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L U M I N AT E ® C O M M U N I T Y M O N T H LY W E B I N A R S E R I E S

J A N U A RY 2 0 1 4 Foundational Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Email Strategies

1/30/2014 Blackbaud Confidential 2

YOUR PRESENTER

Jori Taylor

Strategy Consultant


• The Big Picture for Email Strategy

• Recruitment Strategy

• Coaching Strategy

• TeamRaiser Tools for Email Strategy

• Q&A

TODAY'S’ AGENDA


1. Growth in registration

2. Growth in fundraising

3. Growth in retention

WHAT MAKES AN EVENT SUCCESSFUL?


PERFECT WORLD VS. REALITY

In a perfect world… In reality…

Recruitment efforts begin 4-6 months from the

event

Recruitment efforts begin 2 months or less from

the event

Plenty of time to plan communications, push

early recruitment and then really shift to

coaching fundraising two months from the

event*

You must fully focus on recruitment and

coaching fundraising at the same time

Focus both recruitment and fundraising efforts

on the top 20% that raise 80% of the money

(Team Captains & Top Fundraisers)

Focus both recruitment and fundraising efforts

on the top 20% that raise 80% of the money


*Please note: You should plan to continue recruitment efforts up until the day of the event and continue fundraising efforts

for a defined time post event. Ideally, fundraising should not stop at the event.


EMAIL STRATEGY - THE BIG PICTURE

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RECRUITMENT: Past Participants

RECRUITMENT: New Acquisition

COACHING: Registered Participants

Milestones

Autoresponders

Suggested Messages

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5 CHANNELS FOR EMAIL COMMUNICATION

Recruitment

Coaching

Milestones

Autoresponders

Suggested Messages


RECRUITMENT EMAIL STRATEGY


SEGMENTATION FOR RECRUITMENT

Past Team Captains

Past Individual Top Fundraisers

Past Participants

New Acquisition


FLOW FOR RECRUITMENT EMAILS

Email #1

8 weeks from event

Email #2

6 weeks from event

Email #3

4 weeks from event

Email #4

2 weeks from event Email #5

week of event

Email #1

8 weeks from event

Email #2

6 weeks from event

Email #3

4 weeks from event

Email #4


week of event

Past Participants (Segment 1)

New Acquisition (Segment 2)


PAST PARTICIPANTS

Past Team Captains


Past Participants

New Acquisition


PAST PARTICIPANT BEST PRACTICES

• In order to grow your event, you must first keep the participants you have,

even those who may not have fundraised last year

• Send recruitment emails to the past two (or three) years of participants

• Send recruitment emails regularly (bi-weekly is a good frequency)

• The single call-to-action is REGISTER

• Focus on the TOP 20%



WHAT IS THE MESSAGE TO PAST PARTICIPANTS

• YOU ARE AMAZING – WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU

• Highlight last year’s event and how they helped your mission (afforded 300

breast exams)

• Thank them for past successes

• Ask them to register again and start fundraising

• Ask then to form team again and start recruiting team members

• Offer an incentive for early registration

• Deliver a special message from the CEO or ED

• Provide a mission or survivor story

• Spotlight a past participant (superstar team captain or top individual

fundraiser)

• Mention this year’s goals and that they are needed to make event

successful

• Tell them why this year is going to be that much better


POWER PLAYERS

Past Team Captains


Past Participants

New Acquisition


DEFINING YOUR TOP INDIVIDUAL FUNDRAISERS

• What is the definition of a Top Fundraiser?

• These participants are different from Team Captains

• Is it someone who raises $250 or more? $500 or more?


PAST TEAM CAPTAINS

As a previous

Team Captain, we

need you to be a

leader again and

encourage your

team members to

sign up now.


PAST TEAM CAPTAINS

We really need

your help

once again.

Form your

team today

and join us for

Walk MS 2013.


PAST TEAM CAPTAINS

As a team captain

you took up the

challenge and

gathered your team

of fundraising

superstars to

help…

Last year we came

together as a

community and

raised over…


PAST PARTICIPANTS

As a past participant,

you likely know that

10 days is plenty of

time…


PAST PARTICIPANTS

Your previous

participation at

Walk MS was

not only

inspirational,

but helped

raise…

Please join us

again…


PAST PARTICIPANTS

When you took part in

last year’s iWalk, you

helped support…

“Early Bird” special!


NEW ACQUISITION

Past Team Captains


Past Participants

New Acquisition


NEW ACQUISITION BEST PRACTICES

• Determine the targeted audience for new acquisition

• DON’T just solicit the rest of your house file (this depends on size)

• Suppress major donors? Include those in a set geographical area?


WHAT IS THE MESSAGE TO NEW PARTICIPANTS

• Introduce the event and get them excited

• Provide stories from past participants about their event experiences

• Make them feel like they’ll be missing out a little and that they should really

consider being a part of your event this year

• Highlight last year’s event and how they could help your mission this year

with their participation

• Ask them to register and start fundraising

• Ask them to consider forming a team and recruit team members

• Deliver a special message from the CEO or ED

• Provide a mission or survivor story


NEW ACQUISITION

Provide a personal

story about a walker

Join Christine by

signing up now to

walk


NEW ACQUISITION

Provide a story and

image

Please take a

moment to register

to help us, help them


COACHING EMAIL STRATEGY


WHY DIDN’T YOU FUNDRAISE?

