Why You Need to Plan a Multichannel Fundraising Campaign

October 23, 2024 Ann Green appeal letters, fundraising, multichannel, planning, year-end appeal appeal, fundraising, multichannel, year-end appeal

Year-end fundraising season is here. 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, texts, 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 and send reminders by text.

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.

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, texts, 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. You also run the risk of someone not donating at all.

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

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.

I usually recommend starting your year-end campaign sooner rather than later to get ahead of your competition. Here in the U.S., we have an election coming up on November 5. Fundraising experts are mixed on whether elections affect nonprofit donations. However, many people are going to be distracted by the election. Also, if your donors give to political candidates, they’re being bombarded with email and text messages. It’s replication gone wild.

If you’re outside of the U.S., you can begin your campaign whenever it makes sense and if you’ve already mailed your appeal, you can start planning your reminders.

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

October 30

Give your supporters a heads-up by email and social media. Let them know your year-end campaign is about to launch 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 November 4

Mail your appeal letters, maybe mid-week so they arrive after the election.

Week of November 11

Send an appeal by email. You could also reach out by text and social media if your donors are receptive to those. Use the same messaging as you did in your appeal letter.

Week of November 18

Start sending follow-up reminders via email, text, 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 Westside 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 25

November 28 is Thanksgiving in the U.S. I would recommend taking a pause from your fundraising 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 December 2

December 3 is GivingTuesday so you could tie that into a reminder message. You may already have a campaign planned.

Love it, hate it, or somewhere in between, 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. If you’re not participating in GivingTuesday, you’ll want to send a reminder on a different day.

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 9

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.

Sending a text message as well as an email can improve your chance of getting a donation.

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 your 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!

How Will You Thank Your Year-End Donors?

October 9, 2024 Ann Green direct mail, donor engagement, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing direct mail, donor centered, donor engagement, gratitude, planning, thank you, writing

I imagine many of you are working on your year-end fundraising campaign. You may have started working on your appeal letter, which is great, but how much time have you spent thinking about how you’ll thank your donors? Maybe not that much. If that’s the case, you’re making a mistake because 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 an amazing thank you. The problem is most thank yous don’t come anywhere close to being amazing. 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. If you’ve been having trouble keeping your donors, doing a better job of thanking them should help.

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 an amazing 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 have the power to 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 Lisa,

Thank you so much for upgrading your gift to $75. We’re still seeing more people coming into the Westside Community Food Pantry. It’s difficult for many families in the community to afford groceries right now. Your generous gift will help a lot. We’re so happy you’ve been a donor for the 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 Steve, this is Jennifer Taylor and I’m a board member at the Westside 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 to make ends meet.

Write that amazing thank you letter

If it’s impossible to send handwritten notes or make phone calls, you can still impress your donors with an amazing thank you letter. As I mentioned before, many thank you letters aren’t amazing 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 incredible, 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 your 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.

Your envelope makes a difference. 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.

I do want to emphasize the importance of a good email subject line. Stand out in your donor’s inbox and use language that conveys gratitude, such as Thank You, Lisa! or You just did something great! Steer clear of anything like Donation Receipt or Your Receipt from X Organization. It’s not that hard to do this and you’ll make a good impression.

Remember to make thanking your donors a priority, both now and throughout the year. You should be more successful if you do.

How to Reach New Audiences With Your Nonprofit’s Message

October 2, 2024 Ann Green brand identity, Communications, community partnerships, donor engagement, donor retention, planning, social media, website brand idenity, Communications, donor engagement, donor retention, planning, social media, website

Want to reach new audiences to expand your nonprofit’s supporter base? Explore these ideas to engage with new groups of potential supporters.

By Jay Love

Is your nonprofit looking to reach new audiences with your fundraising appeals, volunteer events, and advocacy opportunities? You’re in the right place!

Reaching new audiences is critical to growing your organization’s supporter base and fostering reliable revenue to fund your cause. In this guide, we’ve compiled a list of top ideas to help expand your reach and introduce prospective new supporters to your mission.

The goal here isn’t that you should immediately start participating in every activity we’ve listed. Instead, browse these ideas to select a handful that would work best for your unique audience and staff capacity.

1. Set up a giving referral program.

Establishing a referral program for your giving opportunities incentivizes existing donors to engage with new supporters on your behalf, allowing you to leverage more extensive networks. If your nonprofit has a monthly giving or membership program, you can recruit current participants to promote the opportunity to their family members and friends.

