making the most of your fundraising website...prominently on the top of your fundraising website. ¢...
TRANSCRIPT
MAKING THE MOST OF YOURFUNDRAISING WEBSITE
CONTENTS
3 Making Your Fundraising Website a Priority
5 First Impressions: How Do I Look?Branding & Theme
12 Content & StorytellingDefining the Problem
Story to Solution
17 Campaign & Site AdministrationDonation Tiers
Impact Metrics
Progress Bars & Timelines
Updates & Outreach
Metrics & Reporting
25 Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
28 Putting It All Together
30 Building Your Fundraising Website on CauseVox
CauseVox is a crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising platform for nonprofits and social good projects.
www.causevox.com
MAKING YOUR FUNDRAISING
WEBSITE A PRIORITY
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � MAKING YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE A PRIORITY 4
Although there are multiple opportunities to promote your nonprofit’s fundraising campaigns these days through social media, email, advertising, press, and more, the most important channel is your actual fundraising website. During a campaign, this is the first true impression a potential donor has
of your organization, the first chance to learn about who you are, the work
you do, and how they can make an impact with you.
We like to think of your fundraising site as a welcome mat, beckoning
new and old friends alike inside, offering them a chance to get to know
you better, and see what’s going on behind the scenes. Some visitors
will return again and again, spending more and more time with each
visit, and others you may not see again. But while they’re there, how can
you make them feel at home?
In this eBook, we’ll explore how you can make the most of your
fundraising website, to maximize the impact you and your community
can make together to achieve your vision and goals. We’ll discuss visual
and design elements, content, site administration, metrics, and reporting,
and fundraising options. And for those of you who already use CauseVox
for your fundraising needs, or are considering it, we’ll provide some
specifics to our platform as well. Let’s get started!
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HOW DO I LOOK? 5
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
HOW DO I LOOK?
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HOW DO I LOOK? 6
If you have purchased anything ever, you probably understand the importance of branding. If you have a favorite type of cereal or running shoe, if you find yourself
humming a commercial jingle or you can recognize a logo just by the colors,
or if you know a product’s tagline, you’ve been influenced by branding.
But it’s not just retail brands and businesses that benefit from great
branding — nonprofits do, too.
Some of the most enduring and respected charities are associated with
their logo, colors, or taglines: think American Red Cross, World Wildlife
Federation, or the Girl Scouts. These organizations have made brand
recognition a priority through the years, so that even as they have evolved
and adapted and tweaked things here and there, the visual essence remains.
You see a red cross on a white background and you know immediately that
Red Cross is present. You see a green box of cookies, and you think Girl
Scouts. You see a panda logo and know WWF is involved. But even these
major philanthropies know that it doesn’t stop there.
Your fundraising website should align with your brand in as many ways
possible. Sticking a logo and name on a page doesn’t create branding.
There’s much more to it than that. Now we’ll take you step by step
and lay out the various ways that you can make your website visually
complementary to your organizational mission and goals.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HOW DO I LOOK? 7
Branding & ThemeLogos & Taglines
¢ Your logo should be obvious and up front on your homepage and
throughout all pages of your website. It’s your calling card. Place it
prominently on the top of your fundraising website.
¢ Use high-resolution PNG files for your logo for the best quality no
matter what monitor someone is using, or what kind of device.
¢ Transparent PNG files work best versus JPGs with colored backgrounds
to get the best match against your website’s background or wallpaper.
¢ Do not use various versions of your logo throughout the fundraising
website. Be consistent, and use the primary one that represents your
brand. An organizational branding and style guide or online toolkit for
press, partners, and fundraisers can provide alternative approved logo
options for download and use.
¢ Consider how you want to use your organizational tagline if you have
one. Is it part of the logo, or is it generally used separately? Again, use appropriate approved style for your tagline, and aim to be consistent
with your primary website.
