$3 Billion Is A Click AwayIn uncertain economic times, new research shows online engagement is more critical than ever: What you can do now to make the holiday giving season more successful...

ONLINE FUNDRAISING PLAYBOOK SERIES

$3 Billion Is A Click AwayIn uncertain economic times, new research shows online engagement is more critical than ever. Despite the

economic downturn, more nonprofits plan to move online especially since research shows that more than 3

billion donor dollars are a click away. Are you ready to make the year-end/holiday giving season more successful?

Here’s our insight and essential playbook for today’s economy and the 2008 holiday season.

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ONLINE FUNDRAISING PLAYBOOK SERIES

It goes without saying that there are

many factors to consider when you plan a campaign, especially in preparation for the holidays. Since you planned your year-end campaign, the economy and

markets have changed. Many, if not most, nonprofits are reporting declining response rates in traditional channels

and are planning to change their marketing strategy. This economic uncertainty can throw a wrench into

your plans particularly if you don’t have insight into donor behavior. There are some facts that signal the Internet and online giving, communication and

stewardship can improve your efficiency

and effectiveness this holiday season. Why is that important? Consider this fact: It is estimated that 89.5 million

online US consumers plan to give more than $3 billion to nonprofit organizations during the holiday season of 2008.

Yes, you read it correctly. That’s $3 billion

dollars, according to research commissioned by Convio®, the leading provider of on-demand constituent

relationship management (CRM) software and services for nonprofit organizations. For the first time ever,

Convio commissioned JupiterResearch to add questions about online support for

nonprofit organizations during their annual US Online Retail Consumer Survey. The study was fielded from

September 17 to 28, 2008 thus factoring in some of the challenges of the current state of the financial markets and economy.

What does this mean?Who’s doing all that online giving?

And how can your nonprofit organization get its share?

Let’s look at what online nonprofits and consumers are saying as they plan for the final two months of the year.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR NONPROFITS?

In October the DMA Nonprofit Federation put together an informal survey to gain insight into the how the economic

situation is impacting organizations in general.

More than 60% of respondents indicate that response rates for direct marketing

are worse than last year and that nearly 41% are seeing “smaller gifts, fewer individual donors. “ These organizations

are making organizational and marketing/communications changes in response to the economy.

What was also interesting was that more than 67% said they are planning to use “newer marketing techniques in the near future (Web 2.0, blogs, social marketing,

mobile marketing). “ The comments showed a decided inclination to more effectively use the Internet to reach

donors. The silver lining in this cloud just may be that nonprofits and consumers are aligning around online giving. i

MEET DONOR 2.0

Though consumer dollars are understandably tight in a rough economy, people are going online in growing numbers

to research and support nonprofits.

Our survey (conducted for Convio by JupiterResearch from September 17 to 24,

2008) asked a sample of the 175.6 million online adults (age 18+) in the US about their planned spending over the 2008 holiday season, including their plans

regarding charitable donations. Fifty-one percent of the online users in the sample

plan to donate to a charity/nonprofit this holiday season. Of these:

42% plan to give $100 or less

20% plan to give between $100 and $1000

4% will give $1000 or more

35% are not sure of the amount but plan to donate

It’s also worthy to note that 61% of the people surveyed said they plan on donating about the same amount as last year with

6% planning on donating more, while 33% said they would donate less.

While the economy should cause concern,

don’t panic. A down economy does not always mean philanthropy will decrease. In fact, a recent study conducted by the

Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University concluded “there has been only one year (1987) in the past 27 in which philanthropy has dropped from one year to

the next, even during years in which the market has dropped.”

Donor values may be down right now

because of the slow economy, but our research shows that overall donor declines have been due primarily to declines in new

donor acquisitions. According to a research

study of more than 400 organizations (The Online Marketing (eCRM) Nonprofit Benchmark Index™ Study 2008, published

by Convio in March of 2008), the median online

fundraising growth rate across sectors was

just more than 23% from the first half of 2006 to the first half of 2007. Much of the online fundraising growth is coming from

new, younger donors. And more of those planning to give will do so online.

What does this all mean when it comes to

funding your mission? Simply put, the pie isn’t shrinking so much as the flavor of donors is changing. If you’re not making it easy for people to research your

organization and donate online, expect your overall share to be a smaller slice than previous years.

But there’s a big opportunity here: to connect more quickly to a larger number of donors, communicate more often and more

cost effectively, deepen donor relationships with targeted, personalized communications, show that you’re listening, and in effect reach the largest growing

market share of donors the way they prefer to be reached. Just who are these donors? Read on...