Offer incentives to current donors to encourage participation, such as:

Complimentary nonprofit-branded merchandise
Gift cards
VIP event access

Thank donors who participate in the program with a personal appreciation message and recognition on your social media pages and email newsletters.

2. Participate in cross-blogging.

Cross-blogging opportunities require your nonprofit to partner with similar organizations to write posts for their online blog audiences. By participating in these blogging opportunities, you can introduce your mission to a new audience and show them why your organization is worthy of their support.

Reach out to other community organizations in your area, such as nonprofits or civic organizations, to ask if they’d be interested in a cross-blogging partnership. Outline the mutual benefits of this opportunity—by writing posts for your nonprofit’s blog, your partners will also be able to reach a new audience.

In your blog posts, share engaging stories that illustrate your nonprofit’s mission. Make the stories more impactful by incorporating your unique perspective, referencing recent statistics, and including quotes from your beneficiaries. Include links to your organization’s website so readers can get more information.

3. Engage with peer-to-peer fundraising donors.

Peer-to-peer fundraisers allow your nonprofit’s supporters to raise money for your mission on your behalf, expanding your fundraising reach and engaging new audiences. Many organizations send a simple thank you message to new donors and leave it at that. However, we recommend actively engaging with peer-to-peer donors to show them the impact of their gifts and increase the chances they’ll become recurring donors.

Qgiv’s peer-to-peer fundraising guide offers ideas for increasing retention by inviting new donors to:

Volunteer with you
Sign up for your email newsletter
Complete a survey to provide suggestions on the giving process

Asking new donors to complete a survey can be particularly effective, as you can uncover their giving motivations. While many donors likely gave to support their loved one’s peer-to-peer campaign, some may have a genuine interest in or passion for your mission. These donors are the most likely to stay engaged with your organization after the fundraiser ends.

4. Offer valuable educational content through your website.

Whether you work in the environmental, healthcare, or community sectors, your nonprofit may have unique insights or information to share about your cause area. By featuring valuable educational content on your website, you can improve your site’s reputation and reach new audiences of visitors interested in the information you have to share.

Filling your website with rich educational content can also improve your SEO results, increasing the likelihood of your pages appearing higher on search engines.

Focus on educational content like:

Educational courses
eBooks
Informational videos
Virtual webinars or panel discussions

Be sure to work with your organization’s subject matter experts (SMEs) to design your educational content and ensure its accuracy. Ask them to review your content and make updates as needed.

5. Host community classes or workshops.

Community classes bring people together to learn a new skill or meet new friends in their area. These workshops are a valuable public service your nonprofit can provide to foster new connections and draw attention to your mission.

Host classes that align with your nonprofit’s purpose. For example:

A local animal shelter may host puppy yoga or dog training classes.
A local community garden nonprofit can host healthy cooking, gardening, or plant identification classes.
A nonprofit focused on helping community members gain technology skills can host a digital literacy workshop or coding classes.

These opportunities are also effective for engaging with various volunteers, some of whom may be new to your organization. New volunteers will be more likely to increase their involvement when your classes and workshops are fun and have interesting topics. Plus, volunteers are 66% more likely to donate to the organization they volunteer with than non-volunteers, meaning these individuals can be valuable potential donors.

6. Collaborate with influencers.

Influencers are individuals who have large followings on online platforms like social media or blogs. They are regarded as authoritative figures on specific topics and can sway their audiences’ opinions with recommendations and endorsements.

By working with an influencer, your nonprofit can reach its large, engaged audience to share your message and drive engagement with your involvement opportunities. Find an influencer relevant to your nonprofit’s mission to ensure their audience aligns with your existing one. For example, a nonprofit that helps fund school band programs could partner with a musician with a large TikTok following.

Provide your influencer with the messaging you’d like them to use when discussing your nonprofit and a link to your website or online fundraising page. Also, research disclosure regulations so you comply with marketing laws.

7. Take an active social media approach.

In addition to working with an influencer, another way to engage with a wider online audience is to be more active on social media. Engage with your current audience and reach new potential supporters by following these tips:

Comment on and share posts about your organization. Use social listening tools to track social media conversations about your nonprofit. Bloomerang’s nonprofit software guide highlights Buffer and Hootsuite as two social listening options. Then, engage with those posts by liking, commenting, and sharing them when appropriate.
Post regularly. Use a social media scheduling platform to create posts in advance and schedule them to be published at regular intervals. For smaller organizations, posting around three to five times per week tends to be the most feasible.
Host challenges with unique hashtags. Social media challenges can effectively engage your followers in fun activities and inspire them to share posts about your nonprofit with your followers. For example, you could start a #SelfiesforSeahorses challenge to encourage followers to share pictures of themselves using the hashtag to spread awareness of your organization’s sea life conservation efforts.

