Some organizations are reacting to uncertainty by shying away from asking for more donations. They justify not making fundraising appeals due to the state of a shaken-up economy where donors may have lost their jobs or might be ill. It could seem uncaring to prod for donations.

However, many fundraisers are still postponed to an unknown date. This eliminates an important source of revenue that came with events. The pandemic has forced many to look for alternative ways of staying afloat. For nonprofits, this means moving from dependence on one-off giving and fundraisers to recurring giving.

The Undeniable Benefits of Recurring Giving

Acquiring new donors has been hyped up for years by nonprofits–but 75% of new donors may never give again. Most nonprofits, unfortunately, realized this a year into the pandemic. 

Acquiring new donors has been hyped up for years by nonprofits–but 75% of new donors may never give again. Most nonprofits, unfortunately, realized this a year into the pandemic. 

Encouraging recurring giving offers a predictable flow of income, grows giving, and focuses your attention on retaining donors for the good of your nonprofit and its beneficiaries. We’ll look at how (and why) you should create a monthly recurring giving program with the following steps:

1. Spend Time Planning
2. Brand Your Monthly Giving
3. Create an Online Hub for Your Program
4. Think Small
5. Make Updates Easy 
6. Use Email Marketing to Show Appreciation
7. Give Recurring Donors Special Membership
8. Ask Your Biggest Fans for Help Before You Launch

With this time-tested method, you’re building a way to recognize your most loyal supporters, even if they aren’t major donors. You’re also providing an opportunity for people to deepen their connection with the work you do. Lastly, you’ll be well on your way to sustainable income that will ease fundraising pressure well into the future. Let’s dive in:

Steps to a Successful Monthly Giving Program

1. Spend Time Planning

A tremendous monthly giving program starts with a plan. Think about what you want to achieve with the program, including your KPIs. Your indicators can look like the following:

• The number of donors you’re attempting to acquire.
• How many existing donors you aim to turn into recurring donors.
• How much you want to bring in overall.

The answers to these questions will help you to develop key performance indicators that will tell you what is working and what is not. If your team struggles to come up with a number, your board members and other shareholders can help you think through this phase. 

2. Brand Your Monthly Giving 

Brand your new program to differentiate it from your other campaigns. Consider choosing a name that’s closely related to your charity, and remember to align it with the nonprofit’s goals. 

To work out the details of branding, think about your target donors, the range of giving, and the marketing methods that would appeal most to this audience. The messaging tone should be the same across all platforms, including welcome emails and follow-up email newsletters. Consider enlisting nonprofit branding professionals to get the best results.

Pro Tip: If you already have monthly donors, use their testimonials to encourage others to join. Include their photos, names, and occupation. Testimonials leverage the power of storytelling to make audiences see the value they can get from something others have. 

3. Create a Hub of Information, Stories, and Recognition for Your Program

You can turn your one-off givers into lifetime donors by marketing your recurring giving. Promote recurring giving in all your donation requests as the more sustainable and preferred method of giving. Create an online hub that explains your program in more detail and allows people to sign up and update their information. Our preferred platform is WordPress because it is prevalent, cost-efficient, easy-to-use, and integrates widely.

Since most users leave or stay on a website because of how easy it is to navigate, spend time researching User Experience (UX).  This will help you increase online giving, as will investing in concise copy and eye-catching images that empower, not victimize, your beneficiaries. WordPress plugins can help provide an easy-to-use interface. They work across multiple devices, payment platforms and acknowledge receipt of payment. 

Whether or not you use WordPress, you’ll need a plugin or an iframe for people to sign up and donate. It is not preferable to send users away from your website and a third-party site (like your donor management or peer-2-peer platform), which hurts your perceived trustworthiness. 

Additionally, revisit fees for plugins and processors to make sure you’ve chosen one that won’t process donations on a monthly versus yearly basis. 

4. Think Small

When making recurring donation appeals, large amounts can deter people because it tells them that they will only make an impact if they can match that amount. Ask for minimal amounts to attract both average and wealthy donors. A five-dollar donation is hard to say no to, but adds up over time.

Encourage your existing donors to join the program. They are more likely to commit to a small amount, and you can grow this over time. 

