Funny Equals Money

Watch my latest talk about how humor can translate into huge results.

Are You Prepared for Spring 2007?

January is generally a slow time for giving but, it's a great time to grow your list. Take a look at my latest issue of In Pursuit where I talk about a few solutions that you can be doing right to prepare for the spring. Click here to view.

Integrated Fundraising - Matt Frazier

Watch my recent talk about integrating online and offline strategies, making your campaigns multi-channel by using solutions like PURL and direct mail together.

Ole Miss eSolicitation Results!

For the Love of Ole Miss!
The results of the University of Mississippi eSolicitation campaign titled: For the love of Ole Miss are in. Who said that online fundraising was not viable? The majority of the gifts are for new donors.

Total Dollars: $62,907.34

Total Donors: 361

Avg Gift: $174.25

Haven't viewed the eSolicitation? Click here.

If you would like more information about how to generate this kind of response from your online fundraising efforts, contact me at The Pursuant Group. 972.244.0432.

To view more eSolicitation samples, click here.

The Association of Former Students eSolicitation Launches!

The Pursuant Group in partnership with The Association of Former Students has produced an eSolicitation which has already generated substantial giving!

To view this Texas A&M University eSolicitation, click here.

http://www.pursuant4.com/tamu/tamuselect/email_1.asp?tpgid=7160&sn=1

For more information about how The Pursuant Group can assist your College with Online Fundraising, click here.

The Pursuant Group Sponsors the CASE District IV Conference

We are pleased to announce that, The Pursuant Group, Inc. a Plano, Texas based online fundraising agency has agreed to sponsor the CASE District IV conference in Oklahoma City. We consider this an honor and look forward to sharing The Future of Online Fundraising with all of the attenders.

We help development professionals utilize email and the Internet to strengthen their entire fundraising program. We accomplish this by providing the strategic and creative development of online fundraising programs that generate measurable results.

For a unique view into our approach to fundraising, click here to listen to The Future of Online Fundraising by our President, Matt Frazier.

Online Fundraising Webinars

If you are interested in the latest best practices to using eSolicitations for donor development, or you want to know where online fundraising is heading in the future, I encourage you to check out our NEW webinar schedule. All webinars are free.

Also, if you are a major gift officer, I highly recommend catching the webinar on: 7 Best Practices: Using the Internet for Major Gift Development. This information could revolutionize your fundraising work with major donors!

Got 3 minutes? Listen to The Truth about Online Fundraising!
The Pursuant Group - Online Fundraising Support.

Using the Internet for Major Gift Development - AUDIO BLOG FEATURE

The online channel has the power to influence your whole fundraising program. Success in major gift development is all about matching propensity with interest. At The Pursuant Group, we are constantly developing solutions to address the challenges inherent with decentralized cultivation and solicitation of donor relationships. Our focus for years has been to capture, code and recommend uses for behavioral data.

Recently we developed a new solution for major gift development that can help you make your case to a broader audience and actually measure interest. This is a big breakthrough! Imagine knowing who is interested. It is possible by measuring their unique behavior.

To illustrate this concept, I have recorded an audio description (click here to listen) which outlines this concept and gives a practical example. I hope that through these types of innovative solutions you are spurred on to use the Internet as a powerful fundraising tool.

Until next time...

Matt Frazier
President
The Pursuant Group, Inc.

Clarkson University eSolicitation a Success!

As promised, the Clarkson e-solicitation campaign is wrapping up and the last gifts are still coming in. Here is an update on the program's success:

Total Dollars Collected: $35,935
Total Donors: 266
Average Gift: $135.09

The most impressive part of this eSolicitation was that it brought in over 140 new donors to the Clarkson annual fund in under 60 days!

Success in online fundraising should not only be measured in how many people open your message but, at what rate to they give to your institution. I encourage you to expect more from your eSolicitations. Many believe that they are receiving a greater value by producing an esolicitation "in-house". I guess that all depends on your goal. Entertainment or Development?

For those concerned with bringing new younger donors into the fold, you should be looking at the online channel. The reason: because these types of response rates with this young audience are not being realized in direct mail.

Until next time...