�Transparent backgrounds in logos allow you blend in your logo with your background seamlessly.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HOW DO I LOOK? 8
Colors
¢ Your fundraising website colors should match
those of your branding and style guide and
primary website. Use your branding guide or ask
your graphic designer for the specific color codes.
¢ As much as possible, coordinate color use in the design in a similar fashion to your primary website
for consistency.
¢ If you do not have a branding and style guide with
set organizational colors, we recommend choosing
web-friendly color themes and palettes from
Adobe Color or ColourLover.
¢ Follow online best practices when it comes to
using colors for header and body copy, links, and
menu items.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HOW DO I LOOK? 9
Images & Graphics
¢ Choose a background color, wallpaper, or image that aligns with
your primary website and style guide.
¢ Avoid images and graphics that detract from pertinent copy and
calls to action.
¢ Follow online best practices for creating and using web-friendly images and graphics, with high resolution and sizing.
¢ Always remember to appropriately credit photographers or designers if borrowing images (you can do this through captions, alt
tags, and meta data).
¢ Explore photo purchasing or borrowing services like Flickr’s
Creative Commons and this FreeUse group, Unsplash, Little Visuals, or
images in the public domain. (Explore some other options here.)
¢ When possible, use photos of people from your organization that
show real impact.
¢ Consistently use bold, prominently placed call to action buttons
throughout your site (i.e. Donate, Sign Up, Volunteer, Share).
�Unsplash is a website that features 10 free high-quality photos you can use for anything.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HOW DO I LOOK? 10
Design & Layout
¢ Use straightforward and simple menus and navigation items to lead visitors throughout the
site.
¢ Avoid drawn out paths to action. The less clicks the better.
¢ Make it easy for supporters and donors to find key
pieces of information: who you are, what you do,
and how they can help. Also make a direct contact
email or phone number available.
¢ Don’t overcrowd your fundraising site with
unnecessary widgets, copy, and pages. Think
about how you can use your other channels and
platforms to showcase that stuff, so you can focus
on fundraising here! �Use a clean and simple structure to drive donations and sharing.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � FIRST IMPRESSIONS: HOW DO I LOOK? 11
URL
¢ Create continuity and build trust with your
primary website and your org name by using a
similar URL and domain.
¢ Make tracking and inbound marketing easier by
using your own domain.
¢ If using CauseVox, you can choose to use
your own domain, or host through us
(i.e. yournonprofit.causevox.com).
Ultimately, there are many ways you can use branding,
design, layout, and visual elements to create a
clean and authentic fundraising site. We hope this
breakdown provides a good foundation for you, or
even a refresher if you’re looking for a chance.
Learn more about how design and branding play
important roles in fundraising on our blog.
yournonprofit.causevox.com
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CONTENT & STORYTELLING 12
CONTENT & STORYTELLING
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CONTENT & STORYTELLING 13
A well-designed and pretty fundraising website means nothing if you don’t have compelling content to get people there in the first place. And with multiple mediums to distribute that content, such
as social media, your primary website, YouTube or Vimeo
channels, email, and more, you have many options to use
storytelling and strong action language to drive traffic to your
fundraising site.
During a campaign, all of your content distribution channels
should be aligned to point to your fundraising site with the goal
to drive donations.
While some visitors may head to your site and immediately make
a donation (they’re probably long time supporters, a friend of a
current donor, or already did some research elsewhere), others
may want to take a minute to look around and get the story before
contributing their money — especially if they didn’t first engage
with content from one of your other channels.
But they don’t have all day. Visitors will want to spend maybe
a couple of minutes to get acquainted with your mission and
goals, but then they’re ready to give or ready to give out. You
don’t have much time to draw them in. Consider these steps:
Stories shared on channels direct traffic and donations
to your fundraising site
FUNDRAISING SITE
CAMPAIGNYOUTUBE
VIDEO
SOCIALMEDIAPOSTS
E-MAILLINKS
BLOG POSTS
LINKS FROM YOUR ORG WEBSITE
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CONTENT & STORYTELLING 14
Defining the ProblemOne of the most important elements in a fundraising site
is to quickly and efficiently explain the problem or the
need. There are two elements to this: the overall problem
that your organization is trying to solve — which can tie
into your mission; and then the more specific, current
need — which supports a fundraising campaign.