Large donors are less likely to be interested in monthly giving. They prefer giving big sums once or a few times. However, those who give small amounts are more likely to enroll in monthly giving programs. Focus your campaign efforts more on the small donors. 

5. Make Updates Easy

Give your monthly donors options to update their information whenever they like. This includes contact information, email subscriptions, and most importantly, donation amount. WordPress plugins can make it easy for users to update this information themselves with just one or a few clicks, so that there is no added burden to your development or marketing people. 

While most donors won’t adjust their amounts often, they must know they have the option to cancel or downgrade at any time. Providing the option to downgrade (and upgrade!) is vital to growing donations over time and to re-engaging donors who otherwise might churn. 

You’ll also want to automate SMS (text) or email notifications to go out when a credit card expires or is cancelled. The majority of recurring donations are canceled this way unintentionally, so having this enabled can make a world of difference. Send your donors notifications 30 days before expiration, and again if their credit card expires, with links to the webpage where they can update payment information. 

This is a crucial step in enabling you to reconnect with and maintain these important donors.

6. Use Email Marketing to Show Appreciation for Recurring Donors

Typically, when people sign up for your email marketing, you send them engaging emails about programs they’d be interested in and solicit their continuing support. 

Emails will have to be different for your monthly givers. Focus the emails on informing them about program progress, cause achievements, and upcoming steps in your nonprofit’s journey. Regular communication gives donors a good idea of how they’re helping tangibly.  If your CRM enables it, you can use statements such as:

• Your $12 a month puts a student through school.
• 10 endangered animals are saved each month with your $30 donation.

People begin to be skeptical when you don’t tell them where their money is going. This is why remaining transparent about your spending and impact is so important. Periodically send your monthly supporters videos of your major initiatives’ work or news coverage.

7. Give Recurring Donors Special Membership

Remember to use the same tone with your recurring donors as you would with your teammates. Tell them more than you would tell new donors: you want them to feel in-the-know!

Monthly giving will become a lifelong commitment for some of your recurring donors. It’s important to recognize that they are investing in you. While they’re not buying a product, your supporters do get value from your nonprofit in the form of feeling identified with your cause and the gratification of knowing they are having a positive impact. 

Make sure they continue hearing about your successes and cultivate their identification with your mission through a special membership. 

8. Ask Your Biggest Fans for Help Before You Launch

Find people who believe the most in your nonprofit’s cause and ask them to help launch your new program. When they root for it, they will convert   other supporters. It will come naturally for your fans to be part of a campaign that provides you with regular income so you can keep up the good work.

When your biggest supporters get a chance to become founding members of your recurring program with you, it will also make them feel appreciated. By working with them to conduct a “soft rollout” and allowing them to provide feedback, you’ll gain crucial momentum for your official launch. 

For a great example of how to phrase this in emails and landing pages, see examples of the marketing material used by charity:water for their recurring giving program (originally Pipeline, now called The Spring).

Remember, the most important step to any monthly giving program is to express your appreciation for  your recurring donors. Say thank you and show them what their contributions have helped you to achieve!

About the Author

Emily Friedrichs is the Communications and Partnerships Manager at Elevation, a nonprofit marketing and web agency that provides digital solutions that appeal to nonprofits’ unique service models. Emily’s commitment to social justice and service began in zir youth in New Hampshire and has stayed with zir across the globe decades later. Emily has been both volunteer and activist for organizations working on human rights, poverty elimination, non-violence, and cultural exchange. Ze has taught in underprivileged communities in New York and Buenos Aires. Ze is passionate about community-building and behavioral psychology, and excited to be working at their crossroads in nonprofit technology.

The post How to Start a Monthly Recurring Giving Program for Nonprofits first appeared on Snowball Fundraising.

Though not ideal for all nonprofits, Luminate Online is hard to beat for established organizations in need of extensive, completely customizable online fundraising software.

Sound like your nonprofit? In that case, keep reading for 5 tried-and-true ways to get more from Luminate Online! We’ll cover how to:

1. Work with a nonprofit technology consultant.
2. Incorporate custom Luminate Online integrations.
3. Implement Blackbaud’s Luminate Online add-ons.
4. Configure Luminate Online to meet your needs.
5. Make sure your staff is trained in Luminate Online.

