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MYCHARITYCONNECTS ON THE ROAD

Generously supported by

Today’s Presenter

Zenia Wadhwani

Director, Program Development

CanadaHelps.org

What is CanadaHelps?

A public charitable foundation that provides accessible and affordable online technology to both donors and charities.

For Charities

A cost-effective means of raising funds online.

For Donors

A one-stop-shop for giving.

CanadaHelps is a charity helping charities.

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DID YOU KNOW?

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Philanthropy 2.0

What We’ll Cover

• What is “Social Media”?

• Web 1.0 & Web 2.0

• Web 2.0 Tools

o YouTube

o Flickr

o Blogs / Micro-Blogs (aka Twitter)

o Social Networking

o Giving Pages

• Case Study: Apathy is Boring

• Principles of Social Media

• Debunking Web 2.0 Myths

• Keep in Mind

So-cial Me-d-ia [soh-shuhl mee-dee-uh]

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.

Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many).

It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.

Stolen from Wikipedia

Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

Web 1.0

• The ability to disseminate information electronically: to display and promote an organization, person, or idea on the internet

• Web 1.0 facilitates one-way transactions

• Fundamentally important for every website

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Web 1.0 Fundamentals

• Solid and intuitive website design

• Website usability

• Short and simple messaging

• Compelling stories and e-newsletters

• Fresh and up-to-date information

Web 2.0

• Richer user experience

• interaction, engagement, conversation, collaboration, connections

• Encourages & allows for two-way communication

• users now being talked WITH instead of AT

• User-generated content

The Connections & Impact

CHARITY

DONOR

DONOR NETWORK

Initiates a campaignMore donors align to cause; more funds raised

Communicates in multiple ways

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The Difference Between Web 1.0 & Web 2.0

Web 1.0 was about publishing and transactions.

Web 2.0 is about networks and community.

Many

Few Many

Many

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Some Web 2.0 Tools

YouTube

• Video hosting website

• Media channel

• Social networking site

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www.youtube.com/canadahelps

YouTube Tips

• You don’t have to be Martin Scorsese

• Check out www.animoto.com to create compelling video quickly and easily!

• Keep it short and sweet

• Share your video: embed into your website/blog, email the unique URL to supporters and friends

• Connect with your viewers. Ask for feedback!

Flickr

• Image hosting website

• Photo-related tools

• Online community platform

Flickr Tips

• Encourage people to take photos

• Tag and title strategically

• Interact with users

• Make use of the tools on Flickr

• Create a group for your specific event or contest

Blogs

• Online journals

• An alternative newsletter

Micro-Blogging, aka Twitter

• Mini journals

• No more than 140 characters

• Status updates

Blogging Tips

• The best blogs create a sense of community and commitment to a cause

• Use your blog to tell your charity’s story

• Make it personal

• Reply to comments you receive – listen and learn!

Social Networking

• The practice of expanding one’s network by making connections through individuals.

• Allows members to interact, discuss, share quickly & easily

34%Percentage of offline donors

who would urge others to support the same cause:

59%Percentage of online donors

who would urge others to support the same cause:

$3,000 in 2008

Daily giving throughCauses on Facebook:

$30,000 in 2009

Social Networking Tips

• Start with one tool at a time

• Be find-able!

• Remember it’s a conversation –listening is just as important as talking

• Engage, encourage, empower

• Present opportunities to take action

GivingPages

• Micro-giving sites

• Allows individuals to raise funds for their charity or charities of choice

• Allows charities to create a unique space to highlight specific fundraising campaigns (i.e. pledge events)

• Anyone can create and manage one

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GivingPages Tips

• Give your donors specific ideas, i.e. wedding registry, birthdays, host/hostess gifts, in memoriam

• Highlight a specific project or campaign your charity is running; and talk about IMPACT

• Run a fundraising contest through GivingPages

• Share the unique URL with your network of supporters in all your communications, e.g., email signature

Case Study:

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Principles of Social Media

Be Real

• Leave room for personality

• Most online communities expect a less formal tone

It’s a Conversation

• Balance self-promotion with listening

• Social media is about personal connections

• Engage with your fans, followers and supporters

Encourage Participation

• Encourage your supporters to take action

• Provide opportunities to engage online and off

Measure Results

• Track the effectiveness of your social media presence

•Followers

•Conversations

•Conversions (volunteers, donations, support)

• Remember it’s not all about the numbers – focus on quality vs. quantity

Tell Stories

• Personal stories make good content and build personal connections

• Thought-provoking content will get shared more often

Let Go!

• You can’t control the message on social media tools

• Provide good/clear messaging, interesting stories and engage with supporters

• Join the conversation

Set Some Boundaries

• Develop a set of social media policies for your organization

• Focus on effective use of the tools, not controlling online activities

• Set clear expectations of employees and volunteers

Integrate

• Include social media into your existing fundraising and marketing plans

• Consider your online presence (website + social media) as a communications channel

Debunking Web 2.0 Myths

“It’s expensive.”

