communications

How Will You Welcome Your New Donors?

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, donor-centered, planning , , , , ,

Year-end fundraising is in full swing. I hope your campaign is going well so far. Perhaps you also participated in Giving Tuesday. The latter often brings in new donors, which you never want to take for granted. 

These donors saw a need and found a connection to your cause. Or maybe they were drawn into whatever Giving Tuesday promotion you initiated, but I like to think they wanted to help you make a difference. 

You may have or will see an increase in donations because of the recent U.S. election. For example, if you work with immigrants or other populations that will be affected by the incoming administration. These donors are sometimes referred to as rage donors.  If that’s the case for you, these are donors who feel passionate about your cause and you don’t want to lose them.

Unfortunately, many of your new donors won’t stick with you. The retention rate for first-time donors is around 20%. We can and must do better.

This is why it’s so important to get a second donation, also known as a golden donation. Once you get that golden donation, you’re more likely to have long-time donors who will keep giving. One way to ensure this is to make your new donors feel welcome.

Start with a special thank you

According to fundraising expert, Dr. Adrian Sargeant, “The thank you is the single most important piece of communication that your donors get. They have a higher recall of it than the appeal that generated the gift.”

Keep that in mind, especially for your new donors.

If someone donates online, it’s hard to tailor the thank you email specifically to new donors. But you can do that with a phone call, handwritten note, or thank you letter.

Try to call your new donors or send a handwritten note. This will make a great impression on them. Get together a group of board members, other volunteers, and staff to help you. If that’s not possible, create a thank you letter specifically for your new donors.

*Make sure these are brand new donors. A good CRM/database will help you avoid any missteps.*

Create a welcome plan

A week or two after the initial thank you, send a welcome package. You can do this by mail, email, or a combination of both. Try to send at least one welcome message by mail. Mail is always more personal and your donors will be more likely to see it.

Welcome your new donors. Thank them again and show them other ways they can connect with you. Invite them to subscribe to your newsletter, join you on social media, and volunteer.

Your welcome package should include a warm introductory message and a few facts about your organization, but don’t brag too much. Keep it donor-centered and be personable. You could also direct people to your website for more information about your nonprofit.

Be careful about how much information you send. Donors want to feel welcome, not overwhelmed.

I don’t recommend sending unsolicited swag. Personally, I don’t like it, but some donors might. You could offer your new donors a gift and they can let you know if they want to receive it, but it’s not necessary. What donors really want from you is to know how they’re helping you make a difference.

Create a series of messages, also known as a drip campaign. Set a timeline. The first sequence of messages can be sent about once a week. After that, you should continue to communicate regularly (at least once a month) and follow the ask, thank, update, repeat formula. In a few months, you could invite your new donors to give monthly. Monthly donors are committed donors.

Welcome emails have high open rates. Impress your new donors right away, so they’ll be more likely to donate again.

Who are your new donors?

They could be event attendees, volunteers, or newsletter subscribers. If you know, refer to that in your thank you note, letter, or phone call. If not, send a short survey with your welcome package and ask, “How did you hear about us?” or “What drew you to our organization?” 

Another question to ask is whether your donors prefer print or electronic communication. Short surveys are also a good way to connect throughout the year. The more you know about your donors the easier it will be to communicate with them.

Make your current donors feel special, too

While I’ve been focusing on new donors in this post, retention rates for current donors aren’t anything to celebrate. The overall donor retention rate is around 45%, so we have some work to do.

Remember the golden donation, but don’t stop there. You want a third (would that be platinum?) and a fourth, etc. donation.  

If you’re not acknowledging a donor’s past support, you’re making a huge mistake. Imagine how you would feel if you gave to an organization for over five years and they never thank you for your long-time support.  Unfortunately, this happens way too often.

These valuable, long-time donors could leave at any time, so ignore them at your own peril. Make sure they also get a special thank you from you.

Keep it up throughout the year

It’s so important to communicate with your donors regularly. Plan on special mailings or emails specifically targeted to new donors. Remember to try to send something by mail if you can. A better use of your print and mailing budget is to send thank you notes instead of swag.

