The document provides a checklist for organizations to use when preparing for an online fundraising acquisition campaign. It outlines key areas to consider, including defining an acquisition strategy, ensuring internal resources and departments are aligned, assessing costs, ensuring the website and email systems are optimized for conversions, preparing social media plans, and leveraging offline channels. It emphasizes having the proper welcome email series in place to engage and convert new supporters.
3. So You Think Youre Ready to Acquire
But wait there are some things you needto do
before heading down that road
4. The Online Acquisition Readiness
Checklist
Know your strategy
Internal stuff
Costs
Website readiness
Email readiness
Social media readiness
Those other channels (offline conversion)
6. Strategy
Who are you trying to acquire?
How will you acquire them?
Are you using existing resources/collateral or
creating fresh?
Are you leveraging the best or most appropriate
campaign/hook to draw people in?
Can you define a few KPIs?
Do you have a roadmap/timeline/critical
path/plan?
7. The if you dont game
If you dont know who you want to target, youll
get different types of people with different age
ranges, income and commitment levels and itll
be much harder to use one succinct voice to
engage them.
If you dont use existing creative, will you have
to get approval for creating anything new?
If you dont have any KPIs, how will you know
what to measure and how to analyze the
acquisition campaign?
8. Internal Stuff
Human resources/staffing:
Someone is going to have to write, assemble, test
and deploy the welcome emails. Does that person
exist? Do they have the time?
Multiple departments do you play well
together in the sandbox?
Development
Comms
Online, possibly IT?
9. The Big Picture Stuff
Do you know the life-cycle of your donors
already?
Are you happy with how you communicate with
existing donors?
What are you doing with existing non-donor
supporters/leads?
What are you doing with lapsed donors?
Should you be acquiring new donors if youre not
satisfied with your responses to these questions?
10. Costs
There are broadly speaking two
types of online acquisition:
organic and paid.
With both, you get what you
pay for.
Factor in costs to deploy
emails and costs to convert
once youve acquired.
Plus, possibly:
Appends
Offline conversion tactics
11. Sources for online acquisition
Your website,
Display advertising (banner ads),
Search engine marketing (Google
etc)
Promoted Marketing, contests
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Email rental (CPM), list swaps
Email donor lead generatio
(CPL)
14. Website readiness
Before an acquisition campaign you need to
have/do:
A website youre not embarrassed about
Simple conversion funnel
A great about us
Sign up field/link everywhere
Working donation form
15. Email readiness
What do you already send?
Are you ready to ditch the standard enewsletter?
No? Then how about re-thinking it?
Dont want to mess with it? Then at least, you
have to also send compelling, stand-alone,
engaging actions (mixed in with great stories).
17. Why the welcome series?
Reminds and re-engages.
Starts the relationship.
Establishes the parameters
(we will do X, we might ask
you for Y).
Primes them for the
conversion.
More actions they take
22. Social Media Readiness
Whether you want to use
social media as your
acquisition source, or
whether its playing a
supporting role, be ready:
Brand vs. personal
handles
What are you going to
say, how often
How will you move those
people onto your email
list
24. The Online Acquisition Readiness
Checklist
Know your strategy
Internal stuff
Costs
Website readiness
Email readiness
Social media readiness
Those other channels (offline conversion)
27. Thanks!
Where to find me: About Care2:
ryannm@care2team.com http://www.care2team.co
@ryann m
My LinkedIn profile:
For info on how we help
nonprofits acquire
qualified donor leads and
supporters, for case
studies, and other fun
stuff!