How You Can Plan a Multichannel Fundraising Campaign

October 19, 2023 Ann Green appeal letters, fundraising, multichannel, year-end appeal fundraising, multi-channel, planning, year-end appeal

Year-end fundraising season is starting to get underway. I’m already seeing appeal letters in my mailbox and this is just the beginning.

Speaking of appeal letters, you should plan to send one by mail. I know email is easier and less expensive, but people respond better to mail and it’s well worth the investment.

However, if you just send one fundraising letter and wait for the donations to come in, prepare to be disappointed. Your donors have a lot going on and may put your letter aside to handle later, and then never get to it.

Of course, you can also send email appeals, but you’ll need to plan to send more than one appeal due to the enormous volume of email people receive. Some donors will respond to the first appeal, but most are going to need a few reminders.

Your fundraising campaign will be more successful if you use a combination of mail, email, social media, and phone calls. Some donors may respond to your direct mail piece but will donate online. This is what I usually do. Others will see your email message but prefer to send a check. You could also include a text to give option.

You’ll have a lot of competition since you’re not the only organization seeking year-end donations. Most nonprofits rely on year-end for the bulk of their fundraising. Plus, donors may be overwhelmed with everything that’s going on in the world, but they still want to help.

This is why you need a multichannel fundraising campaign with a series of asks.

BEFORE YOU START

Clean up your mailing lists/database

If you haven’t already done this, clean up and organize your mailing lists/database. Do you have both postal and email addresses for all your donors? Be sure to segment your donors into different groups (current, monthly, etc), as well. Having good donor data is essential.

Make it easy to donate online

You need to have a donation page that’s engaging and easy to use on all platforms, including mobile. Test all links in email messages and social media posts. The last thing you want is a donor contacting you about a broken link or have to hunt around on your website for a link to your donation page.

When you’re ready to launch your campaign, include a blurb on your homepage that says your year-end campaign is underway. Make sure your donate button is in a prominent place.

Which channels do your donors use?

Don’t spend a lot of time on channels your donors aren’t using. Figure out in advance where you want to focus your efforts.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE AND STRATEGY

Come up with a schedule of when the appeals will go out. I’ve created a sample schedule below. Of course, you can adjust the time frame as needed and use this for campaigns at other times of the year.

That said, I do recommend starting your year-end campaign sooner rather than later. Remember, you’re not the only game in town. If you’ve already mailed your appeal, you can start planning your reminders.

Also, if you haven’t already done this, you could send your donors a warm-up letter or email before you launch your campaign.

October 25

Give your supporters a heads-up by email and social media. Let them know your year-end campaign is underway and they should receive a letter from you soon, provided you have their mailing address. Encourage them to donate online right now. This means your donation page needs to be in great shape.

Keep in mind the fact your year-end campaign is going on will matter to some donors and not to others. Use an enticing subject line such as – How you can help local families put food on the table.

Make sure it’s obvious your message is coming from your organization so you have a better chance of getting it opened.

Week of October 30

Mail your appeal letters.

Week of November 6

Start sending follow-up reminders via email and social media. Weekly or regular reminders are a proven way to help you raise more money. If possible, don’t send reminders to people who have already donated. Otherwise, be sure to thank your recent donors. You can even phrase your reminders as more of a thank you or an update.

Thank you so much to all of you who donated to our year-end appeal. We’re well on our way to serving more families at the Eastside Community Food Pantry. This is crucial. We’re still seeing more people coming in because they’re having trouble affording groceries.

If you haven’t donated yet, please help us out today by visiting our website (include a link to your donation page) or sending us a check (provide address).

Week of November 13

Send another round of reminders. People get so much email now and may not have seen your earlier messages.

Week of November 20

November 23 is Thanksgiving in the U.S. I would recommend not sending a reminder this week and focus 100% on gratitude. Send your donors a Happy Thanksgiving message, preferably by mail, but an electronic message is fine. Your donors are going to be busy getting ready for turkey day and may not have time to donate that week, but would appreciate a heartfelt thank you from you.

For those of you outside of the U.S., this can also be an opportunity to show some donor appreciation. Even though you’re focused on year-end fundraising, you also need to communicate in other ways right now.

Week of November 27

November 28 is GivingTuesday so you could tie that into a reminder message. You may already have a campaign planned.

Your donors’ inboxes will be bursting at the seams on GivingTuesday and your messages can easily get lost in the chaos. Make your messages stand out and remember to show some gratitude, too.

Also, not all of your donors will care that it’s GivingTuesday. Focus on how they can help you make a difference.

Make sure your reminders, as well as any GivingTuesday messages, don’t look like spam. And, keep it positive. Don’t make your donors feel bad because they haven’t donated yet.

Week of December 4

Start making reminder calls, along with sending electronic messages. If time is an issue, you could just call people who have donated before. That’s probably most effective. Leaving a voice mail message is fine.

It’s a busy time of the year and your donors may need a gentle prompt.

The rest of December and beyond

Keep sending reminders throughout December. It’s tricky because you want to get your messages across without being annoying. This is another reason why you should only send reminders to people who haven’t donated yet.

Be sure to keep up with your donor communication (newsletter and other updates). Remember, you don’t want the only messages your donors receive to be fundraising appeals. December is also a great time to show some appreciation and send holiday greetings.

The end of December is the busiest time of this already busy fundraising season. Send a reminder email on December 29th, 30th, and 31st. This is also proven to be an effective strategy. And, it’s especially relevant if your fiscal year ends on December 31 or your donor wants to give before the end of the calendar year.

Even though you’re trying to raise money, don’t forget about building relationships, too. That’s just as important.

Look to see who hasn’t contributed yet. Concentrate on people who are most likely to donate, such as past donors. You may need to send another letter or a reminder postcard to donors who don’t use electronic communication. The more you can personalize it, the better.

You can continue following up in the New Year when donors aren’t as busy.

Once is not enough. Your fundraising campaign will be more successful with multiple asks and by using multiple channels. Good luck!

Why You Need to Segment Your Donors

October 12, 2023October 13, 2023 Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, database, donor engagement, donor retention, fundraising, thank you letters appeal letters, Communications, database, donor retention, fundraising, thank you letters

I’ve been emphasizing the importance of personalizing your communication lately. One way to do that is to segment your donors.

Your donors are not the same. Some donors have given for at least five years (these donors should get a lot of attention). Some are monthly donors. Yet, nonprofit organizations fail to recognize that and send everyone the same messages.

I often receive generic, one-size-fits-all communication from organizations that don’t acknowledge I’m a longtime donor or recognize that I’m a monthly donor. How do you think that makes me feel?

Another benefit of segmenting your donors is it can help you raise more money. If you’ve been struggling to meet your revenue goals, that may be why.

Unfortunately, if you’re not segmenting your donors into different groups, you’re missing opportunities here – both to connect with your donors and to raise additional revenue.

Isn’t it time for you to start segmenting your donors? If you’re already segmenting your donors, kudos to you!

You may be worried about how much time this will take. Plus, you don’t think your current CRM/database can handle it and it will cost too much to get a better one.

In reality, it may cost you more not to segment. A good CRM/database is worth the investment. Segmenting your donors will help you with retention, which costs less than trying to find new donors.

Your appeals and thank you letters will stand out if you can personalize them and not send everyone the same generic letter. You don’t need to create a 100 different types of letters, though. Four or five should be sufficient.

Here are a few different types of donor groups to help get you started. Remember, investing in a good CRM/database will help you with this.

Current single gift donors

An appeal letter to current single gift donors (Monthly donors get their own appeal. More on that below.) must acknowledge their past support. You can segment donors by gift amount and use this opportunity to ask for an upgrade. Many organizations don’t do this, but it’s a good way to increase your revenue.