• Basic accounts are free and really all you need!

• Free blog tools:

www.blogger.com www.wordpress.com

• “Young” is a relative term

• Almost everyone can get online!

“It’s only for young people.”

15% From the ‘Greatest Generation’Born 1901-1945

Of all giving online:

52% From Baby BoomersBorn 1946-1962

30% From Generation XBorn 1962-1980

The most significant characteristic associated with online giving is higher

education.

• It’s just a matter of time and practice.

• These tools are designed to be user-friendly!

“It’s hard to do.”

• Some tools may be a fad, but the concept behind Web 2.0 is not

• Social networking and engaging your donor base will never go out of style!

“It’s only a fad.”

• Focus on Web 1.0 first

• Walk before you run

“I need to do it because everyone else is.”

• Be prepared to give up some control

• Create solid messaging and trust it!

“I will lose all control.”

Keep in Mind…

It’s not as complicatedas it looks.

• Learning new things is always daunting at first

There are lots of people who can help you.

• Get creative when asking for help

• Treat it as a staff learning opportunity

Go at your own pace.

• Do what works for you

• You don’t have to do it all

You’re still building relationship and communities.

• Still building relationships with people

• Blend your offline and online communications

You don’t have to be good at the technology.

• Just be good at telling your charity’s story

Your turn

STRETCH BREAK

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Websites 101

What We’ll Cover

• What is Web Usability and Why is it Important?

• Principles of Web Usability

• Usability Testing

• Website Critique

• Web Stats

• Resources

What is Web Usability and Why is it Important?

49%more likely to give than one who was

dissatisfied with the overall experience

A visitor who is satisfied with their experience with a

nonprofit website is

Web Usability

• Web usability refers to ease of use and visual design of your website

• The focus is on your users

Why is it Important?

• Good websites…

• Are liked

• Won’t drive people away

• Won’t be distracting

• Convey more information

• Will be more compelling

• Makes contributing easier

• Will be visited again

Return on Investment for Nonprofits

• More engagement from users

• Increase credibility

• Get more media coverage

• Gain more support for your cause

• Increase donations

Principles of Web Usability

Present Your Information in a Clear and Concise Way

• Appearance

• Functionality

• Content

Make Text Easy to Read

• Use a standard font and proper size

• Use proper contrast

• Use proper caps

• Best readability is dark on light (like black on white)

•Can you read

this?

•How about this one?

•cAn yOu rEalLy rEaD tHiS??

•This is more like it.

Whitespace

• Empty space

• Too many things may look intimidating

Follow Website Conventions

• There are patterns that have become conventions•N

avig

atio

n

•Navigation

•Content Body

•Banner

•Contact & Misc Information

Follow Website Conventions

•Navig

atio

n

•Navigation

•Content Body

•Banner

•Contact and Misc. Information

Speed

• Make your pages load quickly

• Limit use of large pictures

• Interactive media can slow connection

Content

• Web writing is concise

• Keep paragraphs short and use bullet points

• Bold important points, but sparingly

• Give the correct choices to the users (make section names self-explanatory)

• Avoid too much scrolling

Make navigating easy for users

Self-Explanatory Choices

• Don’t use ambiguous headings

• Give your visitors clear choices

•Menu•Food Menu•Cuisine Options•Culinary Delights

•Jobs•Job Openings•Employment Opportunities•Career Services

•About Us•More Information About Us•Organization Information

•Volunteer•Volunteer Opportunities•Give Us Your Time

Avoid Too Much Scrolling

• Keep it narrow

• Sideways scrolling is uncommon

Page Organization

• A separate page for each section

• Headlines are key

• Pictures to compliment topic

•Picture

•Nice Heading

•Here is where the content would go. It’s a nice place isn’t it? Neat and organized content is easy to read. Cool!

Breadcrumb Navigation

• Give visitors a clue of where they are

• Makes it easier to backtrack

• Make it easy to go back to the home page

• Make mistakes easy to recover from

Remove Ambiguity Regarding the Consequences of an Action

The Back Button

• “Back” is one of the most used browser functions

• Make sure that it doesn’t break your website when it’s used

Visual Consistency

• First glance is most memorable

• Keep visuals consistent

• Reinforce their sense of security

• Have a clear description of what you do

• Show your Donate Now button prominently

• Complete contact information

Put the most important things in the right places

• Homepage should show your most important parts

• Put your Donate Now button “above the fold”

• Make it easy for your supporters to give!

Show What You Do Clearly

• Easy to see and understand

• Make it easy to remember!

Where’s your button?

1 in 5visitors to a nonprofit website go specifically

to make a donation

Put your Donate Now button everywhere.

Always be asking.