Think of other ways to do something special for your new donors too, such as an open house or a tour of your facility, either in person or virtual.

Of course, don’t ignore your other donors. You could do something special when you get that all-important second gift. Keep reaching out – at least once or twice a month. 

Show appreciation and share updates. A huge factor in donor retention is a good donor relations plan that you’ll carry out regularly as long as your donors support you, which hopefully will be for many years.

Why Segmenting Your Donors Makes Sense

Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, database, donor relations, donor retention, fundraising, thank you letters , , , , ,

Segmenting your donors makes sense on every level. If you’re running a campaign, you can send different letters to different types of donors or segment by gift amount and encourage them to upgrade. You can also create a new donor welcome series, a special thank you mailing for monthly donors, or reach out to lapsed 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, many 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?

Besides creating a personal connection, another benefit of segmenting your donors is it can help you raise more money and boost your retention rate. If you haven’t been segmenting your donors and have been struggling with meeting your revenue and retention goals, that may be why.

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 because 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. 

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, lapsed donors, 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

Spend some extra time segmenting your donors into different groups. Unfortunately, if you don’t, you’re missing out on opportunities to connect with your donors, raise additional revenue, and boost your retention rate. 

4 Key Lessons Nonprofits Should Learn from Businesses

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, community partnerships, donor engagement, donor relations, fundraising , , , , ,

Although nonprofits and businesses seem different, they share many similarities. Discover lessons nonprofits can learn from their for-profit counterparts here.

By Kyle Cannon

Although businesses and nonprofits operate in two different worlds, governed by their own unique rules, these organizations are more alike than one might initially think. Certain strategies apply to organizations in both industries—and nonprofits can experience major benefits from following in the footsteps of certain successful businesses.

To help your organization thrive long-term by building up good habits, this guide will cover four key lessons nonprofits should take from businesses. With these strategies, you’ll be well-positioned to secure loyal supporters, inspire increased generosity, and continue furthering your mission for years to come.

1. Give supporters a compelling reason to donate.

Much like a massage practice needs to convince customers to patronize its business, your nonprofit needs to give supporters a compelling reason to donate. While your organization isn’t necessarily focused on selling a specific product or service, your purpose is what supporters buy into. And it’s not enough to simply be a charitable organization—with over 1.8 million nonprofits registered in the U.S. alone, your organization needs to seriously consider how to set itself apart from others.

Here are a few tips for demonstrating that your nonprofit is deserving of support:

  • Emphasize your mission’s importance. For example, let’s say your animal shelter’s mission is to provide a second chance to animals in need by finding them loving families. You might explain that your mission is important because all pets deserve to be cared for and have a good quality of life.
  • Establish the issue you’re trying to address. Clearly outline what the issue is and why it’s important to fix it now rather than later. The animal shelter above might highlight high rates of animal abandonment in local communities and the negative impact these animals have on local wildlife to emphasize why it’s essential to rescue these animals and provide them with safe shelter.
  • Outline your impact. Explain how your nonprofit has already made a positive impact on its community. The animal shelter above might state that it has rescued over 5,000 dogs and cats since its inception and actively cares for over 300 animals at any given time.

If your nonprofit is well-established and has a base of loyal donors, research their giving motivations for key insights into why they support you. You can do this by sending out surveys or examining the data in your nonprofit constituent relationship management system (CRM). Use this information to improve the language you use around donating and make giving even more compelling.

2. Provide a positive supporter experience.

A crucial part of convincing consumers to make a purchase is the customer experience. Just think about how businesses offer generous return policies, leverage easy-to-use e-commerce platforms, and train employees to provide excellent service. Companies risk losing business when customers don’t enjoy the buying experience.

