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Donor Communications Training: Speaking with One Voice

October 13, 2020 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Guest post by Matt Hugg

choir in one voice

You know a great chorus when you hear it. Just think of the background chorus of your favorite musical group, or the power of a well-practiced holiday chorale.

You even know a great chorus when you see it – live, on television, or YouTube – even when the sound is turned off.

A great chorus sounds like one voice. A great chorus looks like a single organism, swaying with the music. If you look closely, even their mouths look synchronized!

You know so much about what a great chorus looks like that when you hear a bad one, it stands out! Uncoordinated. Off-key. Ill-timed. What if the chorus and the lead singer were singing different songs? Disaster!

What if you rated your nonprofit communications like a chorus?

Would the chorus be fully in sync with the lead, providing the perfect backup and coordination of movement?

Or would the lead and the chorus be uncoordinated, enough for the audience to notice, where they would say “nice, but not really professional”?

Or would it be a communications collision, with each member of the chorus singing a different tune, and the lead trying to shout over the cacophony in a hopeless effort to be heard?

Why should you care? Here are two important reasons that nonprofits can’t afford to forget to sing with a single voice: Money and Mission.

Communication Leads to Money

Businesses know this intuitively: Communicating well with customers in advertising, whether it’s in print, social media, email, radio, television, or wherever they deliver their “buy now” message, leads to money.

In nonprofits, it’s not so straightforward.

In business, the consumer of the goods or services is usually the same one who provides the money to buy the goods or services. For nonprofits, this one “customer” becomes two.

In a typical nonprofit, the people served are different than those who pay. In most nonprofits, a “mission recipient,” whether you call that person a client, student, patient, or constituent, will not pay the full price of goods or services received.

Instead, the cost of your mission delivery is supplemented in whole or part by the second “customer” in the equation. The second entity is the one with the money, whether that’s a donor, a government source, an insurance company, or a grant-giving foundation.

If your message isn’t clear and straightforward, speaking to the needs of your funders, you won’t get the money you need to serve your mission.

This isn’t just your fundraiser’s job.

Whether they’re people, foundations, businesses, or government entities, they have connections into your organization. A foundation director might hear from their neighbor about how well their gift was received. However, perhaps a business owner never got a thank you note for donated products solicited by one of your program directors. These scenarios can play a huge role in the success of your fundraising efforts.

Well-coordinated communication puts your best foot forward, regardless of whether you’re there or not.

Communication Leads to Clients

As a nonprofit, you exist to solve a problem in your community, region, or world. If nobody thinks you can solve the problem, you fail, regardless of your balance sheet.

It starts with trust. People show up to use the services of organizations they trust. The key to trust is consistency – in actions and in words. It’s simple: does your program staff do what your communications say they do?

If you promise childcare from 7 AM to 7 PM, but the staff never gets to the work until 7:30, it doesn’t matter what your social media advertising says: you broke their trust.

If the executive director promises a pregnant mother that your newborn infant program will be ready by the time she delivers, and it doesn’t materialize for another year, you broke her trust.

All this brings us back to money and mission.

Money leads to mission. Without funding, you can’t have a mission. The mission leads to money. Without delivering a mission that people want, you’ll never get funded.

Donor Communications Training

Where does nonprofit training come in? Here are five suggestions:

  1. Start with addressing a common fear. In How to Blow Your Credibility as a Presenter, Guila Muir gives great advice on how to start a presentation and build confidence – so the audience can focus on the important message.
  2. Don’t forget about the design. From ideation to sketching and final product, Symone Fogg will guide you through her process of how ideas are brought to life in Strategy of Design.
  3. Your website counts, a lot. Check out 5 Facts: What Constituents Want from Nonprofit Websites.
  4. Humans learn from stories. Make sure you see 3 Ways to Get Better Results from Your Stories.
  5. And how about some humor? See these great nonprofit humor videos as examples of consistent, and inconsistent, communications.

You Can Learn to Sing with One Voice

Getting your nonprofit to sing with a single voice isn’t optional if you want to be a well-funded nonprofit with a popular mission.

It’s also not easy. Just like a chorus, you need regular practice and training on voicing your message and coordinating everyone’s moves. But there’s good news. It’s totally possible for you to do this, especially with the number of available resources made to help organizations just like yours.

