It's Time to Rethink Your Donor Engagement Strategies

Facts and education alone are not enough to move donors and supporters to contribute to an organization. Compelling storytelling and showing deep understanding of what drives their allegiance is critical for building long-term relationships. While many nonprofits excel at raising awareness about their missions and causes, they often miss the opportunity to leverage the power of informed, emotional and thought-provoking messages.

In order to communicate the right message to the right audience, nonprofits need to first establish a multipronged strategy that is rooted in personalized communications and donor data. Having two-way communication and ensuring that a donor can get in touch with the nonprofit at all times and via multiple platforms are critical.

Choose the right communications mix
The explosion of social media, mobile devices and big data has created a cluttered communications ecosystem. In this context, it is critically important to create meaningful touchpoints with donors and engage them in open dialogue about the issues and trends that drive their giving decisions. For example, establishing contact centers to field calls, answer emails and respond to tweets can help nonprofits ensure they are responsive and accessible to their donors.

In the era of message saturation, personal outreach is especially effective at generating repeat gifts and turning supporters into long-term donors. In fact, research shows that a personal call has proved to have a positive impact on the future of giving. The 2013 Burk Donor Survey found that “34 percent of respondents who made a gift after receiving a thank-you call attributed the call to their subsequent decision to give again. And, among those donors inspired to give again because of the call, 21 percent made a more generous gift than they had in the past and attributed that generosity to the thank you call they received.”