Your donors will be more receptive to upgrading their gifts if you’ve been doing a good job of thanking them and staying in touch throughout the year.

If these donors give again, they should get a handwritten note, phone call, or letter letting them know how much you appreciate their continued support. If they’ve upgraded their gift, be sure to acknowledge that, too.

Potential/new single gift donors

If you’re sending an appeal to someone who’s never donated to your nonprofit before, what is your connection to them? Are they volunteers, event attendees, or people on a list you purchased?

The more you can establish a connection, the better chance you have of getting a donation.

The retention rate for first-time donors is terrible. One of the reasons is poor communication. You can help boost your retention rate by making your new donors feel special.

New donors should get a handwritten note, phone call, or letter welcoming them as donors. Invite them to connect with you in other ways such as signing up for your newsletter, following you on social media, and volunteering.

Then a week or so later, send them a welcome package by mail or email. Personalization is essential for new donors.

One of the biggest hurdles nonprofits face is ensuring first-time donors give a second time. If they keep giving after that, they’re showing their commitment to your organization. That’s why the second gift is called a golden donation. Don’t blow it by ignoring this.

New monthly donors

Brand new donors who opt for monthly or other recurring donations get the same special thank you treatment mentioned above. Welcome them to your family of monthly donors.

Current monthly donors

Your current monthly donors must get their own appeal that recognizes them as monthly donors. In this appeal, you can either ask them to upgrade their gift or give an additional gift.

When your donors give an additional gift or upgrade their monthly gift, they, of course, get an amazing thank you.

Current donors who become monthly donors

Your current donors who decide to become monthly donors are also showing their commitment to you. They get a handwritten note, phone call, or letter thanking them for their continued support and for joining your family of monthly donors. From now on they should get specialized appeals and other communication targeted to monthly donors.

Segment as much as you can

While I’ve suggested a few ways you can segment, there are many more options. You can segment by gift amount and number of years someone has been a donor. You can segment volunteers, event attendees, and non-donors. You can also use segmentation in other types of communication, such as creating a special newsletter for monthly donors (or at the very least including a cover letter for monthly donors with your newsletter) and sending handwritten notes to people on their donor anniversary.

Segmenting your donors makes a difference

We continue to face an uncertain economy. It’s possible some donors may cut back on their giving. Don’t let them choose between organizations that communicate throughout the year with engaging personalized appeals, thank yous, and updates or organizations that just send generic, one-size-fits-all communication. People always appreciate a personal connection.

Spending some extra time segmenting your donors and personalizing your communication will be worth it if you can raise additional revenue and boost your retention rate.

Do a Stellar Job of Thanking Your Donors

October 4, 2023 Ann Green direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, thank you, writing

Year-end fundraising season is underway. You may have started working on your appeal, which is great. But don’t stop there. It’s just as important, if not more important, to plan how you’ll thank your donors.

I highly recommend creating a thank you plan, which will help you show gratitude before, during, and after a campaign.

Your donors deserve a stellar thank you. The problem is most thank yous don’t come anywhere close to being stellar. Many organizations treat thanking their donors as an afterthought and it shows. You can’t do that. It will hurt your chances of getting future donations.

There are many ways to thank your donors after an appeal – by mail, phone, email, on your website, or a combination of those. The more you can do, the better.

Thanking your donors is something you need to do well. Don’t shortchange your donors with a half-hearted, generic thank you.

Do a stellar job of thanking your donors. Make it a priority. Here are a few ways to do this.

Start planning now

Don’t wait until the day after your appeal goes out. Give yourself plenty of time to plan. Write your thank you letter at the same time you write your appeal.

Figure out what you’ll be able to do. I highly recommend a handwritten note or phone call. Can you do that for all your donors? If not, maybe you’ll break it down by new donors, long-time donors, or donors who have given a certain amount.

It’s important to thank your donors as soon as possible. I understand that handwritten notes and phone calls take more time, especially during the busy year-end season. If that’s the case, you can and should do those at other times of the year instead. At the very least, your donors should get a letter, even if they’ve donated online. Thank you emails tend to resemble receipts, but we can change that. Whatever you decide, remember to get started on the content now.

In the past, the standard was to send thank you letters within 48 hours. If that’s too hard, don’t wait much longer than a week. Make sure you’re ready to go when the donations come in.

Make your donor’s day with a handwritten thank you note

I love it when a nonprofit sends a handwritten thank you note. This is a rare occurrence, so if you do it, your thank you note will stand out in your donor’s mailbox.

Handwritten notes are great in many ways, but one advantage is you don’t have to write that much. In fact, you can do one in just a few minutes.

You could make thank you cards with an engaging photo or buy some nice thank you cards. Get together a team of board members, staff, and volunteers right after your appeal goes out to help you with this.

Think about how much your donors will appreciate this nice gesture. Here’s a sample note.

Dear Cara,

Thank you so much for upgrading your gift to $75. We’re still seeing more people coming into the Eastside Community Food Pantry. It’s difficult for many families in the community to afford groceries. Your generous gift will help a lot. We’re so happy you’ve been a donor these past five years.

Phone calls are another personal way to show appreciation

Calling first-time donors is known to improve retention rates. But you could also call long-time donors to make them feel special.

Again, you want to get a team together to help. This is a great thing for your board to do. Here’s a sample phone script.

Hi David, this is Tracy Clark and I’m a board member at the Eastside Community Food Pantry. Thank you so much for your generous donation of $50 and welcome to our donor family. Your gift will help feed more local families right now. Many of them are struggling since grocery prices are so expensive.

Write that stellar thank you letter

If it’s impossible to send handwritten notes or make phone calls, you can still impress your donors with a stellar thank you letter. As I mentioned before, many thank you letters aren’t stellar at all and are mediocre at best. You’ll have an advantage if you take some time to create a great, donor-centered letter.

The purpose of a thank you letter is to thank your donors. Keep that in mind at all times.

Don’t start your letter with On behalf of X organization…. If you’re sending it on your letterhead, it should be obvious it’s coming from your organization. Instead, start your letter with – Thank you, You’re amazing, or You did something great today!

You also don’t need to explain what your organization does. This often comes across as bragging by saying something like – As you know, X organization has been doing great work in the community for 20 years…. Someone who’s donated to your organization should already be familiar with what you do.

And, don’t ask for another gift in your thank you letter. You did that in your appeal letter. You can ask again another time. Always keep gratitude front and center.

Write separate thank you letters for different types of donors. Welcome new donors and welcome back your current donors. Monthly donors should also get special recognition.

Your thank you letter needs to make your donors feel good about giving to your organization. Let them know how their gift is helping you make a difference. Include a brief story or example, such as the sample handwritten note or phone script I included above.

As with all writing, make your letter personal and conversational. Write to the donor using you much more than we and leave out jargon and any other language your donors won’t understand. Also, you must address your donors by name – not Dear Friend. Personalization is crucial when thanking your donors.

I’ve been emphasizing the importance of envelopes lately. Don’t use a boring, white #10 envelope. Make your letter stand out by using a colored or textured envelope. You could include a teaser that says Thank You and use a nice stamp (You can buy thank you stamps). Hand address the envelopes if you can and include a handwritten note inside that will help make it more personal. You could also include an engaging photo in the letter.

Yes, you do need to include the tax-deductible information, but do that at the end, after you impress your donors with your letter, or include it on a separate page. It’s easiest to include this with your thank you letter or email. Then you don’t have to send it again unless your donor requests it.

Create a more personal online thank you

The thank you plan I reference above gives you advice on how to create better thank you landing pages and email acknowledgments. These often come across as transactional. You need to think of the donations you receive as the start or continuation of a relationship, not a transaction.

