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YMCA Of Greater Toronto Building An Online Village
1. Building an Online Village
Sandra Luther, Solutions Engineer – Blackbaud Canada
Ann Edmonds, Vice President, Information Technology – YMCA of
Greater Toronto
May 1, 2008
2. Building an Online Village
Rules of Today’s Game:
Rule #1: Let’s make this fun!
Rule #2: Your participation is encouraged
Who We Are:
– Ann Edmonds – Vice President Information Technology, YMCA of Greater
Toronto
– Sandra Luther – Solutions Engineer, Blackbaud Canada
Rule #3: Let’s make this fun!
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #2
3. Building an Online Village
Today’s Objectives:
Gain a better understanding of online communities and their benefits
Explore various online community-building tools and features
Learn from one organization’s experience in designing, developing, and
implementing an online community
Provide you with a starting point to begin to build or to enhance your
online community
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #3
4. Building an Online Village
What Do These Sites Have In Common?
Some of the most visited sites on Web
– High-value services and features
– Engaging, highly personalized content
– Relevant, up-to-the-minute information
– Easy-to-use, self-service tools
– Security and privacy options
Their #1 goal is to build a sense of
loyalty and community
Their customers are your constituents…
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #4
5. Building an Online Village
Benefits of an Online Community
Offers exclusivity through registration or
membership
Purpose is meaningful to the
organization and community members
Builds loyalty, enthusiasm, and
involvement
Enables multi-directional
communication
Creates both click and mortar scalability
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #5
6. Building an Online Village
Why Offer Online Services?
Your supporters and donors have a personalized experience when
banking, shopping, and connecting with each other online
The bar has been raised! Your nonprofit organization is no exception
Supporters and donors expect “on my time” access to self-service
capabilities (e.g. donations, event registrations, address changes,
subscriptions) and exclusive members-only information
Other nonprofits are already doing this!
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #6
7. Building an Online Village
Expand Your Organizational Mission
Build on traditional programs and activities
– Develop online counterparts for initiatives
– Leverage cross-marketing opportunities
– Dramatically expand your audience
Promote a consistent image
– Build on and supplement traditional branding
– Coordinate communications and marketing
– Distribute highly targeted materials
Improve fundraising results
– Create highly segmented appeals
– Interact with donors through their
communication preferences
– Provide a convenient, 24/7 donation option
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #7
8. Building an Online Village
Build a Network of Loyal Supporters
Provide valuable online services
– Ability to communicate with other supporters
– Multiple channels to engage with you
– Distribute valuable information and services
Create a personalized experience
– Member registration, profile and directory
– Targeted content based on history and
preferences
– Exclusive, members-only access
Empower users
– Provide tools for advocacy and interaction
– “On my time” self-service features and tools
– Contact with other users with similar interests
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #8
9. Building an Online Village
Streamline Operations
Integrate systems
– Make real-time updates to information
– Improve gift management and data
integrity
– Convenient, secure donation process
Automate operational activities
– Eliminate redundant information
– Provide key activities online
– Reduce communication costs
Develop metrics
– Determine quantifiable criteria
– Analyze results and decide where to
focus resources
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #9
10. Building an Online Village
How Non-Profits Are Leveraging the Web
Volunteer Portals
– Providing dynamic and targeted content for volunteers allows organizations
to connect valuable supporters with fun projects and share information
about new programs
Self-Service Access
– Using a dynamic online community offers constituents the convenience of
online event registration, donations, and enhanced information, as well as
secure, members-only access to board meeting minutes and more
Multi-Channel Communication
– Integrating website design, email marketing, and offline communications
provides an improved perception of the organization’s mission and intent
User-Driven Content
– Personalizes your mission and allows your most loyal supporters to express
the impact of your organization on their lives
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #10
11. Building an Online Village
Case Study: YMCA of Greater Toronto
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #11
12. Building an Online Village
These are Toronto’s Objectives
Increase awareness of YMCA programs and services
Increase participation in YMCA programs and services
Enable better service of YMCA members, volunteers, donors and key
stakeholders
Increase the number of members
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #12
13. Building an Online Village
These are Toronto’s Objectives
Increase revenues online through registrations and donations
– Increase opportunities to donate and make it easy
– Increase the average gift size
– Increase the number of donors
Increase volunteerism
– Increase the number of volunteers recruited
– Increase volunteer engagement and involvement
– Increase awareness that volunteerism is a critical component of their
mission
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #13
14. Building an Online Village
Crawl… Walk… Run
“Put House Crawl Walk Run
in Order”
7. Contact Us
Stakeholder 6. e-learning
Expansion
Take all initiatives
to the next level 5. Contact
Management
Channel
Foundational 4. Trigger based Expansion
re-design of email
website
New partner 3. Donations
hosting
relationship 2. Registration &
Account
Consolidate 1. Timely Maintenance
member Information
information
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #14
15. Building an Online Village
Determine Your Opportunities and Objectives
Crawl (Alignment)
– Establish web infrastructure and support arrangements
– Implement content management tool, processes and defined governance
roles and responsibilities
– Focus on site design with information architecture, look and feel, standard
and guidelines
– Incorporate content and functionality deemed “must have” for Release 1
Walk (Expand Content and Function)
– Expand content for secondary, tertiary audiences
– Expand and modify content based on user feedback
– Expand functionalities
– Allow more decentralized control over content
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #15
16. Building an Online Village
Determine Your Opportunities and Objectives
Run (Integrate with email marketing)
– Integrate email marketing initiatives with website
– Exploit additional online capabilities
– Implement online donations
Consider using a similar phased approach, and be realistic when planning
each phase. Don’t take on too much at once.
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #16
17. Building an Online Village
It’s Not Too Late
Studies show that online marketing has demonstrated promise for
nonprofits, but it is far from achieving full potential
– Most organizations raise <5% of funds online
– Email files are generally a fraction of your direct mail files
Important reasons to focus more on the Internet
– As we’ve seen today – more people are going online not just to donate, but
also to become more engaged with your organization
– Internet communication is growing in effectiveness
– Americans donated over $6 billion in 2006, a 51% increase over 2005
estimates*
– Global giving is estimated to have surpassed $13.2 billion by 2010*
*Source: ePhilanthropy Foundation, 2007
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #17
18. Building an Online Village
When You Get Home…
Define goals and objectives
– What are you trying to accomplish?
– What does success mean to you?
– What are your donors and stakeholders asking for?
Evaluate current programs
– Could you mirror current offline activities?
– Where could you support, improve, or streamline activities?
– What new initiatives could you implement online?
Implement IT infrastructure
– Data – prospect research and modeling / scoring
– CRM – database tools for tracking and reporting on interactions
– CMS – dynamic web content management for personalization and security
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #18
19. Building an Online Village
Thank you!
Ann Edmonds
Vice President, Information Technology
YMCA of Greater Toronto
ann.edmonds@ymcagta.org
Sandra Luther
Manager, Internet Solutions
Blackbaud Interactive
sandra.luther@blackbaud.com
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #19
20. Building an Online Village
Additional Resources
onPhilanthropy - www.onphilanthropy.com
ePhilanlthropy Foundation – www.ephilanthropyfoundation.org
http://ymcastrongkids.ca/
http://interactive.blackbaud.com/
Ann Edmonds – ann.edmonds@ymcagta.org
Sandra Luther – sandra.luther@blackbaud.com
Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Montreal | Sandra Luther & Ann Edmonds | Page #20