WOW!


SEGMENTATION FOR COACHING

Team Captains

All Other Participants


FLOW FOR COACHING EMAILS

Email #1

7 weeks from event

Email #2

5 weeks from event

Email #3


1 week from event

Email #5

Week of event

Email #6

Within 24 hours

Email #7

1-2 weeks after event


• Create a plan and write all of the messages

• Build the messages using your template in Coaching Emails (in TeamRaiser)

• Send messages weekly/bi-weekly leading up to an event with clear calls-to-action, so plan

message content accordingly

• Send thank you messages within 24 hours

• Consider separate messages for Team Captains vs. Participants OR use conditional content

• Use conditional content based on actions taken (personal page status, no self donation,

raised $0, etc.)

• Fundraising does NOT stop at the event – it can continue for several weeks

TIPS FOR COACHING EMAILS


• Recruit others

• Visit your Participant Center

• Update your personal page

• Use social media

• Make a self donation

• Fundraise with Facebook

• Ask in person

• Send 10 emails

EACH MESSAGE HAS A SINGLE CALL TO ACTION


COACHING EMAIL TEMPLATE BEST PRACTICES

Includes:

• Links to Participant Center

• Links to Personal Page

• Links to Social Sharing

• Username & Password link

• Team Name & Progress [and/or]

• Personal Fundraising Progress

• Days to Event

• Mission Message


COACHING EMAIL TEMPLATE EXAMPLE

Conditional content

for Team Captains

Nice recap that will

appear in every email

Personal snapshot

Team snapshot


• The event date*

• The event type (bake sale, marathon, etc.)*

• When the participant enters the coaching stream**

• When the participant should no longer receive coaching emails

* You may have this information depending on the setup of your event

** This applies to traditional events as well

FOR DIY YOU WON’T KNOW…


• Registration Date

• Personal Goal

• Number of Donations

• Amount Raised

• Percent of Goal

• Emails Sent

• Self Donor Status

• Team Captain Status

• Team Member Status

• Personal Page Status

WHAT WE WILL KNOW


TEAMRAISER TOOLS FOR EMAIL STRATEGY

Coaching Emails

Milestones

Autoresponders

Suggested Messages



Coaching Emails

Milestones

Autoresponders

Suggested Messages

Getting Your House in Order


AUTORESPONDERS

Registration

• Thank you for Registering

• Thank you for Forming a Team

• Someone Registered You

• Someone Joined Your Team

Donations

• Thank you for your Gift

• Offline Gift Thank You

• Someone made a donation on Your Behalf

Fundraising

• Sample Solicitation to Forward

• 50% to Goal

• Reached Goal

• Milestones

• Follow Up Autoresponders

Admin

• Full Registration Refund

• Partial Registration Refund

• Event Manager Assignment


AUTORESPONDER BEST PRACTICES

Drive action

Recognize and Acknowledge

Automate a large percentage of your

email strategy (especially for DIY)

Optimize the Follow Ups based on

event type (great for DIY)


FOLLOW UP AUTORESPONDERS

3 Suggested Follow Ups

1. Forward to a Friend

2. Intro to Participant Center

3. How to become a “Champion”

Pros

• Everyone gets them

• They go out no matter what (no opt-out)

Cons

• Timing is “iffy”

• No performance reporting


OPTIMIZING FOLLOW UPS FOR DIY

• Four opportunities to coach fundraisers based on registration date

• Sample Schedule & Messaging:

1. Three Days: Focus on Personal Webpage

2. Seven Days: Focus on Sending Email

3. Ten Days: Focus on Social Media

4. Fourteen Days: Follow Up Reminder


MILESTONES

Fundraising Milestone

• Fundraiser reaches defined dollar amount

Email Message

• Email sent to fundraiser acknowledging milestone

Fundraising

Badge

• Badge appears on the fundraiser’s Personal Page and in searches, etc.


MILESTONE EXAMPLES

Participants receive a badge and autoresponder at:

$100 (T-shirt Level)

$500 (Champions Club)

Don’t just congratulate

them, coach them to

the next level!


MILESTONE BEST PRACTICES

Celebrate, Share & Inspire with

messaging

Create milestones messages without

badges at mid-level intervals

Add user behavior and team

milestone badges


SUGGESTED MESSAGES

Recruit

Solicit Thank


SUGGESTED MESSAGE BEST PRACTICES

Keep the messages simple

Do not include [insert here] or

blanks for the fundraiser to fill in

Use S tags to bring in

personalizations

Provide templates for multiple

audiences and timeframes



Coaching Emails

Milestones

Autoresponders

Suggested Messages

Use for ALL messages


USE COACHING EMAILS FOR ALL MESSAGES

#1-7


COACHING EMAILS HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED


COACHING EMAIL AUDIENCES


Q & A

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