When creating social media content, remember the 5 Cs of good nonprofit communications. Your messages should be clear, concise, conversational, and compelling, and they should establish a connection. Workshop your social media content with your nonprofit’s team to strike the right tone that aligns with your brand.

8. Co-host events with community organizations.

Partnering with other organizations in your community can offer mutual benefits. Your nonprofit can reach a new audience while providing your partners similar access to your existing supporter base.

Reach out to other organizations to see if they’d be interested in co-hosting events with your nonprofit. These organizations may include:

Businesses
Other nonprofits
Civic organizations and clubs
Local schools and universities

With your community partners, you can host workshops, classes, silent auctions, fundraising 5Ks, festivals, chili cookoffs, or bake sales. Create branded event marketing materials for you and your partners to ensure consistent and professional branding.

9. Host cause-merchandise fundraisers.

Branded merchandise can help your nonprofit reach prospective new donors without lifting a finger. When supporters wear or use your branded merchandise, they’ll spread awareness of your organization’s logo, colors, and other brand elements.

Therefore, you should ensure the merchandise you create is highly visible. For example, you could sell:

Branded t-shirts
Tote bags
Baseball hats
Mugs or water bottles
Bumper stickers

Promote your merchandise using social media, website, and email platforms to encourage supporters to purchase your products. You can even start a social media campaign asking supporters to share photos of them using or wearing your merchandise. Create a unique hashtag for that campaign.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to connect with new audiences and spread your nonprofit’s message—it just takes some creativity and outside-the-box thinking.

No matter which strategies you choose, track metrics to evaluate your progress. You can track social media engagement rates, merchandise sales, event revenue, new donor acquisition, and other relevant data points to better understand which strategies drive the most engagement among new audiences.

Jay Love is a Co-Founder and current Chief Relationship Officer at Bloomerang.

Jay has served this sector for 33 years and is considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly.

Before founding Bloomerang, he was the co-founder and CEO of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to over 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.

He is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Over the years, he has given more than 2,500 speeches around the world for the charity sector and is often the voice of new technology for fundraisers.

Improve Your Donor Engagement by Creating Some Great Stories

August 20, 2024 Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, photos, planning, stories, video communications, donor engagement, donor relations, photos, stories, videos

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 and improve your engagement.

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 influx of migrants, 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 form 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.

Always be respectful to your subject(s). You may want to set up some ethical guidelines.

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 reports, website, blog, and other types of social media. You can also create a story calendar to help you consistently share stories throughout the year.

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 Cara, a working single mother with three kids who’s having trouble feeding her family because of rising food costs. Sometimes she has to choose between buying groceries and paying the heating bill.

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

Then in your newsletter, impact report, or update, you can tell a success story that because of your generous donors, Cara 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. You can share a little more information with a good photo caption.

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 from your subjects or their guardians.

Highlight your work with a video

Videos are a 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.

Spruce 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.

Creating a Thank You Plan Will Help You Let Your Donors Know How Much You Appreciate Them

August 13, 2024 Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, 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 then treat thanking their donors as an afterthought.

Donor retention continues to be a problem. One of many reasons is because people don’t feel appreciated. 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. Plus, when they do thank their donors, they don’t do a very good job of it. 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 making a donation.

Open with Thank you, Tina! 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.

Even before AI came into the picture, many thank you emails sounded downright robotic. Make sure you sound like a human and write something warm and personal. Remember 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 Tax 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.

I could write a whole post on subject lines and maybe I will in the future, but right now I do want to emphasize how important it is to write a good one. I’ll share one more – This is why I’m grateful for you This was sent from an organization that shared a success story and thanked me for helping to make that happen.

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

One way to up your personalization is to blind copy someone on the development staff each time the initial email acknowledgment goes out. Then send an additional email with a more personal note, acknowledging whether that person is a new donor, repeat donor, etc. You should still send something by mail or make a phone call (more on that below), since donors often miss email messages, especially if there’s not an enticing reason to open them.

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 roll 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 Craig,

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 still seeing more people come in because of rising food costs.

We really appreciate your support over the last five years.

Sincerely,

Susan Douglas

Board Member, Westside 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 Sanders 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 letter 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. Maybe a colored or oversized 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 generous 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. Plus, people get an enormous amount of email and social media messages.

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.