When we’re done, you’ll be ready to take on new fundraising and donor engagement strategies powered by your Blackbaud Luminate software. Let’s get to it!

1. Work with a nonprofit technology consultant.

Who better to coach you in using Luminate Online than a team of Blackbaud experts? With that logic, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that our first piece of advice for navigating Luminate Online is to seek out the help of a nonprofit technology consultant who is well-versed in the Luminate Online platform.

Whether you’re just getting started with Blackbaud Luminate or are hoping to expand your knowledge of their products, here are just a few examples of areas where a consultant’s expertise can serve your nonprofit:

• Developing a Luminate Online strategy.
• Migrating donor data from an existing platform to Luminate.
• Creating custom fundraising solutions.
• Training your team in using Blackbaud Luminate.
• Implementing Blackbaud or third-party integrations.

Because Luminate Online is such a multifaceted tool, your nonprofit might discover you’re in over your head trying to understand and implement all of its features on your own. A nonprofit technology consultant can help!

Not only can your consultant help you understand the product, but they can actually help you prepare for implementation and adjust the platform to fit your unique needs. With development skills and an in-depth understanding of the Luminate Online API, your consulting team can configure Luminate in a variety of ways (some of which we’ll touch on later in this post).

Think of it this way: your fundraising software should bend to meet your needs, not the other way around. A nonprofit tech consultant can ensure that’s what happens. When you have their insight on hand, the rest of these tips will fall into place!

2. Incorporate custom Luminate Online integrations.

Ideally, one fundraising software solution would be able to cover all of your nonprofit’s needs. But as your organization probably already knows, that’s rarely the case.

The beauty of the Luminate suite is that it’s designed to be mixed and matched with other Blackbaud products as well as third-party integrations.

Depending on your fundraising needs, you might integrate your Luminate system with other software such as:

• Dedicated online or mobile giving software.
• Constituent relationship management (CRM) software.
• Third-party marketing tools.
• Event management software.

For instance, many organizations find integrating Luminate Online’s fundraising tools with the powerful performance capabilities of Raiser’s Edge to be a worthy pairing.

Since Raiser’s Edge comes with constituent management tools, you’ll be able to collect and store useful donor data from your Luminate system. In return, this information can be culled into reports that analyze your donor retention, major gift cultivation, and recurring gifts—all of which can be used to improve your marketing and fundraising efforts. 

If you’re staying within the Blackbaud family, you’ll be able to find plenty of online instructional resources to help you through the integration process. You can also reach out to Blackbaud’s customer support team or look to the community forums for help filling in any gaps or overcoming hurdles.

However, if you’re hoping to implement a custom third-party integration, proceed cautiously. Nonprofits with extensive IT departments or experience customizing software might be able to seamlessly pair an external solution with Luminate Online, but more than likely, you’ll need some assistance along the way.

A nonprofit technology consultant is most likely going to be your best bet for building out your Luminate system to include the full range of tools you need. While employing their help will require some initial investment, you’ll probably find it’s worth it to have a custom fundraising solution at your fingertips!

For example, if your organization wants to explore adding mobile giving as a new donation channel, you’ll need to ensure that donor data collected via mobile giving or text-to-give can flow seamlessly into your Luminate database.

If that sounds like your organization, we can help. Contact our team to devise a plan for integrating the online and mobile giving software you need into your Blackbaud system!

3. Implement Blackbaud’s Luminate Online add-ons.

Luminate Online comes with a host of core tools, but you can also expand your feature set by purchasing any of Blackbaud’s Luminate add-ons.

There are three add-ons your nonprofit can choose from, each with a specific fundraising or digital marketing purpose—Luminate Advocacy, TeamRaiser, and Luminate CMS.

Let’s look at each one in greater detail.

Luminate Advocacy

Designed for nonprofits with grassroots fundraising or policy-based initiatives, Luminate Advocacy comes with the following features (among others):

• Legislative data tracking.
• Zip-to-district matching.
• Integrated vote data.
• Letter-to-the-editor tool.

