Paradigm Shift

I read this headline today and thought of myself and all my staff friends who think the week after Thanksgiving is boom time, the traditional deadline to get the end-of-year appeal letter out. Beat the Christmas giving season appeals, we think.

Google says that based on how people are using their search engines to research charitable giving opportunities, we may be about three months too late. Google’s charitable arm was intrigued by the searches, so they commissioned a study. This article shares some of the results. [click here]

Here are some of my bullet-point take-aways from the research:

• 75% of donors research their giving online. MPD WEBSITES FOR STAFF ARE CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF A MINISTRY PARTNER STRATEGY TODAY.
• Donors start their end-of-year giving research earlier than we might think. September is a good time to make sure your MPD website is refreshed with your vision and plans for the ministry year.
• 57% of donors made a donation after watching a video. We need to move from text-only or text-and-photo to video on our MPD websites. Keith and Kay need to take action on this!!!
• 40% of donors conduct online research on their mobile phones. Our MPD websites must be mobile friendly. Use an MPD website theme that is responsive and adjusts to mobile devices. The WordPress TwentyTwelve or TwentyEleven themes do this well. The GCX MPD theme does this well.
• “It’s important to build your brand because nonprofit donors are, in fact, comparison shoppers.” It’s a competitive market. For Kay and I, our relationships with our donors are strong, but we should never forget that it is a competitive market. Build your brand means keep your donor communications relevant, fresh, and high quality. Our website, prayer letters, emails (see e4e’s excellent guide on setting up and using Mailchimp), and social media needs to be compelling, winsome, and relevant to the donor not just to us.

What I’m Doing

As I read this article today, I realized how timely it is. This is the week to freshen up my website; turn that smartphone around in a cool location and record a two-minute video about our ministry as the new ministry year begins; make sure that when my ministry partners are comparative shopping (to give the funds that God is calling them to give) that my MPD website tells the compelling story God is calling me to live out this year in my ministry.

Some Website Help for You

For a fast and free way to create a ministry partner website using the power of WordPress, visit GCX Blog. Get started by:

• Downloading the Simple Guide to Create a Ministry Partner Website
• Creating your new site
• Seeing what others are doing
• Signing up for Step-by-Step weekly email help

eQuipping for eMinistry (e4e) also has varied and helpful blogging tutorials once you get set up.

What are you going to do to be ready for September?

Guest Post by Keith Seabourn

Formerly the Chief Technology Officer, Campus Crusade for Christ, I am now exploring new ministry assignments. I’m located in Orlando, Florida. No matter what the next ministry assignment may be, it will likely allow me to continue exploring how to use the amazing communication technologies available today to help people connect with living truth.

NOTES:

• Not sure where to begin? e4e’s previous post, Your Must-Have Tech Tools for MPD, helps you look at what tech pieces you might already have and what simple steps you should take next.
• The image for this post is courtesy of the MPD and Social Media blog. Another great resource for you!