Remember, even though your online donors will get an electronic acknowledgment, they should still get thanked by mail or phone. I like to think of the landing page, email, and what comes in the mail or by phone as the thank you journey. Don’t forget this is an ongoing journey.

We may be looking at another tough fundraising season. One thing that can help is to do a stellar job of thanking your donors, both now and throughout the year.

Image by Graham Irwin

Lights, Camera, Action! 5 Tips to Engage Donors with Video

September 27, 2023 Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor retention, stories, video Communications, donor engagement, donor retenion, storytelling, video

The right video has the power to spark an emotional connection between your nonprofit and its donors. Learn how to engage donors through video in this guide.

By Doug Scott

Imagine a donor is searching online for charitable causes to support. With a desire to make a difference, they scroll through various nonprofit websites, reading about their missions and impact. Suddenly, something catches their eye. It’s a compelling and emotionally charged video showcasing your nonprofit’s work. Impressed by the video, they immediately sign up for your mailing list and follow you on social media.

Video has the unparalleled ability to grab people’s attention. By combining visuals, music, and storytelling techniques into one unique package, nonprofits can resonate with donors in a way that’s difficult to achieve through other mediums.

In this guide, we’ll explore five ways you can use video to engage, inspire, and leave a lasting impact on the hearts and minds of donors.

1. Film for each stage of the donor journey

The donor journey refers to the process by which individuals progress from being unaware of your nonprofit to becoming engaged and committed donors. When you know which stage of the donor journey an individual is at, you can more effectively appeal to their interests and solicit their support.

For each stage of the donor journey, you can create engaging videos:

Awareness stage: At this stage, donors are learning about your organization for the first time. Create compelling “Who We Are” videos that introduce them to your mission, values, and impact.
Consideration stage: Here, donors are evaluating whether or not they have a connection to your cause. Produce educational videos that explain how your programs address specific issues and share success stories of those you’ve helped, emphasizing positive outcomes.
Decision stage: As donors prepare to give, they need assurance that their support will make a real impact. Create testimonial videos featuring past donors that reinforce their decision to give. Have them share their experiences and the impact they have witnessed.
Retention Stage: After donating, donors want to stay engaged and see the impact of their gift. Update them through video, demonstrating the progress you have made and thank donors for their contributions. Highlight upcoming projects and events to encourage ongoing involvement.

Track engagement at each of these stages to gain insight into the content that resonates with donors and adjust your communication strategies accordingly.

2. Create a compelling story

Whether you’re creating content for donors in the awareness or retention stage, it’s important to use storytelling techniques to create an emotional connection with donors and transport them to the heart of your mission. To tell a compelling video story, follow these steps:

Set the scene. Decide where your video will take place, whether that’s behind the scenes of your facility, through the communities you serve, or in front of a plain backdrop.
Showcase character development. Introduce relatable characters, such as beneficiaries, volunteers, staff members, or other donors. Share their personal challenges, aspirations, and journeys. Through their experiences, viewers can emotionally connect to the cause and the impact your organization makes.
Highlight conflict and resolution. Present the challenge that your beneficiaries face. Then, showcase how your organization’s efforts and your donors’ support lead to resolution and positive change.

Let’s explore how these elements can be translated into a campaign video. Opening with a close-up of volunteer Sarah’s passionate smile, the scene expands to show her engaging with beneficiaries at a community center. As Sarah narrates the food insecurity challenges faced by her community, she shares the transformative story of a young girl who receives free, nutritious meals due in part to the donations of generous viewers.

3. Keep it short and sweet.

Attention spans are declining, so keep your videos short and sweet. According to Tectonic Video, the ideal length of a nonprofit video is around two to three minutes, meaning you have a small window of opportunity to grab people’s attention and get them invested in your cause.

Write a script in advance to outline key points and ensure that the video stays focused. Make sure to read the script out loud and time it before filming to verify it’s the right length. Then, after filming, use editing tools to remove any redundant or repetitive information.

If you have more information to share, create a series of videos related to the same topic and stagger their release over a longer period of time. This will help you maintain a steady stream of engagement.

4. Include a call to action

Add a call to action to the final scene of your video to provide clear and immediate next steps for donors feeling inspired by the content. Encourage them to take specific actions, such as visiting your website to explore involvement opportunities, following you on social media for updates, or sharing the video to spread awareness.

This can be accomplished through narration, on-screen text, and buttons. For instance, the narrator could say, “Join us in our mission to provide clean drinking water to communities in need.” Then, on-screen text could appear that says, “Visit our website to contribute to the construction and maintenance of water infrastructure,” pointing viewers to a large donation button.

5. Share it widely

Once you have created a compelling video, publish it on Vimeo or YouTube. Then, Double the Donation recommends sharing the content across several channels, which may include:

Direct mail: Include a QR code or a short URL in your direct mail materials that recipients can scan or type to access the video online. Use a compelling image from the video on the mailer to pique interest.
Email: Embed the video directly in targeted email campaigns or your email newsletter for easy viewing. Craft a captivating subject line that hints at the video’s content. Then, use a short, attention-grabbing preview image that encourages recipients to click and watch.
Social media: Customize the video for each platform’s specifications. For instance, videos must be vertical for Instagram Stories and square for Facebook. Write engaging captions that highlight the purpose of the video and use relevant hashtags to increase visibility.
Website: Embed the video prominently on your website’s homepage and relevant landing pages, such as your donation page. For optimal performance, compress videos to reduce load time and use responsive video players that adapt to different screen sizes.

With multiple touchpoints, you can reach people on their preferred platforms and grab the attention of as many donors as possible. In turn, you’ll see higher engagement rates.

Now that you know how to engage donors with video, it’s time to create content! If you want to ensure the highest level of quality and engagement, partner with a nonprofit video production company. Their teams of experts will work alongside your nonprofit to get to know your mission, target audience, and goals, before translating these insights into a compelling video concept. Together, you can harness the power of video to leave a lasting impact on donors, one frame at a time.

Doug Scott is the Founder & CEO of Tectonic Video. He has more than 20 years of nonprofit communications experience as a filmmaker, communications director, chief marketing officer, and leader of two creative agencies for nonprofits. Doug is a global citizen having traveled to more than 50 countries. He earned his B.A. in Strategic Communications from DePaul University, and he’s a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University on topics related to nonprofit storytelling and storytelling ethics.

How You Can Create a Better, More Personal Fundraising Appeal

September 7, 2023 Ann Green appeal letters, direct mail, donor retention, donor-centered, fundraising, writing direct mail, donor centered, fundraising, writing, year-end appeal

Can you believe September is already here? Depending on where you live, you may or may not be getting that nice refreshing air September often brings.

It also brings us to the start of the busiest time of the year for nonprofit organizations, especially if you’re doing a year-end appeal.

If you’re falling short of your revenue goals, you may want to start your campaign earlier this year. Even if you’re not planning on launching your campaign until later in the fall, you should get started on your appeal now. Everything always takes longer than you think.

You need to create an appeal that will stand out and resonate with your donors. If you’ve been using the same boring, generic template for years, it’s time for something new.

You need a letter that takes into account what’s going on in 2023. How are the everchanging current situations affecting your clients/community?

Your appeal also needs to be personal – both for your donors and when you write about your clients/community.

Here are some ways you can create a better, more personal appeal.

Your envelope matters

You may not think your envelope makes much of a difference, but it does. You need to get your donors to open your letter. If you can’t get them to do that, then all your hard work has gone to waste.

Make it look as personal as possible. Use something other than the standard #10 white business envelope and steer clear of a window envelope because that makes it look like a bill. Think about using an oversized or colored envelope.