While there are plenty of dedicated advocacy solutions available, adding this expansion to your Luminate Online platform can seamlessly kickstart your advocacy initiatives and streamline your fundraising efforts in a holistic way.

After all, your nonprofit’s advocacy campaigns are closely connected to other aspects of your organization, particularly outreach and fundraising. You’ll want to be able to view all of these efforts collectively so that you can understand how you’re engaging with supporters across the board.

And since Luminate Advocacy is already a part of your Luminate Online platform, you’ll be able to blend your digital advocacy tactics with the rest of your online strategy, no integrations or third-party platforms needed.

TeamRaiser

Blackbaud’s peer-to-peer fundraising platform, TeamRaiser, can be implemented with or without the entire Luminate Online platform behind it.

With TeamRaiser, your nonprofit can empower your supporters to become motivated fundraisers for your cause by using tools such as:

• Peer-to-peer participant centers.
• Personal fundraising coaching and training.
• Gamification features and competition tracking.
• Specialized peer-to-peer reporting.

Plus, your nonprofit can work with a nonprofit consultant to implement custom TeamRaiser solutions that can add a unique twist on standard social fundraising. Read this post from the Luminate Online consultants at DNL OmniMedia to learn how!

Luminate CMS

Luminate’s content management system provides nonprofits with an integrated approach to creating and managing online content. An alternative to other CMS platforms (think: WordPress, Drupal), Luminate CMS will give your team access to necessary tools like:

• Multi-website management.
• Professional content templates.
• Custom content types and categories.
• Web analytics.

Plus, since your web content will be integrated with your entire Luminate system, all of the data collected from your donation forms, event registration forms, and advocacy action forms will be automatically synced to Luminate Online!

4. Configure Luminate Online to meet your needs.

Because Luminate Online is so extensible, in order to get the most out of the platform, your nonprofit should come up with a plan to customize the software to meet your needs in a unique way.

At its core, Luminate Online isn’t much different than many other less expensive fundraising software options on the market. What makes this offering so special is that your organization can configure the product to deliver a solution that’s completely your own.

How do you that? To start, you’ll need to have some development knowledge and some experience working with Luminate products. If you don’t, you’ll need to find an outside developer or consultant who can implement the customizations you need.

For example, if you need to make changes to the layout of your donation form, you can do that by working with a nonprofit web consulting firm!

While it might seem like a small change, having a responsive web form that fits your nonprofit website is vital, and it may require backend changes that you can’t make on your own.

Look at how the consultants at DNL OmniMedia reconfigured the Luminate Online donation form to fit the Interlochen Public Radio’s website. 

Unlike standard Luminate Online web forms, this form is customized to include a left text column where Interlochen provided important information to their supporters.

Before you start contacting consultants, though, make sure you’ve thought through which customizations you need. While a consultant can help you map out your exact configuration strategy, you’ll need to have some idea of what you need Luminate Online to do before you can have a developer make it possible.

5. Make sure your staff is trained in Luminate Online.

Before you can dive into your Luminate Online Marketing platform, you need to know that everyone who’ll be using the system can do so effectively.

Many nonprofits overlook training, thinking they’ll be able to figure out Luminate on their own. With many lightweight fundraising solutions, that may be possible, but with a program as nuanced as Luminate Online, your team will need some professional guidance.

You can seek out the counsel of Blackbaud’s training services for your staff’s training or work with a nonprofit consulting firm to get the coaching you need. Since you’ll likely already be working with a consultant to handle a variety of other needs, in many cases, it makes more sense to seek their help with setup, implementation, and training all at once.

Before you start the training process, you’ll need to answer a few key questions:

• Which team members need to be trained? Will your entire team be using the Blackbaud Luminate products or only key staff?
• What is your time frame for completing training?
• How will you manage your current fundraising projects during the training period?
• How much room in your budget do you have for training expenses?

No matter what, it’s important that your nonprofit prioritizes some form of training before you get started with Luminate. If you don’t, you almost certainly won’t get everything you could from this product (and you’ll be missing out on valuable fundraising opportunities!).

With these tips in mind, your team will be able to maximize your Blackbaud Luminate experience. And trust us, you’ll have the fundraising results to show for it!

