Follow the Leaders: Learn From Charities Making the Most of Digital Giving

Among all the things charities must do — raise money, gather data, save the world — technology presents a new and perplexing challenge: how to reach supporters online and persuade them to give money or take action. This flummoxes even some of America’s biggest nonprofit organizations.

But smart charities of all sizes and missions have turned the tech challenge into a golden opportunity. They’re flexing their creativity, identifying new supporters, and raising more money online.

How did Charity: Water create one of the most user-friendly mobile sites? Why does the Humane Society of the United States colonize your Facebook news feed? Which health groups are reinventing events in which supporters raise money from friends and family? Or giving volunteer fundraisers the online tools they need and getting supporters excited? What can DonorsChoose, GoFundMe, and the leader of a tiny civil-rights group teach you about crowdfunding?

The Chronicle asked fundraising experts and readers to identify charities that make the best use of the Internet to gain support and sell their cause online. In this issue, we show you fresh ideas that work.

Best Giving Days | Best Social Media | Best DIY Drives | Best Basics

The Best Giving Days

Kim Leeson/North Texas Giving Day

Best Regional Giving Day: North Texas Giving Day

Though regional giving days are gaining momentum, the seven-year-old North Texas Giving Day remains tops in the field. Last September’s event brought in $33.1 million for 2,022 nonprofits, up nearly $7 million from the year prior and an eight-fold increase since its inception.

Clever marketing and user-friendly technology helped the event reach new heights, says Susan Swan Smith, chief relationship officer at the Communities Foundation of Texas, which organizes the 24-hour extravaganza. Giving was fueled by social media, email, and events like happy hours, coffee giveaways, and musical performances at five donation stations. “It’s become a communitywide effort,” Ms. Smith says.

A prime example of the creativity at work: A pet-food bank and a bat sanctuary competed to see which could net the most donors. The two groups posted playful videos and social-media updates ahead of the event and throughout the day. When the food bank won, the bat sanctuary’s leader lived up to her bet and dutifully dined on a dog biscuit.

Participation by nonprofits was up about 25 percent in 2015, and more than a third of last year’s 118,000-plus donations came from people giving for the first time to their chosen charity. The event’s overall success is due in part to its donors being used to digging deep; its coverage area centers on the Dallas and Fort Worth regions, residents of which give to charity at rates well above the national average.

Note: A previous version of this article said that the leader of the pet food bank ate a mealworm after losing a friendly competition. The leader of the bat sanctuary was the loser and ate a dog biscuit.

Best College Giving Day: The College of the Holy Cross

The University of Michigan set the standard for giving days in higher education in 2015, when it raised $4.4 million in 24 hours. But the College of the Holy Cross proved smaller institutions can get it done, too.

On its first try at a philanthropy marathon, the small Catholic liberal-arts college racked up more than $1.9 million during the Give Purple Challenge a 43-hour event in February. (The length, stretching over a Friday and Saturday, echoed the college’s 1843 founding date, says Tracy Barlok, vice president for advancement.)

Holy Cross focused less on dollars than on boosting donor participation, seeking to get 2,500 people to contribute to earn a $500,000 challenge gift. Driven by alumni advocates who had been prepped weeks in advance, shout-outs during a televised homecoming hoops game against Bucknell, and lots of social-media shares, participation blew the doors off: The drive wound up with 6,226 donors — 249 percent of the original goal. They gave more than $700,000, triggering an eventual $1.2 million in challenge gifts. Nearly one in three donors gave via a mobile device, and 29 percent donated via social media.

Best Giving Tuesday Strategy: Sikh Coalition

Sikh Coalition fundraisers came up with a winning formula to compete on Giving Tuesday last year: matching gifts, a carefully timed series of emails, and an appeal to supporters’ communal spirit.

The tiny group, formed after the September 11 terrorist attacks to advocate for Sikh Americans facing abuse and violence, first prepped donors Sunday morning with an email that explained Giving Tuesday. The note also stressed the multiplier effect of every dollar: The coalition had lined up $55,000 in matching pledges, and it wanted to win online-gift processor Network for Good’s contest for most money raised.