Your nonprofit can learn one key lesson from this: It’s crucial to establish a positive supporter experience that makes it easy for them to continue interacting with your organization. To that end, streamline how supporters:

  • Donate, such as by designing a responsive, mobile-optimized donation page that accepts various payment types
  • Volunteer, such as by offering a variety of volunteer opportunities that appeal to individuals with varying availabilities and commitment levels
  • Attend events, such as by creating an event page where supporters can RSVP and ensuring that your event-day check-in process is smooth and streamlined
  • Receive messages, such as by communicating with supporters regularly and through their preferred communication channels, whether that is email, social media, or something else

You may want to invest in software that helps you implement these best practices. This is also a key lesson your organization can learn from businesses—they’re not afraid to invest in tools that make their operations easier. Just as a spa might purchase massage software, your nonprofit can invest in a robust fundraising platform, nonprofit CRM, volunteer management software, or any other solution that aids you in your work.

3. Build a strong brand.

Branding is everything to businesses—it’s how they build recognition of their company and products. Just think about McDonald’s iconic golden arches or the stylized font of the Coca-Cola logo. As a nonprofit, you can follow the lead that businesses set and also focus on your branding to improve awareness for your mission.

According to MassageBook, there are two types of branding:

  • Visual. This includes your nonprofit’s logo, colors, and typography—essentially, any branding elements you can see.
  • Verbal. This refers to written choices you make, covering your mission statement, values, tone, grammar, and more.

Establish a thorough branding guide that describes how you’ll handle both visual and verbal branding elements. With the right strategy, you can help your nonprofit stand out in a sea of other charitable organizations. After establishing what your branding will look like, don’t forget to incorporate it into all of your marketing materials in a uniform manner to ensure that your audience immediately associates the material with your nonprofit.

4. Partner with like-minded organizations.

Businesses have long learned that partnerships with other organizations help them expand their reach, acquire more customers, and ultimately generate more revenue. Your nonprofit can similarly benefit from partnering with other mission-aligned organizations.

Here are a few types of organizations you should consider working with:

  • Other nonprofits. Other nonprofits with similar or adjacent missions may be happy to partner with yours to boost awareness of both your causes. For example, an environmental conservation nonprofit might work with an ocean conservation nonprofit to help the latter promote its upcoming event.
  • Foundations and grantmakers. Foundations and grantmakers provide financial support to nonprofits. To secure their support, you’ll need to undergo a grant application process and convince them that your nonprofit is worthy of their funds and will put them to good use.
  • Businesses. Corporate sponsorships aren’t limited to businesses—your nonprofit can also benefit from them! According to 360MatchPro, you can identify potential sponsors by exploring your network, researching local businesses, and using dedicated prospect research tools.

Keep in mind that a partnership should be mutually beneficial. As a nonprofit, this usually means that you’ll promote your partner’s brand, products and services, or mission alongside yours. For example, if you’re partnering with a nonprofit, you might host a co-branded awareness campaign to boost advocacy for both your causes. If you’ve acquired a corporate sponsor, you can include their branding on your event materials and specifically thank them in your end-of-event speech to help them get the word out about their brand.

And there you have it—four lessons nonprofits can take from businesses. Consider whether or not your organization is following these best practices and how you can implement them into your strategies to broaden your reach, acquire more donations, and work toward your mission more effectively.

Kyle Cannon is the product evangelist at MassageBook. He’s spent the past 8+ years developing a deep understanding of the joys and struggles massage therapists face daily, and he’s committed to helping them simplify and grow their practices every step of the way.

Improve Your Donor Engagement by Creating Some Great Stories

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, photos, planning, stories, video , , , , ,

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

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, 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.

4 Tips for Uncovering Your Donors’ Giving Motivations

Ann Green Communications, database, 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.


If You Want Better Donor Engagement, Practice The 5 C’s of Good Nonprofit Communication

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor-centered, fundraising, gratitude, writing , , , , ,

Are you having trouble with your donor engagement? If you answered yes, it may be because your communication is well, just meh. The remedy I like to recommend is the 5 C’s of good nonprofit communication. Keep these in mind when you’re writing a fundraising appeal, thank you letter, update, or any type of donor communication.  

Is it Clear?