For more fundraising software tips, check out these resources:

• Free Nonprofit Software: Our Top Picks. Not ready for an investment quite as substantial as Luminate Online? Don’t worry! These nonprofit solutions can meet a variety of needs for free (yes, free!).
• Luminate CRM: Key Considerations Before You Buy. For Salesforce users looking to reap the benefits of the Blackbaud Luminate suite, Luminate CRM can be the answer to all of your donor management needs. Find out if it’s right for you by reading this handy post.
• 4 Keys to Prospect Research with Luminate Online Marketing. Looking to add prospect research to the mix with your Luminate Online platform? DonorSearch has got you covered with their guide to using Luminate to make the most of your prospect data.

The post 5 Incredible Ways to Maximize Blackbaud Luminate Online first appeared on Snowball Fundraising.

And before you can really start researching, you need to know the right questions to ask.

That’s why we’ve hand-picked the 15 most essential questions to ask before you pick the right online tithing tool for your church.

Questions to Ask Before You Get Started

• How popular are different types of online tithing?
• Is online tithing effective/engaging?
• Is online tithing right for your church?
• Can donors make donations on their phones or tablets?
• What will you be using the tool for?

Pricing and Security Questions

•  How much does the average online tithing tool cost?
•  Do they work with all types of payment processors?
• How safe/secure are online tithing platforms?
• Are there deals for churches?

Questions Concerning Ease of Use

• What’s the set-up process like? Will it require programming knowledge to get started?
• Can you change the donation form to fit your needs?
• Can you use online tithing for a specific church event?

Questions to Ask When You’re Close to Deciding

• When is the best time to let your congregation know about online tithing?
• What will your support needs be?
• How do you get started with online tithing at your church?

Questions to Ask Before You Get Started

1. How popular are different types of online tithing?

In response to the way the world is changing, many churches are keeping up with the times by meeting parishioners where they are.

Churches aren’t getting rid of the traditional collection plates by any means. But they are offering multiple ways to tithe now. 

You can imagine with the popularity of online giving in other sectors (online giving to nonprofits rose 13% last year) that online tithing is becoming undeniably more popular in church.

There are several ways to tithe now, including but not limited to:

• Text-to-tithe
• Crowdfunding (for special events or projects)
• Tailored online donation forms
• Email donation buttons
• QR code promotions

• And more!

All of these are great options, and they’re some of the most popular ways for people to tithe. There’s no wrong way to give, and the popularity of each tool really depends on your individual congregation.

2. Is online tithing effective/engaging?

Simply put, yes.

Online tithing can be extremely effective. Churches that have had online tithing as an option for a few years now report an average increase in tithing as high as 25% in a year.

It’s all about the way you promote your giving options. If you make online tithing a standard option at your church, chances are, it will be effective.

What it comes down to is: are you willing to put the effort into making online giving worth your church’s while? If the answer is yes, you’re going to have a highly successful online tithing experience.

Online tithing can be particularly effective for churches who choose to integrate mobile into their tithing options. Last year, 1 in 5 people admitted to using their phones during church.

If your congregation is already on their mobile devices, why not meet them where they are, with mobile tithing?

3. Is online tithing right for your church?

You may be asking yourself something along the lines of, “Is my church too small for online tithing?”

The truth is: online tithing works for churches of all sizes.

There’s no such thing as a church that’s too big, too small, too new, or too old to implement online tithing.

There are congregations all over the US who have already started seeing 15% increases in tithing overall since starting with online giving.

4. Can donors make donations on their phones or tablets?

When you’re searching for an online tithing tool, you want to be sure that it has a great mobile component.

It’s been proven that if a mobile transaction takes longer than 30 seconds, 85% of people will abandon the process. Don’t let frustrating and clunky transaction processes impede your church’s tithing.

As long as your online tithing portal works just as well on mobile as it does on a desktop, you should be golden.

91% of adults in America have smartphones within reach at all times. Tap into that accessible market by having an easy-to-use mobile giving site.

Having a mobile component to your church online tithing tool is bound to inspire even more giving!

5. What will you be using the tool for?

Online tithing technology can be used for general tithing as well as event-specific crowdfunding. Your church can make online tithing the standard for church giving, or it can be a more occasional activity. You can promote mobile giving every Sunday, or you can reserve online and mobile giving for special projects and events.

