Marketing Tag Archive

Targeted Marketing? Check out Interests!

You may have seen or heard about ‘Interests’ in Andar. Interests are used to collect data about your constituents and help volunteers to find opportunities. Interests can be as simple as ‘Education,’ ‘Health,’ ‘Income,’ and ‘Basic needs.’ You may add any data point you like in Andar table #41. Customers with MIG and/or e-Community can also take advantage of ‘Interest Ratings.’ A constituent can add an interest to their profile through data entry (like a pledge card), through e-Pledge, or e-Volunteer when published appropriately. These Interests are displayed in a list and can be indicated by simply clicking a checkbox.

Most importantly, Interests and Interest ratings should be considered useful if your organization is actively collecting and using this type of data. If your organization is not going to use it or does not have a strategic plan to use it, don’t bother collecting the data. Put a plan in place first, then start collecting the data.

Interests (found on the Account Profile > Volunteer Tab > Interests Sub Tab) are binary. They are either on or off. You don’t get much information from a checkbox other than the user checked a box. It does not mean they read the label by the box or understand exactly what they have clicked. Adding clear instruction near your interests will help constituents understand what they are submitting to your organization.

Interest ratings (found on the Account Profile > CRM Tab > Interest Ratings Sub Tab) are organic. Interest ratings are grown as the constituent interacts with your organization. The more the constituent interacts with you, the better you know them. This CRM strategy is more accurate because the knowledge gained is based more on what the constituent does rather than what they tell you (Interest checkbox). Actions speak louder than words.

There are several ways to gather interest ratings:

  • Manual Data Entry
  • Accessing an Article via website or newsletter
  • Designations (MIG)
  • Volunteer Referrals (MIG)
  • Volunteer Assignments (MIG)
  • Event Attendance (MIG)

Interest ratings are assigned a weight (or score). It’s best to assign a score based on the impact the action has on the constituent personally. For example:

  • Read an article that has an interest rating of ‘Education’
    • Assign 5 points to ‘Education’ for clicking the article. They may not have even read the article, but they clicked something
  • Articles can have multiple weights (scores) so lets say our article also loosely touches ‘Financial Stability.’ (A better education helps one be more financially stable)
    • Assign 2 points for ‘Financial Stability’ for clicking the article.
  • A designation to an agency with ‘Education’ interest focus impacts the donor financially, this is a bit more impact than just clicking an article
    • Assign 10 points to ‘Education’
  • A Volunteer assignment for a reading workshop for kids – The volunteer spent an entire day for a series of weeks reading to kids, traveling (not so much now, but you get the idea) and getting clearances. This hits you personally pretty hard.
    • Assign 30 points to ‘Education’
  • And so on…

As your organization collects volunteer interests or as your interest ratings data grows, you may need to find advocates for ‘Education,’ Volunteers or even a special appeal for donations to help fund and build a community center. Where do you go?

Data Mining. Build a DMO that will find constituents most interested in ‘Education’ and send an appeal!

You can find out more about Interests here: https://support.andarsoftware.com/Help/Glossary/Interest.html

Contact the helpdesk if you need assistance with getting started.

Are Images Not Showing Up on Your Website or Emails?

Having missing images can affect how donors and prospects perceive your organization. Read below to familiarize yourself with some reasons why this might be happening, and what to do about it.

  1. Special characters in filenames: When uploading images in Andar/360, please make sure the image filename does not contain any spaces or special characters.
  2. The image file may be corrupted: Try opening the image in an editor and save it again or save it as a different file format.
  3. Blocked images: Some email clients may block images by default. Check your device settings to allow images.
  4. Mixed content: Mixed content occurs when initial HTML is loaded over a secure HTTPS connection, but other resources (such as images and videos) are loaded over an insecure HTTP connection. If your website uses secure HTTPS connection, ensure that all links in articles, web notes, and emails also use secure HTTPS links.
  5. Look & Feel Containers: If you are using a Look & Feel Container in an email, make sure the "Allowed in Email" option is turned on inside the Look & Feel item.

New Year, New Look!

January is a time when many people work on reinventing themselves by shedding a few extra pounds or getting into some new healthy habits. Andar software isn't in the health and fitness space, so we'd be happy to help you with a different way to reinvent yourself.

Why not consider making changes to the appearance of your website and emails? Andar Software can assist you in creating a new look or email style that shows off your best self in 2020. Contact Professional Services below to find out more.

I'm Ready For a New Look

Are Your Emails Arriving at Their Final Destination?

It doesn't matter how compelling your email is, if your audience doesn't receive the email, it's a wasted effort. But, how do you ensure your email sends well, and what's the sending process like?

Think of the process as traditional snail mail. Andar/360 helps you create an email, stuff it in an envelope, and it addresses it for you, but it must be dropped off at a virtual "post office" or "courier." At this point, Andar/360 hands off your email to an email server called an SMTP server (Simple Mail Transport Protocol). The SMTP server provider you use is your decision. Andar Software offers the use of our SMTP server as well as DNS management, as a service. You can also pay another provider or opt to set up your SMTP server. It's essential to make sure that you have correctly configured the SMTP server and your DNS records.

Continue reading to get more details on the process and make sure all your bases are covered!

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Create Personalized Content for Your Donors

Have you ever wanted to display a graphic on your website for only one company and not others? Do you want to show a slideshow only on your home page and not the other pages of your website? 

You can do this by using Targets. Targets show or hide web content. Think of a Target as a "group of friends" on Facebook (your family, your co-workers, your classmates in high school, your close friends, etc.) that you use to show or hide your posts on Facebook. For example, "I want only my close friends to see this photo, all my other friends should not see it." Another example, "I want all my classmates in high school except Joe to see this message."

Targets can be used to show or hide features to groups of people, and are reusable in different portlets. Learn how to use Targets in this handy tutorial.

Teach Me How

Improve the Donor Experience

What did United Way Elgin Middlesex do to refresh their online brand?

Watch this video of Aness Symons, Associate Director of Communications & Donor Experience, to find out.

Watch Now

How Are You Tracking Your Donor Information?

"Donor Journeys" are a hot topic at the moment. Knowing which contacts to engage in each journey comes down to using the right donor data.

Your next question might be, "What's an excellent way to gather contacts to engage in a journey?"

United Way of Central Minnesota uses texting as a way to place event attendees on a Donor Journey. Let Chris Gutterud tell you the details!

Watch Video

Avoid Donor Loss

Many nonprofit organizations suffer from having a leaky bucket of donors. Find out what you can do to avoid losing supporters.

Read Blog

Increase Your Campaign Success

You run the risk of losing donors if your web presence isn't appealing to the public. Whether you have a well-established brand or you're just starting to develop one, there are many ways to avoid common online branding mistakes.

Download a free guide to get tips, ideas, and guidelines to follow.

Get it Now!

Make Things Easy For Yourself, Use Templates!

The Andar Stylesheet Library has a slightly new look. It now has larger images that make it easier to navigate and find the templates you're looking for.

Download no-fold CEO call reports, receipts, thank you letters, and much more.

View Templates