Resources

Nonprofit Online Fundraising Campaign in a Box

Are you looking for a fast way to plan and execute a fundraising campaign? Firefly Partners and Network for Good joined forces to release this efficiently comprehensive guide. It features a 7-step process that will quickly lead you through the planning of a successful fundraising campaign.

Download it now! »

The Little Email Message That Could: How To Write Messages Your Supporters Will Actually Read

Jen Frazier and Maureen Wallbeoff led a lively session on best practices for email messages at the 2009 NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in San Francisco. From the Seven Deadly Sins of Email to Before and After examples, our intrepid facilitators shed light on how to get the most bang from all of those messages you send.

The big takeaways:

• It’s really important to keep literacy level in mind when you write. Unless your audience is a discreet group of highly educated folks keep the language simple.
• Take time to test your message in the most popular email programs. Funky and horrible things can happen to your formatting (even though it looks perfect in preview).
• Subject lines are hard to get right but can lead to a great open rate. Ask some of the more clever people in your organization to help you come up with something punchy that makes readers want to learn more. (Special thanks to our session attendee who shared this awesome subject line: ‘Don’t Forget the Milk’. Even we’d open that one!

Grab a PDF of the slides here »

Moving From Email Blasts to Integrated Campaigns

Jen Frazier and Maureen Wallbeoff led a live webinar for Democracy in Action salsa users on May 21st.  The discussion centered around the ideas of when you know your message needs to be a campaign vs. a one-off email, the components of an online campaign, how to plan for a campaign, and how to track the success of a campaign both while it is happening and after it has completed.  Download it now! »

We also created and are making available our Campaign Planning Worksheet to help organizations make sure they are aligning the proper resources, thinking of all the variables and giving themselves enough time to plan and execute online campaigns effectively. 

Sound Off: Online Fundraising Bootcamp

Maureen Wallbeoff (enlisted along with Laura Quinn of Idealware, Steve Backman from Database Design Associate, and consultant Andrea Berry) helped design and facilitate the first ever Idealware Bootcamp. It was one intensive, activity-packed day designed to jumpstart email fundraising efforts. Folks from nonprofits in the Boston area joined us to learn the basics of online fundraising and get hands-on help from peers and consultants in designing their own email fundraising strategy. We were able to provide customized advice that matched current trends in online giving with each organization’s tools and goals. The event was held in a great space, which was donated by Third Sector New England.

Here’s a glance at what the new recruits learned:

• How to develop the appropriate strategy for your email campaign
• Target the right audience and build your email list
• Craft the right messaging to inspire people to take action
• Write effective emails Avoid spam filters
• Choose broadcast email and online donations vendors Develop an online donation landing page
• Track your success

You can see the full day’s slides here. >>

Want some help with your email messages? Contact Firefly »

Bright Ideas

Many people just aren’t sure where to start. It can feel overwhelming all of those tools and choices! Here are four common business needs which can make or break your online functionality to help you started.

Check out our Bright Ideas »