Currently the Foundation has over 50,000 members and 40 chapters nationwide. In an effort to revamp the way CCFA connects with its members, SankyDirect will be spearheading an innovative direct mail campaign that emphasizes the importance of membership to CCFA’s many supporters and contributors.

In the coming months, SankyDirect and SankyNet will also be working hard to integrate the offline and online components of CCFA’s campaigns. This will not only help educate and update as many people as possible about breakthroughs in research, it will also help raise funds at key times throughout the year. We are looking forward to using social networking in this capacity to expand CCFA’s base of supporters.

The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America sponsors high quality basic and clinical research and provides education and supportive services for healthcare professionals, patients and their families. The organization currently raises more than $30 million annually through memberships, fundraising events, sponsorships and other programs. We are excited to help CCFA grow and reach out to its members in new ways through its direct mail and internet programs! Please visit CCFA’s website for more information at ccfa.org.

We are pleased to announce that SankyNet’s year-end appeal for Covenant House was honored as the runner-up in this extremely competitive category!  The highly effective email postcard was sent after a month of heavy solicitation, yet still raised over $150,000 in just 3 days.

Timing is always a key factor when developing a strategy for e-solicitation.  During the winter holiday season, SankyNet sent Covenant House donors three compelling appeals capitalizing on an exciting matching gift opportunity.

The award-winning year-end postcard followed this robust campaign.  Sent during the last moments of 2009, the postcard encouraged donors to take advantage of their last chance to receive a 2009 tax-deduction as well as have their gift matched 2-to-1.

Because of its impeccable timing, this attractive and relevant postcard proved to be most successful solicitation SankyNet produced for Covenant House that year – and the results more than doubled what was raised during the 2008 Year-End campaign.

We are truly grateful to work with dynamic organizations such as Covenant House, and proud to help them achieve such growth in their fundraising programs even during these difficult times. This honor is truly a reflection of Covenant House’s commitment to excellence as they work to rescue homeless kids from life on the streets.

View all the DMFA awards from Package of the Year.

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine is the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Because of its historic importance and far-reaching influence, CCSJD needs a communication strategy that will provide information about the church’s events and community services while also encouraging donations to support their work.

To accomplish this, SankyNet will produce a variety of online communication vehicles. First, we will write, design, and deliver a regular e-newsletter for CCSJD. This e-newsletter will cultivate a relationship with the Cathedral’s donor base by keeping them informed about events at the CCSJD, stories of people helped through their outreach, and updates by the Dean of the Cathedral.

We also look forward to sending a series of fundraising appeals directed at both past donors and potential future donors. These appeals will be sent during the most strategic times of the church’s calendar year and will promote a variety of donation opportunities.

SankyNet will also develop a microsite that will be separate from the main CCSJD website, which will support the online fundraising program while CCSJD develops a full new website. The Cathedral will be able to offer their constituency, vis-à-vis this microsite, better organized fundraising web pages, with more compelling copy, and the addition of warm and engaging color photographs.

SankyDirect and SankyNet are looking forward to developing a robust fundraising program for the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine that integrates the strengths of both direct mail fundraising and online fundraising. We are excited to lend our expertise to this challenging project!

Knowing that times are still difficult for many organizations, DMFA board members decided to turn their holiday party into a fun, festive educational experience. Participants were treated to not only great food and company but also valuable lessons in last minute fundraising ideas including:

During the presentation, Harry and Vivianne discussed these and many other techniques that can be used to make a difference in an organization’s online and direct mail fundraising programs.

It was a perfect way to celebrate the season of sharing!

Together, SankyNet and SankyDirect will integrate online, email, direct mail, and social networking components to fully engage KaBOOM!’s donors and supporters.

SankyNet will start this process by developing an inaugural online fundraising and communications program for KaBOOM!. This program includes both a monthly e-newsletter and a series of fundraising email appeals. To make sure these online tools are used most effectively, SankyNet will use a twofold strategy. We will both append email addresses from the KaBOOM! offline database, and also acquire additional email addresses through various marketing and social networking campaigns.

SankyNet wants for KaBOOM! to make the greatest possible impact on potential donors, so we will also revise both the homepage and donation pages of their website. Through reorganizing, redesigning, and expanding these elements, SankyNet will use its online expertise to fully optimize the KaBOOM! website into a powerful fundraising tool.

SankyDirect also has exciting plans to enhance KaBOOM!’s messaging. In the coming year, SankyDirect will design a new direct mail renewal program to help KaBOOM! improve their communication with current and past donors.

While developing these exciting new programs, SankyDirect will work with SankyNet to perform extensive message testing on all online and offline communications. Through testing what message yields the best response, our goal is to help KaBOOM! find the optimum voice to communicate with their donors volunteers, and sponsors.

SankyNet and SankyDirect are proud to embark on this joint venture with KaBOOM!. KaBOOM! works across the country with the mission of providing a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. We are excited to help KaBOOM! make America a safer place to play!