On the big day, an early-morning email featured an appeal from a hate-crime victim helped by the coalition. He closed with a reminder of his fellow Sikhs’ shared vulnerability: “They need your support today so they can continue to protect you tomorrow.” Hours later, the coalition’s leader, Sapreet Kaur, stressed the deadline in another email. In the evening, staff worked the phones, nudging key donors.

The result: The group raised $127,000 beyond the matches, more than any other charity using Network for Good. Early Wednesday, Ms. Kaur says, supporters checked in to learn how the coalition fared in the contest. “They asked, did we win?’ recalls the nonprofit leader. “Did we win — meaning them, too.”

The Best Social Media

Best Viral Event: DonorsChoose

DonorsChoose, a crowdfunding site that raises money for public-school teachers’ classroom needs, added the phrase “flash fund” to the charity lexicon a year ago. That’s when board member and comedian Stephen Colbert pledged to pick up the tab for all projects posted on the website by teachers from his home state of South Carolina — about 1,000 altogether, totaling $800,000.

This year, Mr. Colbert’s gesture inspired an even flashier idea: On March 10, more than 50 Hollywood celebrities, sports stars, and business moguls followed his lead and committed more than $14 million to cover DonorsChoose projects in a state, city, or urban neighborhood of their choice. Among the participants: actor Samuel L. Jackson, tennis star Serena Williams, and Bill and Melinda Gates.

DonorsChoose spent nine months planning this blockbuster sequel to Mr. Colbert’s solo effort and turned it into virtual event, #BestSchoolDay. On the big day, #BestSchoolDay was Twitter’s No. 1 trending topic for seven hours, according to Katie Bisbee, the charity’s chief marketing officer; the next day, it was No. 1 on Facebook.

Best of all, #BestSchoolDay sparked more giving, just as the charity had hoped, with the public kicking in $2 million. Just 48 hours after the event launched, DonorsChoose had acquired nearly 10,000 new donors — a fundraising success “beyond our wildest imagination,” Ms. Bisbee says.

Best Strategy: The Humane Society

In the competition for support online, the Humane Society of the United States plays rough. Kittens. Puppies. Bunnies. Refresh and repeat.

The Best of Online Fundraising 2016

Online fundraising is hard, but smart charities have shown that it can done successfully with innovative thinking and smart planning.

• How Giving-Day Strategists Are Making Tweaks to Keep Raising Millions
• Tips for Keeping New Donors After a Giving Day
• Online Fundraising: 4 Standouts in Crowdfunding and Giving Days
• GoFundMe President Shares Secrets of Billion-Dollar Success

It’s not just an unfair surplus of cute that has helped the animal-welfare charity gain nearly 100,000 Instagram and 271,000 Twitter followers and more than 2.4 million Facebook likes. The organization tests posts and appeals to see what gets traction, says Carie Lewis Carlson, social-marketing director. It also sticks to a formal social-media strategy for furthering fundraising and advocacy goals, she says, despite internal pressures to stray. “A lot of nonprofits really struggle with requests that come from development or programs: ‘Push this out on social media!’ And they do, and then they don’t get the results they’re looking for.”

Above all, Ms. Carlson says, the Humane Society’s social media focuses on the person scrolling through his or her news feed, rather than “just talking about all the great things the organization is doing. We find that sweet spot between what they’re interested in and what we’re working on.”

The strategy helps the 62-year-old charity raise 10 percent of its donations online. On Giving Tuesday, the Humane Society reeled in about $200,000, or twice its goal.

Best Instagram: Innocence Project

A photo of a man sitting at a restaurant may seem boring for Instagram, but one commenter wrote: “Wow ... this photo made me cry. ... God Bless Him!”

Why such emotion? The man, it turns out, is a newly released prison inmate waiting for his first restaurant meal after serving 25 years for a crime he did not commit.

Such are the photos and videos found on the Innocence Project’s Instagram page. Other charities have much larger Instagram audiences than this page’s 9,100 followers, but the nonprofit, a legal clinic that uses DNA testing to help fight wrongful convictions, has seen big growth since it started posting more regularly, with a roughly 58 percent increase since October. Alicia Maule, digital-communications manager, said the Innocence Project tries to post at least once a day, including weekends.