 


Matt Hugg is an author and instructor in nonprofit management in the US and abroad. He is president and founder of Nonprofit.Courses (https://nonprofit.courses), an on-demand, eLearning educational resource for nonprofit leaders, staff, board members and volunteers, with hundreds of courses in nearly every aspect of nonprofit work. He’s the author of The Guide to Nonprofit Consulting, and Philanders Family Values, Fun Scenarios for Practical Fundraising Education for Boards, Staff and Volunteers, and a contributing author to The Healthcare Nonprofit: Keys to Effective Management.Matt Hugg is an author and instructor in nonprofit management in the US and abroad. He is president and founder of Nonprofit.Courses (https://nonprofit.courses), an on-demand, eLearning educational resource for nonprofit leaders, staff, board members and volunteers, with hundreds of courses in nearly every aspect of nonprofit work.

He’s the author of The Guide to Nonprofit Consulting, and Philanders Family Values, Fun Scenarios for Practical Fundraising Education for Boards, Staff and Volunteers, and a contributing author to The Healthcare Nonprofit: Keys to Effective Management.

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6 Top Features of a Successful Online Donation Page

October 6, 2020 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post from Abby Jarvis at Qgiv

If you had asked a nonprofit twenty-five years ago how they asked for donations, they likely would have responded with some combination of in-person appeals, direct mail solicitation, phone donations, and fundraising events.

Today, many of those traditional methods are alive and well but have been joined by new online approaches.Online has been a growing trend due to convenience—donors can give on the go without digging in their pockets for cash or a check.

But now, online fundraising is more than just convenient—it’s critical. In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, online options like text-to-give, crowdfunding, and virtual events are the safest ways to engage with supporters.

These digital strategies all converge in one place: your nonprofit’s website. If your donation page is confusing, too long, or—worse—broken, visitors will abandon the page before making a donation. In order to succeed with your virtual fundraising campaigns, you must create a well-designed and functional donation page. 

We’re going to take a look at some of the key components that every great online donation page should have. We’ll break down these six key characteristics that will help your nonprofit’s online donation page stand out and raise more:

  1. Make your donation page easy to find.
  2. Keep the clutter out.
  3. Offer different giving amounts.
  4. Keep it short and sweet.
  5. Offer recurring donations.
  6. Include social media info.

Let’s jump in!

1. Make your donation page easy to find.

This tip relates more to your overall website than to the content of the donation page itself. But clear and intuitive navigation is an important component your nonprofit absolutely cannot afford to overlook.

Imagine this scenario: a potential donor finds themselves on your nonprofit’s blog, sifting through articles you’ve posted over the past few years. One story in particular tugs at their heartstrings, and they feel moved to give to your cause.

But they’re months back in your archive, and you don’t have calls to action on any of your posts. Instead, the user ends up clicking back and forth several times to different pages, looking for a way to give.

They eventually give up because your donation page wasn’t easy to locate.

The issue could have been easily solved had you included a link to the donation form in any (or all) of the following ways:

  • Eye-catching call to action graphics
  • Throughout blog posts
  • At the footer of your website
  • In a prominent location on your navigation menu (Pro tip: make it a contrasting color that makes it even easier to find!)
  • On your website’s homepage

Making your donation page easy to locate is the first step in receiving more online donations.

2. Keep the clutter out.

Your donation page should be free of distractions and links that might lead users away from your form before they complete the donation process.

Once you have a potential donor on your page, you want to make sure they stay there for a while. 

This is not the place to link to blog content or embed a full-screen video about your nonprofit’s mission. You can still include images and text that enhance your donation page, but don’t push donors away before they have a chance to finish their donation! As this guide to digital fundraising discusses, an overwhelming number of images can detract and distract from the main content.

For an example of a donation page that uses content to drive donations rather than distract, see what Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Jersey does:

BBBS NJ donation form

The BBBS of Northern New Jersey explains to donors where their donations are going and reminds them that the form is secure. The text and image at the top of their donation form adds to the giving experience and doesn’t confuse or distract donors.

Adding a single, emotional image and compelling copy at the top of your donation page will remind donors of why they’re giving in the first place.

Any more than that, and you run the risk of leading donors away from the donation form.

3. Offer different giving amounts.

When you give donors the chance to choose from a buffet of giving suggestions, your nonprofit ends up receiving higher donation amounts over time. But why?

