I recently wrote about the importance of building a mature digital program that meets donors where they are today. This comes on the heels of the explosive growth in digital interactions that organizations in every industry have witnessed during the pandemic.
If you’re not sure where your program sits, I encourage you take our digital maturity quiz to get a quick assessment.
An essential part of digital maturity is continually measuring, assessing and optimizing your approach to keep up with the latest developments. With that in mind, the start of a new year marks the perfect time to run through the items on this checklist:
Email Health
BIMI – Brand Indicators for Message Identification (or BIMI) allows organizations to display their logo next to the subject line and description in some email inboxes (like Gmail and Yahoo!). Check to see if your email provider uses this feature and whether you have it set up properly.
List queries and suppressions – Are you emailing everyone you could be? A review of the various suppressions and restrictions on your email list may reveal a few opportunities.
Sender name – Are you using the same sender name across all your various emails? Is it time for an update?
Welcome series – When was the last time you looked over the messaging in your welcome series? It may need to be refreshed, especially if your organization has gone through some recent changes.
E-newsletter – Similarly, when did you last think about updating your e-newsletter? Have you been doing the same thing for years now? It might be time to try out a few new tricks.
Donation Form Optimization
Cover the fee – Does your form include a checkbox asking donors to help cover the processing fee? Our research shows that 70% of donors will leave the box checked if it’s part of your default settings.
Mobile opt-in – Most donation forms ask users to opt in to email, but many now have a field for mobile numbers and a checkbox for SMS opt-ins. Make sure this option is available on your form—it’s time to start asking.
Thank-you page – When was the last time you checked the copy and images on your thank-you page after a donation?
Payment options – Today’s donors have a variety of payment options at their fingertips. Check to see if you’re providing the opportunity to give through PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay and even cryptocurrency.
Campaign Focus
Goals – What’s your year-end goal for your digital channels? Is it the same as last year? Should you bump that up to aim for more? Start thinking bigger and make it happen.
Sustainers – It takes a concerted effort to grow your monthly giving program. You should offer options across your website, and you should promote it in email, social, etc. And don’t forget to create an email series for failed payment recapture and renewals.
SEO Fixes
Tags – Check your webpages to make sure you’ve filled out the proper tags, like OG, meta and alt-image. These provide essential clues to search engines on the topic of the page.
Social sharing – Likewise, make sure you’ve filled out the proper tags for your pages and posts to be shared on social media. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all have useful tools to preview how your posts will appear on their platforms.
Technical optimization – Google has placed a priority on website performance (i.e., faster-loading pages will move up their search ranks). Use Lighthouse to see where you need to make improvements.
This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it gives you a great place to start as you look to improve the performance of your digital channels this year.
If you’re looking for a little help to grow your digital program, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to chat with you!
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