MYCHARITYCONNECTS ON THE ROADBrought to you by

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 way to raise funds online.

For Donors

A one-stop-shop for giving.

CanadaHelps is a charity helping charities.

Total giving through CanadaHelps, to date:

60%average annual growth of online giving in $ through CanadaHelps since 2004

$130,000,000 and counting

Philanthropy 2.0

What We’ll Cover

• Web 1.0 & Web 2.0

• Web 2.0 Tools

o Facebook

o Twitter

o Blogs

o YouTube

o Flickr

o Giving Pages

• Case Study: Apathy is Boring

• Debunking Web 2.0 Myths

• Keep in Mind

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

• To be good at Web 1.0, your website has to have good design and content

• Web 1.0 facilitates one-way transactions

• Examples:

• traditional websites, Donate Now buttons, email newsletters, banner ads, etc.

Web 1.0 Tips

• 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

Social Networking

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

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

• Powerful force for advocacy and fundraising

• Concept of networking is nothing new – it’s just now done online!

You

1

2

3

4

5

6

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

The Value of Social Media/Web 2.0

Listen & learn

Share your story

Build trust

Find supporters, raise funds, change the world!

Fundraising 1.0

EventsDirect Response/

Annual

Major &

Planned Gifts

Services &

Members

Online

Fundraising & Revenue Programs

Telephone

Mail

In-Person

•Prospects

E-mail?

Fundraising 2.0

EventsDirect Response/

Annual

Major &

Planned Gifts

Services &

Members

Fundraising & Revenue Programs

Telephone

Mail

In-Person

Prospects

Online (website, social media)

Some Web 2.0 Tools

• A free, online social networking website

• Connect with people through online communities

• Facebook Page is your organization’s home base on Facebook

• Large network of users (over 400 million)

– 12.6 million users in Canada!

• Designed to connect people

• Facebook is free & easy to use

• A new online presence for your organization

• New tools are always being added

Features of Facebook

• Information is shared

• Limited control over other users’ opinions

• Maintenance required

Cautions

Use Facebook To…

• Connect with your supporters

• Share your stories

• Build your brand

• FundraiseConnect

Share

Brand

Fundraise

Facebook Tips

• Update your Page!

• Encourage activity

– Ask questions, encourage fans to share content, give fans opportunities to interact with each other

• Brand your Page

• Add a variety of content

• Promote your Page

• Keep your tone casual, “real”

Twitter

• Free micro-blogging tool that lets you share short (up to 140 characters) updates with people

• Similar to instant messaging, but opens up conversations to a wider audience

Twitter = Instant Messaging + Blogging

•Source: www.johnhaydon.com

Features of Twitter

• It’s built for speed

• It’s simple to use

• It’s public

• It’s highly viral

• Messages can be searched

• It has private messaging capability

Use Twitter To…

• Make connections

• Gather support

• Educate followers

• Add personality to your organization

• Ask/answer questions

• Communicate quickly

• Show appreciation

Twitter Tips

• Balance promotion & conversation

• Follow people

• Be real

• Use Twitter to monitor conversations

• Be generous: reply & retweet

• Use a Twitter tool like HootSuiteor TweetDeck to manage tweets

Blogs

• Online journals

• Keeps your message fresh and your content personal

• Supports feedback and interaction

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!

Flickr

• Image hosting website and online community platform

• Place to manage your charity’s photos

• Give your cause visual appeal

• Keeps your content fresh

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

YouTube

• Provides a platform for content and community

• Media outlet + social networking site

• Nonprofit program now available in Canada

• YouTube stats:

• User base spans all geographies with age range from 18 to 55 years

• 51% of users visit weekly

• Over 300 million users worldwide

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!

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

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

• Share the unique URL

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

Case Study:

Debunking Web 2.0 Myths

“It’s time consuming.”

• The initial time investment will pay off

• Social media tools make communicating quick and easy

• “Young” is a relative term

• Almost everyone can get online!

“It’s only for young people.”

• 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

Websites 101

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

What We’ll Cover

• What is Web Usability and Why is it Important?

• Principles of Web Usability

• Usability Testing

• Website Critique

• Web Stats

What is Web Usability and Why is it Important?

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

• Make contributing easier

• Will be visited again

1 in 5visitors to a nonprofit website go specifically

to make a donation

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

Return on Investment for Nonprofits

• More engagement from users

• Increase credibility & trust in your organization

• 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 conventionsN

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!

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

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

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 to have a look at your website

• Testers should not already be familiar with your site or your organization

• 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, financials

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/

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

Your turn

www.MyCharityConnects.org

• Free resources

• Demos

• Webinars

• Conference!

• Workshops

• Two days packed with great information about all that the online world has to offer charities and non-profits

• Learn all about using the internet to fulfill your mission

• Get familiar with the stuff you don’t know, moving on the stuff you do, and correctly evaluate the stuff you’ve done

• Part of Net Change Week, and in collaboration with SiG@MaRS

CONFERENCE 2.010

JUNE 7 – 8 | MaRS CENTRE, TORONTO

Register Today!

• May 5: Monthly Giving: A Tool for Sustainable Fundraising

• May 19: When Communities Come Together to Give: What Haiti Taught Us About Online Fundraising

• June 16: Measuring the Impact of Social Media

Free Webinar Series

Follow us on Twitter: @canadahelps

kirstin@canadahelps.org

The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation

&

Credits & Sources• CanadaHelps

• Network for Good, October 2009

• Blackbaud Index of National Fundraising Performance, April 2009

• ForeSee Results - Nonprofit Website Survey, Spring 2009

• Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 2009

• DonorTrends, 2005

• "The State of Online Fundraising", Blackbaud, September 2009