33%

6%

61%

Planned spending over the 2008 Holiday Season US Online Adults (age 18+)

The Convio survey (conducted by JupiterResearch) asked a sample of 175.6 million online adults about their planned spending over the 2008 holiday season, including their plans regarding charitable donations.

I plan on donating less than last holiday seasonI plan on donating more than last holiday seasonI plan on spending about the same amount as last holiday season

Did You Know?Trend analysis of giving patterns from various sources and

nonprofit trade articles suggest

that 35-42% of all online giving

happens in November and

December. That’s almost half of all annual online giving in just two

months!

WHO PLANS TO GIVE?

According to the results of the JupiterResearch survey:

Women plan to donate more than men, 54% versus 48%. 45% of women plan to give to a human or social service compared to 35% of men

64% of people with household income of more than $100K plan to donate online, with 9% planning to donate more

14% of African Americans and 16% of Asian Americans plan to give more this year than last, standing out as the ethnicities that are more inclined to increase giving levels from last year

46% of 18-24 year olds and 50% of 25-34 year olds plan to donate online, with 13% planning to donate more this year than last

53% of 55-64 year olds plan to donate online showing that it is no longer just for the younger age groups

83% of people who say their financial situation has remained the same, plan to give the same or more this year

46% of the group who said their financial situation became substantially worse over the past 12 months still plan to donate online this holiday season

WHO ARE THE INTENDED RECIPIENTS?

Human and social services, faith-based, and disease and health

services nonprofits are the most likely recipients among donors at all donation levels.

Nearly a quarter of people plan to give to animal welfare organizations (24%), followed closely by disaster

and international relief organizations (22%).

Those who will donate $251+ are likely to distribute their donations among several types of charities:

53% plan to donate to faith-based organizations

43% to human and social services

37% plan to donate to disease and health services, and animal welfare charities each

31% plan to donate to disaster and international relief organizations

More than 50% of African Americans plan to give to human and social service organizations, with 34% giving to disease and disorder

groups, and 32% to faith-based organizations.

WHEN DO THEY GIVE THE MOST?

For the JupiterResearch survey the

period of the planned giving was from November 1 to December 31, 2008. Trend analysis of giving

patterns from various sources and nonprofit trade articles suggest that 35-42% of all online giving happens in November and December. That’s

almost half of all annual online giving in just two months!

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ARE YOU USING YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE TO ITS FULLEST POTENTIAL?

Today’s donor is empowered with better access to information and more choices in their mode of giving. In an economic downturn, donors are even more selective and likely to conduct more due diligence. Most will research an

organization online before making a donation, and almost all are influenced by online communications such as a website and email. According to the Convio holiday giving research, the charity’s website is the most useful tool among those who plan to donate online this holiday season (27%), followed by email

appeals sent from family and friends (15%). Charity evaluator sites also play a role for 10% of online adults in their decision-making process.

According to a groundbreaking report by Convio, “The Wired Wealthy: Using

the Internet to Connect with Your Middle and Major Donors”, which looked into the online habits and behaviors of major and mid-level donors, 80% of donors have given online and 42% are more likely to give if they have received

email communications. This research indicates that virtually every time these mid-level to major donors give, whether the gift is online or offline, they are going to the nonprofit’s website to learn more. And here’s something you may not know: email is more effective than direct mail with 35-55 year olds.

In good times and in challenging times, the Internet can help you build a more efficient, multi-faceted approach to communicating with your existing donors, helping them feel more involved on many levels and strengthening the

relationship. It can also be an easy and cost-effective way to reach out to new donors. And if your approach is well thought out, an integrated online fundraising approach can do much more than help you raise money in the

short term. It can help you reduce costs without reducing your communications, adjust more quickly to a changing market, cultivate champions for your cause (through social media or online peer-to-peer fundraising tools), build passion and inspire your constituents, and help you provide the level of

personalization you give to high value donors to all your constituents.

Today’s donors and the online consumers you want to reach are sophisticated, empowered, and expect to be engaged through multiple channels – they

spend billions through online shopping, manage bank accounts and pay bills online. So when we say, “Go online,” we mean more than having a website and sending an email. Your organization should have a solid online presence and a

relationship management system in place that makes it easy to give, track, and research. And you should have a plan in place for integrating your online

fundraising efforts with your direct mail and other campaigns. i

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Use the Internet to your advantage USE EMAIL TO:

Make targeted, personalized appeals

Send thank you's

Send invitations to live chats

Give updates showing what’s going on in the day-to-day life of your organization

Reinforce direct marketing efforts: One of Convio’s clients has found that donors are more apt to respond to a direct mail piece when the nonprofit sends an email message in advance alerting them to watch for a package in the mail. Others have found that sending a direct mail postcard alerting the donor to watch for an email also lifts response rates.