The Time to Start Planning Your Year-End Fundraising Campaign is Now

August 6, 2024August 7, 2024 Ann Green appeal letters, database, direct mail, donation page, donor-centered, fundraising, gratitude, planning database, donation page, donor-centered, fundraising, gratitude, planning, year-end appeal

Can you believe it’s August already? Time flies and soon it will be September. I know It’s hard to think about fall when it’s been sweltering in many parts of the world, including places where it’s usually not that hot. Even so, September will be here before you know it. I’m already starting to see ads for back-to-school sales….

If you’re doing a year-end fundraising campaign, the time to start planning it is now, hopefully in an air-conditioned space. You don’t want to wait too long, especially if you’re behind in your revenue goals.

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 2024 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.

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.

When do you want to launch your appeal? If you’re in the United States, it’s best to wait until after the November 5th election, and you know why. For those of you outside the US, you can start earlier. Whenever it is, make your goal to have the letters done at least a week before that, because things always take longer than you think they will. Work backwards to figure out how you can get to your proposed send date.

Keep in mind you’ll be competing with many other organizations who are doing appeals. Think about how you can make yours stand out.

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 few years and you need to take that into account.

A good way to start is to create an engaging story for your appeal. What challenges are your clients/community facing right now? Many people are struggling to make ends meet. 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 and testimonials 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, so don’t send everyone the same appeal.

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 run out of the room kicking and screaming, then 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?

Another good 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?

Be sure to 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. Don’t treat thanking your donors as an afterthought.

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. How about a postcard? 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 this summer, but right now find that air-conditioned space and start planning your year-end campaign.

Best of luck!

Photo by CreditScoreGeek.com

4 Tips for Uncovering Your Donors’ Giving Motivations

July 30, 2024 Ann Green Communications, database, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, fundraising, planning communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, fundraising, planning

Donor motivations are the “why” that drives their support of your nonprofit. Learn how to uncover those motivations and inspire more support in this guide.

By Ryan Carpenter

For the last several years, nonprofits have struggled to make ends meet due to falling revenue, rising inflation, and an increase in community needs. Charitable giving saw a 2.1% decrease in 2023 after inflation, showing how challenging it is for donors and nonprofits to keep up with inflation rates.

Fortunately, there are ways your organization can battle these disheartening statistics. Whether you’re future-proofing your fundraisers by focusing on future giving initiatives or leveraging low-cost digital channels to acquire donors, your nonprofit can still inspire enough support to keep its operations going strong. However, these efforts will only be successful if you have a deep understanding of why your donors give.

In this guide, we’ll dive into what you can do to discover, analyze, and appeal to donor motivations and maintain a healthy level of funding for your cause.

1. Use ethical and organized data collection methods.

To enhance donor relations, NXUnite recommends conducting thorough research to learn as much as you can. However, you’ll need to consider the ethics of collecting this information.

The three main ethics to keep in mind are consent, confidentiality, and communication. Get permission from donors when gathering information about them and always prioritize data security to keep their personal information private. You’ll need to maintain transparent communication with donors about how you’ll use their data and make sure staff members know how to appropriately handle and use donor data.

Additionally, use collection methods that yield clean, accurate, and organized data. This means the data is free of errors, duplications, and formatting inconsistencies. One option is to use online forms or surveys, like your donation page, that require donors to enter responses in a certain way. You can also use data gathered from social media, email, and other marketing platforms to see who is engaging with your communications.

No matter what technology you’re using to collect data, make sure all of these findings are routed to your constituent relationship management (CRM) system so the information is consolidated in one unified platform.

2. Perform a deep data analysis.

Once you’ve collected and organized your supporter data, it’s time to analyze it. During this step, you’ll identify trends, opportunities, and other insights to guide your fundraising strategies and make outreach more effective.

According to GivingDNA’s guide to data analytics for nonprofits, the following tips can help you discover more useful, accurate insights:

Screening more frequently. Some organizations neglect their data and only reference it on a quarterly (or even yearly!) basis. While this process takes time out of your busy schedule, trust that conducting screenings at least once a month is well worth it. For example, you could find an opportunity to secure a large donation from an existing supporter in less time than it takes to secure several smaller ones from new donors.
Referencing internal and external data. Don’t rely solely on the data you’ve collected about your donors. Compliment that information with data concerning broader trends in the nonprofit sector and your specific niche (e.g., giving patterns for animal welfare organizations).
Segmenting donors. Donor segmentation involves sorting donors into groups based on shared characteristics. Doing so can help you identify and target your most loyal or valuable donors. Some tools will automatically segment and pinpoint these opportunities for you, so be on the lookout for those.
Studying a variety of attributes and data fields. Don’t limit your analysis to basic data points like demographic information or average gift size. While these are important to understand, they don’t always reveal the full picture. Dig into everything you know about your donors, including things like communication preferences and contributions to other organizations, to gain a comprehensive overview of their behavior.

