Put on Your Socks - It's Time to Get Ready for Q4!
David Schwab
Chief Strategist @ DIG | Performance Marketing and Digital Revenue Operations Consulting
What if I told you that you could walk into the Q4 giving season confident that you’re going to beat last year’s success?
You’d probably call me crazy with everything happening around us but hear me out because we’re in my favorite part of the fundraising calendar: learning and optimization season!
Digital fundraising is going to be more important to your success than ever and right now is the perfect time to set yourself up to have your most impactful giving season yet. With a little less than 12 weeks until we hit the peak of the fundraising calendar, now is the perfect time to roll out a learning and optimization program to make sure your digital systems are running at peak capacity when it counts!
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be sharing testing optimization ideas and examples that have had serious results. Not everything will apply to you but my hope is that there will be at least one or two ideas every week you can take and implement to help level up your giving season success this year. My only ask? If you try something come back and drop a comment about what you learned - we’re in this together and the more we learn together the bigger the impact we’ll have!
Ok - on to the first, and most important, part of learning and optimization: getting your foundation right! Every year about this time a popup reminder comes up on my phone that says “Put on your socks.” - a paraphrased quote from UCLA basketball coaching legend John Wooden - that reminds me, no matter how “advanced” I think I’ve become, my foundation must be in order before I can build anything worthwhile.
How do socks and digital fundraising remotely connect to each other? Glad you asked!
Your digital foundation - your technical infrastructure - must be in order before you begin building the best-in-class fundraising program you’re capable of.
An honest evaluation of your tech stack starts with a few probing questions:
1️⃣ Is my tech stack working for me or against me? How easy is it for me to make changes to my website? Create new segments? Run split tests?
2️⃣ Are my digital platforms built for mobile-first experiences?
3️⃣ When someone comes to my website, how easy is it to make a gift? Is there an easily accessible donation button or is it hidden in my navigation somewhere? How many clicks does it take to get to a giving form?
4️⃣ Have I been wanting to move to any new platforms (giving, CRM, CMS, Email, etc.)? If so, what can I do right now to get that move started?
5️⃣ If, for whatever reason, tomorrow I was no longer at my organization could someone pickup my work and keep our program running? If not, how can I create a process that is repeatable even if I’m not involved? (This applies to ANY single point of redundancy at your organization or in your fundraising program!)
A strong digital infrastructure sets the stage for an optimization program that can:
💰 Add thousands of dollars to your net revenue
🤝 Reactivate lapsed donors faster than ever before
📣 Engage donors in more meaningful conversations and giving opportunities
⌚️ Save you and your team precious time and resources
🛡️ Give you confidence walking into giving season (and make you feel less crazy 🤪 while doing it)!
Anything I missed? Drop it in the comments below!
If you're interested in learning more about digital fundraising optimization or need guidance in implementing these ideas, follow along and feel free to connect -we’re in this together!
Building Partnerships for Higher Ed Student Success
1yDavid Schwab, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this! The significance of digital fundraising for non-profit organizations cannot be overstated, especially as we embrace a more technologically advanced future. When choosing fundraising software, it's crucial to recognize that donors are also consumers, and therefore have high expectations for intuitive technology.