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Fundraising Tuesday: What’s Next For Digital FR? 3 Keys for the Future

August 17, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post by Sarah Fergusson of Cornershop Creative

As we move into the second half of 2021, it’s starting to become clear which trends are here to stay. Digital fundraising and marketing have become necessary for most nonprofits. Even non-fundraising experts say establishing an online presence is a smart move.

Fundraising professionals might be aware of how other nonprofits have found success but be unsure if they can replicate those results without knowing why certain strategies worked. In many cases, it’s easier to point out the keys to future development after the data has been collected than navigate the cutting edge of new trends.

To help your nonprofit understand how to advance your digital fundraising campaign, this article will discuss three key trends that are likely to bring the positive change your nonprofit is looking for:

  1. Focus on moderate donors.
  2. Host online and hybrid events.
  3. Apply SEO best practices.

1. Focus on moderate donors.

Not every supporter has the capacity to become a major donor. Major donors often contribute a large percentage of a nonprofit’s donation revenue. However, this doesn’t mean you should let your other donors go neglected. Many nonprofits have improved their overall fundraising by focusing on growing their moderate donors.

Moderate donors provide what could be considered average donations to your nonprofit. Over time, these donors have the potential to increase their donations significantly by:

  • Becoming monthly donors. Many moderate donors make great candidates for your monthly giving program. For instance, a donor who gives $100 per year may not have the capacity to become a major donor who gives upwards of $1,000 annually. However, they might be able to give $10 a month, increasing your nonprofit’s yearly earnings by $20. Of course, no matter how much they’re able to give, be sure to maintain your relationships with recurring donors by thanking them regularly.


  • Donating planned gifts. While moderate donors may not be able to give in large quantities now, they might be able to do so later on in life. Planned gifts allow otherwise modest donors to make large one-time contributions to nonprofits they have a strong connection with.


  • Helping your nonprofit make connections. As Double the Donation’s prospect research guide explains, some donors may have business affiliations that your nonprofit can leverage to earn increased giving. A moderate donor may not have the capacity to make a major donation themselves, but they might be able to help your nonprofit establish an in-office giving program at their place of employment.

Use your CRM to identify your moderate donors, then reach out to them about the ways they can expand their giving potential. From there, use your prospecting tools and collected data to create a personalized donor experience. Building connections with many moderate donors can be your nonprofit’s first step towards creating a successful recurring giving, planned giving, or workplace giving program.

2. Host online and hybrid events.

While social distancing made online events a necessity, moving into the latter half of 2021, these events are still here to stay. For many of your supporters, hybrid and online events provide more opportunities for getting involved and are a welcome addition to fundraising calendars.

Online and hybrid events might lack a face-to-face component, but you can still use your technology to build connections by:

  • Live-streaming events. Make sure all of your donors can participate in your events, whether they’re attending in person or from home. Live-streaming lets your donors connect with your event right when it’s happening, no matter where they are. Plus, a live-stream chat lets them stay connected and participate in your events’ discussions and presentations.


  • Using custom software. Use hybrid and online events as a chance to get creative with how you engage donors. Get in touch with a nonprofit software developer to build custom, interactive tools that can accompany your events. For example, you might develop a unique mobile app to let donors stay in touch while on-the-go.

 

  • Tracking donor data. You can gather data on your donors from in-person and online events. However, there are a few data points unique to online gatherings. For instance, you might monitor where your donors are tuning in from to help gauge your nonprofit’s overall reach or get a sense of where your supporters are localized.

Whether online or in-person, events can also earn your nonprofit additional donations. When your event ends, ask your volunteers to check if they’re eligible for a grant. Volunteer grants are donations made by your volunteers’ employers. Most volunteer grant programs require volunteers to work a specific number of hours, so make sure to keep a log of your volunteers’ time.