Perhaps you’d like to include a teaser on the outer envelope. Fundraising experts are mixed on whether this is a good idea. It makes it look less personal, but a good teaser can capture your donor’s attention. This doesn’t mean one that says 2023 Annual Appeal. That’s not inspiring. Instead, say something like – Find out how you can help kids learn to read.

A hand-addressed envelope will look more personal. If that isn’t feasible, print directly on the envelope. You could also use mailing labels. Use some nice stamps if you can.

Create an inviting piece of mail.

Share a compelling story

A good appeal letter should open with a compelling story. Focus on a person or family and not your organization. Your donors want to hear about the people they’ll be helping and it needs to be relevant to the current climate.

Here’s an example – Melanie, a single mother with three kids, has gone through a lot over the past few years. It’s been hard to find work that pays enough and groceries are so expensive.

But thanks to generous donors like you (or because of our generous donors if you’re writing to people who haven’t given before), she’s been able to get boxes of healthy food at the Eastside Community Food Pantry. At first, Melanie was embarrassed that she had to rely on a food pantry to feed her family, but she’s always treated with respect and dignity when she visits.

We want to continue providing Melanie and other members of our community with healthy food when they need it.

You could also share a first-person story from a client/program recipient.

Include a photo

Include an engaging color photo in your letter or on your pledge form. Photos can tell a story in an instant.

Next comes the ask

Ask for a donation at the beginning of the next paragraph (after the story). Make sure it’s prominent and clear. Also, ask your current donors if they can give a little more right now. Don’t be afraid to ask your donors to upgrade their gifts. People want to help if they can.

Phrase your ask like this – We’re so grateful for your previous gift of $50. We’re continuing to see more people coming into the food pantry right now. Would you be able to help us out a little more this time with a gift of $75?

Asking for an upgrade can help you raise more money. Also, if you’ve been doing a good job of engaging your donors throughout the year (and I hope that’s the case), they shouldn’t mind if you ask for a larger gift. Including the amount of your donor’s previous gift is helpful since people don’t often remember what they gave before.

Be sure the ask is the only call to action in your appeal. Don’t distract people with information about an upcoming event or volunteering. Save that for a different message.

Be donor-centered, as well as community-centered

There’s been some dichotomy over the past few years between being donor-centered and being community-centered, but I think you can be both. What you don’t want is to be organization-centered.

Show your donors how they can help you make a difference for your clients/community and how much you appreciate their role in that. Make your donors feel good about supporting your nonprofit.

At the same time, respect your clients/community by not undermining them when you use terms like at-risk youth or underserved communities. They are people, after all.

Share your success and challenges

Highlight some of your accomplishments, but you can share challenges, too.

Show how you plan to continue your work with your donor’s help. Remember to stay donor-centered and community-centered!

Personalization is crucial

Don’t send everyone the same appeal. Try to send different letters to current donors, monthly donors, lapsed donors, people on your mailing list who haven’t donated yet, event attendees, volunteers, and friends of board members.

The more you can segment, the better, but at the very least, you must do these two things.

Send a personalized appeal to current donors. They’re your best bet for getting donations. Let them know how much you appreciate their support.

Also, send a specific appeal tailored to monthly donors, giving them the recognition they deserve. For your year-end appeal, I would thank them for all their generous support and ask them to give an additional gift. You can ask them to upgrade at a different time.

Don’t send a generic, one-size-fits-all appeal letter. Go the extra mile for your donors, so they’ll continue to support you.

Your appeal letter should also have a personal salutation (first names are best) and not be addressed to Dear Friend or Dear Valued Donor. How much do you value this relationship if you can’t even use a person’s name?

If this sounds like a lot of work, give yourself enough time to do it. This is important. Personalizing your letters can also help you raise more money.

Make it easy for your donors to give

Include a reply envelope with amounts to check off (this is also known as a bangtail envelope) or a reply envelope and a pledge form. Create donation tiers that show what each amount will fund. Do this on your donation page, too.

Some donors prefer to donate online. Direct them to a user-friendly donation page on your website. You could create a QR code for your letter and reply device. Make sure your donation page is mobile-friendly, too.

Offer a monthly or recurring giving option

Monthly gifts can generate more revenue, give you a steady source of income throughout the year, and improve donor retention. Encourage your donors to give $5, $10, or even $20 a month. This may be a more viable option for some of them.

Be careful and don’t send an appeal to your current monthly donors that invites them to become monthly donors. That’s one reason why they need their own appeal.

Your letter must be easy to read (and scan)

Use short paragraphs and bulleted lists, along with bold or color for keywords, but keep it tasteful. Make it easy to read and scan. Most people won’t read your letter word for word. Use a simple font and at least a 12-point type.

Human attention spans are less than 10 seconds. But go figure, longer fundraising letters (four pages as opposed to two) have been shown to perform better, especially for prospective donors.

Resist the temptation to create a one-page letter. This often means cramming a bunch of tiny text on the page. With a longer letter, you’ll have more space to tell a story and repeat messages. You can also break up the text with a photo, testimonials, and short paragraphs. Printing on both sides of the page is fine, too.

Quality and readability are essential here. Make every word count.

Think of your letter as a conversation with a friend

You can create a better, more personal appeal if you think of your letter as a conversation with a friend. That means not using jargon like at-risk youth and underserved communities. Be specific and use everyday language. Your goal should be for your reader to understand you.

Refer to your reader as you and use you a lot more than we.

Too many editors spoil the appeal

Your entire staff doesn’t need to be involved in writing your appeal. Generally, the more people you involve in writing your letter, the worse it becomes. Fundraising Consultant Tom Ahern refers to this as letter writing by committee.

Your best writer should craft it and then turn it over to your best editor. Whoever signs the letter (your Executive Director?) can take a quick look at it, but don’t send it to a committee.

If you don’t have someone on your staff who can write a good fundraising appeal, then hire a freelancer or consultant to do it.

Besides weakening the content, involving more people takes extra time.

Make a good lasting impression

Repeat your ask at the end of your appeal. Don’t forget to say please and thank you.

Be sure to add a PS. People often gravitate to the PS as they scan the letter, so include something that will capture their attention. It may be the only thing they look at. This is a good opportunity to summarize your appeal – Please make a donation today to help us feed more families in the community.

Get your pens out

Include a short handwritten note, if you can. Make it relevant to each donor, such as thanking someone for a previous donation or hoping a potential donor will support you. You could also stick on a handwritten Post-it note. Hand sign the letters in blue ink.

Nonprofit giving has declined recently and that may continue. This is why you need to spend some time writing a better, more personal appeal letter that will stand out and help bring you the donations you need. Good luck!

Image by Howard Lake

Using Donor Data to Personalize Your Text Donation Appeals

August 30, 2023 Ann Green database, donor retention, fundraising, monthly donors, text donations donor data, donor retention, fundraising, text donations

Data can help inform your nonprofit’s approach to text-to-give and drive greater fundraising results. Use these tips to boost your text messaging strategy.

By Mike Snusz

In order for your nonprofit to effectively reach supporters via a text donation campaign, you will need to simulate an authentic, one-on-one communication experience. The best way to personalize your messages and create highly tailored donation appeals is to leverage donor data.

A text donation campaign informed by donor data is more likely to inspire donors to act and bring in greater fundraising results. By segmenting your contact lists into subgroups based on data insights, your nonprofit can produce relevant text messages and donation requests that will resonate with supporters.

Use these donor insights to support your nonprofit’s text-to-give strategies and drive a greater ROI:

Donation frequency
Donation recency
Donation amount
Demographics
Level of involvement

To track these metrics and set your text-to-give campaign up for success, you’ll need the right tools. Tatango’s guide to nonprofit text messaging recommends looking for a text fundraising platform that will readily sync with your nonprofit’s CRM and provide your organization with real-time campaign analytics and performance tracking. This way each donor action will provide more information about their behavior and persona, allowing your nonprofit to leverage this data in the future for more targeted communications.

