New study shows nonprofits are missing out due to online fundraising mistakes

Dunham and Company have just released a deep report that looks at the online fundraising activities of 151 nonprofits and the results make for excellent but troubling reading in the ‘Online Fundraising Scorecard’. While the new study of online nonprofit fundraising may not be the largest it definitely throws up a number of concerns that the sector should be aware of and if necessary react to swiftly correct.

With the rapid growth of online fundraising the study, the first of its kind, provides a wealth of data specific to the online experience. The bad news is that most organizations studied are only receiving a failing or mediocre score against the criteria for online best practices. This is a pivotal time for the industry as online growth continues to outpace overall growth in a still sluggish period for giving. Alarmingly the report shows that of the 151 organizations studied only 24 of them (16%) scored above 76 percent on the performance scorecard, a passing grade.

The report was conducted last year and looks at a cross-section of the industry including 25% of the largest nonprofits. Dunham and Company followed a typical donor path by signing up for email communication and also donating a $20 gift. The findings below are initially troubling but do provide a worthwhile checklist of what can be improved upon if any of these results reflect your nonprofit’s online tools and technology.

• 65% required three or more pages to give a gift online
• 84% did not have an online donation experience that was optimized for mobile devices
• 63% did not provide a next step for donors to take once they thanked them for their donations
• 37% of organizations did not send a single email in the first 30 days following subscribers signing up to receive them
• 79% did not personalize emails with a person’s first or last name
• 36% sent emails with multiple, conflicting calls to action

In general terms there are some glaring errors taking place throughout that list and while it is understood that online fundraising is relatively new one would expect the failure rates to consistently be lower than those reported. The donation process and communications to donors are both vital cogs in the donor experience, ones that consistently show as being of key importance to those who support a nonprofit organization. Once a donor is engaged they quite rightly expect to be kept informed about the goals of the charity they support, how funding is being used, performance results and very importantly an easy streamlined process for making donations.

We live in an era where we can purchase a laptop computer or an airline ticket with just a few clicks, the process of donating to our chosen nonprofit should be equally efficient. The technology has mushroomed in recent years to make these processes seamless, rapid and mobile-friendly and it’s a concern that nonprofits are lagging behind according to the report.

Naturally investment in the people and technology to improve these results is a challenge for the sector however the ultimate chicken and egg scenario may be playing out in real-time if nonprofits are not almost universally working to improve these experiences for donors.  What is frustrating is that many of the concerns in the list above can be corrected relatively inexpensively and certainly quickly. Email communication too remains a lynch-pin for the industry and the fact that almost two in five fail to communicate in the first month after donor registration suggests huge room for improvement.

Thankfully the report offers far more than just data, the study is huge and takes some time to really get to grips with, but best of all it is full of advice and legitimate solutions to the challenges of online fundraising. One example of the infographics included is below.

Analysis of website landing page – image by kind courtesy of http://www.dunhamandcompany.com/

Being the first time the report has been conducted means that the shift in results and attitude can’t accurately be gauged until the next report is delivered, I assume in a years time. Until that point I’d recommend sharing the report and this data to everyone you know within the nonprofit world to raise awareness. Donors must be afforded the technology and communication to make giving easy, enjoyable and informative until such time many nonprofits are missing opportunities with online fundraising.

The full Dunham and Company study with more than 50 pages of information can be viewed here, free registration is required.  

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.