Using eSolicitations For Donor Acquisition

Good resources are hard to find. Usually the "so called guides" are merely marketing tools to capture your information for a sales call. In the vein of sharing good sound information to help all fundraising professionals use the Internet channel for online fundraising I have recorded: 7 Best Practices: Using eSolicitations for Donor Acquisition. The link is to the first of seven audio files. If you would like them all you can go to The Pursuant Group website and request a free CD for yourself.

If the first gift is the most expensive to raise, eSolicitations are the most cost effective means to reach new donors, especially young donors. Many of the development professionals I talk with say that they are raising more money... from less and less donors. As postage increases and response rates dwindle, where will tomorrow's donor come from?

If this is a question you want the answer to, I encourage you to visit our website to see how we are helping our clients use e-Solicitations to engage young donors.

Stay tuned, more to come...

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone has a relaxing break. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As for e-solicitations and flash esolicitations, click here to view our Christmas card.

Imagine using a similar strategy to say thank you to a donor. Remember: online fundraising is not just about technology, but the creative ways you use that technology.
Want to hear more about why I believe this, click here.

Enjoy the break and look for new updates on the Clarkson University e-solicitation. It is doing quite well.

Merry Christmas!

Matt

Clarkson University eSolicitation Results Update

I just wanted to post a quick note about the response rates for Clarkson's eSolicitation Campaign. In the first 100 hours of the six week eSolicitation campaign Clarkson has received 100 gifts with an average of $162! That's good...but just wait until the campaign is complete! You will be quite amazed.

If you care about results when it comes to eSolicitations, you should call The Pursuant Group. They have over 4.5 years of experience in real online fundraising...the kind that helps you reach your development goals.

Stay tuned...more updates to come.

Results in online fundraising matter!

Results in online fundraising matter!The Internet channel is a highly measurable channel for fundraising. You can measure who opens a message and how many times they click on specific links. But that kind of behavior is not the end of the story.

Just because you get 50% open rates does not mean that you have been successful in online fundraising. A comprehensive online fundraising strategy is one that helps grow your donor base. That means "donors and dollars". You should expect to raise both when you set out to develop a program for your organization.

Don't settle for average direct mail response rates. The Internet channel via email can out perform direct mail every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But don't just think because you send an appeal letter in email that you are going to raise money. Or, because you have spent a boatload of money on a website and email marketing software that you can raise money online.

Here is an eSolicitation program that has over a 10% donation rate...that's 1000 donations in sixty days!!!

Check it out. It is fun!

Until next time.

Clarkson University eSolicitation

CLARKSON UNIVERSITY - eSolicitation!
The Pursuant Group announces the launch of Clarkson University's eSolicitation, Defy Convention. I highly recommend you view this one! It is tremendous...and it has had incredible results. If you want the details...just leave your contact information when you reply to this post and I will get it to you.

eSolicitations are dynamic, animated stories that help organizations share the impact of their efforts while generating substantial revenue return. Most organizations that do eSolicitations with The Pursuant Group are interested in reaching and acquiring young donors. The online fundraising channel is your best bet if you are trying to engage your young alumni.

Links:
The Pursuant Group
Clarkson University eSolicitation

Matt Frazier
Online Fundraising Blog

eSolicitations for Colleges and Universities

eSolicitations for Colleges and Universities:
If you are planning an eSoliciation I recommend that you view this Flash presentation. It makes a pretty dramatic case for doing eSolicitations in a different way.

The Pursuant Group approached eSolicitations and online fundraising from a development perspective...rather than a technology perspective. Just imagine if your IT staff ran your fundraising program. Hey, maybe they do?

Listen to this audio on The Truth about Online Fundraising. It will give you the perspective I mentioned.

1116 Online Donations in under 60 Days

The Delta Gamma Foundation with the assistance of The Pursuant Group has raised approximately $100,000 from over 1100 donors in less than 60 days. The eSoliciation was focused on a relief find for members effected by Hurricane Katrina.

To view this eSolicitation, click here.

I think you will find that telling this type of story through the eyes of a sister who was effected was a good approach.

To view more samples of eSolicitations like these, visit the Pursuant Group's online fundraising gallary.