So for instance, your nonprofit may want to eliminate
hunger in New York City by 2020. That’s the
overarching goal, the big picture problem. But for
your summer campaign, you may decide to focus on
one borough of NYC, or a group of shelters in a single
neighborhood, or one public school. This problem
is specific, it’s current, and it’s got tangible impact
measures for a short fundraising campaign.
How does this all fit into your fundraising website,
then? We’ll start with the “big picture” problem: once
someone lands on your site, they briefly take in your
logo, tagline, and overall design, and then perhaps
they’ll want to get a few more basic details about who
you are and what they need to do to get involved. We
recommend these best practices:
¢ Start with a one-liner so first time visitors get the
gist of what you’re about.
¢ While you may have a pie-in-sky vision statement,
break down your mission and goals into tangible,
approachable language. Everyday donors do not
like jargon and what we call “sector speak.”
¢ Craft language and terms you’d use when speaking
to a middle-schooler, your neighbor, or your
mother. Avoid buzzwords and heavy stats.
¢ Make it clear how donors can contribute, and what
the impact and outcomes are.
But now it’s time to get to the solution part of the
story, and that’s where your fundraising campaign
comes in.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CONTENT & STORYTELLING 15
Story to SolutionOnce someone has gotten the gist of what the
problem is and why your organization exists, they
want to know why this matters, and why you need
their help. They want to know how they can play a
role in the solution to the problem.
Just as more retail brands are using storytelling in
their advertising and commercials to connect with
consumers emotionally, you need to do the same to
connect people to be a part of the solution.
Think of it this way: a good story has a plot that
moves forward, character development, and some
sort of premise that everything rests on – a line that
summarizes the theme and story. The story also has a
beginning, middle, and an end. When you are creating
your fundraising campaign’s story, think of the
essentials in this way:
Who are the characters? [your org, supporters, people/things being impacted]
What is the plot? [problem, situation, needs]
What is the premise of the story/campaign? [theme/theory of change]
What is the beginning (problem), middle (action), and end (solution)?
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CONTENT & STORYTELLING 16
Your fundraising website and other content channels should answer these
questions in some way. The CauseVox platform makes it easy to post blogs,
or start a new one, to embed videos, photos, and other media, and share
campaign updates.
Here are a few things we recommend to make the most of your
fundraising site’s storytelling potential:
¢ Use video to show social impact by your organization. How are
you making a difference? Read our blog post to learn how two
organizations tackled this approach.
¢ Provide real-time updates in a short fundraising campaign to show
urgency and in-the-moment impact, but then tie it back to your larger
solution.
¢ Find creative ways to use data to tell your story. Here are some tips on
data visualization for your website.
¢ Does your work and mission have a common, recognizable theme in
storytelling? Come up with a unique twist on it to stand out from the
crowd.
¢ Don’t try to tell ALL the stories in one place. Pick the most compelling elements that will drive visitors to make a donation as soon as they
have consumed your content. Remember quality over quantity.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 17
CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 18
You have a beautiful, impactful design and a great storytelling strategy. But now comes the technical stuff – how to manage your campaign fundraising site. If visitors come to your site but can’t figure out how to make a
donation, and you can’t show progress in a campaign, none of
the other stuff matters. Ultimately, the goal is to get donations
and make an impact. You want to see it, and your donors want
to know it’s happening.
A great fundraising site makes it easy for organizations to
manage their campaigns and to be transparent with donors.
Translating donations into measure of impact and giving
context through timelines and progress are essential elements
for this transparency.