Choosing a robust data analytics tool can also make a world of difference and help you quickly derive actionable insights from your data. Look for one that is designed specifically for nonprofits and assists with tasks like prospect identification and wealth screening.

3. Examine donors’ journeys.

Understanding the journey supporters follow between discovering your organization and making their first donation can help you peel back the layers to identify their reasons for giving. Mapping out this journey will show the touchpoints donors interact with, enable you to tailor experiences and communications to their position in the donor journey, reveal pain points and gaps that pose retention risks, and help you make data-driven decisions.

Let’s look at an example. A nonprofit that focuses on environmental conservation is plotting out a donor journey for a segment of donors who are outdoorsy, interested in sustainable living, and make sporadic donations to peer organizations. The donor journey follows these stages:

Awareness: The donor discovers the nonprofit through a social media campaign. At this stage, the nonprofit notes that this group of donors engages most with posts about sustainability and environmental justice, hinting at their interests.
Consideration: The donor deepens their engagement by navigating to the nonprofit’s website and reading resources about its mission, programs, and goals. The organization identifies which pages these donors spend the most time on to infer which programs or issues inspire them to give.
Decision: The supporter subscribes to the nonprofit’s newsletter and registers for a beach clean-up and recycling event. At the event, the donor asks staff about the specific ways your organization prioritizes sustainability before ultimately making a donation.
Post-donation: After contributing, the donor receives thank-you messages from the nonprofit that highlight how the donation will be used. The donor responds positively, indicating that they approve of how their money is being used to further the mission.
Engagement, advocacy, and referral: The donor continues to engage with the nonprofit, particularly with programs that promote maintaining natural spaces and advocating that more people start recycling. The donor promotes these programs online and even recruits like-minded friends and family to join in.

Each point in the donor journey can allow your nonprofit to see how, when, and why donors engage with and support your cause. However, make sure you have the right tools and technology in place to capture these metrics. When getting started, at least have a Google Analytics account in place to track website traffic, as well as platforms that will measure digital marketing engagement.

4. Personalize communications.

After you’ve worked to uncover your donors’ motivations, develop a nonprofit marketing plan that details how you’ll appeal to those motivations. In addition to segmenting your donors based on their giving preferences, habits, and interests, you can:

Share personalized thank-you notes that demonstrate the impact of donors’ support, explain how that funding will be used, and even feature testimonials or stories from beneficiaries.
Provide tailored impact reports that show the progress their favorite programs have made.
Make customized calls to action that relate directly to their interests and reasons for giving to your cause.
Send personalized recommendations for upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and resources that they might enjoy.

When communications are relevant to your donors and their interests, they’ll be much more likely to engage and provide ongoing support for your cause. Additionally, supporters will feel more seen and connected to your organization when you show that you know who they are and what they value.

If current trends continue, stewarding and retaining a loyal donor base will only become more important. Understanding who your donors are and knowing their interests, passions, and histories with your cause will help you make personal and authentic appeals for support. Not only does this show that you’ve taken the time to get to know them, but it also convinces them that your nonprofit is the best equipped to address their concerns and make a significant impact.

Ryan Carpenter is the Vice President of Client Success at GivingDNA, an all-in-one fundraising analytics, data visualization, and wealth screening tool. He has experience and interest in developing innovative strategies that efficiently identify, cultivate, and solicit donors and prospects through effective engagement tactics. Ryan has a keen ability to synthesize large data sets and has a proven track record in creating successful cross-channel donor engagement strategies that deepen donor relationships.

Why Your Nonprofit Needs to Keep Things Simple

July 9, 2024 Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, planning, writing communications, donor engagement, donor relations, planning, writing

Over the years I’ve realized the importance of keeping things simple. We have so many ways to fill our time (many of them involving screens), but I often find pleasure in simple things such as taking a walk, reading, and doing yoga.

Keeping it simple doesn’t have to mean a bare-bones existence. There’s a Swedish term called lagom meaning everything in moderation or not too much, not too little. Or think of Goldilocks and choose what’s “just right.” This can apply to how much information we take in about everything that’s going on in the world – politics, war, the economy, inequality, climate change, etc. You want enough information to know what’s going on, but not too much so it’s overwhelming. Also, it’s not good for your brain to multitask.

