The percentage of donors that give again, or stay involved, after a donation continues to drop. What is your nonprofit doing to ensure that donors feel valued and stay involved?
Invest in your relationship with each and every donor. Respect their decision to give and invest in your nonprofit, and return the favor. Donors want to feel that they matter and they are understood as someone that makes a difference in the mission of your organization. Make it known from the moments after they give, that their gift is being used to do good in the community. Your organization sees each donor as a friend, not a number.
Once you have made it clear that you are invested, develop and faithfully follow a multi-step process to make sure the donor receives multiple touches a month, whether that be an email, a call, an event invite, or chat at the local coffee shop. Take steps to be intentional in the follow up past the initially well crafted acknowledgement to their gift. (But, more on that in tomorrow’s post!)
The donor sees that you are invested, and appreciates your continued contact. What’s next? Speak their language, the language of giving and understanding. Educate donors on opportunities and events that are close to their heart, that cause a twinkle in their eye. Not every little thing can be attended by the donor, nor can donors be expected to contain passion for every campaign. Early on in your relationship with the donor, take careful note of what areas of your organization they are most interested in, and use that knowledge to keep them coming back for more.
Our DonorLynk team is made up of industry professionals that have extensive experience in developing and executing development strategies. Rolling out these strategies at your nonprofit will lead your donor engagement and retention to rise in the years to come. Begin developing your next key fundraising or advancement strategy with DonorLynk today!
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.