Perhaps you have been making sure your donors feel the love, but your nonprofit can also show love through investing time and resources in educating your donors. Showing them the many ways that their gifts are used, how they can give, and why they should give to begin with.
Have data readily available to display the funds for different areas of your organization, and where donations have gone to from year to year. The ability to share how gifts are used hinges on a solid database that can handle more complex reporting and more fields to track donor and donation details. There is a time investment, along with a financial one, but educating donors through transparency will improve trust and retention amongst your donors.
Do not abandon tried and true methods of giving, like mailing in cash, checks, or pledge cards to your nonprofit. However, continuing to direct donors to give online will enlighten long time and first time donors to ease of giving to your organization when it’s a simple form online. Once they’re are on your website, they can visit a page, they have been directed to, to see where their contribution may be going this month. It’s a neat thing how it all connects, isn’t it? Educating your donors on how they can give will open doors to new opportunities for involvement. With just a little extra planning, your donors gain understanding into what exactly they can to help you meet your goals.
Donors that have been giving for years already know WHY they give (hopefully!). But, potential donors still need some convincing. Invest in educating through content marketing. Donors will have 24/7 access to material shared on social media and your website, and can also invest of their own time to get caught up on how they can help.
Contact a member of our team HERE to get started on better managing your relationships with donors in a new solution at your nonprofit.
Marianna Woodruff is Director of Brand Awareness at DonorLynk, LLC. DonorLynk aims to provide nonprofits with tailored solutions that work for you, not against you.