What is your intention? What message are you sending to your donors? Are you asking for a donation, thanking them, or sharing an update? 

Whatever it is, make sure your message is clear. If you have a call to action, that needs to be clear, as well. You also want to stick to one call to action. Don’t distract your donors with too many choices. If you ask them to make a donation, volunteer, and contact their legislators in the same message, you run the risk of them not doing any of those.

You want your message to produce results. Plain and simple, your fundraising appeal should entice someone to donate. Your thank you letter should thank your donors (no bragging or explaining what your organization does) and make them feel good about donating.

Use language your donors will understand (no jargon). Keep out terms like food insecurity and underserved communities. Just because something is clear to you, doesn’t mean it will be clear to others. 

Is it Concise?

Can you say more with less? Eliminate any unnecessary adverbs, adjectives, and filler. Make your point right away. Concise writing doesn’t mean you need to be terse or all your print communication has to be one page. Sometimes it will need to be longer, but the same rules apply. 

Nonprofit organizations like to pack a lot of information into their monthly/quarterly newsletters and impact reports, but many donors won’t read something if it looks like it will be too long. 

Shorter, more frequent communication is better. This applies to the example I gave above about not putting more than one call to action in a message. You’ll have better results if you send separate messages for each call to action.

Also, most people skim, so use short paragraphs and lots of white space, especially for electronic communication.

Make all your words count.

Is it Conversational?

Write as if you’re having a conversation with a friend and be personable. Use the second person – where you refer to your donors as you and your organization as we. Remember to use you much more than we. 

Avoid using jargon, cliches, multi-syllable words, and the passive voice. Is that the way you talk to your friends? I hope not.

You may think you’re impressing your donors by using jargon and big words, but most likely you’re confusing them or even worse, alienating them. Connect with your donors by using language they’ll understand.

Is it Compelling?

Is whatever you’re writing going to capture someone’s attention right away and keep them interested? The average human attention span is eight seconds, so the odds are stacked against you. I don’t need to tell you there’s a lot of stuff competing for our attention right now. If you can’t stand out, your donors are going to move on to something else.

Start with a good opening sentence. Leading with a question is often good. Stories are also great. 

Put a human face on your stories and keep statistics to a minimum. Start a fundraising appeal with an engaging story that leads to a call to action.

Are you establishing a connection?

Donors are drawn to your organization because they feel a connection to your cause. You also need to establish a connection with them. You can start by segmenting your donors by different types, such as new donors, current donors, and monthly donors. 

Get to know your donors better and give them content you know they’ll be interested in. Hint – it’s not bragging about your organization. They want to know how they’re helping you make a difference for your clients/community. They also want to feel appreciated. Focus on building and sustaining relationships.

Do a better job with your donor engagement and improve your communication by practicing the 5 C’s.

Why Your Nonprofit Needs to Keep Things Simple

Ann Green 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

7 Donor Segmentation Strategies for Personalized Messages

Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, fundraising, planning, thank you letters , , , , , ,

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. 

What Kind of Experience Are You Giving Your Donors?

Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, donation page, donor engagement, email, fundraising, newsletter, thank you letters , , , , , ,

What kind of experience are you giving your donors when they interact with your organization? Is it good, bad, or somewhere in between? It’s important for you to look at things from their perspective, not yours. Let’s examine some of the different aspects of fundraising and donor communication to see what kind of experience you’re giving your donors.

The Fundraising Appeal Experience

Your donor receives an appeal from you. At least one appeal per campaign should come by mail because your donor will be more likely to see it and take action. It’s also a more personal way to connect. Donors can get a lot of fundraising appeals from many different organizations, especially on GivingTuesday and at year-end. What are you doing to make yours stand out?

Does your appeal address your donor by name and take into account any past giving? Is it easy to read (and scan) and include a story and a clear, prominent ask that lets the donor know how she can help make a difference for your clients/community?

Or is it a generic, long-winded mess in a tiny font? Are you using jargon and other language your donor won’t understand? Are you focusing too much on your organization so your donor feels like an afterthought?  

