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Are you there blogosphere, it’s me Amy?
I know you’re there; I’m tracking you thanks to google analytics. I appreciate you stopping by and reading my blog. [...]
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The Last Word in 2011
Thanks to The Agitator for letting me have the last word in 2011. Tom Belford and Roger Craver’s daily e-newsletter [...]
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Averages, medians and modes… Oh my!
Last week, I asked you to run a few reports to measure your participants fundraising performance. The big question was… [...]
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I heard it on the news
The vast majority of donor acquisition spend today is on direct mail. But just about every report you read shows [...]
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Lessons from Humpty Dumpty
I’ve always been a quick study. I generally can diagnose most business problems and get to a 90% solution in [...]
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The Center of Your Universe
A post on recycling your content so that it can be used across multiple marketing channels [...]
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Scary Supporter Horror Stories
People share their nightmares with me. Well, ok – maybe that’s overstating it. They vent. And it freaks me out. [...]
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Raising Money with No Heavy Lifting!
I just read an attention-grabbing article extolling a new print service called Read Smart by Production Solutions and it piqued [...]
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Quality, not just quantity
Recent changes at ISPs and Gmail make it more important than ever that you segment your house file and pay attention to your subscribers' behavior. [...]
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What is your web site’s visual hierarchy?
What catches your eye when you look at your web site’s homepage? What is the first thing you see and the first thing you want to click on? These are questions we almost always ask during a usability test to ensure our visual hierarchy is coming through clearly and consistently. Think of the visual hierarchy as the pecking order of a page’s content, providing cues as to what’s most important. If your organization wants, first and foremost, to bring in donations, then a compelling ask should rank high in your list. Maybe you’d rather get visitors to take an action alert or read a new study you’ve published. Your visual hierarchy should reflect your organization’s goals, whatever those may be at the time. Take a look at the Blockbuster web site. Since Netflix arrived on the scene, one of their goals is likely to obtain subscribers to the DVD-by-mail program. From their homepage, the first thing I see is the “Try it free” button on the “Movies Delivered” promo. The “Learn More” for Blockbuster On Demand also stands out, which is likely reflective of another one of Blockbuster’s goals. The Jewish National Fund site also demonstrates a good visual hierarchy. My eyes are drawn to the “Donate” button in the top navigation bar and the graphic in the “Plant a Tree” promotional box, both of which are major goals for the organization. Many of you may be so used to looking at your web site that you may not see a visual hierarchy anymore. Or, the one you do see may be artificially influenced by what you know is most important. In that case, have a friend take a look at your site and tell you what they see first. You could try a “5-second test” where you display the homepage for 5 seconds, then close it and ask your friend to write down what they remember. If their list does not correspond to your organizational goals, then consider rearranging the page or redesigning certain elements. You’re likely to see more clicks and actions taken as a result. [...]