Fundraising pages are the most important component of ActBlue: the vast majority of visitors to the site arrive directly on a fundraising page because a friend, an organization, or a campaign has channeled them there. We pride ourselves on these pages' simplicity: donors can show up, immediately understand what's going on, and contribute with no distracting bells and whistles.
But we harbor a dirty secret (or, not-so-secret if you've been with us a while).
Over the past three years, $22 million raised, and 200,000+ donors, these pages haven't actually changed all that much. For a bit of nostalgia, check out the DailyKos dozen page as it looked back at the end of 2004 (compare to the same page with today's look). Yeah, the site framework has changed a little, but the makeup of the fundraising pages is remarkably similar.
Next week, all that is about to change.
Motivated by a strong sense that we could do better (and by a desire to burn down HTML code approaching its second anniversary), a few weeks ago we got to work putting together a new design with the help of the excellent Steve Ofner of Liberal Art. The result is the new design that that you see at right. (Click the image for a full-size mockup.)
In putting the new design together we had several aims:
A sharper, more dynamic look & feel
A simpler user experience
A clearer presentation of the dollar and donor numbers
A more attention-grabbing "contribute" button at the top
The result is an improved page design that looks good with long candidate blurbs, short candidate blurbs, no candidate blurbs, or all of the above.
We'll be rolling out this design next week, and will continue to refine it in the coming months -- so please let us know what you think!
cross-posted from the new ActBlue Blog. Thanks for making this post possible!
On Monday I posted a tip for spicing up ActBlue fundraising pages by embedding video into 'asks'. This is a very powerful fundraising tactic--especially when the asker and audience have an existing relationship.
Over at Calitics, a great community blog in California, they've taken that suggestion and run with it. I've included a screenshot of their pitch to the right (click on it to view a bigger version in a new window). Besides the video, Calitics’ blogger Brian uses several of the principles of fundraising to make a really compelling plea for his candidates. Some of the successful elements they have included:
Create Urgency- The pitch is for end-of-quarter donations. Brian clearly states that there’s a deadline before which donors need to fundraise. And he timed his pitch just a couple of days away from the end of quarter.
Be Specific- Rather than overloading their page with a dozen candidates, Brian stuck with three candidates that have a common theme. The majority of ActBlue donors give to an entire page's slate of candidates…remember that when choosing your slate of candidates.
Make it Personal- Brian, a Calitics blogger, is asking his own blog readers to donate. They have an existing relationship and a degree of trust built up. Potential donors are more likely to give when asked by someone they know and the pitch is personal. They’re less likely to donate when spammed by someone they don’t know.
Think Longterm- The Calitics’ ask offers the option of giveing once or of setting up a recurring contribution. Recurring donations are growing in popularity on ActBlue, with over 1000 users having chosen that option for a variety of candidates. If a donor can’t contribute a lump sum amount at once, recurring contributions allow them to invest in the page in installments.
Most of these elements are included in their Calitics ActBlue fundraising page as well. To improve the impact, some ideas might be to include the text from the Calitics post next to the video on their ActBlue fundraising page itself or add the recurring contribution buttons below the embedded video. If that happened, their ActBlue fundraising page could be e-mailed around to additional friends or registered users of the Calitics blog extending the end-of-Quarter ask into a new medium.
One other thing that might help the effort is to set a goal, similar to what the bloggers at Raising Kaine have done (screen shot at left again, click to enlarge). They are shooting for $20,000 to all their endorsed candidates by the end of the state quarter on Saturday, giving a real sense of momentum to their efforts. Adding some text about that immediate goal on their fundraising page would be perfect to tie it together with their blog posts.
While it is early in the cycle, bloggers can build upon their early adopters to make effective asks in creative ways that fit their audience. What ideas might you add?
(This is a bit old, but I thought now would be a good time... - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
With as many friends as ActBlue has in the Democratic bloggingcommunity, it's about time we joined the party with a blog of our own. So today we are launching our official ActBlue Blog where we look forward to bringing our donors, candidates, campaigns, fundraisiers, and bloggers interesting resources, analysis, tips, and other information to more effectively raise funds to elect Democrats!
See more in the extended
This past week I had the chance to hear a classic Zack Exley rant, disguised as an apology. Zack may have sold out and started consulting, but before he did that he worked on the John Kerry Internet team. He and the rest of the Internet staffers screwed up royally. Thanks to the Internet, they were raking in an extremely large percentage of the overall fundraising, mostly small donations. At the same time, their requests for more of the candidate's time were denied. They may have asked to have Kerry pen his own emails, but it was not enough. While large donors may have gotten personal attention, the distributed nature of the Internet meant that there was no one effectively lobbying for them.
What Zack admitted, in retrospect, that they should have done was threaten to quit en mass, until they got some love from the candidate. He had the most interesting story to tell. Penning emails on his behalf and the campaign manager lacked authenticity and as a result were very boring. That was the difference from the magic of the Dean campaign.
It is the personal appeals and authenticity that drives much of ActBlue's success. It was mcjoan heading on a driving tour of the midwest, or jsw matching funds here at Calitics that drove their totals to $17 million this year. ActBlue and the rise of the small donor gets some well-deserved love in the LAT today.
It's illegal for me to contribute, it's logistically impossible for me to volunteer since I'm not a citizen and don't live in the US. So I was a little bit in a quagmire because I really wanted to help turn things around and get Democrats back in power.
So, I thought what I could do instead. One month ago I started my own blog called Turn Tahoe Blue which has the aim of doing just that.
This is a very brief diary--I'm a regular poster on Daily Kos and MyLeftWing, but I don't venture over here much.
The main purpose of my post here is to try to encourage some participation and organization with regard to activating ActBlue's capability to channel funds to candidates in California races.
As you can see from ActBlue's list, California only has $85.01 of the $10,000 ActBlue needs to raise to activate contributions for California State-Level races.
I'm wondering if anyone is interested in helping me lead a fundraising drive to get ActBlue activated in our state.