Learn more about KaBOOM! at www.kaboom.org.

At the Center for Nonprofit Success’ New York Fundraising Summit earlier this month, I discussed the topic of online fundraising, and how to harness technology to build and maintain productive donor relationships.

An online fundraising program consists of much more than a “Donate Now” button on your Web site. An organization needs to be proactive in communications with donors and potential donors both online and offline. The most successful nonprofits maintain an integrated approach for fundraising. But with so many channels, trying to find the right balance is difficult.

Before an organization jumps on any new media bandwagon, it needs to focus first on some tried-and-true fundamentals — making sure it has a solid Web site and compelling e-mail program, and cultivating a strategy for acquiring new donors. After all those ducks are in a row, then it can begin to think about integrating with social media.

Here are key components to an effective integrated online fundraising strategy:

1. Online fundraising fundamentals

With the advent of Facebook and Twitter, and other channels emerging all the time, integration can be a daunting task for many nonprofit organizations that are already understaffed.

Yet nonprofit organizations need to stop, take a breath and look at the fundamentals. Before you start moving donors between channels, you need to test your Web site for usability. It is so important to have intuitive Web site navigation architecture. People online have very little patience and will quickly click the “back” button if they can’t find what they want. You have seconds to engage visitors before you lose them.

Make sure your donation forms are always one click away, and always reassure donors about the security of the form. Donors are getting savvier about security settings on donation pages. They look for security certificates (e.g., VeriSign), https vs. http and the lock icon. Some of those offline donors are still not comfortable donating online, so providing the option of a printable giving form alleviates those concerns. And don’t forget to include a source code on the form for your data entry team.

A key difference between online and offline channels is the approach to fundraising vs. cultivation. Many organizations send out eight to 12 offline donor appeals a year. Online, you need to make sure you balance your e-mail communications with donors. Everything does not and should not have an ask. Online communication allows organizations to create stewardship pieces, updating donors on how their gifts are making a difference. Don’t forget that in e-mail fundraising, “opt-outs” are forever!

2. Renewing your donors

It is important to remember there are key differences between donors who give through different channels. Online fundraising cannot live in a box by itself; organizations need to synchronize media, coordinate consistent messaging and tailor content to each appropriate medium. Recent studies show that if you have an e-mail address on file for a donor, it makes a positive difference in his or her giving.

Online giving is certainly tilted toward year-end giving with two-thirds of income raised in the final months and days of the year. The ability to create a sense of urgency lends itself to the immediacy of the online environment. Many organizations have found great success with online “matching gift” campaigns, which allow an organization to create an artificial deadline. The best results come when you synchronize your campaign with offline fundraising efforts (e.g., direct mail, telemarketing).

The ability to be nimble is a key component of an effective integrated strategy. Timing is everything when it comes to integrated fundraising. You can start a campaign on your Web site, send an e-mail about an urgent news item (e.g., natural disaster, food shortage) and follow up the campaign with a direct-mail piece. You can test messaging online with immediate results, and then roll out the winning results through other channels. Don’t forget about your homepage when you launch a new campaign. Many studies show offline donors check out your Web site before making a gift.

3. E-mail acquisition: Science and art

Now that we all know having an e-mail address for a donor makes a positive impact on his or her giving, how do we acquire more e-mail addresses? Every organization needs to start with its Web site. Make sure you have a prominent, eye-catching “callout” on every page. If you have the ability to segment based on interest or frequency, this will increase your conversion rate. Make sure you keep and send what you promised at the collection point.

A quick way to jump-start an e-mail program is doing an e-mail append. An append uses a third-party commercial vendor to find an e-mail address from a donor’s “land” address. Be aware that these donors aren’t as responsive as other online donors, but the cost is minimal — fast-tracking your integration goals.

There still is the slow and steady way of collecting e-mail addresses using offline methods (e.g., direct mail, telemarketing). The good news here is when a donor gives you his or her e-mail address, it’s usually for the primary account.

Finally, think about using search engine marketing to invite people to join your e-mail program or become donors. These are the pay-per-click text ads running on Google and Yahoo. Many organizations have found that these ads perform similarly to a direct-mail acquisition. There is an up-front investment, but the long-term value of the donor is looking very optimistic.

4. What about social networks and microblogging?

After you put together a cohesive integrated strategy and master fundraising schedule — and if you still have time and resources left over — find ways to push your message and brand out to these channels. Coordinate your campaigns and find appropriate times to engage these new and old constituents. If you haven’t already, create a Facebook page, and maybe have a volunteer help manage it. See if you can find a program staff person to post on Twitter (tweet) from the front lines. But at the end of the day, don’t forget who’s writing the checks and donating online. Social media is just the icing on the cake.

Paul Habig is Executive Vice President of SankyNet, an integrated fundraising and communications firm.

This article was originally published in FundRaising Success Magazine.