Explore the following donor insights to make your text donation campaigns more engaging.

Donation frequency

How often do your donors give to your organization? Do they give on a recurring basis? Annually? Monthly? Or, perhaps your organization has donors who used to donate regularly, but you haven’t received a contribution from them in a while. On the other hand, you may have one-time donors who never renewed their support.

With the help of your donor management software and text fundraising platform, track and use these data insights to inform how you frame your donation requests. Donation frequency can guide the type of segments your organization makes. For instance, you might create text donation segments that target:

Lapsed donors. Re-engage donors who you have not heard from in a while by reminding them why they should support your cause. Create a text donation segment that discusses upcoming projects and how your nonprofit is making a difference in its community.
Monthly donors. Your monthly donors are already avid supporters of your cause, so you should go beyond sending a generic request to give to your organization. Instead, you can encourage these donors to increase their monthly giving amount.
Recurring annual donors. Your nonprofit likely has donors who only give once a year. Create a separate segment to motivate these donors to sign up for monthly giving to maximize their impact and make a greater difference.

As you send requests to these different subgroups, track any changes that take place in the frequency or amount of their donations. These insights will let you know whether your strategies are working or if you need to rework your content and segmentation strategies to better appeal to donors.

Donation recency

Tracking donation recency can indicate whether donors are actively engaged in your fundraising efforts or if they need more prompting to reconnect with your organization. Plus, donation recency lets you know when it might be the right time to solicit another donation.

For example, suppose you have a donor who submitted a text-to-give donation to your organization last week. Your nonprofit is now hosting a text fundraiser to coincide with your upcoming fundraising gala. It would not be optimal to immediately ask this donor for another donation, as this can overwhelm your donor and make them feel more like a source of revenue and less like a valued supporter.

Instead, you might choose to send a reminder in the middle of your text-to-give campaign. Make sure to consistently express donor appreciation and explain how the funds from this campaign will be used; this will help donors stay engaged and foster strong relationships. NXUnite’s guide to donor recognition suggests thanking donors as soon as they give to assure them that their important contributions have not been overlooked.

Donation amount

Create segments based on your donor tiers so your donation requests are more likely to be met. For example, your nonprofit should create separate segments for your:

Small donors.
Mid-level donors.
Major donors.

This way, the donation amount you’re requesting in your text messages is tailored to the individual and makes sense based on their past giving amount. For instance, if a supporter gives $100 every year, it would be unreasonable to try to upgrade their giving amount to $500. Instead, you might ask them to give $15 a month instead of a lump sum of $100, which would give your organization $180 a year.

Demographics

Demographic data, such as age and location, can make it easier to build relationships with donors.

For example, a higher education institution may take advantage of this data while using text-to-give to raise scholarship money for current students. To better target its messages to alumni, the university might create a segment based on milestone anniversaries, such as former students’ 5-, 10-, or 15-year anniversary since their graduation. In this instance, age data can help the university leverage relevant milestones to build an emotional connection and encourage alumni to give.

Continuing with this example of a college text-to-give fundraiser, the university could also create segments based on the locations of its alumni. For example, they might create a segment for alumni who still live near campus so they could invite them to sporting events and alumni gatherings year-round. Then, they could create a separate segment for alumni living outside of the local area and send reminders for major events that often bring alumni back to campus, such as homecoming.

Level of involvement

Keep track of supporters who attend your events, volunteer at your programs, or get involved in other key ways. By doing so, you can create segments that are relevant to your supporters and send them information they would be interested in.

For example, your nonprofit could create a segment for volunteers. Here, you can highlight your volunteer needs and explain how volunteers can further their involvement by giving.

You can also break down this volunteer segment into supporters who frequently volunteer and supporters who used to volunteer but have not done so in a while. This is a great opportunity to re-engage lapsed volunteers with your cause, either by inviting them to volunteer again or to donate revenue in lieu of donating their time.

By tracking donor insights with the help of your CRM and text messaging platform, your organization can develop compelling text-to-give campaigns, leading to stronger relationships and more revenue for your cause. Do your research to find the best technology solutions that will meet your nonprofit’s unique needs and streamline the data collection and fundraising processes. This way, your nonprofit can save time and focus on generating text messages that inspire giving.

Mike Snusz brings 19 years of digital fundraising experience to his role as Director of Nonprofit Customer Experience at Tatango, a text messaging platform for nonprofits and political campaigns. Prior to Tatango, Mike spent 15 years at Blackbaud leading a team of digital consultants that helped nonprofits improve their online fundraising, monthly giving, email marketing, and peer-to-peer fundraising programs. Mike started his nonprofit career managing the Ride For Roswell from 2003 to 2005 in his hometown of Buffalo, NY.

The Many Forms of Nonprofit Stories

August 23, 2023 Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, photos, stories, video, writing Communications, donor engagement, photos, stories, video, writing

Stories come in many forms. You can tell a story with words, pictures, and videos. I prefer written stories, but others are drawn to videos. Some people might not have the time or energy to look at anything but a photo or infographic.

Your nonprofit organization needs to share stories using all these forms. Sharing stories will help you connect with your donors.

Donors want to hear your stories

I imagine you’re not using stories as much as you should. That’s a mistake because people respond better to stories than a bunch of facts and statistics. Stories bring the work you do to life by using everyday language to create a scene.

You may be reluctant to use stories because it’s more work for your organization, but that shouldn’t stop you. Make time to come up with some engaging stories.

Your stories need to be relevant

Update your stories at least once a year. They need to take the everchanging current situations into account. How are the economy, the aftereffects of the pandemic, discrimination, climate change, etc impacting your clients/community right now?

Create a culture of storytelling

If you create a storytelling culture in your organization, you can make storytelling the norm instead of the exception.

Work with your program staff to create stories that will help you connect with your donors. Everyone needs to understand how important this is. Share stories at staff meetings and/or set up regular meetings with program staff to gather stories.

When you put together a story, ask.

Why is this important?
Who is affected?
Why would your donors be interested in this story?
Are you using clear, everyday language (no jargon) to make sure your donors understand your story?
How are your donors helping you make a difference or How can your donors help you make a difference?

Client or program recipient stories are best. Remember, donors want to hear how they’re helping you make a difference for your clients/community.

Another way to find stories is to put a Share Your Story page on your website. This could be a good way to get some current, relevant stories.

Your stories aren’t about your organization

Keep in mind that your stories aren’t about your organization. Your organization may have had to make a lot of changes over the last few years to do some of the work you do, but that’s not your story. Your story is why this is important for the people/community you work with.

Maybe you had to change the way you run your food pantry, but what’s most important is that people in your community continue to have access to healthy food.

Make your stories personal

Tell a story of one (person or family). Use people’s names to make your stories more personal. I realize you might run into confidentiality issues, but you can change names to protect someone’s privacy. You could also do a composite story, but don’t make up anything.

Use different stories for different types of communication

Create a story bank to help you organize all your stories. You want to use stories as much as possible. Use them in your appeals, thank you letters, newsletters, updates, impact (annual) reports, website, blog, and other types of social media.

While you can come up with some core stories, they’ll be slightly different depending on the type of communication.

In a fundraising appeal (all appeals should start with a story), you want to highlight a problem or need. Let’s return to the food pantry example. Here you can tell a story about Melanie, a working single mother with three kids who’s having trouble feeding her family because of rising food costs and cuts in benefits.

In your thank you letter, you can let your donor know that because of their generous gift, Melanie can get healthy food for her family at the Eastside Community Food Pantry.

Then in your newsletter, impact report, or update, you can tell a success story that because of your generous donors, Melanie doesn’t have to worry so much about how she’ll be able to feed her family.