Here are some of the features that the CauseVox
platform provides that we think make for a more robust
crowdfunding site administration experience.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 19
Donation TiersA popular and effective feature of fundraising is using
donation tiers to provide several options of giving for a
campaign. It takes the guesswork out for the donors, but
also gives you a chance to tie your goals more specifically
to your mission, giving the donor a better handle on what
they are supporting.
To determine the donation tiers for your campaign, take a
look at your total fundraising goal, what the funds will be
used for, and what it will take to get there. Each campaign
will be different, so your tiers may vary from one project
to the next. Here’s an example setup that could be used
by an organization advocating for youth fitness:
$10 Covers the cost of a jump rope for a child
$25 Covers the 5k race entry fee for a child
$35 Buys a new pair of running shoes for a child
$50 Pays for two swimming lessons for a child
It’s not always easy to match donation levels with specific
impact goals, but when you can, it really increases your chances
of success for a campaign. You can create donation tiers quickly
and easily through your CauseVox admin dashboard, and edit
them at any time.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 20
Impact MetricsThe Impact Metric is an automated counter set to show the impact of your nonprofit fundraising
campaign as it progresses, based on a unit of impact
that you create in your site settings.
So for instance, if you are able to say that a $25
donation provides paperback novels for three students
in a classroom, you can set that as your impact
metric, and as donations come in, the counter will
automatically calculate how many books you’ll be
able to purchase.�For every $10 donated,
this impact metric counts the number of people with clean water.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 21
Here are three examples from CauseVox customers:
¢ World Bicycle Relief is raising $500,000 to provide
bikes for people around the world.
Impact metrIc = bIkes, of course!
¢ Friends and family are raising money to cover the
cost of physical therapy for Christian, a baby born
with a rare brain disease.
Impact metrIc = therapy sessIons, at $120 apIece
¢ No Child A Slave, an initiative of Beyond Borders, is
establishing Child Protection Brigades in 25 Port-
au-Prince neighborhoods in Haiti to free children
from slavery.
Impact metrIc = fully funded neIghborhood chIld protectIon brIgade
So why use the Impact Metric? For many nonprofits,
it’s a challenge to explain all of the programming and
nuances about restricted and unrestricted funding.
It’s even harder to tell a great story when all you’ve
got to work with is a big dollar figure. But when you
are able to equate those dollars with actual items
to be funded, or ideas put into action, your message
becomes stronger and your donors feel more
connected with your cause.
The Impact Metric can also help lend a sense of
urgency to your campaign as you close in on the
deadline. So if you have five hours left and you
still need 10 more Thanksgiving dinners to ensure
everyone at the homeless shelter receives a hot
meal, use that metric to drive your final appeal.
And of course, once your fundraising campaign is
complete, you have no better measure of success
than your Impact Metric.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 22
Progress Bars & TimelinesNo matter how long your fundraising campaign is,
you’ll want to show your status, and keep people
abreast of the timeline. While a basic progress bar
shows how close you are to reaching a fundraising
goal, we like to give our users the option to show all
stages of progress: percent of funds raised for the
campaign, how that affects the impact metric, and
how many days are left in the campaign. Putting all
of those data points in context with each other give
supporters a much better picture of what needs to be
done to help your nonprofit to see success.
$7,000OF $10,000
70%
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 23
Updates & OutreachA well-run campaign means updating your
community regularly. So in addition to the progress
bar, we recommend posting updates about the
campaign through the blogging tool. You also can
consider sending targeted emails to donors thanking
them and to provide additional opportunities to
take action and stay engaged with your nonprofit,
during and beyond the campaign. Don’t forget to
report out after a campaign has ended, too – whether
or not you reached your goal, your community
deserves to hear about the outcome, as soon as
possible after the deadline.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � CAMPAIGN & SITE ADMINISTRATION 24
Metrics & ReportingMore than ever, nonprofits are realizing the importance
of good data – and donors are, too. That’s why a key
attribute to an effective fundraising website includes
metrics and reporting features, for both the organization, and
individual or team fundraisers. CauseVox likes these features:
¢ Custom donation receipts
¢ Donation reports, custom and built-in
¢ Real-time updates in graphs and charts on your dashboard
¢ Email notifications and updates
¢ Donor wall
¢ Peer-to-peer fundraiser management and tracking
¢ Donor data management
¢ Offline donation management
¢ Mobile donation optimization
Learn more about donation processing and management
features on our website.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING 25
PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING 26
Of course, one of the most fun and effective features of nonprofit crowdfunding is individual and team fundraising, also known as peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising. CauseVox is a big supporter of this strategy, because
we believe that P2P fundraising is one of the most
compelling approaches to achieve your goals –
both for awareness and financially. In 2013, people
raised $5.1B through crowdfunding around the world.
