Viral Marketing and the Basics

1. Personalize communications.
Many organizations do some form of personalized communications. Adding a person’s name to the beginning of a letter is the most common example. But personalization requirements in today’s world are far more complex. Constituents want to be treated as individuals, not as just another member of a generalized group. Nonprofit organizations need to know more than constituents’ names. They need to know what constituents like and don’t like. By going beyond the names and learning people’s preferences — like whether they are more interested in saving whales than pandas, for example — and then customizing communications accordingly, organizations will build stronger relationships — a key element to converting a supporter to a fundraiser and ultimately igniting a viral campaign.