Traditionally, the holiday period is when many supporters decide on which charity to support and how much to give. (More than 30% of donations processed through Network for Good occur in December alone.) Well before Thanksgiving, you’ll want to ramp up your fundraising program, starting with your website.

Dot Org Web Works offers these suggestions:

First, and foremost, can your website process online donations securely and quickly? If not, Network for Good, Qgiv, and AffiniPay are just a few prime examples of donation services that specialize in processing credit card donations to nonprofit organizations.

1. Showcase the Need

Create a new Post/article showcasing the issue at hand (e.g.: For the homeless, winter is most difficult;  Family service needs increase during holidays; Affordable housing solutions for families year-round, etc.). This Post should be given priority placement on your Home page with a strong, inviting, title.

 

2. Highlight the Giving Opportunity

Provide the opportunity, a call to action (CTA), for your website visitor to give to your program (per the above examples). Throughout your CTA, broadcast your success with the funding amount raised to date, and how much further to go to reach its goal.

• You’ll want to make sure that, at the very least, your giving options page is responsive to mobile devices. About 25% of online donations are made through mobile devices.
• Brand (tailor) your giving page to that of the CTA with suggested amounts and with captivating images.
• Make the case! How will their donation be invested? (E.g: “A $50 donation will provide 2 medical exams for persons without health care options.”)
• Post a copy of the article and give request in your Facebook and other social media avenues, and ask that people Share the content within their networks. (Replace your regular background image with that of the CTA’s.)

3. Add Donate Now to Facebook

Facebook recently added a “Donate Now” option to their call-to-action buttons. Take advantage of it.

4. E-letter Early and Timely

Send out your e-newsletter before the crunch (such as the first week of November and December). And remember, about half of all emails are now read on mobile devices. You’ll want your e-newsletter formatted to view well on these smaller screens.

5. Gifts for the Givers

Many businesses supportive of your organization will gladly provide gift certificates and other products for you to give out as donation incentives. These free dinners, movie tickets, music CDs and whatnot can induce a $10 giver to give $40 or more.  Giving benefits are a great way of maximizing everyone’s participation.

6. The Final Push

Don’t forget the final push to give in the last week. Send out e-update on the CTA’s success, and that this may be their last opportunity to be a part of this solution for this giving cycle.

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Google Ad Grants Just Got Easier to Set Up

 

Google’s Ad Grants program, which is part of Google for Nonprofits, has been helping tens-of-thousands of nonprofit organizations in more than 50 countries. And up until now, accessing the program could be a little bewildering—which is why I posted my first step-by-step guide “Nabbing Google Ad Grants” in 2017. Since that time, Google has refined its program and have made it easier to access,and a whole lot easier to set up your first ad campaign.

The first thing you will want to do is create a new, specific to your organization, Google account. (Do not use your personal account since you will want to keep a separation between you the person and the nonprofit organization you are representing.)

Then visit: https://www.google.com/nonprofits, scroll on down to near the bottom and begin the process within “Steps to get Google Products”.

Who’s eligible:

Google requires that your organization be a nonprofit charitable organization meeting the full eligibility requirements in your country. For United States based organizations, this usually falls under 501(c)3 tax exempt status, but with the following exclusions: That your organization is:

• Not a governmental entity or organization
• Not a hospital or healthcare organization
• Not a school, academic institution, or university (Google for Educationoffers a separate program for schools)

Verification

You then need to get verified. Begin the verification process here. Specifically, you will need to be verified as a nonprofit organization by  TechSoup or the local TechSoup partner.

Then request a Google for Nonprofits account, by going to: https://www.google.com/nonprofits/account/signup/us . Follow the instructions.

Once your nonprofit is verified, Google will inform you about accessing services such as Ad Grants.

 

Growing your fundraising with Ad Grants:

Ad Grants has made a tutorial on how to create your free Google Ads. Visit: Start the course.

From free stock images that will blow your mind, to no-fee video editing app. Here’s the 2019 list of free website tools for nonprofits.

Google Has Marked All HTTP websites as “not secure” in their Chrome Browsers this Month

According to Google, staring in July 2018, in their next browser release (Chrome 68), a website that is not secure–does not have an SSL certificate integrated into it (thus producing the prefix “HTTPS” instead of the usual “HTTP”), will get a “not secure” message at the lead of the URL. In other words, they will be warning your website visitors that your website is not secure. That is, if you have not already taken the corrective measures.

The obvious main 2 questions on website owners’ mind are: “What’s HTTPS”? And, “My site does not collect user information or conducts financial transactions. Why should I care?”

HTTPS simply tells the user that your website is secured via an encryption that protects the channel between your website and their browser. It assures them that a middle entity can’t tamper with the traffic or spy on your activity. As The Verge interprets this: “Without that encryption, someone with access to your router or ISP could intercept information sent to websites or inject malware into otherwise legitimate pages.”

And you should care because with recent website privacy concerns spreading across the globe like virtual black plague (think: Facebook), people are a little timid these days. And for a default notice to appear on their browser that the nonprofit website they are visiting is “not secure” may give them pause to continue—especially to the online donations page, even though the form and entered data on that page is secured via the portal’s service provider. Basically, folks are a bit jittery and they need to feel reassured.

So, what does it take to make one’s website a “secured website”?

It’s rather easy these days to add an SSL certificate to your site. You just need to purchase one from your hosting service (some plans will provide it for free) and then have your webmaster configure it to your site. You can also choose to do it yourself. Just check out this step-by-step tutorial from wpbeginner.com.