3. Apply SEO best practices.

Most professionals working at organizations that operate online have heard about search engine optimization and likely understand that it’s important. While most major search engines keep the specifics of what makes a page rank highly under lock and key, nonprofits can still improve their website’s organic traffic by following a few proven SEO strategies:

  • Leverage location data. Search engines take location data into account, which means that your nonprofit is more likely to come up in the search results for locals in your area. Make sure to fill out your location data and provide relevant information about where you are located to appeal to supporters who live nearby.


  • Make your website accessible. Increasing your website’s usability also increases its likelihood to rank high on a search results page. Add alternative text to your images, and make sure your links are marked by indicative text rather than generic “click heres.”


  • Target specific keywords. If you’ve ever searched for “nonprofits” or “charities,” the results have likely been for major websites such as Wikipedia and Facebook. While your nonprofit may not have much luck competing against these digital giants, you can find success by targeting keywords directly related to your nonprofit. For example, an animal shelter will likely find more success by focusing on keywords such as “[your state] no-kill animal shelters” rather than “animal shelter.”

Most nonprofit fundraising professionals can implement basic SEO best practices without being experts in web design and marketing. If your nonprofit’s leadership wants to take your digital marketing to the next level, consider seeking out a consultant.

Not every digital marketing consultant follows the same practices. Cornershop Creative’s guide to nonprofit consultants showcases the wide range of consulting options available. Compare your options and send a request for proposal before signing up with a firm.

 


Sarah Fergusson – Director of Digital Strategy at Cornershop Creative

Sarah Fergusson digital mavenSelf-described as a “non-profit junkie,” Sarah has dedicated her career to serving the needs of the non-profit sector. Her project management experience spans a variety of non-profit management disciplines including strategic planning, community engagement, capacity building, fundraising and research. She has worked both in and for the non-profit sector at the Feminist Majority Foundation, the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, and the consulting firms The Lee Institute and The Curtis Group.

With her ever expanding non-profit tool belt, Sarah joined Cornershop Creative to tap into her techie, creative side, while developing meaningful partnerships with her clients to help them more effectively achieve their goals.

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Fundraising Tuesday: Yes, Ask for Money Now

June 9, 2020 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

June 2020 is the perfect time to ask the loyal supporters of your nonprofit to give.

This may surprise you. You may have been hanging back, thinking, “So many people are out of work, or sick, or both.” You may have told yourself,”So many people are thinking only about Covid-19 (or, right this moment, “racist police violence).”

You may have guessed they would want you to put your fundraising on pause.

But now we know that guess was wrong.

“Every Direct Mail campaign we’ve done since March (right thru to yesterday) has been getting Christmas level results,” – Denisa Casement, international fundraising expert.

“Right now is still the ‘bump,’ not the ‘slump’ stage. Folks who love you haven’t stopped loving you. They really want you to survive and thrive. So, guess what? It’s still early enough in the crisis that people are still giving. Your donors, especially, are still giving.” – Claire Axelrad, Fundraising Coach at Bloomerang

“Organizations that are connecting with donors are raising never-before-experienced levels of funds. New donors are showing up for the party. Donors are giving larger gifts than they’ve ever given. It’s truly extraordinary.” -Jeff Brooks, Future Fundraising Now

Now is not the time to hang back. Both the experts and the research show that donors will support nonprofits in uncertain times.  In fact, there’s research to show that global catastrophes actually cause charitable giving to increase.

Why are donors still giving?

Make donor feel special

People like to band together and help others, in normal times. In a crisis, that impulse reaches new heights.

Think about it. You’re sitting at home, either unable to work or trying to work extra hard while taking care of children and running a household. You have to guess when or whether you will return to the office, or your children to school, and when you’ll be able to hug somebody you don’t actually live with again.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 and the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade have revealed (to those who didn’t know already) that the people who are supposed to keep us safe can actually be the ones putting us in danger.