You only have a few seconds to capture your donor’s attention and get her to make a donation. If this is not a good experience for her, then I think you know what will or won’t happen.

The Giving Experience

Congratulations, someone has decided to donate to your nonprofit. Since most people give online, I’ll focus on that first.

They’re on your website ready to give. How’s that going to go? Does your Donate Now button stand out? Do you have a branded donation page (worth the investment) that’s easy to use and navigate? That means keeping it simple without too many fields to fill out and not making people set up an account. Be sure it’s focused on making a donation. You can include information about volunteering and other ways to get involved elsewhere, such as a thank you landing page. You don’t want to distract people from giving. It also needs to be accessible on a mobile device. If your donation page is a pain to deal with, you run the risk of someone giving up and not donating. 

Speaking of websites, your entire site needs to provide a good experience for your donors, as well.

While many donors give online now, some people are not comfortable doing that. Be sure your direct mail appeal includes a reply envelope/card so someone can send you a check. You can help your donors by filling out their name, address, and past giving amounts on the reply form. Depending on your CRM/database, you may be able to customize gift amount strings. Your mailing address should be included in your email appeal and on your website. 

Other donors may want to call you with a credit card number. Is it easy to reach you by phone? Several years ago I was working with an organization that was holding an event. Someone wanted to register by phone and the staff person tried to get her to register on their website. Hello, she wouldn’t have called you if she wanted to do that.

Every donor is different. Some donors are comfortable using their cell phones to make a donation and others aren’t. Many donors might see your letter and then go on their computer to give. Offer different options so you can meet your donors where they are to give them the best giving experience. 

The Thank You Experience

Okay, now your donor has made a gift (yea!), but her journey isn’t over. In fact, it’s just beginning.

If someone donates online, what happens next? Is she directed to a thank you landing page that showers her with appreciation or does it look like a transactional receipt? It’s not that hard to make an engaging landing page, maybe one that says Thank you, Diane! and includes a thank you photo or video and other ways to get involved.

The same goes for the automatically generated thank you email. Make sure your donor experiences some gratitude here. There’s no reason why you can’t craft an engaging thank you message. You could go one step further and have Development staff send an additional personal thank you email message to donors. Also, make sure the subject line says something like Thank you, Diane! or You did something great today! and not Donation Received. 

All donors whether they give online or by other means get a thank you by mail or phone. Donors may miss your email, but something by mail or phone will stand out. If you can send a handwritten thank you card or make a thank you call, you’re doing more than most organizations.  

At the very least, send a thank you letter, maybe with a short personal handwritten note. The recommendation is to get thank you letters out within 48 hours. If that’s going to result in a mediocre letter (which many of them are), then it’s okay to take a week to produce an amazing letter. An amazing letter is one that’s personal and takes into account whether a donor has given before. It’s also all about thanking the donor – not bragging, explaining what your organization does, and asking for another gift.

Don’t wait too long, though. What are telling your donors if it takes you months to send a thank you letter? They deserve a better experience.

To give your donors the best thank you experience, make a plan to show gratitude once a month. Use this opportunity to send a handwritten note. It’s always a welcome surprise if you do.

The Donor Engagement Experience

Showing gratitude is just one way to engage with your donors. They also want to hear how their gift is making a difference.

You may send newsletters, impact reports, and other updates, but what kind of experience are you providing? Are you sharing stories and other content you know your donors will be interested in? Or is your newsletter or impact report just one big, boring bragfest? Even if you’re sharing stories, are you making them engaging? 

Are you getting to know your donors? You could send them a short survey and ask what drew them to your organization. Do you send welcome packages to new donors? Do you do something special for long-term donors? Do you invite donors to engage with you in other ways, such as volunteering?

Keep in touch with your donors at least once a month. A communications calendar will help you with this. Remember the ask, thank, report, repeat formula. If all you do is send generic appeals, you’re not giving your donors a good experience.

Think of your donors at every level of their journey to give them the best experience possible.