And within the nonprofit world, peer-to-peer
fundraising grew by 60% from the year before.
More than ever, people give because someone else
asked them to – a friend, family member, neighbor,
classmate, etc. So while a strong brand and a
compelling organizational story are hugely important,
so is making all of that accessible and transferable to
everyday people who want to make a difference in
their own special way.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING 27
To that end, P2P fundraising features are a priority for the CauseVox team,
and we spend a significant amount of time making sure that we are creating
opportunities for your nonprofit to maximize your P2P strategy. Here are just
some of the options available on our own platform:
¢ Individual and team pages, management, and reporting
¢ Personal and team fundraiser blogs
¢ Pre-populated fundraiser appeals, ready for your edits and customization
¢ Easy and guided fundraising page creation
¢ Social media integration
¢ Custom fields and features
We strongly recommend crafting a coaching strategy for your P2P fundraisers
to help them see success with you, for a short-term campaign, and in the
long run. From sending individual or team emails, to posting tips to the
dashboard, and providing toolkits and other resources, there are numerous
ways you can guide your fundraisers to make an impact on a personal
and local level that feeds into your regional, national, or global efforts.
Learn more about personal fundraising in our eBook,
The Ultimate Guide to Peer-to-Peer Fundraising.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 28
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 29
There are so many things to consider when creating a fundraising website. You could go down a rabbit hole of reporting and colors and blog updates and more. But don’t let the options intimidate you. It’s important to stay true to your
mission and message, and ultimately, ensure that your supporters can make
donations…because that’s the goal, isn’t it?
As your organization evolves and you plan out each campaign, take the time
to figure out how your fundraising site should reflect change and new goals.
The combination of great aesthetics, compelling storytelling, and a user-
friendly interface and administration will help you to make the most of your
fundraising website, and your donors to make a difference in the world.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � BUILDING YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE ON CAUSEVOx 30
BUILDING YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE
ON CAUSEVOx
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � BUILDING YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE ON CAUSEVOx 31
We know you’re itching to start your campaign, and we’re ready to help you make it happen! If you haven’t already, we hope you will sign up for CauseVox today to support your crowdfunding needs. As a CauseVox user, here’s just a few of the features you’ll have access to:
¢ Fully customizable fundraising site to integrate with your branding and design
¢ Comprehensive fundraising tools to help you manage your campaign
(metrics, emails, social media, content, donation progress, and more)
¢ Easy and clean user interface and admin dashboard to manage donors,
create content, adjust your campaign, and get real-time updates
¢ Personal and team fundraising pages for more resources, more reach, and more results
¢ Straightforward donation processing with offline gift integration, donor
data, and compatibility with the major transaction processors
¢ Free guides, toolkits, case studies and resources, in addition to our
frequently updated blog to help you be as successful as possible
There’s a lot more where that came from, and the CauseVox team is your number one
resource. Don’t hesitate to reach out for more information on any of the topics covered in this
guide, and feel free to browse our website for related content if you want to dig a little deeper.
Ready to get started? Sign up on CauseVox today.
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE � BUILDING YOUR FUNDRAISING WEBSITE ON CAUSEVOx 32
www.causevox.com