Make an Impression: 4 Ways to Connect with Donors Digitally
Regardless of your nonprofit’s mission, your donors are the backbone of your efforts and make your work possible. Without their financial support and passion for the cause, your organization wouldn’t be able to make as large of an impact on your community, so it only makes sense to connect with them on a regular basis to deepen their commitment.
To effectively and authentically connect with donors, your communications and fundraising team need to go the extra mile, especially as we face our current socially-distanced reality. Luckily, the technological landscape has rapidly developed, meaning nonprofits are more prepared than ever to surpass these barriers and bring their missions online.
With countless options to choose from, it can be intimidating to figure out where to focus your attention. To help, we’ve pulled together four tried-and-proven communication methods for the digital realm. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Your donors make your mission a reality. Ready to create a surefire digital communications plan that prioritizes their experience? Let’s dive in.
1. Get to know your donors by conducting prospect research.
Your donors are real people with real connections to your cause. Before anything else, you need to get to know them on a deeper level to understand what drew them to your organization in the first place. The process of researching your audience is at the root of the best online fundraising campaigns.
Effective audience research will empower you to develop messages that resonate with donors and encourage them to continue supporting your cause.
While it may seem like a fairly straightforward process, there’s a lot that goes into researching your supporters. Your donor management software stores the information you’ve gathered on donors since the start of their relationship with your cause, making this an effective place to start. From here, there are several data points your team should consider.
Here are a few of the elements that your team should track for each donor:
Past engagement history. How have they supported your nonprofit in the past? This includes past donations, volunteer history, and similar points of engagement. It can help you determine which engagement opportunities would best appeal to them.
Professional and personal networks. Do they have connections with other donors? Draw on this information to locate like-minded individuals who may be strong prospects for your cause.
Wealth markers. Traditional wealth markers (such as real estate holdings) help you understand if an individual has the funds to give to your cause. Using this information, you can determine if they have the capacity to increase their donations.
Political contributions. This indicates the political leaning of the supporter, which can provide insight into which causes motivate them. Further, it indicates that these individuals are able to and willing to financially support causes they care about.
Donor survey responses. If you want to learn about donors, just ask! Regular surveys of your mid-range and major donors can be invaluable for keeping your cultivation efforts in line with their expectations and desires.
These categories, among others, indicate a donor’s affinity and capacity to give to your organization. That is, how likely they are to donate and how much they’d be able to give. As touched on earlier, your donor management system will allow you to store this information in an organized fashion.
Dedicated research tools will streamline the process further. That way, you can easily draw from each donor’s data to develop personalized marketing appeals that further their connection to your cause.
From here, you can segment donors into meaningful groups based on common characteristics, such as their demographics, the initiatives they support, and their contact preferences. Over time, your marketing strategies will become much more effective as you learn how to best target each group. With practice, you’ll find that your engagement appeals yield more attention and that donors are much more engaged.
2. Optimize your website to showcase your cause.
Your website is your nonprofit’s primary online calling card. It’s where prospects go to learn more about your mission and where donors, sponsors, and volunteers go to see how you’re putting their generous contributions to work. It communicates exactly how your team is making strategic progress toward its goals, and when designed effectively, it can push prospects who are on the fence about donating to take the plunge.
With all that depends on your website, optimizing your site should be one of your first stops when developing your digital strategy.
While there are several elements that go into a compelling website, these three components will serve as a strong starting point for online donor engagement:
Donation page. With many donors preferring to give online, not accepting online donations would mean you’re missing out on a chunk of revenue. According to Donately’s guide to designing a donation page, you should feature a donation page that drives donors through the process with a minimalist design that still captures vital information (e.g. contact information and payment data). This page should be embedded into your website and branded to your organization to reassure donors that they are in fact giving to your nonprofit, not some third-party entity.
About page. This resource notes that 52% of individuals prefer to see an ‘About’ page with organizational information. Account for this with a page that discusses your mission, the organization’s history, projects you’ve undertaken, and the outstanding leaders who have gone the extra mile to get you there. This puts a face to your nonprofit, helping supporters connect with the team behind your cause.
A blog. Content marketing has become an integral part of nonprofits’ digital efforts. It allows you to show off your work, share your vision with others, and connect with supporters when utilized effectively. Take advantage of the opportunity by constructing blog posts about your organization’s work and featuring a monthly spotlight of your most passionate supporters. You may even consider allowing guest bloggers, like volunteers and team members who have worked in the field, to post every once in a while.
Depending on your organization, you may choose to develop other resources such as an events page with a schedule of upcoming fundraisers and registration details. It’s entirely up to your organization and its unique needs. In any case, make sure your mission shines through in all your content.
