Successful Online Engagement

What is Online Engagement?

• Online engagement is reaching out

to constituents using the Internet

• The tools most commonly used in

online communications include
email messaging, internet forms,
and websites
Why Should I Care About Online
Communications?
• Over 70 percent of Americans go online everyday

• Over the course of 2004, daily Internet use grew at a rapid rate
from 52 percent to 70 percent of all Americans logging in daily
to the Internet

• Despite age differences in percentage of people using the

Internet, the growth of Internet usage is seen across all age
groups

• Email use is the number one activity and time consumer for
the vast majority of Internet users
• Pew Internet and American Life Project, September of 2005, found that
on any given day, about 52 percent of American internet users are
sending and receiving email, up from 45 percent in June of 2004.

 (L. Rainie and J. Horrigan, Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005)
Advantages of Online Communications

• It’s a quick way to get in touch with your constituents

• It’s a way to reach constituents that use the Internet as

their primary mode of communications

• It’s another way to fundraise

• It’s a vehicle to mobilize constituents to influence state

legislators

• You get immediate feedback about which constituents

are opening emails, clicking on the links, and filling out
forms
Advantages of Online Fundraising

• Creates another way for constituents to donate to your

organization

• Designing and sending online appeals cuts out direct

mail costs of stamps and materials

• Online fundraising appeals can be used to draw

attention to mail materials that potential donors are
about to receive or have recently received

• Creates an area where people can always go to donate

Engaging Constituents to Influence Legislators

University of California Case study

• In 2004, facing the biggest budget cuts in its history, UC implemented a
statewide advocacy campaign through email

• The UC Office of the President sent a message to UC alumni with an urgent call to
action
• Legislators were impressed by the thousands of messages they received
• The campaign secured statewide meetings and hearings that contributed to a budget
agreement between the University and the State of California

• In that same year, UC also deployed an action alert allowing constituents

to express opposition to an amendment of a state bill that would have
unfairly increased energy utility bills on campuses statewide

• This campaign generated 125,000 emails to legislators

• Within three days there was a withdrawal of the amendment

• From June 2004 to June 2005, more than 160,000 emails and faxes were
sent to California legislative targets on behalf of the University
Timing is Everything

• Whether it’s a fundraising ask, a

political action alert to an upcoming
vote, or a news story affecting your
college or university, timing matters

• Email messaging allows you to quickly

communicate to your constituents on
time sensitive issues
 Internet Users Age Group

On average a larger percentage % Group That

Age Group Use Internet
of younger people use the
18-29 84%
Internet 30-49 83%
(Source: Pew Internet & American Life 50-64 71%
Project, September 2005 Tracking 65+ 30%
Survey.)

Internet Mail Internet • Donors from a large international

Donors Donors Donors aid organization surveyed their
Age Group (2003) (2003) (2005) donors in the fall of 2003 and
Under 35 26% 3% 20% found their Internet donors to be
35-49 27% 20% 23% considerably younger than their
50-64 32% 29% 37% mail donors
65-74 10% 23% 12%
• When surveyed again in the fall
75+ 4% 25% 8%
of 2005, they found similar
percentages for Internet donors
Internet Tracking Technology

• Being able to track how constituents respond

to Internet communications can improve the
effectiveness with which you engage your
constituents

• Internet tracking technology allows you to:

• Track which constituents are opening your
communications
• Track which constituents are clicking on the links
provided in an email
• Track which constituents are taking action by filling out
forms they reach via email link
Measuring Success

How do we measure online communications

success?
• By the number of people who opened emails
sent to them?
• By the number of people who clicked on the
links in an email?
• By the number of emails/faxes sent to state
legislators?
• Did the messages sent have an effect on policy?
• Did the messages build a stronger relationship with
state legislators?
• By the amount of money raised in an online
fundraising campaign? Offline campaign?
eNonprofit Benchmarks Study
• http://www.e-nonprofitbenchmarksstudy.com

• The eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, released February of 2006,

provides a snapshot of key metrics and benchmarks for nonprofit e-
mail communications, online fundraising and online advocacy. Data
was gathered from the following three sources:
• Data was primarily taken from an in-depth review of statistics from 15
nonprofit organizations -- six environmental organizations, six civil/legal
rights organizations, and three international aid organizations.
• Aggregate data was obtained from Convio, GetActive Software and Kintera
-- three major providers of online communications tools for nonprofits.
• Additional data was collected via an online survey of the broader nonprofit
community (to which 85 organizations responded). The survey included
data from nine higher education institutions.

• The study helps organizations begin to understand how to look at and

analyze their own online communications data. It provides context
and comparisons for organizations doing their own ongoing reporting.
 Tracking E-Mail Messaging

• An organized tracking system is essential in order to

analyze, evaluate, test, and improve the overall
effectiveness of your online communications program.