Keeping things simple is important for your nonprofit organization, too. There’s a lot of uncertainty out there. Fundraising numbers are down. Maybe you’re short-staffed and struggling to get things done.

Even so, you need to continue to raise money and communicate regularly with your donors, while not taking on too much. Donors may be navigating uncertain situations, but they want to help if they can and they want to hear from you. What they don’t want is a lot of complex content and too much information.

Here are a few ways to simplify your donor communication without making it too difficult for you.

Keep it simple by planning ahead

If communicating regularly with your donors sounds overwhelming, plan ahead by using a communications calendar. You should be in touch every one to two weeks, if possible. Otherwise, aim for once a month. Fill your calendar with different ways to do that and update it as needed. A good rule of thumb is – ask, thank, report, repeat. And, as I mention below, you can keep it simple with shorter communication.

Keep it simple by sticking to one call to action

Your communication needs to be clear. Before you send an email message or letter, ask what is your intention? Is it to ask for a donation, say thank you, or send an update?

Stick to one call to action. Suppose you send a message that includes requests for a donation, volunteers, and for people to contact their legislators. It’s likely your donors won’t respond to all of your requests and may not respond to any of them. Send separate messages for each request.

You’ll also have better results if you send your messages to the right audience. For example, if you’re looking for volunteers for an event, reach out to past volunteers and ask them to bring a friend, as opposed to sending a message to everyone on your mailing list. This way you won’t be subjecting people to messages that may not be relevant to them.

In your fundraising appeals, don’t bury your ask. You can start with a story, followed by a clear, prominent ask. Recognize your reader. Thank previous donors and invite potential donors to be a part of your family of donors.

Your thank you letter or email should thank the donor. Sounds simple, right? Make them feel good about giving to your organization. Welcome new donors and welcome back returning donors. You don’t need a lot of wordy text explaining what your organization does.

Keep your messages simple, yet sincere, and include a clear call to action.

Keep it simple with shorter, easy-to-read messages

Plain and simple, if your communication is too long, most people won’t read it.

Limit print communication, such as newsletters and impact reports, to four pages or less. Your email messages should be just a few paragraphs. On the other hand, you don’t want to be terse or say too little.

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Mark Twain

Be sure your communication is easy to read and scan. Use short paragraphs, especially for electronic communication, and include lots of white space. Don’t clutter up the page. Use at least a 12-point font with dark type on a light background – basic black on white is best.

Keep it simple by using conversational language

I find it annoying when I read an appeal letter or newsletter article that sounds like a Ph.D. thesis. Write at a sixth to eighth-grade level. That’s what most major newspapers do. This is not dumbing down. You’re smartening up by ensuring your donors will understand you. There are programs out there that can help you determine the reading level of your content. Plus, you can raise more money if your messages are easy to read.

Keep out jargon and other confusing language. Instead of saying something like – We’re helping underserved communities who are experiencing food insecurity, say – Thanks to donors like you, we can serve more families at the Southside Community Food Pantry.

We’re seeing real people being affected by real problems. Don’t diminish this with jargon and other vague language.

Use the active voice and there’s no need to get fancy by using a lot of SAT vocabulary words. Again, you want your donors to understand you.

Keep it simple by creating a clutter-free website

Your website is still a place where people will go to get information. Make sure it’s clear, clutter-free, and easy to read and navigate. Don’t forget about short paragraphs and lots of white space.

One of the most important parts of your website is your donation page. It needs to be easy to use and collect enough information without overwhelming your donors. If it’s too cumbersome, they may give up and leave. What’s known as form abandonment can happen on other web pages, too.

If it’s a branded donation page (e.g. not a third-party site), make sure it’s consistent with your messaging and look. Don’t go too minimalistic, though. Include a short description of how a donor’s gift will help you make a difference, as well as an engaging photo.

Make it easier for your nonprofit and your donors by keeping things simple.

Photo by One Way Stock

We’re Halfway Through 2024. How Is Your Nonprofit Doing So Far?

July 2, 2024 Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, fundraising, gratitude, planning Communications, donor engagement, fundraising, planning, thank you

Believe it or not, we’re halfway through 2024. The midpoint of the year is always a good time to see if you’re meeting your fundraising and communications goals. For this post, I’m assuming your fiscal year is the same as the calendar year. If you’re on a different fiscal cycle, you can make the appropriate time adjustments.