USE YOUR WEBSITE TO:Inspire your constituents: Turn your home page into a splash page for your latest campaign

Inform your donors of your latest efforts: Use pictures, videos, and stories – research shows that men are more likely to respond after viewing video

Learn about your constituents: Use your website to collect feedback, contact information, and campaign analytics (you can learn a lot from collecting information on how long users stay on a particular page, observing where they abandon a form, etc.)

USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO:Connect your constituents to one another, using your website to easily contact others, or services such as Facebook or MySpace to create a viral web presence.

For reaching Generation Y (your future donors, born 1980 - 2000), these channels are especially important, as are text messaging and instant messaging (IM).

IT’S THE MOST CHARITABLE TIME OF THE YEAR It’s never too early to tweak or fine-tune your year-end campaign (and with the Internet, it’s not yet too late

to start planning and executing it). Take advantage of this season’s high volume online giving and make it

easier for your donors to give when time and funds are short: build an online year-end or holiday campaign.

Here are a few fail-safe strategies to get you going:

Given the economic situation this year, test your messaging (subject lines, content) first to see what will perform better and then follow through with that in the final message.

When you send an appeal, use a multi-part message that includes:

a. A main ask. b. A stewardship/seasons greeting piece (think e-card around Christmas or Hanukkah). c. A last-chance to give literally sent on December 31.

Leverage the direct mail appeal messaging and look and feel. No need to build an online message structure from scratch if you have a look and feel from direct mail you can use.

Consider implementing a thank you or year-end celebration of success program to capture interest this holiday season, which can include a simple year-end ask. Then in January, start nurturing supporters for 2009 gifts before and during the holiday season.

For starters, send an appeal! As we mentioned before, 35 to 42% of all online giving happens in November and December, yet many groups still don’t actually ask their supporters during that window.

Holiday Campaign Tips

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10 BEST PRACTICES

And finally, here are some general

best practices to keep in your bag

of tricks throughout this year’s

holiday season and beyond.

1. Resend your email appeals three to five days after the initial send to people who did not respond. You’ll get a better

response rate, because you’ll reach the donors who had never opened the initial email (don’t resend to those who

responded).

2. Optimize the donor conversation on your home page. Match your donation form design to the look and feel of the

campaign. Let visitors to your website know you are doing a campaign and invite them to participate.

3. Integrate offline and online communications. If you are doing a direct mail campaign, invite recipients to visit

your website for special content. Collect their email addresses—at events and on all reply devices, including direct mail. Make sure all telemarketing, direct mail

and television appeals have an online option by providing an easy to remember URL.

4. Put a human face on all your communications. Highlight specific goals, recent successes, and inspirational

stories. Use images and photos. Don’t make appeals about hard economic times, but instead thank your donors for helping with mission-critical projects.

5. Send a special appeal. If you have a special project (such as disaster relief or

a holiday drive), send your donors an update via email.

6. Don’t forget to cultivate. Even when

times are tough, allocate funds for simple activities like coffee with the board or handwritten notes and thank you calls from the staff. Don’t give up on donors

who can’t give monetary gifts right now – they will rebound. Offer alternative ways for expressing their support, like

volunteering their time, donating supplies, or forwarding your email communications to their families and

friends. (Remember, 15% of online consumers said an email from family or friends would make them more likely to give.)

7. Go live with a website and keep it current, even if it’s just a few pages that tell the story of your organization. One

simple best practice: refresh the copyright year on your website so that people will know your content is

current. Even if you aren’t set up for online fundraising, at least make it possible for donors to give through your website. It could be as simple as setting

up a PayPal account (www.Paypal.com). When you’re ready, talk to Convio about tools that can make online fundraising

simple, affordable, and comprehensive. Your web traffic will be highest during November and December. Be prepared.

8. Play up your credentials. Give new prospects the information to help them make the right decision. Leverage your organization’s ratings by Charity

Navigator and link to your current information as provided by GuideStar. (10% of online consumers use these

sites to help them decide which organization to support.)