Tell a story in an instant with an engaging photo

You’ve probably heard the phrase a picture is worth a 1000 words. Cliche, yes, but it’s true.

You can capture your donors’ attention in an instant with an engaging photo. That doesn’t mean one of your executive director receiving an award. Use photos of your programs in action or something else that’s engaging.

Print newsletters and impact reports tend to be dominated by long-winded text. Most of your donors won’t want to read the whole thing. But if you share some engaging photos, they can get a quick glance at the impact of their gift without having to plow through a bunch of tedious text.

Photos can enhance your print communication by breaking up the narrative. You can also complement your written stories with photos. If you’re worried about mailing costs, postcards and other short pieces with photos are the way to go. You could even do a Postcard Impact/Annual Report.

If you use social media, you need to communicate several times a week. As your donors scroll through an endless number of posts, an engaging photo can stand out and get their attention.

Use photos everywhere – fundraising appeals, thank you letters/cards, newsletters, impact reports, updates, your website, and social media. Create a photo bank to help you with this.

It’s fine to use the same photos in different channels. It can help with your brand identity. Be sure to use high-quality pictures. Also, make sure your photos match your messages. If you’re writing a fundraising appeal about children who aren’t getting enough to eat every day, don’t use a picture of happy kids.

Work with your program staff to get photos and videos (more on videos below). Confidentiality issues may come up and you’ll need to get permission to use pictures of kids.

Showcase your work with a video

Videos are becoming a more popular way to connect. They can be used to show your programs in action, share an interview, give a behind-the-scenes look at your organization, or my favorite – thanking your donors.

I would definitely recommend creating a personalized thank you video. If that’s not possible, you can make a general one.

Make your videos short and high quality. Short is key. If your video is more than a couple of minutes, your donors may not bother to watch it.

You can use videos on your website, in an email message, on social media, and at an event.

Spiff up your statistics by using infographics

A typical impact report is loaded with statistics. You want to share these, along with your accomplishments, but you don’t want to overwhelm your donors with a lot of text.

Why not use an infographic in your impact report instead of including the usual laundry list of statistics and accomplishments?

Infographics are also great in other types of communication such as newsletters and updates. Good visuals will enhance both your print and electronic communication.

Connect with your donors and keep them engaged by using all types of stories.

Prioritize Gratitude by Creating a Thank You Plan

August 16, 2023August 17, 2023 Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, planning, thank you, writing

Thanking your donors is just as important, if not more important than fundraising. Yet many organizations spend a lot of time putting together a fundraising campaign and treat thanking their donors as an afterthought.

Donor retention continues to be a problem. Prioritizing gratitude and donor relations will help. If you don’t do a good job of thanking your donors, as well as building relationships throughout the year, you’ll have a hard time getting people to people to donate again.

This is why having a thank you plan is crucial. It’s not only important when you’re running a fundraising campaign, but also during the “between times.”

Many organizations just thank their donors after they receive a gift and then disappear until the next fundraising appeal. Your donors deserve better than that.

Thanking your donors is something you need to do throughout the year – at least once a month, if you can. A thank you plan will help you stay focused on gratitude all year round.

Here’s what you need to include in your thank you plan.

Plan to make a good first impression with your thank you landing page

Your landing page is your first chance to say thank you and it shouldn’t resemble Amazon checkout. It should make a person feel good about giving a donation.

Open with Thank you, Kara! or You’re amazing! Using a person’s name is always good. Include an engaging photo or video and a short, easy-to-understand description of how the donation will help your clients/community.

If you use a third-party giving site, you might be able to customize the landing page. If not, follow up with a personal thank you email message within 48 hours.

Plan to write a warm and personal automatic thank you email

Set up an automatic thank you email to go out after someone donates online. This email thank you is more of a reassurance to let your donor know you received her donation. You still need to thank her by mail or phone.

Just because your thank you email is automatically generated, doesn’t mean it needs to sound like it was written by a robot. Write something warm and personal. Again, be sure to address your donor by name.

Give some thought to the email subject line, too. At the very least make sure it says Thank You or You did something great today and not anything boring like Your Donation Receipt or Donation Received. And please stop using words like transaction and processed. A donation is not a transaction. It’s the start or continuation of a relationship.

Put all the tax-deductible information at the end of your email, after you pour on the appreciation.

Plan to thank your donors by mail or phone

I’m a firm believer that every donor, no matter how much she’s given or whether she donated online, gets a thank you card or letter mailed to her or receives a phone call.

Try to thank your donors within 48 hours or within a week at the latest. That might sound hard to do, but it will be easier if you plan to carve out some time to thank your donors each day you get a donation. Remember, thanking your donors should be a priority. If you wait too long, you’re not making a good impression.

Instead of sending the usual generic thank you letter, mail a handwritten card or call your donors. Find board members, staff, and volunteers to help you with this. Make sure to get your team together well before your next fundraising campaign so you’re ready to go when the donations come in.

I’m a big fan of handwritten thank you cards and you’ll stand out if you can send one. I get a few of them a year and they tend to come from the same organizations, which shows you what they prioritize! These may be more feasible than making phone calls. Not everyone likes to get phone calls, but some people do. This is why it’s important to know your donors’ communication preferences (more on that below).

Here’s a sample thank you note that could also be used as a phone script.

Dear Jason,

You’re amazing! Thanks to your generous donation of $50, we can continue to provide neighborhood families with healthy food. This is great. We’re seeing more people come in right now because of rising food costs and cuts in benefits.

We really appreciate your support over the last four years.

Sincerely,

Lisa Barnes

Board Member, Eastside Community Food Pantry

If you can’t send handwritten cards or call all your donors, send them a personal and heartfelt letter. If you’ve been using the same letter template for a while, take time to freshen it up. Don’t start your letter with On behalf of X organization, we thank you for your donation of….

Open your letter with You’re incredible or Because of you, the Miller family can finally move into their own home. Create separate letters for new donors (new donors should also get a welcome package), renewing donors, and monthly donors. Be sure it’s personalized and include at least one photo.

It doesn’t need to look like a form letter. You could use a different format, such as a postcard. For a thank you right after a gift, I would put a postcard in an envelope. You can send stand-alone postcards at other times of the year.

Your thank you should be all about thanking the donor – no bragging, no explaining what you do, no asking – just thanking.

You can add a personal handwritten note to the letter, preferably something that pertains to that particular donor. For example, if the donor has given before, mention that. Hand sign the letters, if you can.

Just like with fundraising appeals, your envelope matters. Use something besides a white #10 envelope. It shouldn’t look like a bill or junk mail. Keep thinking about making it personal. Hand address the envelopes if possible or print directly on them. Use stamps, if you can. I recommend investing in Thank You stamps.

In addition, write your thank you letter at the same time you write your appeal letter. Make sure they’re ready to go as soon as the donations come in. Don’t wait three weeks. Timeliness is important, and so is quality.

Plan to keep thanking your donors all year round

This is where having a thank you plan makes a difference because as I mentioned before – thanking your donors is something you must do all year round.

You can use your communications calendar to incorporate ways to thank your donors, but why not go one step further and create a specific thank you calendar?

Remember to try to say thank you at least once a month. Here are some ways to do that.

