Empower your donors with better communications

We are inundated with information and calls to action. While a lot of it does bring value, a fair amount it is filtered out and ignored by consumers.  

How can you make your communication stand out? 

Your supporters first came to your organization for a reason. You’ll be able to better maintain and grow those relationships if you put some strategy behind your communication plan. And, just like other relationships you hold, you have you be genuine and personalize the way you communicate.  

Doing even just some of this will inspire your supporters to keep on giving. 

(Over)Share 

Something about your mission – and how it was communicated – resonated with each and every one of your donors. Whether that messaging came via you, the media, or peer-to-peer fundraising efforts — it is your organization that inspires others. 

Share that inspirational mission! 

Provide updates (with numbers!) on how you have delivered your mission. Share it in digestible ways – via infographics and animation.  

And, you don’t have to ask for donations every time.  

While that may sound counterintuitive, occasionally providing just the mission information will keep your organization top of mind. Then, when you do have a donation ask, start selling tickets, or have an emergency need – people may be more apt to respond because they’ve heard from you beyond the beg.    

Connect 

Consider changing up the way you communicate and the avenues you use.  

A compelling story brings your mission and cause to life. There is a reason the art of storytelling is the heart of inbound marketing, which is what category nearly all of your reach outs and communication falls into. And, as a nonprofit, you are brimming with compelling stories.  Ask your constituents to share in their own words, and share their stories in your emails, on social, and at events via video or speeches.   

Video is a proven way to increase engagement with your message(s). No matter the channel – video communication sees a consistent return.  You do not need to invest in a huge production to make an impact with this visual style of communication. Consider asking volunteers to share their stories via phone video. Or, do an Instagram or Facebook live at your next event.  

There are other quick, engaging ways that consumers prefer. Over 99 percent of text messages are read, with 90 percent of them being read in the first three minutes that they were sent. If your technology supports texting with your donors and volunteers, use that functionality! It won’t take away from your other efforts and doing so not only keeps you top of mind, but a compelling text-to-donate campaign adds to your funding.  

Enable 

Your volunteers and donors are giving their time, talent, and money to your organization. Make it easier for them to share why they care about your mission. 

Provide your network with enablement to share on social media.  

Give them sample posts. Create frames for their photos. Send them shareable infographics, and create compelling content in your Instagram Stories that is worth sharing. Encourage them to tag your organization by giving away a chance to win a prize – such as a brick on your path, free tickets to your event, premier seating at graduation. It doesn’t have to cost you much!  

If you make it as easy as possible for people to share how great your organization is, they will. 

Embrace 

You depend on your donors and volunteers. Celebrate these people who fund your organization! 

Share who your top corporate fundraising teams are. Thank people, by name, who recently bought tickets to your event. Thank the volunteers who have donated the most hours. Give a virtual toast to the class that has the highest level of involvement. People stop supporting because they didn’t think they, as individuals, were needed or appreciated. You can mitigate the donor drop by carving out time and space to tell people how much you appreciate them.  

Consider segmenting your donors to ensure that your communication is both personalized and done in the way the donor prefers. If you know what motivates your donors, you can better cater to those motivations and keep them giving!