fact that people give because they are asked. Online you kneed to ask or you can't fundraise.

- it is all about integration. You need a real strategy; these free tools - Google, Facebook etc are free but they are not the strategy.

- Think about your donors. He says that, in Canada (and probably same here) only 30% of online donors are gen X. Nearly all the other 70% were born before 1962.

- Regardless of how good your online stuff is, it is no good if you are not an organisation that looks after donors, and understands the importance of relationships

- Whatever you do or don't do online, on social networking sites someone else is talking about you. And on these sites people have a desire to connect.

- Good communications online give you an instant larger audience - if they are good communications they could get forwarded

- True measure of a fundraising professional is not shaking people down for $1000 now, it is getting them giving $25,000 over the years

- Don't worry about about the fact that non email based communications (like Facebook)are growing. Be aware, plan for it but for now your audiences are still using email.

- Amazing tool for Outlook, xobmi.com, when an email comes in it tells you if they are on Facebook etc

- Forget social networking completely, until you have a proper website strategy. He was lovely here and plugged Pareto to help charities do that, thanks Ted!

- Reckons that of the $15.48bn raised online in 2009, a third was generated online the rest was things like people following up an offline promotion and just signing up online, or printing out a form and sending it in

- Website should give the full complement of you, not just your online stuff
- ASPCA shows that people who supply their email give 112% more on and offline. He thinks because they've received more communications. They also gave 85% more donations and 15-20% higher average donation

- Nearly half of annual giving happens in December, in America

- Ted says email is not direct mail, electronically. It is more than that, use it to build relationships, engage and inspire.

- check out Nonprofits guide to Facebook, and Executives guide to Twitter

- Facebook, according to iStrategylabs has plenty of old people on it. Old people = good donors, but reiterated that you need to get the basics right first. Like website design....

- Websites have ten seconds to get across to the browser who we are, what we do and what we want you to do

- Note that according to Marketing Sherpa 79% of visitors don't come in through home page

- Privacy policy does not need to be complex, but should be here. Saying what information is collected, who can access it and how it will be used

Ted then went on to 'review' (slaughter) several charities' websites. People from Vision Australia, Wilderness Society' Wild Endurance event, Starlight, Centenary Institute, Cancer Council NSW and House With No Steps were all brave enough to get publicly ripped apart, especially Martyn Hartley at Vision Australia who really got some flak!

I am not going to be cruel enough to write up here what was said, but it was very, very useful...

More information on Ted here. Bottom line, if you are 'doing social media' and are a fundraiser then read his books.