Send cards or email messages at Thanksgiving, during the holidays, on Valentine’s Day, or mix it up a little and send a note of gratitude in June or September when your donors may not be expecting it. Try to send at least one or two gratitude messages a year by mail, since your donors will be more likely to see those. And you don’t need a holiday or special occasion to thank your donors. Thank them just because….
Invite your donors to connect with you via email and social media. Keep them updated on your success and challenges. Making all your communications donor-centered will help convey an attitude of gratitude. Be sure to keep thanking your donors in your newsletter and other updates. Emphasize that you wouldn’t be able to do the work you do without their support.
Create a thank you video and share it on your thank you landing page, by email, and on social media. Go one step further and personalize it.
Reach out to your donors on the anniversary of their giving (not your organization’s anniversary). Don’t overlook your dedicated, long-time donors.
Send a warm-up letter or email about a month before your next campaign (no ask). This is a great way to show appreciation BEFORE you send your appeals.
Hold an open house or offer tours. You could also create a virtual tour or a behind-the-scenes look at your organization.
Keep thinking of other ways to thank your donors. You can repeat some of the ones listed above over the year.

The tactics that work best are going to differ for each organization. I would definitely send something by mail a few times a year. Email and social media may not be as successful, especially if your donors don’t use electronic communication very much.

I recommend surveying your donors to find out their communication preferences. What do they like – mail, email, phone, text, social media, video, or a combination of those? Find out their interests, too. This will help with your engagement.

Creating a thank you plan will make it easier to keep showing appreciation to your donors all year round. You need your donors, so don’t hold back on that always-important gratitude.

What is a Call-to-Action? A Quick Guide for Nonprofits

August 9, 2023 Ann Green Communications, donation page, donor engagement, fundraising, website Communications, donation page, donor engagement, fundraising, website

A well-worded call-to-action (CTA) can encourage your nonprofit supporters to engage with your cause in a myriad of ways. Learn more about CTAs in this guide!

By Ira Horowitz

Your nonprofit exists because you’re seeking to enact positive change in your community, whether that means tutoring at-risk high school students, cleaning local beaches, or providing meals to unhoused people.

However, you can’t do it alone—you need your supporters to help you make that positive change happen. This means you have to not only inspire your supporters by informing them about your cause and opportunities to get involved, but also explicitly ask them to take action.

That’s where calls-to-action (CTAs) come in. By incorporating well-worded and carefully-designed CTAs into your marketing materials, you can encourage your supporters to take the necessary steps to put their passion for your cause into action, whether you want them to donate, volunteer, attend an event, or simply learn more about your organization.

Let’s take a deep dive into the specifics of CTAs to help you get started!

Calls-to-Action (CTAs): An Overview

A call-to-action (CTA) is a short statement or phrase that compels someone to take a specific action. Here are some examples of everyday situations in which we’re compelled to take action thanks to a CTA:

In social media posts: “Follow us,” “Click the link in our bio,” “Comment below”
In TV commercials: “Visit our store,” “See it in theaters this Friday,” “Talk to your doctor today about…”
On mobile apps: “Download now,” “Try for free,” “Upgrade to premium”
On billboards: “Call now for a free quote,” “Book your vacation now,” “Take the next exit to…”
On websites: “Sign into your account,” “Find a store,” “Learn more about us”
In emails: “Register for our upcoming event,” “Shop this exclusive sale,” “Learn more”

Recognizing the everyday places where you’re called to action can help you determine how you can better leverage CTAs for your nonprofit. For example, as you get better at identifying CTAs, you might find you could do a better job of writing CTAs in your Google Ads copy, on your donation form, or in your spoken presentations.

4 Forms CTAs Can Take Online

Depending on the medium they’re presented in, CTAs can take different forms. While you may include CTAs on physical marketing materials (such as posters or direct mailings) or tap into channels like TV or radio, your online assets (such as your website) will likely be where you focus on driving action and engagement among your community of supporters.

Here are some of the most popular types of online CTAs to keep in mind:

Buttons: A button CTA is a clickable button with CTA text on your website, such as “Donate now” or “Login to your account.”

Text: Sometimes a CTA can easily be woven into website page copy, linking to a resource for taking action or simply inspiring action. Here’s an example: To learn more about our mission, visit our “About Us” page.” In this case, you could add a link to the words “visit our ‘About Us’ page.”

Pop-up CTAs: Although website pop-ups are controversial, they can be effective when used sparingly. For example, you might use a pop-up on your website that has a CTA to encourage visitors who have been on the site for a certain amount of time to subscribe to your email newsletter.

Image CTAs: Similar to button CTAs, image CTAs are images that have CTA text and a link to whatever action page you’re trying to get your website visitors to check out.

It’s up to you to determine which type of CTA will work best in your online marketing materials. Start by deciding which action you want your supporters to take and how you want to communicate that action.

For example, you might want to encourage website visitors to donate through your online donation page. To do so, you could include a button CTA on your website’s homepage that says “Give Now” and links to the donation page. On the donation page, you could feature an eye-catching image of your beneficiaries and a paragraph explaining why donations help make your work possible. Then, you could end the paragraph with one last inspiring call-to-action sentence that says, “Donate today to help us change more lives for the better.”

While you don’t want to overwhelm your supporters with too many CTAs, having multiple touchpoints like this on the journey to a completed action can encourage potential supporters to follow through and make a move!

How to Create Effective CTAs

No matter the type of CTA you end up using, there are some universal best practices for making your CTAs as effective as possible:

Use strategic wording.

Choose the words for your CTAs with care so you can catch your supporters’ attention. Start with an action verb like join, sign up, discover, explore, donate, give, register, or shop. You should also choose words that instill a sense of urgency in your audience such as now, today, limited time, or exclusive.

Example: “Donate today to save more sea turtles” is a much more effective CTA than a generic “Donate.”

Make it brief.

When creating a CTA, get to the point by using only a few words. This will help you clearly communicate what you need your supporters to do. Plus, keeping your CTAs short ensures that you leave no room for misunderstanding.

Example: “Register today for our bikeathon on July 11” will likely encourage more event registrations than “We are hosting a bikeathon soon and hope to see you there as a participant or volunteer. Please visit our registration page to get started.”

Make careful placement decisions.

Where you put your CTAs on your website matters. After all, you need to ensure that they stand out from your other content and resources so they’re easy to see and click on.

Example: You decide to put your “Donate Now to End Cancer” button in your static menu at the top of your web pages instead of at the bottom so it’s always visible no matter where your visitors go on your website.

Pay attention to the visual design.

According to Cornershop Creative, color and specific styling are essential to creating a great CTA. Your designs should be eye-catching and consistent with the branding and style of your website.

Example: You create an image CTA to encourage more people to sign up to foster shelter animals. You use your organization’s brand colors—red, white, and purple—and include an image of a shelter animal that is currently part of your foster program.

Test and optimize.

As you begin adding CTAs to your website and other marketing materials, it may be helpful to test out different versions. Try asking a small group of your team members to identify what wording, visual look, and placements they think will be most effective for encouraging people to act. You can formalize this process using A/B testing.

Additionally, on your website, pay attention to how well your CTAs help boost conversions on your most important action pages, like your donation page or event registration page. You can monitor conversions with Google Analytics and use the insights you gather to improve your CTAs.

3 Examples of Eye-Catching CTAs

Still need some inspiration for creating a great nonprofit CTA? Check out these three examples of CTAs your organization can emulate.

1. American Cancer Society

The CTAs on the American Cancer Society website are brief and clear, encouraging visitors to act quickly.

The American Cancer Society homepage features a few CTAs without overwhelming its website visitors. Here are a couple of standout CTA moves that inspired us:

The “Donate” button in the top right corner is bright red and features the image of a heart, which helps it stand out and emphasizes the difference a donation can make to those whose lives have been affected by cancer.
The “Learn About Screening” CTA in the center of the screen is paired with an image of real people and language that encourages authenticity and getting a screening to stay healthy.

2. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The CTAs on the ASPCA website have bright colors, emotionally-evocative images, and prominent placement to help encourage action.

ASPCA does an excellent job of making its CTA buttons stand out with bright orange coloring and bold white text. The text and pictures that accompany the buttons on its rotating banner image also pull at your heartstrings and encourage you to give.

