Crowdsourced Content Calendars: A Strategy to Re-Engage Donors

Perhaps your nonprofit is meeting its financial goals, which is great, but the fundraising team has likely noticed a troubling trend: declining donors. Overall, in the nonprofit sector, while the cumulative amount of philanthropic funds has increased, the number of donors dropped from 66.2% in 2000 to just 45.8% in 2020 — and that downward trend persists.

Experts point to multiple causes, from shrinking trust in institutions to rising costs for families (yes, even the price of eggs makes an impact). As a marketer, my job is to figure out how to attract people to our brands and help them not only raise money but also rebuild trust and deepen connections. One of the most effective ways to do this is through crowdsourced content. By building content calendars that invite stories, photos and perspectives directly from supporters, nonprofits turn fundraising into a two-way dialogue — one that makes donors feel like active participants rather than passive check-writers. 

When you focus on creating a crowdsourced content calendar, rather than just content to share with supporters, you ensure that they're included in how your organization shows up in the community. In other words, your supporters become natural brand ambassadors, shaping the stories that resonate most. 

Think of it this way: Parents at a school may not want to see any fundraising content in May or June, but they're much more open to it during back-to-school season. 

So, let’s dive into how any nonprofit can strategically build a crowdsourced content calendar that sparks engagement when it matters most. 

1. Ask What People Want

The very first step is deceptively simple. Ask. It’s easy to ask for donations, but inviting donors to share why they support your organization is a harder lift. Fortunately, there are many easy ways to gather their insights:

• Polls and surveys. Use Instagram Stories, SurveyMonkey, LinkedIn, Google Forms or emails to ask what type of mission-related content people want to see.
• Live chat and Q&A sessions. Host live online chats on your social media channels, asking people to drop their questions in the chats. 
• Feedback loops. Strike up conversations after events and follow up with quick survey or thank-you emails, asking what they want to see next. 

2. Build a Living Calendar

Most marketing teams create static calendars in their project management software months in advance, depending on the target audience and campaigns. However, a support-driven crowdsourced calendar is a more dynamic, living calendar that evolves with donor feedback. Here’s how to do it:

1. Create your baseline. Lay the groundwork for your annual campaign and seasonal campaigns (e.g., end-of-year giving). Consider low times for special content of great interest.
2. Plan in sprints. Shift from planning six to 12 months ahead to shorter sprints of three months, allowing for quick pivots based on donor feedback. It also enables you to adjust for your supporters.
3. Diversify and promote. Keep content (blogs, social posts, videos, livestreams, etc.) and the asks fresh — and continually evolve the mix.

3. Share, Tag, and Amplify Supporters

As you gather crowdsourced content (and keep asking for it regularly), ensure your contributors feel seen and valued. Recognition makes them feel like they’re part of the conversation and encourages ongoing participation.

• Tag contributors. When sharing user-generated content, tag them, comment back and publicly thank them. A little recognition goes a long way in building deeper connections.
• Highlight donors and stories. Storytelling is essential in marketing, and people want to see themselves in the content shared. To master storytelling, remember to catch people’s hearts, then their minds. 
• Share everywhere. Don’t let good content live in one place. Repurpose strong content for email campaigns, YouTube episodes and across social media channels to maximize reach and impact. 

4. Create Interactive Programming

One of the most critical components for the success of crowdsourced content calendars is to keep things dynamic. To that end, remember that static content, such as a blog post, is only one piece of the puzzle. Bring it to life with interactive programming, such as:

• Livestreams and Q&As. Host monthly online coffees or learning sessions to answer supporters’ questions. 
• Supporter webinars. Ask what supporters want to learn this month. Choose a topic monthly to dig in deeply with guest experts. Encourage your program people to co-host the webinars and share them on your YouTube channel. 
• Micro-podcasts or videos. Create short, 2-minute videos that answer common questions. Make things interesting by recording outside in nature or other places with visually engaging backgrounds.

5. Build a Community Around Content

Another excellent opportunity to facilitate a two-way conversation on content is to create digital societies or memberships. You can make it as creative as you want. For instance, if you have an arts or book program for learning, have creatives post content to your site. Have them pay $5 a month to post, or ask subscribers to pay for that content.

Membership should have benefits and perks, such as early access to webinars, events or exclusive content. These benefits foster belonging and ownership, making supporters feel like insiders.

6. Measure and Iterate

As with all marketing, it's essential to measure, learn and adapt. With the topics that you see succeed, ask your supporters to contribute more ideas around those specific concepts. To evaluate the success of your crowdsourced content, measure:

• Engagement rates. Review comments, shares and click-through rates. 
• Participation rates on polls and surveys. Try new questions and incentives to encourage people to answer if rates are low. 
• Conversion rates. Indicate the degree to which the crowdsourced content calendar is driving more sign-ups, donations and event attendance. 

In the end, a crowdsourced content calendar is more than just a tool — it’s a strategy to counter donor decline by inviting supporters into the heart of your story. Donors don’t want to feel like walking checkbooks. They want to feel seen, heard and valued. When you ask for their stories and give them a role in shaping your narrative, you turn fundraising into true partnership. And partnership is what builds lasting impact. 

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.