We too see that while direct mail continues to be the primary giving vehicle for most current donors, there is huge value in multi-channel givers, and that the rise in online giving, although it may not be as much as some people expected, is nonetheless exhilarating.

As we all know, recent studies show that if you have an email address on file for an offline donor it makes a positive difference in their giving. Reinforcing the need to synchronize channels, coordinate consistent messaging, and tailor content to each appropriate medium. Online fundraising doesn’t replace direct mail but reinforces the repetition of the message.

Our concerns about direct mail fundraising are less about any immediate generational behavior change than about technical problems, such as the financial health of the postal service, increases in list and printing costs, and continued media attention on the rare fundraiser abuses rather than the truly amazing work that most nonprofits accomplish, even in the midst of recession.

By: Judy Maneval, Harry Lynch, Paul Habig of Sanky Communications

We are pleased to announce that SankyNet’s appeal for PetSmart Charities® won first place! The winning campaign helped raise money for a massive rescue of pets displaced by the historic 2007 Midwest flooding.

A key factor in the success of this campaign was the timeliness of the distribution. SankyNet’s team was able to write copy, design and code a custom HTML template, and distribute the email within 24 hours of the story breaking in the news. Even as emergency relief was still arriving in the affected areas, supporters were responding to the call for help.

In addition to winning first place, SankyNet’s campaign for Covenant House’s Bed and Blanket Matching Gift campaign took the “runner-up” position. This campaign also used careful timing and highly compelling creative to increase response rates.

The campaign usually “drops” in early November and reminds donors of how dangerous winter can be for homeless children. This year, however, much of the country experienced unusually warm temperatures in late fall. SankyNet recommended postponing the distribution until the temperatures dropped. Then on the day most of the East Coast and Midwest woke up to its first frost, Covenant House donors found an urgent appeal about the dangers of freezing children in their inbox.

We are truly grateful to work with dedicated organizations such as PetSmart Charities® and Covenant House, and to help them achieve their online fundraising goals. These awards and honors are a testament to their inspirational and life-saving missions.

View all the DMFA awards from Package of the Year.

We are proud to be lending our many years of online fundraising expertise to one of the country’s leading public research universities whose mission is the creation, dissemination, preservation, and application of knowledge for the betterment of our global society. And through our partnership, we hope to help UCLA create a legacy for generations to come.

In recent years, SankyNet has helped many clients realize the potential of using the Internet to educate donors on the benefits of planned giving. And now more than ever, with increasing market volatility, it is important to let donors know that investing in the future of a non-profit organization is indeed a wise investment.

Please contact us for more information on how we can help you develop an online planned giving cultivation campaign for your organization.

Later in the day, I attended a great breakout session on communication to donors. The keyword at the session was “emotion” which made some of the techies in the room squirm. Social media, especially Twitter, were the hot topics this year. My favorite quote from the conference, which really summed up the hype about social media, was, “Before you invest time and resources in Twitter, your emails better look like this.”

It seemed that everyone at that conference wanted to talk about their successes, failures, and questions about social media. The person from HSUS said they raised $600,000 from a Facebook campaign, but to do so, they needed to build a Facebook application and a lot of staff time. I know we were at the NTEN (i.e. npo techy conference), but most nonprofit organizations simply don’t have resources to build Facebook applications, much less vigorously promote social media campaigns.

A question I posed during one of the sessions was, “How do donors renew from Facebook?” No one knew the answer. I suspect they will renew like an event donor or walk-a-thon supporter, constituents who don’t renew easily. Investing in donor relationships through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media might not turn an immediate profit, but the long-term branding and awareness benefits makes social media a worthwhile investment.

I believe that in the future we will see social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace become even more useful tools for building community for nonprofits. Organizations who already have huge brand recognition through direct mail, telemarketing, and online fundraising will undoubtedly continue to see significant donations through these sites. Smaller nonprofits, who are still finding their way into the social media market, must continue to make strategic decisions to capitalize on this growing trend.

At the conference, I took some time to take a look at mobile fundraising, which is currently at the point where online fundraising was more than a decade ago. The Mobile Giving Foundation has made mobile marketing an increasingly profitable fundraising tool for nonprofits. They have worked with the major mobile providers to wave their fees for processing donations. Although there is still a limit to the size of mobile donations, this was recently increased from $5 to $10. And what I’m most excited about is the ease with which donors can make recurring or monthly mobile gifts, a feature that gives this medium some real legs.

Last on this exciting topic is the ability mobile giving has to connect with Facebook and MySpace. This integration creates some interesting future potential to fundraise in this medium on a larger scale – giving fundraisers the ability to reach new audiences with micro-donations.

The weather was sunny in San Francisco, but windy and cold. Overall it was a great conference and I congratulate the NTEN team and all the volunteers for pulling off a very successful conference. As many conferences this year have struggled, the NTEN flourished. I’m looking forward to Atlanta next year, and to seeing if everyone will still be buzzing about Twitter, or “Tweeting” about something else.

By: Paul Habig, Executive Vice President, SankyNet