Your fundraising revenue may be down. We’re still in an uncertain economy, but that doesn’t mean you should stop fundraising. Never stop fundraising! Donors will give if they can.

You may need to make some changes to your fundraising plan and other goals. And, if you never made a fundraising plan for this year, stop right there and put one together now and use it for the remainder of the year. Always have a plan.

Take a look at what’s working and what’s not. It will be different for every organization. If you’re doing okay, keep it up. If you’re falling short, figure out where you need to make changes.

If you’re relying too much on grants and events and those aren’t bringing in the revenue you need, focus more on individual giving. Many nonprofits raise the most money from individual giving. Summer is usually a less busy time for nonprofits. Take advantage of that with these suggestions to help you stay on track this year.

Start or enhance your monthly giving program

Monthly giving is doable for all sizes of nonprofit organizations, even small ones. It’s a great way to raise more money, as well as your donor retention rate. Retention rates for monthly donors are much better than other retention rates. You’ll have a steady stream of income and it may be more feasible for your donors, especially if they’re feeling pinched financially. It’s also one of the few types of fundraising that’s growing right now.

If you don’t have a monthly giving program, start one now. To get more monthly donors, send a special targeted letter to current donors inviting them to become monthly donors. This is a good opportunity to upgrade smaller dollar donors, or any donors for that matter.

Also, do something special for your current monthly donors. Send them a thank you postcard or email. They’ve made a commitment to you, now make a commitment to them.

I’ve always been a big fan of monthly giving, even more so over the last few years. They’re one of your most committed donor groups.

Get in touch with your lapsed donors

This could be a good time to reach out to donors who haven’t given for a year or two. There are many reasons for that. Maybe they can’t afford to give right now. Maybe you’re doing a poor job with your donor communication. Maybe they were busy and forgot. Send them an engaging, personal appeal saying how much you’ve appreciated their support, state your need, and ask them to give a gift.

Look into higher levels of giving

Another advantage of monthly giving is that these donors are more likely to become mid-level and major donors. Starting a major gift program will take time, but it’s doable even for small organizations. Look into starting one soon. Organizations with strong major gift programs tend to do better financially.

Ramp up your donor engagement

Since summer is usually a slower time for fundraising, it’s a good time to show some donor appreciation and plan for fall. Don’t disappear over the summer.

Some donors will pull back on their giving, but that doesn’t mean ghosting them. Keep engaging with them to help ensure they’ll give again, if they can.

Make improvements to your donor communication

Many nonprofits can do a better job of communicating with their donors. Are you one of them? Look at metrics such as website visits and email open rates. I know these don’t always tell the whole story, but if you’re not seeing a lot of engagement, figure out why.

Often, it’s because your content isn’t great or it’s too long. Maybe it’s layout and design. You could also be targeting the wrong audience. Summer is a good time to make some changes.

It’s not too late, yet

If you’re falling short of your goals, you still have time to do better, but you need to make an effort.

Be sure to keep evaluating your progress for the rest of the year. Even if you’re doing okay now, circumstances can change. You may want to monitor your progress more frequently (once a month instead of once a quarter) so you can try to stay on track. You don’t want to get caught off guard.

Keep monitoring your progress to help ensure a successful year.

Photo by Aaron Davis

7 Donor Segmentation Strategies for Personalized Messages

June 25, 2024 Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, fundraising, planning, thank you letters appeal, communications, donor relations, donor retention, donor-centered, fundraising, thank you

Segmenting your donors allows you to send personalized messages that resonate with them and increase engagement. Check out these donor segmentation strategies.

By Gabrielle Perham

With so much information available at their fingertips, it can be overwhelming and difficult for your supporters to fully absorb it all. Among the thousands of brands, businesses, and other charitable organizations out there, your nonprofit has to figure out how to cut through the clutter and stand out to current and potential donors.

One of the top ways to grab donors’ attention is segmentation. By grouping donors into relevant segments, you can develop personalized messages that resonate with different subsets of your audience and encourage them to continue lending their support.

In this guide, we’ll present several different donor segmentation strategies your organization can leverage to personalize its communications.

1. Demographics

One of the simplest ways to segment your donors is by demographics. This information helps you understand your donors’ backgrounds and communication preferences. Demographics encompass a variety of different data points, such as:

Age
Gender
Level of education
Income range
Marital status
Geographic location

Insights from demographic data can help you learn more about your supporters and how they want to engage with your organization. For example, let’s say you segment donors by age and find that you have a large proportion of Millennials in your supporter base. Using that information, you can launch campaigns on the platforms Millennials are most likely to frequent, such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Alternatively, you may use location data to send specialized newsletters highlighting relevant events and opportunities in people’s local areas. Start by determining which cities are most popular among your donor base. Then compile events hosted by your organization and similar nonprofits that your supporters might be interested in attending.