To answer that question, let’s consider two scenarios:

  1. Supporters land on a donation page with an empty field next to “Donation Amount.”
  2. Supporters land on a donation page with multiple suggested giving levels, for instance, between $25 and $250.

On the first donation page, a donor might give $20. On the second, they may decide to opt for the $25 gift because it’s an easy choice. The options that have been laid out for them can lead to a more generous donation.

Of course, you should always include an “Other” field where donors can fill in their own amount. But offering different giving levels on your online donation form can inspire donors to give larger contributions, especially if the suggested amounts are slightly higher than their original gift.

You can also use the suggested donation amounts to illustrate the impact of the donation. This improves transparency and creates a stronger emotional connection between the donor and your mission—hopefully yielding a larger donation!

For instance, this form from Styles4Kidz helps donors visualize what each donation will accomplish:

donation form

By showing donors examples of what their donations will go toward, your nonprofit is able to reassure them that their contributions aren’t just going in a general fund. They also may choose a higher giving level when they can see the tangible difference their donation can make!

Morweb’s guide to donation page design also advises listing other ways to contribute, such as volunteer opportunities, event registration information, or matching gift information.

4. Keep it short and sweet.

Donors don’t want to fill out a donation form that requires them to give an overwhelming amount of information.

And, while your nonprofit has to collect some information, you should keep the fields that donors have to fill out to a minimum. Get the donor’s name, contact information, and payment details, but leave things like communication preferences for another time.

This way, your supporters don’t get irritated halfway through the donation form and leave in a huff. Plus, they won’t have an excuse to put off making a donation for when they have more time.

After all, fundraisers know that “later” often never comes!

In general, donor conversion drops slightly if a form includes even one additional mandatory field. Conversion rates drop sharply if there are two or more additional mandatory fields. Even making the fields optional doesn’t make a huge difference on the number of donors completing their gift.

Simpler is better.

The less information donors are required to give out during the donation process, the more likely they’ll be to make it to the final step.

5. Offer recurring donations.

In the fast-paced world we live in, it’s easy to forget your clothes at the dry cleaners, to feed the dog, or to give your monthly gift to a nonprofit. You can help donors with one of those tasks (and no, it isn’t  swinging by the cleaners or feeding Fido).

Offer a recurring donations option on your online donation page to encourage supporters to give a monthly, quarterly, or yearly gift without ever having to revisit your donation form. 

According to Qgiv’s guide to donor retention, nearly 70% of donors only make one-time gifts. Securing regular support right from your donation page can help decrease this donor attrition rate and give you more reliable revenue streams.

6. Encourage social sharing.

You’ve probably already integrated social media into your overall online fundraising campaign, but don’t skip the opportunity to add it into your donation page, too!

By adding social media sharing buttons on your donation form, you can give your donors the chance to brag on themselves and give your nonprofit some good press at the same time.

These sharing capabilities won’t reveal any personal information about the donation itself, but they do encourage your donors to spread the word about their contribution in general, and perhaps persuade others to give to your cause.

Plus, if supporters tag your organization, it will be easier for you to re-share their posts as an appreciation tactic. Publicly honoring your donors (with their consent) is a great way to show gratitude.

 


Author: Abby Jarvis

Abby Jarvis QgivAbby Jarvis is the Nonprofit Education Manager for Qgiv, an online fundraising service provider. Qgiv offers industry-leading online giving and peer to peer fundraising tools for nonprofit, faith-based, and political organizations of all sizes.

When she’s not working at Qgiv, Abby can usually be found writing for local magazines, catching up on her favorite blogs, or binge-watching sci-fi shows on Netflix.

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Donor Stewardship from a Distance: 3 Tips for Communicating

September 29, 2020 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post by Carl Diesling of DNL OmniMedia

How are you doing stewardship for your donors during Covid-19?

Loyal, supportive donors can see your organization through even the bleakest of crises. However, many nonprofits were simply not prepared with enough loyal donors to outlast the fundraising challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thankfully, it’s not too late to build those strong connections with your nonprofit’s donors. But, to do so, you’ll have to optimize your communications strategy.

At DNL OmniMedia, our team specializes in nonprofit marketing and technology consulting. From our experience working with nonprofits throughout this year, we’ve collected three tips that we’ve found valuable for mid-sized nonprofits looking to continue stewarding donors while social distancing:

  1. Communicate Regularly
  2. Use Multiple Channels
  3. Emphasize Impact

During times of uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to have strong donor stewardship tactics in place. Read on for our top three tips to stay in touch with your supporters.