When the word feels out of control, what do you do about it? You find something you can do to make a difference. You give. Share on X

And then, there’s the fact that many people actually haven’t been out of work. They’ve continued to collect paychecks AND received an economic stimulus payment. I’ve seen a number of people saying, “I’m lucky, because I don’t need the help. I’m going to donate that money to charity as soon as it comes in.”

They could be giving to you.

But Donors Give Only If You Ask!

“Twitter and blogland are aglow with the same question: where’re the nonprofit direct mailings? Why, at a time like this, are so many nonprofits ignoring or neglecting the most productive channel for individual giving: direct mail?” -Roger Craver, The Agitator

It’s true in normal times and it’s doubly true in an ongoing crisis: people will give where they are asked to give. If you’re not asking,  you are slighting the very people you meant to be considerate toward. You’re hurting your donors, as well as your nonprofit.

You weren’t wrong to think some people can’t afford to give right now. Acknowledge that. Say, “If you can’t give right now, we understand and we are with you. But if you can give, here’s why your gift will make a difference.”

You weren’t wrong to imagine that a lot of people’s attention is on what’s in the news. But is that true of your donors? When they gave to you the first time (and the second, and the third I hope!), they knew that there were other problems in the world. The one they wanted to solve was the one you address.

To succeed, you pretty much just need to be in front of the donor with a relevant need. All the hard stuff — creating compelling calls to action, finding the right story, coming up with the right images and other evidence that can motivate donors to give … all of that is easy right now.  – Jeff Brooks

Donors are giving to the organizations they care about who care enough to send them a timely, thoughtful appeal in the mail. It’s proven.

Who is getting those donations?

Right now, the competition for your donors’ mailbox is weak. So many organizations have held back from sending out mail that the ones who do have a great advantage.

What’s holding you back?

If it’s not knowing what to say, or how to say it, or how to get a letter in the mail when your office is closed, please get in touch with me. That’s why I set up Communicate! Consulting in the first place: to make sure you could win and keep loyal supporters. I’m not giving up on you now.

Now is the perfect time to ask for money from your donors. Let’s get started

 

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Get to Know Your Donors: 4 Tips

February 11, 2020 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post from Sarah Tedesco of DonorSearch

donors at the center

Donors at the heart

Each year, you and your fundraising team work hard to raise money for your cause and make a meaningful impact on your mission.

In the center of all your hard work are your donors, the people who genuinely believe in your cause and take the time and action to support your nonprofit.

It’s more cost-effective and beneficial to retain donors than acquire new donors, so focus your efforts on developing those current donor relationships. And the right tools can help.

Even though fundraisers are now equipped with amazing tools, you still have to learn the best ways to use these modern solutions to build truly authentic relationships. The better you know your donors, the stronger your relationships will be.

In this guide, you’ll be learning about the best ways to get to know your donors and the tools you can use to truly understand why donors give to your organization. Consider these top tips:

  1. Ask donors for their preferences.
  2. Record all donor data.
  3. Invest in a prospect research tool.
  4. Incorporate donor data into marketing initiatives.

1. Ask donors for their preferences.

In order to foster relationships with donors who continuously support your cause, it’s good practice to determine their engagement preferences at the start. This can be as simple as asking them to check off a box in your donation forms!

The more personal and targeted your fundraising engagements are, the better your donors will respond to your outreach efforts. For instance, say a donor doesn’t want any direct mail sent to their home address. Once you know this preference, the worst thing that you can do is to continue sending materials and physical letters. They’ll just get annoyed with the barrage of mail and start to ignore your engagements.

Ask your donors’ preferences on your online donation form. This way, you can record these preferences in their donor profiles right off the bat. It’s also a good idea to let them change their preference as your engagement continues. You can include a link in your email signatures for easy access.

Make sure you keep track of these preferences:

  • Do your donors want to receive email communications, direct mail, mobile text messaging, or all?
  • How often do your donors want updates? Do they want to subscribe to your newsletter?
  • What kind of communications do they want to receive? Event invitations, volunteer opportunities, or donation request letters?
  • If they opted to give a recurring donation, what is their preferred payment preference?

