Web donor cultivation: getting and using data from online donors.

You have the Web technology, you've learned how to use it, and, the best part, you've acquired thousands of Web donors. Now comes the inevitable question: What's next?

Take a page from the book of those organizations that are doing it right, of course.

Lisa Marie Daniels, project manager for McPherson Associates, Inc., cited the nonprofit WNYC Radio--not a client of McPherson--as a good example of an organization that's doing its Web donor cultivation the right way. All under the umbrella of "learn from successful organizations," Daniels offered the following online fundraising tips and tricks during the recent Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation conference in Washington, D.C.:

* There is no magic formula that works for everyone. But, said Daniels, "The question's not what can you be doing online; it's what should you be doing." Daniels maintained all organizations have an online presence.

* Strategies must be driven by analysis of your data. Daniels stressed the importance of analyzing all types of data, including abandonment rates (too high or too low is a problem) and Web traffic. Learn from the data, and then apply what you've learned, she said.

* Keep up with the cool trends--and let your audience know about it. "We live in such an on-the-go society that you need to let donors know you know about all the coolest new things that are out there," she said. Daniels cited podcasting, blogging and the increasingly popular youtube.com, a social Web site that allows users to upload, view and share oftentimes homemade video clips, as examples of the latest in Web 2.0 (or, "participatory Web") activities. "Then put it on the Web, test it out, see how it works. It raises your visibility and increases your awareness."

* Know the communication environment and how changes in one sector are affecting others. "What's new in online fundraising," posed Daniels. "Well, that's dependent on what's going on in the media environment." Daniels maintained the importance for nonprofits to carve out an online presence now. So that when for-profit companies start advertising in different ways (due to TiVo and other technologies that nullify commercial advertising), your organization will be up to speed.

* Test, test, test. Daniels advised an organization test against what it's already doing, and not just roll out a new, cool idea. "And continue to test them."

The New York City-based WNYC Radio has just fewer than 100,000 member donors; a growing number of which are Web donors, said Kristin Bugge, senior director of membership at WNYC. According to Bugge, WNYC had a solid online presence and Web donor growth, but wasn't sure how to cultivate those one-time Web donors. She provided the following online giving statistics for WNYC:

* During an annual fundraising push, 24 percent of the total pledges in FY06 and 35 percent of the total pledges in FY05 were made online.

* 46 percent of all new gifts in FY06 were given via the organization's online pledge page.

* 32 percent of the organization's total revenue for FY06--approximately 31,000 gifts for roughly $3.4 million--was given online.

* 6 percent of the total revenue for FY06--approximately 10,000 gifts for roughly $630,000--came via email campaigns.

* 24 percent of WNYC's total renewal and rejoin revenue for FY06 came online, at an increase of 25 percent over FY05.

"We decided to focus more of our energies on email and the Web as additive techniques in our multi-channel marketing plan," said Bugge. The membership team at WNYC utilized key advantages of email in terms of outgoing marketing to donors, she said. Some of these include placing in the emails relevant and timely calls to action, stressing the "now;" personalizing the emails; and, the inherent convenience of email in general.

The pledge splash page, which directs donors to the Web pledge form, is supported by a series of three email blasts to donors. These e-renewal blasts--R1, R2, and R3--occur around events, and coincide with the mail and phone appeals.

E-renewal R1 consists of a brief letter thanking the donor for their support along with a request to renew online, as it's "the most cost-effective and convenient way to support WNYC." Next, R2--the most successful of the three in terms of response--leads with a reminder that the recipient's membership will expire in "a few short hours." It goes on to suggest an online renewal, and offers a pre-filled membership form that can easily be linked to.

R3 is sent out after a donor's membership has expired, and appeals to the time sensitivity of many people today. "Perhaps you haven't found the time to renew yet," the letter reads. It provides a link to the pre-filled form followed by a request to "please take a moment to renew online now."

The key ingredient of the e-renewals, said Bugge, is the pre-filled--or, pre-populated--membership form, a link for which is included in each. "It helps boost confidence and trust that it's a legitimate online action, because we know the donor's info," she said.

Bugge found that the greatest number of Web donors renewed via the Web, at 37 percent. The next closest response was via direct mail, at 11 percent. "Web donors stay Web donors and have good retention rates," said Bugge, who cautioned,"given the right techniques."