Usability and Analytics: hidden gems to unleash your website's rOI

Session 4 | 11:30am -12:15pm

Presented by Matt Barr and Erik Rubadeau, HJC and Frances Hall of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America

All visitors to a non-profit or charity website should be viewed as either current donors or potential donors to your organization, so why make it hard for them to find what they’re looking for? In this session, find out how to make your website into the conversion success you have always thought it could be.

The session

There is an incredible irony online. It is the channel that can provide the most donor-behavior data of any channel YET nonprofit organizations are usually data-poor when it comes to their online campaigns and online fundraising.

Why is that? This hands-on session will outline the BEST way to apply proven business rules, technology, and analytics to know how online visitors are behaving; how they are giving online – and ways that any organization can improve the performance of their web sites or giving forms – or any part of their web site where actions are important. 

This session will show how world class organization’s like the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America; Canadian Red Cross and Greenpeace are using proven, rigorous analytics and usability systems for their online activities. Learn from these leading-edge organizations and apply what they have learned to your online and integrated activities. 

Speaker Biography

Erik Rubadeau  
Senior Technology and Fundraising Innovation Consultant

Erik is a senior technology and fundraising consultant with Hewitt and Johnston Consultants (HJC) in Toronto. Erik came to HJC from Journalists for Human Rights, a small African media development organization where he rotated between working as an event planner, a database manager, a website manager and worked to create, launch and manage the organizations first fundraising programs.  During his time with HJC, Erik has consulted on and managed projects and programs for Greenpeace International, Doctors Without Borders USA, Greenpeace Canada, UNICEF Canada, Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, IFAW International, Canadian Cancer Society BC, Inter Pares and the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, among many others. Erik specializes in the use and integration of technology for fundraising and marketing in the non-profit sector.

Matt Barr 
Fundraising Innovation Consultant

Matt works with a diverse range of local and global nonprofits, including SickKids Foundation, Greenpeace International, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, Canadian Red Cross Society and BRAC, with experience specifically in website redesign project management which includes familiarity of Drupal CMS. He is HJC’s resident expert on non-profit website and online donation form usability, which incorporates organization-specific user data and internal and external best practices to create the most effective design for fund-raising and organizational success. Matt graduated from the University of Southampton, England with a B.Sc. in Politics and International Relations. In addition, he has completed the Humber College postgraduate certificate in fund-raising and volunteer management under the direction of Ken Wyman.

Frances Hall 
Senior Director of Development for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America

Frances Hall currently serves as the Senior Director of Development for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. In this capacity, she oversees the management of the direct mail, online, annual giving and donor care functions for the organization. Frances has a 21 year background with the organization and has worked in many areas of annual giving as well as management of the corporate giving program. She has developed trainings and support services to assist the chapters.