Many of its photos and videos feature people that the organization helped free, spotlighting joyful reunions with family and the like. “People love the photos,” she said. “They’re real, most of them are not posed, and they speak for themselves.”

Best Interactive Game: Heifer International

A Heifer International employee was puzzled by the animal in the photo: Was it a sheep or a goat? Distinguishing between the two can be challenging, thanks to their fuzzy white hair and goofy expressions. And it can be fun, Heifer staff thought.

From that idea was born an online quiz Heifer launched in August. Its goal: capture the attention of the charity’s online audience and attract new supporters. After a few “what animal is this?” photos, the addictive game prompts players to enter their email address to continue playing. Tens of thousands of people took the quiz during the month it ran, with Heifer collecting some thousands of new email addresses.

The quiz concludes with a call to action: “Want to transform a life in just a few clicks? Buy a sheep or goat for a family in need now.”

Since the game’s debut, the nonprofit has seen increased activity on all its online platforms, including social-media accounts and a blog. Heifer has run about a half-dozen other quizzes with themes like “Llama drama” and “What’s your animal alter ego?” Such creativity online is just one way the charity raised more than $125 million in 2015.

Note: A previous version of this article said that 5,000 people took the quiz and that Heifer International got 350 new email addresses as a result. It should have said tens of thousands of people took the quiz, which resulted in thousands of new email addresses for the charity.

Best Advocacy Campaign: DoSomething.org

DoSomething.org invites young people to volunteer. In March, it invited them to a gun show of sorts. The group asked college students and others to post on Twitter and Instagram a photo of themselves flexing their biceps. The suggested hashtag: #gunsout. The message: These are the only guns I want at my school.

The campaign, which targets college presidents, has prompted nearly 4,000 tweets from college students and others using the hashtag. A related Facebook video has been viewed more than 290,000 times — one of DoSomething’s highest totals for a video, says Michaela Bethune, who oversees the campaign. The social-media drive and other appeals have led more than 40,000 to sign up at the campaign’s website.

The organization surveyed its members before launching the drive, finding that most don’t feel they are being heard on the issue of gun violence, Ms. Bethune says. “We saw there was a clear need to provide young people a way to speak out on this cause and have a tangible action to take.”

So far, the campaign has led five college presidents to sign a resolution to oppose legislation mandating that concealed firearms be allowed on campuses.

Best Advocacy Video: American Civil Liberties Union

One of the American Civil Liberties Union’s most-popular online videos tackles a contentious issue: the rights of undocumented immigrants. Yet the video features cute kids — lots of them, some who look to be toddlers.

To highlight the fact that thousands of undocumented children go to immigration court without legal representation, the children are asked basic questions, like what country they’re from. One girl responds: “I’m from red country.” Another declares he’s from the North Pole.

The video has received more than a million views on Facebook and YouTube since it was posted in March, says Jenn Sturm, director of online engagement for the ACLU.

The impact of the immigration video? More than 2,500 people followed a link from the Facebook video and signed a statement in support of federal legislation that would provide for lawyers for unaccompanied children who are undocumented.

The video’s kicker is a comment from an immigration judge who dismisses the idea that the unaccompanied kids need legal counsel: “I’ve taught immigration law literally to 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds ... They get it.”

Says Ms. Sturm of the video’s success: “It was the trifecta of the outrageous comment, cute kids, and humor and absurdity.”

The Best DIY Drives

St. Baldrick’s Foundation

Best Event: St. Baldrick’s Foundation

The signature fundraising events for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation are its head-shaving happenings (above) — volunteer-run get-togethers where supporters get their scalps sheared in a show of solidarity with children who’ve lost their hair during cancer treatment. You may have seen the photos, because they fill up Facebook feeds: A woman laughing as her thick locks fall away; a boy cringing as he sees his shaven dome in a mirror; others smiling broadly as they rub a hand over a clean scalp.