1. Communicate Regularly

Take a close look at your nonprofit’s current communications strategy. Which dates do you have highlighted as key times to communicate? You likely highlighted the time leading up to key giving days, leading up to fundraising events, and the end of the year.

As a nonprofit communications director, you send out fundraising letters, coordinate event marketing, and follow up with thank-yous. However, if you’re only communicating around the dates when you have a big event going on, you’re missing out on key opportunities to connect!

Our first tip for stewarding donors from a distance is to communicate regularly throughout the crisis. Your donors shouldn’t just hear from you when you’re seeking something from them.

During times of crisis, the needs of your nonprofit and your response to the crisis change every day. Staying in touch during this fluidity is key to drawing supporters closer to your organization.

According to Dennis Fischman of Communicate! Consulting, some tips to stay in touch are:

  • Post regularly to your website and social media profiles.
  • Align your communications with the current events that your donors are interested in.
  • Tie your communications to direct action.

A few additional communications in the time between your main outreach efforts can go a long way.

2. Use Multiple Channels

In recent years, we’ve seen the fundraising landscape diversify. There is a decent chance your nonprofit is now seeking donations from five unique generations of givers— all the way from the Matures to Gen Z. Just as each may have different giving preferences, they will have unique communication preferences as well.

Our second tip is to use multiple communication channels to reach all of your donors.

By leveraging a variety of platforms, you’re more likely to reach a representative sample of your entire donor base. Consider using the following channels:

  • Website: This is often the first place a supporter seeks information about your nonprofit. In addition to providing giving information, share updates about your crisis response efforts and ways to connect (such as links to follow your organization on social media).
  • Direct Mail: Don’t discount the power of direct mail to reach supporters. According to Fundraising Letters, this is one of the most consistently effective ways to connect with a donor.
  • Social Networks: There’s a decent chance you have a wide age range of supporters connecting via social networks. This channel is particularly valuable for creating a two-way conversation with donors.
  • Mobile Apps: There are now mobile apps created to meet specific nonprofit needs, such as mobile advocacy apps. When it comes to communicating with convenience, mobile apps are a great tool to engage tech-savvy supporters.

Structuring your communications in this way is called multichannel marketing. When it comes to multichannel communications, be sure to create a comprehensive strategy where the channels work in sync, to structure messages to best fit the communication channel, and focus on the channels most popular with your audience.

With a multichannel communication strategy, you’re more likely to make multiple impressions on your supporters. As it can take up to 18-20 impressions to connect with a first-time supporter, multichannel efforts can be instrumental to successful stewardship during times of separation!

3. Emphasize Impact

When so much of the future feels out of anyone’s control, what your donors seek most is validation that the efforts they are taking are having a positive impact.

Our final tip is to emphasize your donors’ impact.

Donors give, both their time and resources, because they want to make a difference. This means that the best thank you, the one that will continue stewarding donors, will showcase donor impact.

Consider the following ways you can emphasize donor impact in your communications:

  • Sharing photos of volunteers giving their time on social media
  • Sending nonprofit email marketing communications with specific impact data
  • Sharing testimonials from constituents in blog posts on your website

The list can go on! But the key in each communication is to get specific. Let’s look at an example:

“In this year’s technology drive, you raised $500,000 to benefit elementary education. With this, X tablets were purchased for kindergarteners participating in distance learning this year.”

This isn’t a time to brag on the impact of your nonprofit! Highlight the direct correlation between the donors’ support and the impact toward your cause to make the message more personal and persuasive.

When you’re unable to host in-person events or meetings with major donors, you may struggle to steward donors into impactful, long-term support of your organization. With these tips, you’ll be communicating successfully despite the challenging circumstances.


Carl Diesing DNLCarl Diesing, Managing Director – Carl co-founded DNL OmniMedia in 2006 and has grown the team to accommodate clients with on-going web development projects. Together DNL OmniMedia has worked with over 100 organizations to assist them with accomplishing their online goals.

As Managing Director of DNL OmniMedia, Carl works with nonprofits and their technology to foster fundraising, create awareness, cure disease, and solve social issues. Carl lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife Sarah and their two children Charlie and Evelyn.

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