Sanky Blog

Besides the weakening economy, most non-profits are dealing with the annual mid-winter revenue slump that comes right after the Holidays. But using a compelling campaign idea, and the creative expertise of SankyNet, our client Covenant House found tremendous online success in February raising money for homeless kids.

The Covenant House “Do 1 Thing” Campaign utilized some of the most modern online fundraising techniques and the results prove that there can be victories even in these troubling times.

Before creative for the campaign began, SankyNet took into account the fact that even loyal donors may not be able to donate during a recession. With this in mind, SankyNet’s creative team worked with Covenant House to develop ways for people to show their support beside a monetary gift. These opportunities were designed to help keep existing donors engaged while at the same time cultivating potential new supporters.

The “Do 1 Thing” campaign included a call to action using social networking, an invitation to visit a Covenant House location and a request for items on a “wish list” such as blankets and food. Donors were also given the chance to quadruple their generosity with a 3-to-1 match — this opportunity to help touch the lives of four times more homeless kids made a very compelling case for giving. And despite the tough economy, people overwhelmingly chose donating over the other three points of engagement.

As for design, SankyNet went with the adage that “less is more — and used a modern technique that is proving very effective in online fundraising. We designed the “Do 1 Thing” e-appeal to look more like a postcard than a traditional appeal letter. More importantly, we paid special attention to make sure that the entire message — including all calls to action — fit “above the fold” on most browsers.

Another component that played a key role in the success of the campaign was timing. SankyNet “dropped” the e-appeal on February 12th giving donors just two days to get involved with the “Do1Thing” activities planned for Valentine’s Day. The timing of the appeal created a sense of urgency and that in turn triggered an immediate response both in donations and activism.

While these are indeed challenging times for fundraisers, the Covenant House “Do 1 Thing” Campaign proves that using a combination of imaginative techniques can have a tremendous payoff. So remember, matching gifts work. Well timed, shorter messages work. And asking your donors to support your cause in non-monetary ways — even in a fundraising appeal — works!

With 44 million people navigating the maze of Medicare policy, The Medicare Rights Center turned to SankyNet to help them give their clients the answers they need.

Patients filing Medicare claims know how difficult it is to take full advantage of their benefits under the Medicare system. Many patients and caregivers depend on the Medicare Rights Center (MRC) to help them secure the quality care they deserve…and increasingly, their consumers want to find answers on the Internet. That’s why MRC partnered with SankyNet to create a new website rich with online resources and fully accessible to their target audience.

This project offered an exciting opportunity for SankyNet. Unlike many non-profits, who use their website as a communications and fundraising tool, the primary goal for this project was to create a website to serve the needs of the client’s consumers rather than their donors. After extensive research to identify the unique needs of MRC’s online audience, SankyNet began developing a fully interactive website. Our main objective throughout the design process was to ensure that visitors would be able to easily navigate the site and locate critical information.

Understanding Medicare is no simple task. Because many Medicare recipients need help understanding Medicare coverage, plan options, and enrollment issues, SankyNet developed a “Medicare Answers” section to address these important questions for MRC’s clients. “Medicare Answers” utilizes a series of crucial questions that link to answers via the Medicare Interactive Counselor, an independent, public resource from the Medicare Rights Center. This interactive resource is just one of the ways SankyNet addressed the unique needs of an online audience.

SankyNet also introduced a new section that not only keeps Medicare recipients aware of the issues that affect their Medicare benefits, but also helps them advocate for Medicare reform. The “Issues and Action” section gives visitors a detailed explanation of the challenges that the Medicare Rights Center confronts as they fight for their client’s rights — but also provides resources so that every-day Americans can advocate on their own behalf. These resources include statements from leading government officials, letters ready to send to both Congress and the media, talking points for speeches and presentations, fact sheets, and press releases.

During the website exploratory phase, SankyNet identified that a significant portion of visitors to the MRC site traffic are older adults. The importance of website readability is of particular importance to this audience. Older users often complain that they are unable to read web copy because of small text sizes and difficult color arrangements. To address this issue, SankyNet provided the MRC website with a high contrast viewing option that reduces eye strain by replacing light-colored backgrounds with darker colors. We also gave viewers the option to increase text size, making menus and articles easier to read. Spanish speaking visitors are also given the option of viewing certain key components of the site in Spanish.

Since 1989 the Medicare Rights Center has been working with older adults and people with disabilities to ensure access to affordable health care through counseling and advocacy, educational programs, and public policy initiatives.

