Don Akchin

Branded Out Loud, a blog about communications design, offers its list of what’s cool and what’s yesterday’s news on nonprofit websites, with plenty of visuals to make the point. What’s in? Simple and clean design, infographics, directing viewers where to go, and more.

It’s not easy to keep up with the new digital media, much less understand it. But this provocative article in Ad Age, by Doug Levy and Bob Garfield, offers a look at the big picture. In their eyes, we’re living at the dawn of the Relationship Era, and as a result, everything we used to know about marketing is now wrong. On a similar theme, see for yourself what all the buzz is about regarding the “10 fresh realities of the Digital Age,”  a slide presentation by Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet Project. In fact, have a look at the slide presentation itself.

What does the data tell you? How can you use it? The CoolData blog walks through an example of a college alumni office which learns that the number of times an alumnus visits the college website correlates to the size and frequency of his gifts.

If you’re not sure how to measure the performance of your website, you’re in excellent company. And you’re also in luck, because blogger John Haydon has posted his list of five reports you can get from your free Google Analytics account. Even better, he tells you what the results mean.

You have about 10 seconds to make a good impression on your website. Does your content satisfy the expectations of your readers? Nonprofit communications consultant and blogger Kivi Leroux Miller suggests the right content for three different audiences: strangers, friends and your most devoted fans.

More nonprofits are trying to raise funds using mobile technology, according to research from Kaptivate and the Associaton of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). (It’s still only 9% of nonprofits, but that’s doubled from a year ago.) But what seems to be most promising is not the text-to-give campaigns, which worked brilliantly for disaster relief, but the mobile web, and for several purposes besides fundraising. In an interview with Jocelyn Harmon, study author and Kaptivate CEO Ron Vassallo explains the advantages and drawbacks of text and web, and the start-up costs for each. Then there’s the contrarian view: Consultant Ted Fickes makes the case that “the quickest and most cost-effective place to focus your mobile strategy is your email.”  

  Flurry, a firm that analyzes mobile device applications, released a survey in June showing that more time is being spent on mobile apps than on browsing the web. OK, consider the source. But still, this may be an omen. Are you prepared to make another Paradigm Shift?

Two reports attempt to shed light on what must surely be the Question of the Year. First, as reported by blogger and prophetess Beth Kanter, an informal Idealware study finds nonprofits saying that Facebook is helping drive event attendance and more readers to the website, but fundraising and volunteers? Not so much.  Then to the Battle of the Titans: Does Twitter or Facebookattract more readers to your website?  Two studies give surprising answers – not only the raw numbers, but the monetary impact of the numbers. Sorry, I’m not spoiling the surprise ending for you – see for yourself.    

If you’re replacing your printed annual report with an online version, there’s one huge obstacle: how to make it readable not only on desktop computers, but on smartphones and iPads. One promising answer is Treesaver, an open source web platform for publishing that does the reformatting automatically. On the other hand, the printed report has not outlived its usefulness, asserts writer Kimberlee Roth. When done well, the annual report delivers “authenticity, effective storytelling and a connection to your organizational strategies – in a welcoming tone that conveys both passion and competence.”  

Blogger Jocelyn Harmon of Care2 offers a critique of a new nonprofit webpage and uses it to offer seven valuable best practice rules. Among them: e-mail signup on every page, and “words and images that make your mission concrete.”

What a great site for email marketers! “Which Test Won” offers a comparison of two email test offers from the same organization each week. You vote for the one you think was most effective, and then you learn the actual results. There’s also a library of past comparisons. Thanks to Jeff Brooks at Future Fundraising Now for the tip.

Yes, it’s true that Facebook used to be for college students and recent grads. As recently as 15 months ago, more than half of Facebook users were under age 25. But the numbers tell a different story now: users age 26 and older now account for 61% of the 88 million U.S. users. Blogcatalog has more stats on Facebook and blogging demographics. Want still more stats? The Pew Research Center has great slides showing how six different generations, from G.I. to Generation Y, are using the Internet.

According to reliable research, online fundraising does not work well. Tell that to GiveMN, whose “Give to the Max Day” last month drew donations from 45,000 Minnesotans to the tune of $14 million.

Smashing Magazine features a handful of best practices for designing websites, along with links to 20 nonprofit sites that are excellent models to emulate.

The background story on the American Red Cross’s “Do More Than Cross Your Fingers” campaign is a great illustration of how campaigns ought to be created: with careful attention to target audience, to message, and to delivery methods. Plus, they even have a great interactive feature that customizes the campaign for each family. Here’s another example: an online fundraising campaign by the Salvation Army that succeeded in winning new donors – without standing in the cold.