Show How People Can Get Involved

• Donate to your cause

• Volunteer their time or skills

• Share your story with their network

• Make your calls to action very prominent

Salvation army example

Make it Easy to Contact You

• Not necessary to be on the homepage

• But have it easy to find

•Navig

atio

n

•Navigation

•Content Body

•Banner

•Contact Information

Usability Testing

Testing Questions

1. Is it obvious what this site is about?

2. Is it easy to find what I need?

3. Are the most important things visible when I arrive?

DIY Usability TestingStep 1: Find Testers

• Find 3-5 people who have some time (30 minutes, tops) to have a look at your website

• Testers should not already be familiar with your site (no staff, Board or regular volunteers)

• Testers should be representative of your usual website users

DIY Usability Testing Step 2:Using your site

• Ask testers to comment as they navigate your site (to give you insight about their choices)

• Ask testers to accomplish your main calls of action

Sign up for your newsletter

Click your Donate Now! Button

Find and apply for volunteer opportunities

Other ways they can get involved (buy tickets, buy products, join a group etc…)

Find general information about your organization’s mission and mandate

Contact your organization

DIY Usability Testing Step 3:Observe

• Take note of:

• How long each step takes to complete

• Tester confusion at any point

• Frustration

• Ease of use

• Work with your web team to have the main issues and frustrations address

• … repeat your usability testing whenever you make major changes to your site

Survey Your Users

• Make a checklist that rates your website

• Free online surveys (www.surveymonkey.com)

• Put a link on your site

• Put it in your newsletter

• Try to get everyone to do it

Check Out Other Charity Websites

• See what they are doing right (or wrong)

• May give some insight and inspiration

Website Critique

Original CIELAP Website

Modified CIELAP Website

•Now clickable

•More prominent with shorter names

•Donate Now! Button

•Trimmed content

•Added a picture

•Picture and shortened summary

Original True North Website

Modified True North Website•Donate Now! button

•Moved what the organization is about and spaced them out for easier reading

•Resized Image to align with the homepage and also to load more quickly

•Fixed Section

Web Stats

Why Are Web Stats Important?

1. Understand your users

2. Know what people do on your site

3. Provides tangible feedback about your site

4. Leaves the guessing out of what works

Looking At Web Stats

• Web stats can be confusing

• Knowing where and what to look for helps

• Here’s what you can take a look at now

Visitors

• Gain insights about the visitors of your website

1. Unique visitors

2. First time vs. repeat visitors

3. Visitor loyalty

4. Length of visit

5. Browsers

6. Geographic profile & language

Content

• Top content

• Top landing pages

• Top exit pages

Traffic Sources

• Direct traffic: typed your address in a browser

• Referring sites:

• Know your top referring sites

• Are your ads working?

• Search Engines

• Keywords

Google Analytics

• Free service

• Comprehensive feature set

• Go to http://www.google.com/analytics/

Resources

Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug

• Best seller

• Easy to read

• Great content

• Lots of examples

• Great section on Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing and Resources

Other Books

Prioritizing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen and Hoa Loranger

The (Usable) Web Style Guide by Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton

Online resources

• Usability.gov – A great resource for building usable websites

• www.useit.com - Jakob Nielsen’s site on web usability

• www.usabilityinstitute.com – A great free resource by Jack Belis(Free website survival checklist here)

• Eyetrack III – A great website on eyetracking (Summary of findings by the Direct Creative Blog here).

What makes a great website is focus and clarity of purpose. A great website is unpretentious.

It doesn’t pretend to be what it is not. It never wastes your time because it always gets to the

point. A great website helps you to act.

~Gerry McGovern

Your Turn

MyCharityConnects.org

What is MyCharityConnects?

CanadaHelps' online resource centre for charities – a website dedicated to connecting charities and nonprofits to the technologies they need to succeed.

What can I find on MyCharityConnects?

• Free online resources for charities

• Information about technology , Web 1.0, Web 2.0 & social media

• Video demonstrations

• Webinars (online seminars)

• 2009 Conference materials

UPCOMING WEBINARS

June 16

Measuring the Impact of Social Media

June 23

Peer to Peer Fundraising with CanadaHelps GivingPages

July 21

Planning for the Holidays ... It's Not Too Early!

August 18

Orientation for Charities Newly Registered with CanadaHelps

www.mycharityconnects.org

48%

Percentage of all annual online giving that happens in the

month of December:

“A nonprofit can become a highly visible source of vision,information, and shaping for donor generosity.

Donors are great people. But most of them are not experts inthe causes they support. They're looking to you to be expert,to apply their generosity for maximum impact. Or even toinvent some new better way to change the world that they'dnever dreamed of.

The best nonprofits bring vision and expertise to the table,then set donors free to help them make good thingshappen.”

Donor Power Blog – September 4, 2008

Welcome to Giving Made Simple.