In particular, the phrase “63¢ a Day Can Help Her Survive” not only implores website visitors to contribute a donation but also highlights how easy it is to make a difference to an animal in need.

3. Save the Children

The CTA on the Save the Children homepage is brief and encourages urgent action.

The Save the Children website reserves the color red for its most important website elements—its logo and CTA buttons, helping them stand out against a white and gray background. Here are a few other reasons we love their CTAs:

The phrase “For many kids living in poverty, summer isn’t fair” is effective in evoking emotion in website visitors.
This main button CTA is paired with an image of a child, emphasizing the human aspect of the organization’s mission.
Save the Children uses the word “now” to instill urgency in its website visitors, encouraging them to give right away.

CTAs are small additions that can make a big difference for your nonprofit. Use these examples and tips to start creating (or fine-tuning) your organization’s CTAs and pulling in more support for your mission.

And, if you need the help of an expert, invest in a web design partner that can help you with everything from designing your website to crafting CTAs and beyond!

With 15 years of experience, Ira Horowitz is an expert in nonprofit online communications and online fundraising. His work has resulted in increased funds and resounding supporter engagement for hundreds of organizations.

Ira oversees Cornershop Creative’s project management team and works with clients to provide them with the best possible final product. He also manages all of their strategic engagements and helps guide nonprofits to determine their long-term strategy goals for online communications.

Don’t Wait Too Long to Start Planning Your Year-End Fundraising Campaign

August 2, 2023 Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, database, direct mail, donor-centered, fundraising, planning, stories, thank you letters, writing appeal letters, database, donor-centered, fundraising, planning, stories, thank you, writing

It’s hard to think about fall when it’s been so hot in many parts of the United States and Europe, but September will be here before you know it.

Even though it might be sweltering outside, now is a good time to start planning your year-end fundraising campaign, hopefully in an air-conditioned space. If you’re behind in your revenue goals, you may want to launch it earlier than you have in the past.

I’ve put together a checklist to help you get started. You can also use this for fundraising campaigns at other times of the year.

How much money do you need to raise?

You may have already set a goal for your year-end campaign in your 2023 fundraising plan (at least I hope you did) and maybe that has changed.

You must determine how much money you need to raise before you start your campaign and raising as much as we can is not a goal.

Do you have a campaign plan?

Put together a plan for your campaign that includes a timeline, task list, and the different channels you’ll use. Make it as detailed as possible.

When do you want to launch your appeal? Plan on everything taking longer than you think it will, so earlier is better. Keep in mind you’ll be competing with many other organizations who are doing appeals.

I strongly encourage you to mail an appeal letter. Direct mail appeals are more successful. You can also send an email appeal and follow up with email, as well.

Maybe you want to send your appeal letters the first week in November. Maybe it’s better to send them in October. Whenever it is, make your goal to have the letters done at least a week before that. Work backwards to figure out how you can get to your proposed send date.

Also, how are you mailing your appeal? Do you use a mail house or get staff and volunteers together to stuff envelopes? Either way, plan ahead, so you’re not scrambling at the last minute.

Do you have a good story and photo to share?

If you’ve been using the same boring, generic appeal letter template for the last few years, it’s time for a refresh. It’s a good idea to revise your templates at least once a year. Our world has changed a lot in the last three years and you need to take that into account.

A good way to start is to create an engaging story for your appeal. Even though the public health emergency is over, COVID is still a part of our lives. Are your clients/community feeling the aftereffects of the pandemic? Are they facing economic challenges? Focus on them, not your organization. Each year is different and this is why you need new stories.

You’ll want some good photos for your letter and donation page, too. Quotes from clients will also enhance your appeal.

How can your donors help you make a difference?

Your appeal letter should focus on a need and let your donors know how they can help you make a difference. You might want to start by creating a brief and an outline.

You may be seeing more people at your food pantry because of rising food costs and cuts in benefits. Maybe your clients are struggling to find affordable housing.

You can also highlight some of the accomplishments you’ve made recently and state what you would like to do in the coming year, although these are usually more appropriate for a newsletter or impact report.

One way to frame this is to describe a situation such as this. You run a tutoring program in your community and work with students who are falling behind in school. You can describe how thanks to your generous donors, your one-to-one tutoring program has helped students get better grades and are now less likely to be held back a year. You want to keep that going and serve more students.

Remember to focus on your clients/community and don’t brag about your organization.

Are your mailing lists in good shape?

Make sure your mailing lists are up-to-date. Check for duplicate addresses and typos. Your donors don’t want to receive three letters at the same time or have their names misspelled. Take a little time to do some data hygiene. Give your email list some attention, too.

Also, now is a good time to segment your mailing lists – current donors, monthly donors, lapsed donors, event attendees, etc. This is so important. Your current donors are your best source of donations. You should have more success if you can personalize your appeal letters. Acknowledge if someone has donated in the past or is a monthly donor. Donors like it when you recognize them for who they are.

Do you have enough letterhead, envelopes, and stamps?

Don’t wait until September or October to check your supply of letterhead and envelopes. Make sure you have enough.

Speaking of envelopes, something besides the standard white business envelope can improve your response rate. Think about using an oversized, colored, or embellished envelope. If that’s not possible, don’t use a window envelope because it resembles a bill. A general rule is you don’t want any of your direct mail pieces to look like a bill or junk mail.

Even though many people donate online, you want to make it easy for donors who prefer to mail a check. Include a pledge envelope or a return envelope and a preprinted form with the donor’s contact information and the amount of their last gift.

Stamps are more personal, so you might want to find some nice ones to use.

Is it easy to donate online?

Be sure your donation page is user-friendly and consistent with your other fundraising materials. Using a branded donation page and not a third-party site is best. Highlight your year-end appeal on your homepage and include a prominent Donate Now button.

One way to ensure a good experience is to have someone on your staff or, even better, someone outside of your organization make a donation on your website. If they want to tear their hair out, you have some work to do.

Do you offer a monthly or recurring giving option?

I’m a huge fan of monthly giving. It’s a win-win for your organization. You can raise more money, boost your retention rate, receive a steady stream of revenue, and allow your donors to spread out their gifts.

If you don’t have a monthly giving program or have a small one, don’t wait any longer to start one or grow the one you have. Be sure to highlight it as a giving option.

Do you want to find a major funder who will give a matching gift?

One way to raise additional revenue is to find a major funder to match a portion or all of what you raise in your year-end appeal. If you want to go down this route, now would be a good time to reach out to these potential funders.

How will you thank your donors?

Spend as much time on your thank you letter/note as you do on your appeal letter and write them at the same time. And if it’s been a while since you’ve freshened up your thank you templates, you know what you need to do. It’s so important to thank your donors, and thank them well, as soon as you receive their gifts, so have a thank you letter/note ready to go.

Handwritten notes and phone calls are much better than a preprinted letter. Create or buy some thank you cards and start recruiting board members and volunteers to make thank you calls or write notes.

You’ll want to put together a welcome plan for your new donors and that also needs to be ready to roll after the donations come in.

How will you keep up with your donor communication?

Even though you’ll be busy with your appeal, you want to ramp up your donor communication this fall. Keep engaging your donors and other supporters (who may become donors) by sharing updates and gratitude. Pour on the appreciation!

Send at least one warm-up letter or email. You could create a thank you video or a video that gives a behind-the-scenes look at your organization. Maybe you could hold an open house or offer tours. Just don’t disappear until appeal time.

Yes, we’re still in a period of economic uncertainty. Some donors may not give as much or at all, but others will give more. They won’t give anything if you don’t ask.

There’s still plenty of time to go to the beach and get ice cream, but right now find that air-conditioned space and start planning your year-end campaign.

Best of luck!

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