If you don’t have the demographic data you need readily available, consider enhancing your database through a demographic data append. This process involves using third-party sources to supplement your database and learn more about your supporters.

2. Giving History

Group donors based on their giving history, frequency, and patterns to tailor your fundraising strategies and stewardship efforts accordingly. Examples of segments in this category may include:

One-time donors
Recurring donors
Major donors
Campaign or cause-specific donors

Align your communication frequency with donors’ giving frequency. For instance, you may send monthly donors an update about the impact of their contributions once a month whereas you may contact annual donors every quarter with updates on your work.

You can also use giving history data to match your appreciation methods to donors’ level of commitment to your organization. For example, you should reserve more personal outreach methods, like phone calls, and more intensive donor appreciation tactics, like a donor wall, for major donors.

3. Donor Lifecycle Stage

Segmenting donors based on where they are in the donor lifecycle helps you meet their specific needs and move them through the donor journey more efficiently. The segments you create based on lifecycle stage may include:

New donors
Active donors
Lapsed donors
Reactivated donors
Donors with upgrade potential

This segmentation strategy can set you up for long-term, sustainable success by focusing on retaining current donors and re-engaging lapsed donors. You may send new donors background information about your organization while you thank active donors for their continued support. Use more urgent calls to action to win back lapsed donors and welcome reactivated donors back to your organization with updates on what they’ve missed.

4. Engagement Level

Some of your donors are likely involved in other aspects of your organization beyond donating. Maximize donor involvement and participation by sending them relevant communications based on their engagement level and history.

For instance, you may create segments for donors who are also:

Regular volunteers
Event attendees
Advocates of your cause
Peer-to-peer fundraisers

Show donors that you care about their nonmonetary contributions to your organization by referencing their specific involvement in donation requests and thank-you messages, and send them information about upcoming opportunities they may be interested in.

5. Charitable Interests

If your mission encompasses a broad array of different cause areas and services, you may segment donors based on which causes, programs, or initiatives they’re most interested in supporting. These groups allow you to reach out to your donors with personalized appeals for relevant campaigns and offer opportunities that resonate with them.

For example, United Way’s website explains that the organization has three focus areas: health, education, and economic mobility. Depending on which areas their donors are most passionate about, this nonprofit’s fundraising team may group donors into three corresponding segments and send them updates and appeals related to their interests.

6. Giving Capacity

When you know donors’ giving capacity, you can tailor your donation asks accordingly and identify potential major donors. To determine giving capacity, conduct a wealth screening that examines the financial means of your existing donors.

According to AlumniFinder, wealth screening provides your organization with the following donor data points:

Business affiliations
Stock ownership
Home value

Besides determining giving capacity, this information can also help you capitalize on matching gift opportunities. 360MatchPro’s matching gift statistics guide explains that although many employers will match their employees’ donations to eligible nonprofits, 78% of donors are unaware if their company offers matching gifts.

To raise awareness of matching gifts and secure more donation revenue for your organization, use employer data from your wealth screening to group employees who are eligible for matching gifts and highlight these opportunities for them.

7. Communication Preferences

Collect and store information about your supporters’ communication preferences in your donor database so you can reach your audience on the platforms they prefer, increasing the likelihood of engagement.

Survey your donors to determine whether they’d like to be contacted via one or all of the following:

Email
Direct mail
Phone calls
Social media
Text messages

Then, create relevant groups in your database, and sync them with your email marketing and social media management platforms so you can easily communicate with your supporters on their preferred channels.

Engaging your donors means keeping your organization top of mind through innovative, personalized communications. By segmenting your donor base, you offer a better, more individualized supporter experience and can build stronger donor relationships. Don’t be afraid to create more specific segments within these groups, too; the more specific you can get, the more relevant your communications will be.

Gabrielle Perham is the Director of Marketing & Sales Operations for Deep Sync. She joined the organization in 2017 and brings 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, branding, communications, sales enablement, and digital marketing. With a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-it-done attitude and a big-picture mindset, Gaby loves solving marketing and business challenges. She earned both a B.S. in Marketing and an M.B.A. in Marketing Management from the University of Tampa. Gaby enjoys spending time with her fiercely outspoken daughter; hiking and kayaking; rocking out in the first row of a live show; and giving back to her local community.

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