Introduction
Explore this digital infrastructure checklist from the European Center for Digital Action ECDA for small donor fundraising for digital organizing programs.
ECDA help progressives make small donor fundraising a core part of digital organizing programs. They are deeply committed to small donor fundraising for these two reasons –
- People-powered – being accountable to your constituents and/or supporters, enables you to work in the most democratic and efficient way possible.
- Build real relationships – the potential for deep and long lasting engagement via a recurring donor program with the strongest supporters of your organization.
Note: This checklist has a European focus.
Steps
Step 1: Establish the Foundation
Start by setting up a solid foundation for your donation program.
1. National laws and regulations
Understand the requirements for fundraising in your context. Ask your board, talk to organizations similar to you and check out our country by country compliance playbooks to get an idea of what you can and can’t do.
2. Payment systems
This is the most important factor in any digital fundraising endeavor. Supporters need to be able to pay the way they pay for things normally. Ensure payment systems are user-friendly, smooth, and reliable for both one-time and recurring contributions. There are multitudes of options but less than a handful who are GDPR compliant. If you are operating and fundraising within the EU, ECDA recommends using Lunda for user-friendlyness, ease of setup and minimal cost.
3. Forms and landing Pages
Set up landing pages and forms that encourage recurring donations and easy one-time donations throughout the supporter journey. Tailor your pages to specific campaigns.
4. Set up post-action donation asks: For example, if you’re using a tool like Lunda, it’s easy to include a ‘pop up’ after someone signs a petition asking if they want to make a donation to the campaign.
5. Audience segmentation: Create useful audience segments for targeted fundraising outreach.
a) Active supporters (who’ve taken X actions in the last 12 months but not donated yet)
b) Active donors (who’ve made a donation in the last 12 months)
c) Inactive donors (who’ve not made donation in the last 12 months but have before)
d) New supporters (who’ve taken X actions in the last 3 months)
6. User flow review: Ensure your donor journey is seamless with:
- A thank-you page after donation
- A welcome email series for new donors
- An easy way for donors to unsubscribe or adjust their recurring donations
- A series for committed donors (upgrade, retain, special insights and access)
7. Review past data: Analyze available data on previous donations, email performance, and post-signup donation pages to set initial benchmarks and monthly goals.
8. Tracking systems: Capture key data in the donation process. Useful metrics to track over time include:
- New one-time and recurring donors per source (e.g. email, post-signup)
- Monthly totals for both donation types (one off & recurring)
- Conversion rate (the percentage of email recipients who make a donation)
- Retention and churn rates (how long recurring donors stay donors and the rate of donation cancellations)
9. Research and training: Study best practices for small-dollar fundraising, develop value propositions, and train your entire team in:
- Writing supporter-focused communications
- Recurring donor emails Vs One-off emails
- Testing methods and analytics
- Welcome journeys for donors
10. Monitor similar organizations: Subscribe to similar groups for inspiration.
Step 2: Testing and Benchmarking
Once your basic infrastructure is in place, experiment with your methods and messaging to learn what resonates with your audience.
1. Send initial fundraising emails:
- Type one: Campaign-focused emails connected to specific events (escalation in the campaign, crowdfunding for a tactic, the announcement of an election, success of campaign)
- Type two: General fundraising emails focused on core organizational messaging, for example monthly or quarterly emails on key dates (religious holidays, end of financial year, end of year, etc.)
2. Track and evaluate: Identify effective messaging and establish baselines for key metrics including conversion rates, average donation amounts, and unsubscribes.
3. Check user flow: Identify and fix any issues with the donation journey.
4. Integrate fundraising within your team: Discuss insights and refine your approach based on team feedback and results.
Step 3: Setting Goals and Optimization
As your donor base grows, you can optimize and streamline your program:
1. Set fundraising targets: Establish quarterly targets for both one-time and recurring donations.
2. Create templates and plan key dates: Develop reusable templates and identify strategic fundraising moments.
3. Test continuously: Apply your initial findings to new approaches and test regularly to improve performance.
4. Upgrade tracking tools: Adopt and customize real-time dashboards for better team visibility.
5. Reduce churn and optimize payment options: Set up an email welcome series, optimize payment methods, send automated reminders for expiring payment details.
Step 4: Scaling up and Donor care
At this stage, looking after your donors becomes your most important task
1. Increase testing and refinement: Regularly optimize messaging, retention tactics, and the technical elements of your program.
2. Build your donor support systems: Offer automated responses to common donor inquiries and personalized support programs for recurring and one-time donors.
3. Get to know your members: Develop and resource a donor program that builds the relationship between the organization and donors. Give recurring and one off donors access to the organization via events, inside information, and opportunities to help shape the organization’s programs and direction.
Explore Further
- Understanding Donor Motivations: The Key to Effective Fundraising
- What Works to Increase Charitable Donations?
- Your organisation can and should raise more money from major donors: Here’s how Oxfam did it
- Tips for Fundraising
- 6 Digital Fundraising Experiments by Get Up
- Fundraising: Start Here