Online Fundraising Case Study: Planned Parenthood Federation of America Raises More than $1 Million Online in 12 Months
Beginning in October 2000, the development team at Planned Parenthood Federation of America made a concerted effort to grow online fundraising with the launch of a new Convio-powered campaign site termed a Member Center.
In the fiscal year prior to the launch of the new site, the organization had raised $200,000 online mostly from prospects who visited the site without any proactive prompting by the organization. Since the launch of Planned Parenthood's new Web site, the organization has raised more than $1 million online in 12 months.
LESSONS LEARNED
It's critical to integrate online and offline marketing efforts.
For its 2001 end-of year campaign, the development team ran a matching gift campaign, which utilized direct mail to drive supporters to the Web site to give. In less than 60 days, the organization raised approximately $380,000 online, (21 percent of total funds raised), with more than $70,600 coming in a single day. This campaign started on November 5, 2001 and ran through the end of the year, during one of the most challenging fundraising periods for philanthropy in recent times.
Major donors value online communication and feel comfortable giving online.
The organization received multiple $5,000 and $10,000 gifts online, and the largest online credit card gift it received was $50,000. The organization also received two $10,000 gifts from a major donor who has exclusively given online.
Email communication is an effective direct response and cultivation tool.
Planned Parenthood used email extensively to stimulate campaign responses and donations, while simultaneously delivering and reinforcing the group's message. For example, after September 11, the organization's president, Gloria Feldt, sent an email communiqué that expressed the organization's condolences for victims of the attacks, and also reminded supporters about the continuing importance of Planned Parenthood's mission. The end-of-year matching gift campaign also included several email appeals in addition to direct mail.
Online and offline communications can build an email file of current and prospective supporters.
For email to be an effective tool, it's critical to capture email addresses for existing supporters as well as for prospects. By using a combination of online registration and offline communications, Planned Parenthood grew their email house file from 5,000 to 50,000 constituents in less than six months after the launch of the Convio-powered Member Center. At least 25,000 of the new email addresses were collected through direct mail response cards, telemarketing or efforts of other departments at the organization. The email file was then cultivated, by using email communiqués to keep constituents informed about relevant issues and organizational updates. Thereafter, the development team solicited the file cost-effectively through email.
Successful online marketing does not need to be resource-intensive.
Planned Parenthood maintained the Member Center with one staff person dedicating 50 percent of her time.
Online supporter acquisition can be very cost-effective.
In one campaign that raised more than $320,000 online, a vast majority of the contributions -- more than 85 percent -- were from new donors. This campaign leveraged "viral marketing" techniques by encouraging supporters to forward Planned Parenthood's messages to friends through email.
Content is King.
It is essential to keep supporters engaged (i.e., returning regularly to the Web site) by making sure Web content is fresh and frequently updated, keeping supporters up-to-date with the latest information. During active campaigns, the development team changed content on a daily basis. Moreover, the development team is able to personalize the Web experience for supporters by welcoming back registered constituents.
Use The Internet To Build Relationships With Constituents.
The organization has been able to build strong relationships with constituents through running online surveys and communicating via email, in addition to driving traffic to its Web site via direct mail. Because direct mail is costly, many organizations focus their communications on solicitation, with limited room for cultivation. The low cost of Internet communications has allowed the Planned Parenthood development team to engage constituents through frequent and personalized, non-solicitation communications.