“Capturing these moments has really drawn a lot of attention to the foundation,” says Mariela Castillo, St. Baldrick’s director of special events. Indeed, Ms. Castillo thinks the organization’s social-media appeals have played a key role in building one of the nation’s biggest peer-to-peer fundraising drives, raising $37 million last year — up 193 percent from a decade ago. Almost 70 percent of donations came online, with Facebook alone accounting for nearly half of traffic to event websites created by volunteers and participants.

It’s not just lighthearted posts that get people’s attention, Ms. Castillo says. Emotional appeals featuring children with cancer also do well, along with posts that tell the personal story of a child or family.

For its army of volunteer fundraisers, the foundation also provides an array of online resources and tips, and it has coaches who typically work by phone or email to help event organizers get started and who continue to offer advice and support along the way.

Best Crowdfunding: Cornell University

Cornell University launched a crowdfunding site in 2013 to woo young alumni and others who weren’t responding to annual-fund appeals. Called “Small Projects, Big Impact,” it showcases campus programs that need a financial boost, from the glee club to student teams building unmanned underwater vehicles.

The strategy’s working: About 40 of the 50 campaigns so far have reached their fundraising goals, and young alumni are contributing at about triple their participation rate for other Cornell giving programs. A quarter of alumni crowdfunding donors have never given before.

The next step: persuading these donors to give again, says Andrew Gossen, senior director of digital innovation in Cornell’s office of alumni affairs. “We’re banking pretty heavily on the notion that this is a way to keep them with us.” If alumni drift away, he says, the university will have to fight hard in later years to bring them back as other nonprofits zero in on them.

Best Up-and-Comer: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention launched its Out of the Darkness charity walks in 2004 — a time when such events were rock-solid fundraisers. Since then other organizations have seen walkathon revenues slide, but the foundation has powered up, raising $14.8 million last year — more than 10 times what it grossed a decade ago.

Online donations are leading the way, says Robert Gebbia, the foundation’s chief executive. More than 70 percent of contributions to the volunteer-led walks come through event websites primarily created by organizers and walkers, who use an online system the foundation provides. Volunteers can add photos and personal stories, then share links via social media, email, and other platforms. “It’s raising awareness and certainly raising a lot of funds for us,” Mr. Gebbia says of the system.

A high profile on Facebook appears to be particularly fruitful for the foundation. About 20 percent of walkers signed up for events in 2015 through Facebook ads or posts, Mr. Gebbia says.

Best Anyone-Can-Do-It Event: Cycle for Survival

Though revenues for some of the biggest charity walks and runs are slumping, many bikeathons continue to gain ground— notably, a series of cycling events in which bikers pedal in place, not on a road. Over nine years, Cycle for Survival has raised about $100 million for research into rare cancers at Memorial Sloan Kettering. “They have been growing like topsy for years now,” says David Hessekiel, head of the Cause Marketing Forum.

In Cycle for Survival events, each team member pedals a stationary bike for 50 minutes before the next rider hops on to continue the “relay.” Says Katie Klein, Sloan Kettering’s director of fundraising events, “We joke that you can pedal hard, or hardly pedal.” The activity’s accessibility is one secret to its success, she says: “We’ve had grandmothers who’ve had hip-replacement surgeries on the bikes.”

In 2015, the events, held in 15 cities, raised $25 million, up 25 percent from the previous year. Ms. Klein credits strong partnerships (such as with Equinox, the health-club chain that hosts the events), detailed reports to donors on where money goes, and a focus on personalization. “We work hard to build a community,” she says.

That work is conducted both online and off. At the start of each ride, teams are filmed talking about why they participate and the videos are posted on Cycle’s website. This year the organization launched a campaign to gather more stories, inviting participants to post a few lines or a video on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the hashtag #ThisIsMyBattleCry.

The Best Basics

Chronicle Photo By Julia Schmalz

Best Mobile: Charity: Water

Ask online fundraising experts about Charity: Water, the 10-year-old organization built to be “digital first” from day one, and they swoon like Beyoncé fans. The nonprofit, which raises money to build wells and clean-water systems in the developing world, does many things right to reach supporters online. It’s often on the cutting edge, foraying into areas such as virtual reality, but it’s also known for mastering the basics.