Once you’re satisfied with the content you’ve developed, make sure all core pages are easy to find by featuring them prominently in your navigation bar. There’s no sense in taking the time to create these pages if your supporters can’t find the information they need!
3. Build out your social media strategy.
Small and mid-sized nonprofits are often run by small teams with limited resources and marketing budgets. Fortunately, building a social media presence is free, and when used efficiently, you can get your message out and make every effort count. Plus, developing a strong social media strategy will allow your team to connect with younger generations of supporters and a much wider audience.
As noted in re:Charity’s nonprofit fundraising strategy guide, “fifty percent of people who engage with nonprofits on social media end up taking some sort of action.” An effective social media strategy could mean an increase in donations, volunteer hours, or any number of other engagement metrics.
Build your community and maximize donor engagement with these tips:
Interact with followers. Take advantage of the comment section by responding to supporters. This indicates that your team cares about what they have to say, deepening followers’ connection to your team and mission.
Post shareable content. The more shares you have, the more likely you are to connect with new prospects among your supporters’ networks. Create valuable content that followers want to share. This could be anything from informative statistics to heartwarming anecdotes related to your cause.
Be transparent. These days, people increasingly want to know who’s behind the brand and logo. Use photos and videos to show who founded your nonprofit and why. Introduce readers to your hardworking volunteers and committed donors, and tell the stories of the communities who have been impacted by your work.
No matter how versed you are in social media, it’s always worthwhile to revisit your social media strategies. To get a sense of how successful your posts are, pay attention to engagement metrics such as shares and likes. Determining which content does the best will ensure you’re cranking out posts that capture supporters’ attention and encourage them to interact with your cause.
4. Try peer-to-peer fundraising.
Reverse roles and put the power of fundraising in donors’ hands. If you’ve spent any time on social media, you’ve likely run across a peer-to-peer campaign (or several). For instance, you may have encountered numerous birthday fundraisers on Facebook, where individuals encourage their family and friends to give a cause they care about on their special day.
In essence, here’s how your team would typically host a peer-to-peer fundraiser:
Using peer-to-peer software, your team designs its main campaign page. This page will serve as a template for volunteer fundraisers to use. This ensures that your brand will shine through on all personal fundraising pages. Take a look at the example below for an idea of what this page can look like.
You recruit a team of passionate volunteers. These individuals are the heart of your campaign. Begin your search with your base of volunteers, donors, and board members. By looking at their engagement history, you can determine who would be most willing to advocate and fundraise on your behalf.
Volunteers develop and share their personal fundraising pages. Those who commit to fundraising will create their personal campaign pages, personalized with their connections to your cause. They’ll proactively share their page with their friends and family on digital platforms such as social media and email.
As you can see, the process is fairly straightforward, and these fundraisers are incredibly effective for a range of causes thanks to the power of social proof. People are much more likely to engage online if someone they trust is advocating for your mission. This is also why it’s so crucial that your volunteer fundraisers customize their campaign pages to showcase their connection to your work.
Just be sure to keep participants motivated throughout the campaign. For instance, give them something to work toward by setting individual goals. Then, share regular updates on campaign progress, and throw a little friendly competition into the mix with a leadership board that showcases top participants.
By engaging in powerful fundraising strategies like this one, your supporters will feel much more involved in your mission. They’ll experience the work that goes into fundraising firsthand. In turn, they’ll feel responsible for the campaign’s success and will come to know your organization on a deeper level. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!
With the constantly evolving technological landscape, there’s an ever-growing list of digital donor engagement opportunities available to nonprofits like yours. It’s up to your team to locate and take advantage of them, but fortunately, there are several common strategies that work for a range of causes.
To recap, start by researching your audience and getting to know your donors on a personal level to fuel growth. This will empower you to develop effective fundraising appeals and present opportunities that stand out to them. From here, focus on your website and social media strategy to ensure you’re effectively conveying your mission. Finally, experiment with engaging fundraising techniques such as peer-to-peer campaigning to keep supporters invested in your success.
By spending time developing a digital engagement strategy, you’ll find that your donors are much more interested in the good work you're doing. In turn, they’ll step up to ensure you’re receiving the support you need in order to thrive.
Author: Andrew Berry
Andrew is the head of marketing and customer success for Donately. After getting involved with nonprofits at a young age, he discovered a passion for helping the organizations that are making the world a better place. Knowing how vital online fundraising has become, his goal is to help nonprofits raise more money online each year! In his spare time, you will find him cooking up dinner, playing with his dog or cheering on Boston sports teams.