Data Axle Nonprofit helps Marist Brothers develop a new digital journey to establish mission awareness, reach new audiences, and grow revenue
increase in digital revenue y-o-y
increase in organic website traffic
increase in direct website traffic
Since the pandemic, consumer behaviors have changed, and it’s important to remember that donors are consumers. In 2020, US e-commerce grew by more than 30%, accelerating online shopping and reaching a level not previously expected for another two years. This “new normal” resulted in a more hybrid and connected world with 51% of Americans preferring to shop online. Online shoppers report making purchases while in bed, at the office, and in the car. Even Boomers are embracing these changes, with 60% of tech-savvy Boomers reporting making donor decisions based on an online search.
Along with the shift in e-commerce behaviors, donor habits are also changing. More people are giving online, including direct mail recipients who choose to donate digitally. Digital channels allow nonprofits to reach a wider audience quickly and easily, increasing brand awareness and donation opportunities.
The goal of a nonprofit should be to make it easy for supporters to give. The fastest, most efficient, and cost-effective way to do this is by meeting donors where they are – online. For many nonprofits whose current digital strategy is limited to email campaigns, the challenge is knowing how to get started in expanding their digital portfolio.
Data Axle and Marist Brothers USA partnered to create a robust digital strategy that would establish a digital presence, build and grow an online audience, increase online fundraising, incorporate industry best practices, and allow testing of creative messaging to evaluate response.
Once completed, Marist Brothers moved on to determining the best digital channels for their mission – Meta ads, display ads and email, for example. From there, they created messaging and timing appropriate for each of these channels.
At this stage where the focus is to establish a digital presence and begin creating brand awareness, success measures are engagement-based and include web traffic, advertising clicks, email open rates, number of new email subscribers, and number of new social followers. Total revenue and number of new online donors are also important, but not the primary goal while in infancy stages of establishing a digital program.
Initial test results were positive.
Given the positive outcomes, Marist moved on to expand into more sophisticated digital strategies.
Phase 2 built upon the brand demand established in phase 1 and created low-ask ways to engage the audience. While continuing to establish a digital presence and reach new audiences is still key at this stage, it is important to begin cultivating those you’ve already reached. Donors and prospects were asked to “like” Marist Brothers on social media and submit a prayer intention, which allowed Marist staff to collect their email address. Marketing strategy included further brand awareness, incorporating a giving week centered around a key date to Marist Brothers and a matching gift campaign.
Success in this phase would be measured by growth in followers, active email addresses collected, and social media post “likes” while starting to see new digital revenue.
The success that the Marist Brothers had in the first two phases allowed them to establish a digital brand presence, reach new audiences and engage with these new supporters. This work resulted in increased digital revenue year-over-year from both new and existing donors. To continue to build off of this critical foundational work, Marist Brothers is now investing in additional acquisition channels while also focusing on strategies to renew digital donors with a variety of giving opportunities made available throughout the year.
While developing a digital program takes time and requires strategically building off of past efforts, results show that by tactfully establishing a digital presence, nonprofits can:
With Data Axle’s expertise, digital support can be customized for any nonprofit looking to expand their digital reach. Whether you need assistance with digital technologies, developing a communications plan, or syncing multiple channels, we are here to help you reach your goals.
Connect with our team to learn more about our work with agency partners and nonprofits, and how the experts at Data Axle can get you started on a new digital journey.
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