Charity: Water’s mobile site (at right) is a prime example, says Charlie Melichar, senior consultant at Marts and Lundy, which advises nonprofits on fundraising. “It’s a good model for others to look at.”

The site leads with a dead-simple form to set up automatic monthly donations or make a single contribution. That’s followed by a mere 35 words summing up the group’s mission and results. Four even shorter blurbs detail where donors’ money goes, how the group proves it’s making a difference, and why its mission matters, ending with a pitch for big gifts. In between, bright photos and icons liven up the message.

“They’re not trying to overexplain things,” Mr. Melichar says. “They keep the user in mind. Nonprofits can spend a little too much time about the things we want people to know and do. But if we make it easy for them, they’ll ultimately do the things they want to do, and everybody wins.”

Often Charity: Water builds its sites for mobile devices first and then retrofits them for desktop screens, says Kaitlyn Jankowski, the group’s product-marketing manager. “We’re increasingly moving in the direction of mobile,” she says, noting that up to 35 percent of the group’s online visitors arrive by smartphone or tablet. Up to 45 percent of people who open its emails are using mobile devices.

The group’s online messages have grown simpler over the years, she says, because user data showed “people will click on the first thing they see.” And donors like what they see: In 2014, the most recent year for which it has figures to share, Charity: Water raised $43.4 million overall.

Best Thank You: YMCA of Austin

The YMCA chapter in Texas’s capital looked at its 47 percent donor-retention rate and decided it could do better. So it created customized plans for various gift amounts and donor interests, says Sean Doles, vice president for mission advancement. One of the most effective: Supporters who give $1,000 and up get emails with cellphone-shot videos of beneficiaries such as kids attending camp thanking donors by name.

The videos don’t cost much and are easy to make, Mr. Doles notes. Several can be shot at a time and edited to personalize the final products. Donors are often charmed by the homemade productions, he says, because they convey authenticity: “If something’s too slick, it can raise the question, Why are they spending money on this?” Such stewardship tactics have helped boost the charity’s fundraising revenue since the recession to $1.1 million, up from $700,000. That donor-retention figure is up, too, to 54 percent.

Best Holiday Email Line: Oxfam America

“Bad fruitcake news, Steve,” read the subject line of Oxfam America’s Christmas appeal, personalized for each recipient. The email shows a photo of comedian Aziz Ansari, the group’s celebrity ambassador, wearing a dorky holiday sweater. His message: “I ate the fruitcake. I know, that was your big gift idea this year. I didn’t mean to do it. Sorry. Now you need an idea for a new gift.” Readers can then click into an Oxfam site to purchase livestock and other items to help fight poverty and hunger in the developing world. (Offerings included a $30 duck — or, in Ansari-speak, a “cute waterproof chicken.”)

The appeal for Unwrapped, Oxfam’s virtual gifts catalog, helped the charity raise 6.5 percent more in the last two months of 2015 compared to the same period in the previous year. A lighter tone can help sell a serious mission, says Mason Weintraub, director of digital engagement, and a funny subject line can help get emails opened, especially during the crush at year’s end: “We see it as a way to cut through the noise and stand out.”

Best Extreme Transparency: Watsi

When the crowdfunding platform Watsi says it’s committed to “radical transparency,” it’s not just talk.

At Watsi’s website, donors can help cover medical expenses for people in developing countries, and anybody who cares to look can see a lot about where the money’s going. Staff salaries? The cost of treating each patient? Monthly financial statements? It’s all there, in a “Transparency Document” linked from the home page. It even shows the date, time, and amount of each gift to a medical charity.

What’s more, Watsi’s online annual report for 2015 has an interactive tool where you can find out how many donors have given, the average contribution, patient demographics, illnesses treated, and more. Apparently donors are pleased: The site nearly doubled its crowdfunding revenue in 2015 over the year before, with 7,827 donors contributing $1.67 million.

Correction, May 4: A graphic in this story originally misspelled the name of NBA star Carmelo Anthony.