1. Keep the house clean in case guests drop by.

• Make sure your online giving, email address collection, and other online engagement tools work smoothly and are relevant to the visitor. Make a test gift once a week or so. Revise that automatic acknowledgement.
• Guard the door. Make sure your transaction pages are clearly labeled as secure, front and center.
• Put out the best china. Make sure your web content is important, interesting, exciting, and reflects the news.
• Get them to come again. Are there good reasons for visitors to leave e-mail address? (Not “okay” reasons. GOOD reasons).
• Make sure they get involved: Provide relevant, topical giving opportunities.
• Be a good conversationalist (aka, be prepared for feedback).

2. Get past the first date. That is, think campaigns vs. appeals.

• A one-time only e-mail appeal is just a date. Sometimes the chemistry is there. Sometimes it’s not. Maybe you click. Or maybe your date had a busy day and you couldn’t make it work. It’s over as quickly as it began.
• A campaign, well, a campaign is coffee this week, dinner next, and a movie on Saturday. Or, an e-mail this week, a mention in your e-newsletter next week, and a last chance e-mail, too.

3. Remember, you ARE the sum of your parts…so make sure your parts match! Integrating your direct mail, telemarketing, and online efforts…

• …is a service to your constituents.
• …will increase mindshare with your constituents.
• …will raise more money.

4. Hang your (hopefully) mostly clean laundry out to dry. Be transparent…there are no secrets on the web.

• What are you doing with my money?
• Is the crisis real?
• What else can I find on your site?
• What will happen when I Google you?

5. Crank up that charm. Take creative risks.

• Show your humor.
• Show your passion.
• Use gimmicks!
• There’s a lot of noise out there…you need to be LOUD to be HEARD

6. Don’t mail me a love letter when I just sent you an e-mail. The Web is NOT print.

• Less rhetoric.
• More casual and conversational.
• More personal and friendly.
• More visual.
• But…NOT sloppy.

7. It’s all about timing...

• You want to send the RIGHT e-mail at the RIGHT time to the RIGHT person (easy, RIGHT?).
• When you’re hot, you’re hot…so take advantage of it! Hop to it when you get your fifteen minutes.
• Be READY for opportunities (Systems. Procedures. Even copy and creative!).

8. We’re in this thing together. Connect with your constituents.

• Your donors are a part of your organization’s story. YOU are a part of the story, too. Put the two together. Use e-mail to really talk to your supporters.
• And…make sure they know they’re special to you and the cause.

9. Listen, really listen. And then, segment and personalize.

• Dear Supporter,
  It is so important that we help those less fortunate…etc.
   - OR -
• Dear Madeline,
  As a longtime supporter of our work with handmade ducklings, you know how important it is that we help those less fortunate…etc.

10. Mind your manners.

• Acknowledge my contribution.
• Be specific.
• Be timely.
• Follow up. What happened…next week, next month?
• What’s next?
• Listen to me!
• I will vote with my mouse.
• I will TELL you what I want…please respond!
   

This article appeared in print in Mal Warwick's newsletter. To learn more about Mal Warwick and Associates, click here.

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