Click- Page
Message Type of Bounce Open Through Unsubscribe Completion Response
Title Audience Communication Rate Rate Rate Rate Rate Rate
Whole Email
Message 1 List Newsletter 2.5% 22.5% 6.3% 1.2%
Message 2 Retired Faculty Newsletter 3.1% 28.3% 9.8% 2.2%
Tiger Fan Sign- Sporting Event
Message 3 ups Invite 2.3% 30.0% 8.2% 0.5% 65.0% 2.0%
Oregon Alumni Alumni Event
Message 4 Chapter Invite 1.5% 20.4% 1.0% 1.3% 88.2% 0.7%
Whole Email Fundraising
Message 5 List Appeal 2.1% 25.3% 0.5% 0.7% 75.5% 1.2%
Key Points to Track

Open Rate Click-Through Rate Page Completion Rate

Message Message Clicked Completed

Received Opened on Link Action Page

Response Rate
Open Rate Screen Shot
Priority Statistics: Open Rate

• Open Rate
• Definition: Unique Individuals who Open the
Email / Unique Recipients
• What Affects Open Rates?
• Subject Line
• Quality of List
• Timeliness
• Relationship with Sender
Click-Through Rate Screen Shot
Priority Statistics: Click Through Rate

• Click Through Rate

• Definition: Unique Individuals Clicking Link / Unique
Recipients
• Common Types of Links
• “Read More” – Full Story Available Elsewhere
• Call to Action
– Email action
– Phone action
– Tell-a-friend action
– Event RSVP
– Fundraising
– Survey
– Share your story
• Click through rates can be highly variable
Page Completion Rate Screen Shot
Priority Statistics: Completion

• Completion Rate
• Definition: Number of people taking
action / Unique individuals visiting the
page
• What affects completion rates?
• Content & layout of the page itself
• Experience – whether people have used that
page before
• Context – whether the email message
properly prepared people for the action
Priority Statistics: Response Rate

• Response Rate
• Definition: Number of people taking
action / Individuals who received the
email message
• What Affects Return Rates
• Topic
• Urgency
• Writing
• History
• Audience
What Are Some Average Open Rates?

• eNonprofit Benchmarks Study open rates for all in-depth study partners ranged from 15%
to 45%, while the average open rate across all partners was 25%

• Aggregate vendor data reported an average open rate of 19% across all of their clients
(over 1,000 organizations)

• The self-report nonprofit survey reported an average open rate of 34%

Open Rates All Partners All Partners

September 2004 to September 2005 Average Median
Open Rate - E-Mail Messages 25% 26%
Open Rate - Advocacy E-Mails 26% 26%
Open Rate - E-News E-Mails 25% 24%
Open Rate - Fundraising E-Mails 23% 23%
Open Rate - Messages Sent to Whole List 24% 25%
Open Rate - Messages Sent to Geo-targets 26% 27%
Open Rate - Messages Sent to Interest Category 26% 28%
What Can I Expect From Click-Through
Rates?
• Expect much lower click-through rates for fundraising
emails
• Using segmentation methods improves click-through
rates
Weekday Click-Through Rate
• Day of the week impacts Monday Average 12%
Tuesday Average 12%
click-through rates Wednesday Average 12%
Thursday Average 18%
Friday Average 18%

Click-Through Rates All Partners All Partners

September 2004 to September 2005 Average Median
Click Thru Rate - E-Mail Messages 6% 5%
Click Thru Rate - Advocacy E-Mails 9% 8%
Click Thru Rate - E-News E-Mails 5% 3%
Click Thru Rate - Fundraising E-Mails 1.5% 1.1%
Click Thru Rate - Messages Sent to Whole List 6% 5%
Click Thru Rate - Messages Sent to Geo-targets 9% 7%
Click Thru Rate - Messages Sent to Interest Category 7% 6%
Typical Response Rates

• Not surprisingly, you can expect significantly lower

fundraising response rates
• Again, using segmentation can increase response rates
• Weekday did not have a Weekday Response Rate
Monday Average 11%
significant impact on response Tuesday Average 10%
rates Wednesday Average
Thursday Average
8%
11%
Friday Average 11%

Response Rates All Partners All Partners

September 2004 to September 2005 Average Median
Average Advocacy Response Rate 10% 9%
Fundraising Response Rate 0.3% 0.2%
Response Rate - Messages Sent to Whole List 7% 5%
Response Rate - Messages Sent to Geo-targets 11% 10%
Response Rate - Messages Sent to Interest Category 8% 5%
Page Completion Rates

• Fundraising page completion rates tend to be

lower than advocacy page completion rates

• Here again, we see the positive impact of

segmentation

Page Completion Rates All Partners All Partners

September 2004 to September 2005 Average Median
Average Advocacy Completion Rate 84% 87%
Fundraising Page Completion Rate 22% 24%
Conversion Rate - Messages Sent to Whole List 73% 76%
Conversion Rate - Messages Sent to Geo-targets 80% 90%
Conversion Rate - Messages Sent to Interest Category 75% 75%
Message Length/Grade Level

• How long is too long? How

short is too short?
• In the Benchmarks study,
messages under 250 words
had on average a 2.5 percent
lower response rate
• Except extremely short
messages, the high performers
varied in message length

• Does the grade level at which

messages are written matter?
• No, every organization has a
different constituency so
writing level should be based
on an organization’s
constituents
Successful Online Advocacy

• The Benchmarks study found the following to

positively impact the number of advocacy
actions taken by constituents

• Multiple advocacy emails per month

• Larger list sizes
• Longer duration of online advocacy program
• Larger online communications budget

Averge Whole List Average Advocacy Number of In-Depth

Messages (per month) Actions Study Partners
Less Than One 211,000 4
One to Two 292,000 4
Two or More 748,000 3
Online Fundraising Gift Amounts

In the Benchmarks Average Gift Size Median Gift Size

study, both the in- All Partners $97 $70
depth study partner Environmental $62 $69
group and the Rights $114 $77
aggregate vendor data International Aid $121 $142

had an average gift size

of almost 100 dollars.