Alpha Chi Omega Foundation Esolicitation

Here is a great eSolicitation for online fundraising. The Pursuant Group does it again with this cinematic story of The Symphony of Alpha Chi Omega. I encourage you to view this creative masterpiece. Credit goes to Martin, Ben and Kelly for their great creative vision.

I love how the music is used to frame this online fundraising esolicitation.

The results are not final yet but they are ofer 250 gifts...

Nice work all!

Latest Online Fundraising Results

The Pursuant Group, Inc has generated tremendous online fundraising results for the Alpha Phi Foundation.

Esolicitation Campaign Yields 759 Donors in a Month

"Women responded in ways we never imagined … 10% of women who opened the email donated!" - Sue Sandvick, Director of Annual Giving for the Alpha Phi Foundation

The online donor acquisition campaign launched on February 15, 2005, and proved to be an immediate and overwhelming success. "Women responded in ways we never imagined," says Sue Sandvick, Director of Annual Giving for the Alpha Phi Foundation. "While spreading the word about the number one killer of women in North America, we received 759 gifts totaling $22,767. Surprisingly, more than 10% of women who opened the email donated!"

The majority of donations were first-time gifts from non-donors. "Our past donor acquisition efforts through phone and direct mail had moderate success," concludes Ms. Sandvick. "When we put this piece together, we hoped it would impact the lives of women. We did not expect it to be the most successful new donor acquisition effort in our Foundation's 50-year history!"

Tell Your Story of Impact

Your foundation impacts people in the end. Why not tell your story through the eyes of those who are impacted most? Donors want to know where their dollars are invested and who they help.

Take a look at this link to the Delta Sigma Phi Foundation, esolicitation.

This esolicitation captures this concept well.

Enjoy!

Behavior is the Key!

Behavior is the key to long-term successful online fundraising. Knowing that your donors read your newsletter is one thing. Tracking their behavior "over time" is a goldmine. I encourage you to listen to this talk on "Components of Comprehensive Online Development Strategy".

I think that you will find this talk helpful.

Esolicitation of the Day! This is a solicitation program for Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation. It is focused on helping the organization motivate and facilitate undergraduate / collegiate giving. Here is the site that explains it all.

Interactive Marketing and Fundraising Online

"People support what they help to create."

Interactivity is a key to creating loyalty among your constituents. Engaging donors or friends of your organization in polling, surveys or projects that request their input can be quite beneficial for your online fundraising efforts. I encourage you to add a section to your email newsletter that engages your donors in this type of dialogue. But please note, if you ask for their input, you must follow-up with them to share results and next steps. Don't just ask for asking's sake.

Online fundraising, esolicitations, donor driven marketing and direct response fundraising are all topics I will try to address in this blog.

For more information and to view great online fundraising examples, I encourage you to check out The Pursuant Group. The Pursuant Group provides non-profit organization professionals with the services necessary to maximize the online channel for fundraising.

If you would like to view a fun esolicitation, this one is still my favorite. They have almost reached 600 new donors for the Alpha Phi Foundation...so, it's fun and successful!

Till next time!

Esolicitations - Online Fundraising

There is a lot of organizations that are considering putting together Macromedia Flash animated donor soliciations but...there is more to raising donors and dollars than a photo montage set to music.

If you want to see some examples of esoliciations (Flash Appeals) that really increase your number of donors and dollars, check out these...

FIJI Educational Foundation eSoliciation

William Jewell College - eSolicitation

Also, if you have lots of time to burn...here are a bunch of samples from The Pursuant Group.

More eSolicitations

Here is my favorite eSolicitation, from the Alpha Phi Foundation

Till next time...

Online Fundraising

Online Fundraising is an interesting subject. Many feel that the ability to process a credit card is online fundraising. That is simply not true. Many feel that online fundraising is about technology or software. That is just not true. Technology provides us with the ability to reach people, but true online fundraising is an emotional connection to a cause that is driven by affinity and loyalty built through the use of narrative.

This is all for today. But, I do encourage you to listen to this piece on the power of narrative, as it relates to online fundraising. If I could, I would help every development director in the world to see themselves as a movie director / story-teller rather than a program administrator.

For a look at a cool esolicitation appeal for a College / University check out this piece for William Jewell College. This piece was created by The Pursuant Group.