Now, through their new website, the Medicare Rights Center can help even more people get the health care and medications they need and make the most of their Medicare rights and options. We invite you to visit this valuable online resource.

By Harry Lynch & Paul Habig

“If you build it, they will come” may be a fitting slogan for the Taj Mahal or a new Yankee Stadium. But if you’re hoping to get a flood of visitors (a.k.a. prospective donors) to your brand new website, and jumpstart your online fundraising program, you’ve got some work to do. Have you thought of buying search engine ads?

In our October 20 article on search engine optimization (SEO), we discussed the various techniques and strategies for getting your website listed prominently – and for free – on Google, Yahoo and other major search engines. But if you’re chomping at the bit to leverage the tremendous power of search engines right now and don’t want to wait a few months for your SEO efforts to yield results, then you might want to consider pay-per-click advertising—also known as search engine marketing (SEM).

This online marketing technique involves placing a bid with a search engine company on keywords that relate to your mission or cause (i.e., mission specific keywords). All you need to do is create a very short ad with the goal of enticing surfers to click on it so they are brought to your website. If you bid enough money for your keywords of choice, your ad will appear on the top or upper right hand corner of a search engine webpage in the “sponsored links” section. The ad will appear when a web user opens Yahoo or Google and searches using words related to your organization’s listed keywords.

This seemingly simple advertising method has made Yahoo a household name and Google a multi-billion dollar enterprise. If you’ve already tried it, you probably know how easy it is to get started. And with productive keywords and phrases often up for grabs for bids of as little as 30 to 50 cents per click, a comprehensive SEM campaign test can be launched for just a few thousand dollars. But what you also may have learned the hard way is that it’s easy to spend a lot of money fast—with little or no results to show for your efforts.

Here are just a few tips that can help to dramatically improve the impact of your search engine investment:

Consider bidding on phrases rather than single words. After all, single words associated with your organization—whether they be “art,” “cancer,” “homelessness,” “children,” etc. – are likely to be wildly expensive (due to competition) and too broad to be used by quality web traffic that is really interested in your organization. On the other hand, phrases such as “breast cancer research,” “homelessness in Ohio,” and “helping children Missouri” – are likely to be much more affordable and bring you more targeted visitors.

Transparency with your ad copy works best. If you’re using search engine marketing for online fundraising, create an ad that is transparent and clearly states the “ask.” Ads that are too clever or that deceive the user will depress conversion rates and drive down the return on the dollar. Be sure to include the keyword or phrase in your ad, if you can.

Create a special webpage for your ad. If the link imbedded in your ad takes your visitors to your homepage or generic donation form, chances are that you’re not doing everything you can to “close the deal.” In most cases, it pays to create a special “landing page” that reinforces the original keyword or phrase the user was searching for. Try designing a unique webpage with custom graphics that tie into the ad, and limit the number of links on the page. The most productive fundraising landing pages only link to the donation form.

Test, test, test! Unlike most other direct marketing methods, search engine advertising allows for quick changes with real-time results. If your ad isn’t performing well, try tweaking the wording, bidding on different keywords, and changing your bid prices. For better or worse, you’ll know your results almost instantly – and can make further adjustments as necessary.

Remember that Google isn’t the only game in town. While Google now handles a significant majority of Internet searches, Yahoo (and to a much lesser degree MSN and Ask.com) still handle a high volume of searches and offer their own “pay-per-click” ad networks. While you won’t see nearly the volume you will on Google, Yahoo in particular is a good supplement (and in some cases alternative) to a Google campaign. Using Yahoo, some organizations experience a lower cost-per-click, higher “click” rates and better donor response for less money.

Switch gears before you give up. Some nonprofits are indeed able to cost-effectively acquire brand new donors via the Internet through the purchase of search engine ads. If your own success has been limited, consider switching gears and exploring a campaign to build your email list instead of trying to acquire donors upfront. Particularly if your e-newsletter is of general interest, and the “offer” in your ad is for a “free e-newsletter,” your response rate is likely to improve dramatically and you will bring on subscriber/prospects who can be cultivated over time.

Apply for a Google Grant. If you’re a 501(c)(3) and your budget and resources are limited, a good way to get started is to apply for a Google Grant for free keyword advertising. While there are some limitations to what the grant will bring to you, tapping into a Google Grant is infinitely better than doing nothing. To learn more about Google Grants, go to www.google.com/grants.

Making efficient use of search engine ads can bring you closer to your goal for website traffic—without breaking the bank.

Harry Lynch is the CEO of Sanky Communications, and Paul Habig is the director of internet services for SankyNet, both based in New York City.