e-Appeals: Create New e-Appeal Part I - Setup

e-Appeals: Create New e-Appeal Part I - Setup

1. The e-Appeals function allows users to do several things:
   • a) streamline the online donation process by sending donors a (mobile optimized) email donation request that allows donors to checkout/donate (via a special online gateway/portal) without entering their contact info if it's already in your CRM (rather than donors going to your website and filling out a donation form/checkout page, with e-appeals, donor simply click the donation amount button, confirms they wants to donate, and then the donation is processed using the billing information already in your CRM database). The first screen show is from the mobile-optimized email received by the donor (you have full control of the template/email sent donors). The second and third screen shots are from the online portal where the donation is made. As you can see, the donor only needs to confirm the donation amount and enter any required information (such as credit card # if they don't have a saved credit card on file) that is not already in your CRM.
     

     

     

   • allows you to easily segment your donor/prospect list and send targeted asks to each segment/list from inside the module rather than creating multiple separate lists

     

   • do A/B testing of appeal/ask content. A/B testing (sometimes called split testing) is comparing two versions of something to see which one performs better

     

   • get metrics on how well an appeal/ask did

     
      

2. E-Appeals is part of the Communications module. You will find in-progress drafts on Pending Communications and sent/completed e-Appeals on Communications History.

   

   

   

   

   

3. For sent e-Appeals, you can access summary statistics in both table and chart format. And the summary statistics can be exported as well.
   

   

   

   

   

   

4. You can also create follow-up e-Appeals that target just those who didn't respond to the first e-Appeal (see the Create Follow Up e-Appeal tutorial for more information).

   

   

5. Before creating a new e-Appeal, be sure to configure your e-Appeal email template/content. See our tutorial for configuring e-Appeal letters/templates. While you can also configure/create the e-Appeal content/template from inside the create new e-Appeal flow, it's easier if you format the template first/prior to starting the e-Appeal set up.
6. Additional configurations that should be completed prior to creating an e-Appeal:
   • Configure the fund you want all donations made via this appeal to be tied to (you can use an existing fund; however, make sure the ask amounts/ask array in that fund are set up the way you want them to be. The true power of e-Appeals is in the ability to use dynamic ask arrays to ask your donors for individualized asks based on their past giving history).
   • Configure the campaign you want all donations made via this appeal to be tied to, if any.
   • Configure the program you want all donation made via this appeal to be tied to, if any.
   • If you want to segment your e-Appeal recipients by things like how much they've donated in the past, how recently they did (or did not) donate, or how frequently they've given in the past, you should also configure recency, frequency, and/or amount groups if you haven't already done this in your system (see this tutorial for more information). Commonly referred to throughout Fundly CRM as "RFA" or "RFA Groups," recency, frequency, and amount group data updates overnight, so if you are just now setting up these configurations, you will not be able to use them in segmenting your e-Appeal recipients until the next day.
   • If you want to segment your e-Appeal recipients by other criteria/categories, create a saved search with your criteria and verify the search results. You can use a saved search in e-Appeals to create the recipient list (you can also create the recipient list "on the fly" via advanced search from within the e-Appeal. However, it's difficult to "try out" different criteria to get the exact results you want from within the e-Appeal module; it's easier if you create the search criteria and test it out ahead of time.
7. To create a new e-Appeal, click Communications on the Main Menu and select Create New e-Appeal (or click the Create New e-Appeal button at the bottom of the Communications: History or Communications: Pending screens).

   

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8. This will take you to the Create New e-Appeal screen. There are four tabs that must be completed.

   

9. On Tab #1: Setup, give your e-Appeal a (descriptive) Name - this is an internal reference field that will not be seen by your recipients. This field is required.

   

10. Select the default Fund from the list of your configured funds. This will be the fund that will be tied to your recipient lists ("segments") on Tab #2 by default; however, you will be able to change/update this on Tab #2. This field is required. Please Note: the ask amounts that will be presented to your donors/recipients will be pulled from/driven by the Ask Array tied to your Fund (in the fund configuration), so be sure the ask array is configured the way you want it to be.

    

11. Next, select a Campaign from your list of configured Campaigns if you want all donations made in response to this appeal to be tied to a campaign. This field is optional.

    

12. Indicate the "from"/Sender Email address that will appear on the emails your recipients will receive.

    

13. Select the Gift Source that will be tied to every donation made via this appeal. This field is required. The drop down field here populates from your Main Menu: Fundraising: Configurations: Gift Source. Please Note: the system will automatically track if a donation was made in response to an e-Appeal and that information can be used in advanced searches and reporting. There is no need to create a separate/new gift source for "e-Appeal." Instead, the Gift Source is generally going to be "online" for e-Appeals.
    

    

14. Select a Program from your list of configured Programs if you want all donations made in response to this appeal to be tied to a program. This field is optional.

    

15. Once you have completed the Setup fields, in the lower right, click Save to save and exit or Save & Proceed to save and move to the next tab.

    

16. See the Create New e-Appeal Part II - Segments tutorial for instructions on how to complete the next tab/step in the process.