Average Annual Median Annual

In the broader nonprofit Online Donation Online Donation
survey, organizations List Size Totals Totals
with larger email lists Under 10,000 $20,000 $3,000
10,000-70,000 $196,000 $74,000
raised significantly
Over 70,000 $9,106,000 $2,150,000
more• money.
 Online Fundraising Gift Amounts
Annual Online Donation Totals Per Giving Level Annual Num ber of Online Donations Per Giving Level
100%
100%
90%
90%
80%
80%
70% $5,000 and Over
$5,000 and Over 70%
60% $1,000 - $4,999
$1,000 - $4,999 60%
50% $249 - $999
$250 - $999 50%
40% $50 - $249
$50 - $249 40%
Under $50
30%
Gifts $50 30%
20%
20%
10%
10%
0%
All Groups Environmental Rights International 0%
Aid All Groups Environmental Rights International Aid

• Between 60 and 70 percent of online donation totals for environmental and

rights groups came in gifts that were under $250 dollars.
• For environmental and rights groups, donations under $250 constituted
almost 95 percent of the number of gifts they received overall.
 Benchmarks Best Practices
• Budget for Success
• For the in-depth study partners, we saw a clear relationship between the online
communications budget and two key indicators of success: the amount raised in
online donations and the total number of advocacy actions taken.

• Length Your E-Mail List to Increase Online Advocacy and

Fundraising Impact
• The study found that organizations with larger e-mail lists were better able to
achieve online fundraising success, and saw significantly greater results in terms of
online advocacy outcomes.

• Anticipate and Track List Churn

• When planning for e-mail list growth, organizations must anticipate list churn.
• With 28 percent of all e-mail subscribers becoming unreachable, on average, within
a 12-month period, it is critical to compensate for list churn and substantially grow
an e-mail list.

• Improve Retention of List Subscribers

• Organizations with a greater percentage of subscribers retained on e-mail lists for
longer than one year saw higher action participation rates and generated more
citizen letters.
• Organizations should pursue list management strategies to increase the longevity of
e-mail list subscribers by increasing retention rates and reducing churn.
Benchmarks Best Practices
• Carefully Track Marketing and Recruitment Efforts
• Successful return on investment analysis absolutely depends on an organization
establishing careful tracking mechanisms up front, before online marketing
programs are launched.

• Test Optimizing Day of the Week for Advocacy Message Launch

• Act Quickly to Respond to Timely Events

• Some of the success that international aid organizations had with online fundraising
in 2004-2005 was due to the dramatic surge in online fundraising in support of
Asian tsunami relief efforts. This was made possible, in part, by reacting quickly to
this emergency, to make information about relief efforts and donation opportunities
available via organizational Web sites and to e-mail subscribers.
• All organizations should have rapid response fundraising plans in place to move
quickly in response to urgent events and give subscribers opportunities to donate
online.
• Carefully Target and Segment E-Mail Messages
• To boost response rates, organizations should develop strategies to more carefully
target and track e-mail messages.
List Segmentation By Transactional
History

• Segmenting by transactional history allows you

to send messages to people based on their past
performance
• Donors
• First time donors
• Repeat donors
• Core donors
• Non-donors
• Activists
• First time activists
• Core activists
• Donor Activists (constituents who have both given money
and made actions)
• News Readers
List Segmentation By Interest Area

• Segmenting by constituents’ interests allows

you to tailor the content of your messages to
different audiences’ likes and dislikes
• Athletics
• Music
• Theater
• Art
• Science Research
• Alumni/Special Events
• Greek Life
Segmentation By Demographics

• Demographic information allows you to further

segment your audience based on individual,
family and lifestyle characteristics
• Age
• Gender
• Income
• Households with Children
Where Do I Get A Hold of This Interest Area
and Demographic Information?

• Alumni Database
• Donor Database
• Individual Schools and Colleges
• Online/Offline Surveys
• Census Data
• Voter File Data
Don’t Be Afraid - Just Ask

• Online Surveys
• People like talking about themselves and are usually
more than willing to take a quick survey
• Don’t ask too many questions or people will get bored
and leave the survey
• Don’t ask questions to which you already know the
answers
• Do ask questions about what types of communications
constituents would like to receive from your institution
• Do ask questions about what motivates constituents to
respond to fundraising or advocacy asks
• Do provide varied response choices on individual
questions
Online Survey Tools

• http://www.surveymonkey.com/
• http://info.zoomerang.com/
• http://www.surveylink.com/
• http://www.supersurvey.com/