What Do Donors Want to See in Nonprofit Marketing in 2022
As we start a new year, many nonprofits are hoping to unlock the key to boosting their number of donors, followers, members, or volunteers. While we won’t say there is a single secret solution, we will say that with proper planning and execution, the new year can bring great opportunities for growth.
Donor Relationships
Included as one of our four areas of focus in our recent What Do Nonprofits Need To Focus on in 2022 blog, we decided more information on donor relationships and marketing is important to our followers. It is far cheaper and therefore cost-effective for an organization to retain a donor year over year than to constantly find new ones because gifts are one-time transactions. Increasing your retention rate for donors is critical to buildings a robust fundraising pipeline particularly as small, individual donors provide a bulk of fundraising for nonprofits. So how do you do this? Build donor relationships. Marketing can help you do this. Marketing is a tool that can allow your organization to maintain a presence with your donors between gifts. The relationships are built on consistent communication as more and more donors are unwilling to give to an organization that simply takes their money and is never heard from again. Inform donors about the internal operations of your nonprofit and how their money is working to affect change and retention rates, as well as gift values, will grow.
Transparency is Key
Transparency is how nonprofits can develop relationships with donors beyond the donation. Building a relationship beyond the donation is how nonprofits retain their donors year over year and reap the benefits of a loyal donor base. You can develop transparency in a number of ways:
Share. Share. Share. If your organization wants to build relationships through transparency, then it is critical to inform supporters about what is going on. That means that you should share the good and the bad. Often, donors are more willing to give when times are tough and an organization is struggling, but so many nonprofits will hold that information from their supports.
Tell Stories. Storytelling remains an effective tactic for breaking through all of the noise on digital media. Our inboxes and feeds are highly saturated and the best way to get followers to stop and read your message is to tell a moving story. Stories draw in the reader and provide the speaker with more time to communicate their message and connect in order to build a relationship with the audience.
Be Accessible and Responsive. All too often, nonprofits send their annual asks or contact donors with a “do not reply” email. This immediately shows donors that the conversation is one-sided. Many donors want to connect with a real person and learn more about the organization. Some just want to express their gratitude for your work or even learn how they can be more involved. Using an automated and cold form of communication like a “do not reply” email will turn donors away from giving to your organization. Make sure that donors can respond and be sure to respond to them. This can be done by simply including a team contact in your automated email. These little actions build relationships that grow into substantial funding in the long term.
How Do You Do This at Your Nonprofit?
Donors are increasingly particular about who they support. Donors often support several causes that they find fit their specific interests in nonprofit work. This means that in order to gain donors, you must deliver the correct messaging at the correct time rather than simply messaging. So what is the right messaging? Nonprofits must demonstrate impact. There is no way around it. Donors want to know their dollars are making a difference and how. Therefore, it is critical that organizations deliver stories and updates that express this concept. Meaningful ways to do this are by sharing success stories from your programing and how donor dollars led to that success. Also share impact numbers such as x number of meals served or x increase in the survivability of some disease. You can also do this on the front end to boost engagement from donors before they give by presenting donation amounts in terms of impact, such as $20 dollars provides 10 meals to children struggling with food insecurity. It is this kind of messaging that resonates with donors and enhances the likelihood that they feel in a relationship with your organization.
This whole process begins with planning. Your organization needs to first determine where you stand in terms of engagement and conversion before beginning to build a strategy for improving your messaging. Only with the correct understanding of where you stand and what you must do to improve your donor relationships, can you then build better donor relationships and boost your retention rate and fundraising.
NMBL Strategies has worked with nonprofits for years, helping in some of the greatest nonprofit developments of the previous 20+ years. In that time, we’ve raised more than $100 million, developed millions of dollars more in earned income, and most importantly, developed the strategies and insights behind these efforts. Let us bring that experience to your nonprofit today and ensure your financial future is in good hands.