9. Implement a few simple email best practices:

a. Personalize the “from” field in your email. Consider using the name of an executive, recognizable spokesperson or celebrity (if available) followed by your organization’s name. This helps your message stand out in the recipient’s inbox.

b. Pay attention to the subject line. Personalize it to the recipient —something they care about. Make it timely — something that leverages a topic that’s already in the press. Create a sense of urgency to give donors a reason to open your message now. Keep it short, ideally under 55 characters. Say what you need to but fewer words perform better.

c. Keep the voice of your communications consistent with your organization’s brand but try using humor or controversy to grab their attention with the subject line.

d. The body copy should be shorter than a direct mail piece, ideally 3-4 paragraphs. Be direct and use bulleted short sentences with lots of friendly white space.

e. Only hotlink a few meaningful phrases for clarification and avoid using “click here.”

f. A prominent Donate/Give Now

button is critical. Insert it “above the

fold” and make it visually standout with

graphics. Also provide multiple “text”

links to overcome the suppression of

images in emails. When you can, suggest

giving levels that align with your typical

donor history.

10. Continue the conversation. Think

beyond the one-off gift. Take steps to profile your donor and understand their true affinity with your organization.

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IN SUMMARYEven in times of slowing economic activity, the year-end/holiday giving

season is important to your fundraising success. Be extra attentive to your donors–all of them. Now is the time to keep in touch by communicating your

appreciation for them, and communicating the value and the need that are served both by your

organization and their contributions.

Most people try to maintain some level of giving even in times of

recession. Make it easy for consumers to choose you: if you are not already, start fundraising online. If you are online make sure your website and

communications are donor friendly,

make sure your offline appeals have an online giving option, use the Internet to build lists for future cultivation and

use the online presence you have now to reach out with a holiday campaign.

Online fundraising is no longer a secret weapon for reaching donors; it is a

critical channel to reach your fundraising and relationship goals. Now is the time, online is the place. To tap

into the online giving of 89.5 million consumers and to get your share of more than $3 billion in holiday giving,

act now and implement some of the practical ideas we’ve discussed.

Behind the research

This report was brought to you by

Convio and developed in part through data gathered through a first-of-its-kind national survey conducted for Convio by JupiterResearch, a Forrester

Research company.

Convio is the leading provider of on-

demand constituent relationship management (CRM) software and services that give nonprofit

organizations a better way to inspire and mobilize people to support their organization. The company’s online marketing suite offers integrated

software for fundraising, advocacy, events, email marketing and web content management, and its CRM

system, Convio Common Ground™, helps organizations efficiently track and manage all interactions with

supporters. All Convio products are delivered through the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and are backed

by a portfolio of best-in-class consulting and support services and a network of partners who provide value-added services and applications

focused on the unique needs of nonprofit organizations.

Convio’s clients include nonprofit

organizations, institutions of higher education, associations and faith-based organizations around the world such

as American Red Cross, American Diabetes Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Humane Society of the

United States, Easter Seals, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, Sierra Club,

and National Public Radio. For more information, please visit www.convio.com

Additional ResourcesVinay Bhagat, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Convio, "Looking Back, Looking Ahead: What the Numbers Tell Us", Convio.com, Jan/Feb 2008, http://www.convio.com/resources/newsletter/looking-back-looking-ahead.html

Vinay Bhagat, "10 Online Marketing Strategies for Fundraising in Challenging Times", Convio.com, http://www.convio.com/resources/newsletter/10-online-marketing-strategies-for-fundraising-in-challenging-times.html

Vinay Bhagat, Measuring Online Success",  The Donor Files, Amergent, 24 October 2008, http://www.amergent.com/newsletter/foodbank/issue3/article2.htm

Convio, Sea Change Strategies, and Edge Research, "The Wired Wealthy: Using the Internet to Connect with Your Middle and Major Donors", 18 March 2008, http://my.convio.com/?elqPURLPage=104

Convio, “The Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark IndexTM Study”, March 2008, http://www.convio.com/resources/nonprofit-sector-research

DMA Nonprofit Federation, October 2008 Nonprofit Economic Survey http://dma.convio.net/site/DocServer/Nonprofit_Economic_Survey_-_October2008.pdf?docID=341&AddInterest=1481

With this first-ever Online Holiday Giving Estimate, we hope not only to provide insight and information into online consumer behavior

this holiday season, but also ideas and actions that drive results.

Austin | Berkeley | Washington DC

888-528-9501 | 512-652-2600 | info@convio.com | www.convio.com

Copyright 2000-2007, Convio, Inc. All Rights reserved. Convio, the Convio logo, TeamRaiser and Constituent 360 are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of Convio, Inc. All other names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

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