How you use it is up to you. The only thing you need to research and be sure of is: will the online tithing tool you pick do what you want it to do?

There are so many choices out there, it’s hard to imagine that you won’t be able to find a provider who can meet all of your needs and more. You just need to make sure you know what your needs are before you pick a platform.

Pricing and Security Questions

6. How much does the average online tithing tool cost?

It truly depends on the size of your church and which online tithing tool you end up choosing, but for the most part, online tithing tools should be reasonably priced. Often, the pricing will also depend on how many different components you choose for your online tithing.

If you want to keep it simple, it should be relatively inexpensive, but even if you want to go all out, you should be getting what you pay for!

On average, a solid online and/or mobile fundraising platform should start at around $50 per month.

That being said, sometimes you can find online fundraising platforms that will provide special discounts for churches and other faith-based organizations.

7. Do they work with all types of payment processors?

Some of the smaller platform providers don’t work with payment processors at all. Some of the larger platform providers are unable to help churches that are just starting out and don’t know anything about payment processing.

The best online giving platforms will meet your church right where your payment processing needs are. They should be willing to set you up with a payment processor–or let you do your own thing if you already have a system in place.

8. How safe/secure are online tithing platforms?

Depending on the provider you choose, your money and information are guaranteed to be safe, locked up tight in PCI-compliant vaults.

PCI-compliance means that the top industry standards for safety and security are met, ensuring that your information stays put and your money goes only where it’s meant to.

When you’re researching different platforms, make sure that you go with one that has all of its ducks in a row safety-wise.

For more on safety concerns, read this article.

9. Are there deals for churches?

Yes! You can absolutely find deals specifically tailored for churches. You just have to ask–or find the ones that offer special pricing for churches and faith-based organizations like yours.

In addition, there are several websites that offer free trials of their software so that you can be 100% sure of what you’re getting before you commit to buying anything.

Questions Concerning Ease of Use

10. What’s the set-up process like? Will it require programming knowledge to get started?

You’ll want to find the most user-friendly platform provider.

The best online tithing platform providers will walk you through their installation process step-by-step. And even once you’ve installed everything, they stick around for support whenever you need it. Often, their support and customer care is just a phone call or an email away.

You definitely shouldn’t need to learn how to program or code in order to get started with online tithing.

11. Can you change the donation form to fit your needs?

Online tithing forms should be completely customizable.

Find a platform that lets you play!

You can add your church’s logo. You can create a webpage that’s solely your church’s colors. Best of all, you can change it all again whenever you want. With the right platform, you can make your online tithing tool look just like…you.

Why is it important to have an online donation page that looks like you?

Imagine that you’re shopping online, and you find the perfect item: the exact thing you were looking for! But when you go to check out, suddenly, the payment portal no longer looks like the website where you found your item. Wouldn’t that raise red flags for you?

The same is true of a charitable giving site: it has to fit in seamlessly with the rest of your website, otherwise people will feel insecure donating through it.

12. Can you use online tithing for a specific church event?

You most definitely can. There are thousands of churches that use online giving portals for the sole purpose of raising funds for specific events.

In addition to using online giving portals, your church can also use crowdfunding thermometers.

Crowdfunding thermometers, which track the progress of any given fundraising campaign, are great tools for keeping track of the success of your church’s endeavors. Each time a donation is made, the crowdfunding thermometer fills in a little bit more, making it easy for your members to see how close you all are to your goals.

If you’re wanting to try this fun tool out, seek out an online giving platform provider that allows you to explore this option.

Questions for When You’re Ready to Decide

13. When is the best time to let your congregation know about online tithing?

The answer to this essential question really depends on the structure of your church’s services.

Typically, there’s time set aside for tithing in a Sunday service. That would be the ideal time to take 15-20 minutes to explain online tithing to your congregation.

If you don’t have that time built into your services, you can probably find time at a well-attended church event or in smaller weekly get-togethers, like Bible studies.

Some online giving platform providers will also provide your church with tools to help explain online giving to your members. Helpful posters, infographics, and step-by-step instructions really make all the difference.

