A guest post by Mike Snusz of Tatango
The success of your nonprofit hinges on the relationships you build within your community. To inspire donors, volunteers, and corporate partners to join in your collective impact, you must first establish a foundation of trust.
Your donors want to make a difference. Before they decide to give to your organization, they need to be sure that you’ll deliver on your promised impact. In fact, according to Independent Sector, 83% of U.S. donors state that nonprofits must earn their trust before they support them, and 80% need to see proof of impact to continue their support.
In this guide, we’ll discuss four essential marketing strategies to build trust and strengthen your donor relationships.
1. Use text messaging for one-on-one communication.
Modern technology has fundamentally changed how people interact with one another. Think about the most recent interactions you’ve had with your friends and family. Chances are, many of them occurred over text messages or phone calls.
Smartphones provide a convenient and personal way to stay in touch with your audience. After all, 46% of Americans spend five to six hours a day on their phones. By incorporating text messaging into your nonprofit’s marketing strategy, you can open the door to more authentic, one-on-one conversations with donors.
According to Tatango’s nonprofit text messaging guide, this communication channel is particularly powerful due to benefits such as:
- High open rate. Subscribers open 99% of the text messages they receive from organizations they support, which is four times higher than the open rate for email marketing messages.
- High read rate. 90% of text subscribers open messages within just three minutes of receiving them.
- Personalization. Your nonprofit can segment its text subscribers and only send them messages that are personally relevant to their interests and preferences. In doing so, you can illustrate how much you value them as individual contributors to your mission.
- Maximized reach. With the right tools, you can mass-send tailored text messages to your entire audience, saving your staff time without sacrificing personalization.
Beyond sending fundraising appeals and broadcasting important updates via text, you can make the most of the channel by encouraging donors to share feedback and ask questions. This type of direct engagement can make them feel like you care about their input and bring them closer to your nonprofit.
2. Make transparency a priority.
When donors give to your nonprofit, they want to know what happens to their generous dollars. By focusing on improving transparency across your marketing communications, you can enhance your organization’s reputation and convince donors that your mission is worth supporting.
A few key ways to boost your nonprofit’s transparency include:
- Presenting detailed financial information. Make it easy for donors to find your Form 990 and other financial documents, such as your balance sheet or income statement, by adding them to your website. Consider adding infographics to help them visualize your financial performance.
- Providing frequent impact updates. Through email newsletters, social media posts, and blog articles, inform donors about your latest accomplishments and how their contributions made them possible. If you encounter any challenges or setbacks, be open about sharing them with your audience, along with the steps you’re taking to address them.
- Publishing annual reports. An annual report allows your donors and other community members to view a snapshot of your nonprofit’s activities, accomplishments, and financial health over the past year. These reports hold your nonprofit accountable for the goals you set at the beginning of the year and allow you to celebrate your most impressive wins with your community.
To ensure that you’re only communicating accurate progress and results to your donors, keep your nonprofit’s database organized and up to date. Double the Donation recommends following data hygiene best practices such as developing data entry standards and using data appends for more effective internal and external reporting.
3. Collect and share authentic stories.
Facts and figures can go a long way toward persuading donors that your nonprofit is a reliable and powerful force for good within the community. However, compelling stories are what leave a lingering impression in the minds of your donors.
To keep your donors invested in your mission, collect personal stories from:
- Beneficiaries
- Donors
- Volunteers
- Board members
Once you’ve curated a collection of stories that demonstrate your impact and the importance of your cause, share them on your nonprofit’s website and social media pages. Then, use text messages and email newsletters to encourage more donors to explore these stories and connect with the people within them. Just be sure to ask for permission before sharing someone’s name or picture in your marketing materials to respect their privacy and preferences.
4. Promote multiple ways to contribute.
As you spread the word about your latest fundraising initiatives and ask for donations, ensure that donors feel comfortable giving to your nonprofit by providing them with several ways to contribute. For example, you could create a “Ways to Get Involved” page on your website, where you describe various opportunities such as:
- Participating in your text-to-give campaign
- Making a legacy gift
- Contributing in-kind donations
- Joining your membership program
- Purchasing from your online store
To provide options that appeal to your specific donor audience, send out a survey to gather their direct input. You may learn that your donors are interested in giving through their smartphones, using donor-advised funds, or exploring cryptocurrency donations.
As you prepare to infuse your marketing materials with transparency and build trust through meaningful donor conversations, make sure you have the right tools to support your efforts. Research nonprofit text messaging platforms, website builders, and other innovative marketing solutions to equip your team for success. Before long, you’ll have a well-developed multichannel marketing strategy that nurtures strong, lasting relationships with your nonprofit’s donors.
Mike Snusz, Director of Nonprofit Customer Experience at Tatango
Mike Snusz brings 19 years of digital fundraising experience to his role as Director of Nonprofit Customer Experience at Tatango, a text messaging platform for nonprofits and political campaigns. Prior to Tatango, Mike spent 15 years at Blackbaud leading a team of digital consultants that helped nonprofits improve their online fundraising, monthly giving, email marketing and peer-to-peer fundraising programs. Mike started his nonprofit career managing the Ride For Roswell from 2003 to 2005 in his hometown of Buffalo, NY.
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