I can’t easily explain what a widget is or how you can use widgets in your online fundraising, but fortunately, Eric Schrader can. And it’s worth knowing.

Would it be better to give up your printed annual report and post it online instead? Or if you do print the report, how hard should you work to make the online version dazzling? Two experts in online media make a case for keeping the online version simple – because it can’t compete with the effectiveness of holding the print report. you put into the online version?

Google has a tool called Optimizer that lets you try different variations of your webpage and measure which is most effective. A post at Frogloop blog explains the tool and also suggests ways to avoid the pitfalls of overtesting.

Raising Money Online was the theme of a recent issue of the Nonprofit Blog Carnival. It’s a one-click source for seven consultants’ suggestions, and lots of other goodies to boot.

WEB: Why Do You Make It So Hard To Give? Photo Credit: Greg Mullis Jakob Nielsen is the grand guru of website usability, a position he earned by virtue of doing credible research on what web users actually do online. His recent study of 23 nonprofit websites is an indictment of nonprofits for often failing to provide users the information they need to make giving decisions. The most critical information, his research shows, are clear statements of the mission and of how donations are used. Last week another study, from ForeSee Results, surveyed user satisfaction with nonprofit websites, and those results also were not cause for celebration. Average nonprofit score: 73 out of 100, not quite as good as the average e-government site.The report notes that one in five visitors comes to a nonprofit website to make a donation. Do your organization a favor: make it easier for them.

WEB: Why Do You Make It So Hard To Give? Photo Credit: Greg Mullis Jakob Nielsen is the grand guru of website usability, a position he earned by virtue of doing credible research on what web users actually do online. His recent study of 23 nonprofit websites is an indictment of nonprofits for often failing to provide users the information they need to make giving decisions. The most critical information, his research shows, are clear statements of the mission and of how donations are used. Last week another study, from ForeSee Results, surveyed user satisfaction with nonprofit websites, and those results also were not cause for celebration. Average nonprofit score: 73 out of 100, not quite as good as the average e-government site.The report notes that one in five visitors comes to a nonprofit website to make a donation. Do your organization a favor: make it easier for them.

WEB: Why Do You Make It So Hard To Give? Photo Credit: Greg Mullis Jakob Nielsen is the grand guru of website usability, a position he earned by virtue of doing credible research on what web users actually do online. His recent study of 23 nonprofit websites is an indictment of nonprofits for often failing to provide users the information they need to make giving decisions. The most critical information, his research shows, are clear statements of the mission and of how donations are used. Last week another study, from ForeSee Results, surveyed user satisfaction with nonprofit websites, and those results also were not cause for celebration. Average nonprofit score: 73 out of 100, not quite as good as the average e-government site.The report notes that one in five visitors comes to a nonprofit website to make a donation. Do your organization a favor: make it easier for them.

Target Anaytics, a unit of Blackbaud, released a study on Internet giving on March 18. The New York Times account focused on one finding – that online donors are less likely to give again online. But the findings were far more interesting than that, and painted quite a different picture. To sum it up: Online giving still represents a small portion of donors and revenue for most organizations, but it is growing rapidly and becoming significant as a source of new donors. Online donors are younger and wealthier than traditional direct mail donors, and they give larger gifts. Meanwhile, direct mail response rates continue to spiral downward. Combined with the aging of the list, this is not looking like a strong bet for the future. The really smart approach integrates online, direct mail, and other fundraising approaches into a seamless whole. You can read the full report or excellent summaries

Target Anaytics, a unit of Blackbaud, released a study on Internet giving on March 18. The New York Times account focused on one finding – that online donors are less likely to give again online. But the findings were far more interesting than that, and painted quite a different picture. To sum it up: Online giving still represents a small portion of donors and revenue for most organizations, but it is growing rapidly and becoming significant as a source of new donors. Online donors are younger and wealthier than traditional direct mail donors, and they give larger gifts. Meanwhile, direct mail response rates continue to spiral downward. Combined with the aging of the list, this is not looking like a strong bet for the future. The really smart approach integrates online, direct mail, and other fundraising approaches into a seamless whole. You can read the full report or excellent summaries

The most trusted name in management consulting, McKinsey & Co., has given its imprimatur to social media as the new frontier for American business. An article in the McKinsey Quarterly looks at 50 corporate early adopters and distills a half dozen success factors. Expect to see Web 2.0 become standard operating procedure much like a McKinsey contribution of the ’80s called “excellence.”