14. What will your support needs be?

This is one of the most crucial questions to ask yourself before you invest in any sort of software or equipment of any kind for your church.

When it comes to online tithing specifically, though, you want to be sure that the level of support that you need will be met by the online tithing platform provider you choose.

You want to feel like you’ll be able to count on your provider if you run into any trouble at all.

You also want to feel like you won’t be running into that much trouble in the first place.

Regardless, it’s important to know that you’ve got back-up, should you ever need it.

15. How do you get started with online tithing at your church?

Getting started is the most exciting part of the process. How you start will depend entirely on all of the other factors discussed in this article.

This is where you get to be creative. You get to choose your own path and lead your congregation down it with you.

Now that you know what questions to ask (of yourself and of your platform provider), you’re ready to start looking into all of the different online giving tools out there. 

The post Online Tithing Tools: 15 Questions You Need to Ask first appeared on Snowball Fundraising.

To reduce shopping cart abandonment, retailers are streamlining their mobile checkout process by reducing the number of clicks require to complete a purchase. Adding simple technology, such as @Pay Buttons, to their emails is one way to capture revenue in just a few seconds — as little at two clicks. During the holidays, the number of emails being read on smartphones and tablets will increase and by the end of November 2014, it is predicted that mobile will account for more than 20% of site sales!

The post Infographic: Mobile Holiday Shopping first appeared on Snowball Fundraising.

SeeWhy states that 97% of mobile shopping carts are abandoned. Clearly, something is broken.

What’s even worse is that marketers continue to pour money into email marketing, but they are generating less of a return on their investment. Email sends are expecting to increase by 18% year over year, yet revenue per email is down.

As a marketer, imagine being able to deliver targeted, relevant products via email to your customers. Through some personalization and/or re-targeting efforts, that can now easily be accomplished. Now imagine those customers can actually buy those products without ever clicking out of that email. In 2 steps, they can buy whatever you send them from inside an email. Yes… they can buy from inside an email, simply and securely.

Our patented Email Checkout is the only way you can turn your emails from a flier into a shopping cart. No shopping cart abandonment, just increased sales.

To learn more about our patented Email Checkout, check out:

snowballfundraising.com/demo and try a live demo.

The post Increase Conversion with Email Checkout first appeared on Snowball Fundraising.

1. Email as a personal assistant – There are several companies trying to create this experience, the most notable of which is Tray. Tray appears to be a fully customizable service that learns users email habits and data, then contextualizes communication, connects your account with commonly used web services, automating common tasks, providing analytics, and offering suggestions on how better to manage your email flow. The service is anticipated to be available in 2013, but no word on an exact release date.

There’s also Zero Mail, which is already available, but offers actual personal assistants to help with tasks that arrive via email. It has some interesting features worth a look.

2. A checkout process done completely within email – It’s common for retailers, nonprofits, membership organizations, and political fundraisers to send messages in hopes that recipients will spend money on their cause. If users do decide to click on something they want to buy, they’re taken from their email to a third-party website, where they often have many steps to complete before we can complete a sale. @Pay is the first business of its kind to offer a 2-click checkout process that stays completely in email. Its goal is to make payments easier and faster for mobile users. To get a sense of what this looks like, here’s a short video:

3. Turning email into art – One user decided to have some fun with his spam messages by responding to them with elaborate, ridiculous stories. Sometimes the spammers engage him in a dialogue, and hilarity ensues. A typical account holder receives nearly 100 spam emails a week, and an old study referenced on Wikipedia estimated that unwanted email costs users nearly $22 billion annually. While he isn’t stopping the spam, reading it evokes a feeling of satisfaction that someone was able to re-spam a spammer. Another artist turned spam headlines into artistic postcards.  Another user created “a mixed media art and poetry book with a story told through email exchange”. The Art of Wooing shares a story of the author’s quest to woo a poet who originally came into his life as a kickboxing instructor. You can page through this beautiful book if you want an art fix.

There have to be more innovations we haven’t discovered. This post feels incomplete having only a few examples of creative things people are doing with email. Are you aware of any? Care to share?

The post Unexpected Uses of Email first appeared on Snowball Fundraising.