What to Expect in the Course

Intro to Online Fundraising Optimization | Certification Course

Most online fundraising training available today is full of recycled “best practices”, and rarely backed up with any amount of data or evidence that can help you grow.

In order to see real online fundraising growth, you have to understand exactly what works and what doesn’t in order to optimize each of your fundraising channels.

This 7-session course will lay the groundwork for a sustainable online fundraising program using a combination of learnings from in-market research studies, as well as 4000+ online fundraising a/b tests and experiments.

During the course, you’ll learn proven methodologies to help your online fundraising program reach more people, acquire more donors, and generate more revenue to fund your world-changing cause.


Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction

  • 2

    The Foundational Framework

    • Do changes matter?

    • Quick Review

    • The One Fundamental Challenge

    • The Donor Mountain

    • Quick Review

    • The Donor Mountain cont.

    • Quick Review
  • 3

    Email Acquisition

    • Basic Online Fundraising Strategy

    • All you have to do is ask, right?

    • Quick Review

    • Re-Think Common Elements

    • Copy / Text

    • Quick Review

    • Design

    • Quick Review

    • Form Fields

    • Quick Review

    • Timing

    • Elements in Action

    • What if my current offer isn't good enough?

    • The Follow-Up

    • Quick Review
  • 4

    Email Fundraising

    • The Email Message

    • Optimizing the Envelope

    • The Subject Line

    • Mystery

    • Utility

    • You

    • Recency

    • Authenticity

    • The 5 levers: Step-by-Step

    • Quick Review

    • How do we get more people to click and or donate from our fundraising emails?

    • Quick Review

    • The Value Proposition

    • Quick Review

    • The Incentive to Act Now

    • Emotional Connection

    • Discontinuity

    • Quick Review

    • Artificiality

    • Quick Review

    • Seeing it in Action

    • Email Fundraising Wrap-Up
  • 5

    Donation Pages

    • Why not just send people to my donation page?

    • Quick Review

    • How many types of donation pages do I need?

    • Quick Review

    • Different Templates for Different Situations

    • The General Donation Page

    • Quick Review

    • The General Donation Page Cont.

    • What's the difference between a Campaign and a General donation page?

    • Quick Review

    • General Donation Visitors

    • Quick Review
  • 6

    A/B Testing for Fundraisers

    • What is A/B Testing?

    • Quick Review

    • Why bother with A/B testing?

    • Any other reasons?

    • Quick Review

    • What does it take to run a good A/B test? Step 1

    • What does it take to run a good A/B test? Step 2

    • What does it take to run a good A/B test? Step 3

    • What does it take to run a good A/B test? Step 4

    • Calculating Your Needed Sample Size

    • What does it take to run a good A/B test? Step 5

    • Quick Review

    • Where should I test first?

    • Quick Review
  • 7

    Final Exam

    • Exam

Discover the Foundational Principles You Need to Start Optimizing Your Online Fundraising

Earn your online fundraising optimization certification and be equipped with essential and foundational skills, strategies, and principles to grow your fundraising when you enroll in Intro to Online Fundraising Optimization.

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