Once you actively make an effort to meet your donors’ preferences, it’s more likely that they’ll stick around and your retention rates won’t stagger. The best place to keep track of all these preferences is your donor database.

2. Record all donor data.

To truly reach your donors and build life-long bonds, ensure that you’re recording all the important donor data. This will depend on your constituent relationship management (CRM) system, also known as your donor database. 

Your CRM system should be recording every donor engagement and all key donor metrics in relation to your nonprofit organization. This means every email sent, every donation given, and each fundraising event ticket sold.

Investing in a capable CRM system is crucial in order to get a comprehensive view of your donors. Once you know their current relationship with your nonprofit, you can better ascertain the ways to improve your future engagement strategies. For example, if you notice that a lot of your donors are active on social media, maybe consider investing more time in that engagement channel.

How do you know if your CRM is doing the best it can for your nonprofit fundraising? Consider its integration capabilities. When the tools within your entire fundraising system are integrated with your CRM, you ensure that your donor data is centralized and accurate. Even as actions and engagements are happening in real-time, the information seamlessly flows into your CRM.

Make sure you’re receiving data from these key fundraising tools:

  • Online donation tool. Ensure your CRM captures the donor name, key financial information, donation amount, and any other information that was required in your form.
  • Event registration tool. If your nonprofit often hosts events, ensure that your CRM records data regarding event attendance, registration level, payment preference, and more.
  • Email marketing tool. Make sure you have all the essential information to communicate effectively with your donors. For example, as soon as a donor makes a gift, your CRM should keep track of their email and send them an appreciation email thanking them for their contribution with that donor’s name and donation amount. Additionally, track which emails are opened and which are ignored to know which engagements are working.

3. Invest in a prospect research tool.

Prospect research is a fundraising strategy that involves screening your donor database to identify high-impact donors. 

While it’s possible that prospect research can be done manually and in-house, the efforts and resources your staff will use up might not be worth it. Many modern fundraisers turn to a digital solution to help. With a capable prospect research tool, you can effectively screen your donors against the nation’s largest philanthropic databases.

To determine which of your supporters are likely to be high impact donors, your prospect research tool is looking out for wealth markers and philanthropic indicators:

  • Wealth markers provide a clue about your donors’ capacity to give. Your prospect research tool is looking at your donors’ real estate ownerships, stock ownerships, and business affiliations.
  • Philanthropic indicators help determine how charitable your donors are and their affinity to give. Your prospect research tool is looking at your donors’ past giving, political giving, and other nonprofit involvement.

Your prospect research tool is great at highlighting donor metrics that you can incorporate into targeted and high-impact marketing initiatives. Donors with both wealth markers and philanthropic indicators are likely to want to give and have the means to give. Read on to learn how you can leverage this information to increase fundraising.

4. Incorporate donor data into marketing initiatives.

Major gifts make up a large percentage of your revenue, with 76% of yearly giving coming from only 4% of donors. Because your prospect research tool is screening for both a donor’s affinity to give and capacity to give, this tool can accurately highlight those who might become major donors.

Identifying your major donor prospects doesn’t mean that they’re automatically going to make large gifts. You need to cultivate this relationship and set the stage for future giving. Your best bet is to segment these potential high-impact donors for targeted communications and other meaningful engagements. For instance, segment these donors and:

  • Give them event perks like early-bird registration or a discount code.
  • Consider writing a handwritten letter instead of an email for a more personal touch. Make sure to keep in mind their communication preferences!
  • Other non-ask communications like interesting nonprofit announcements, upcoming events, and volunteer opportunities.

Not only can your prospect research tool identify potential major donors, but it can also supplement other fundraising efforts.

Increase your corporate matching gifts.

Corporate matching gift programs are great opportunities for nonprofits, but are not taken advantage of as often as they should. Eligible donors can double or even triple their donations if they just submit a matching gift request. According to one study, an estimated $4-7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year.

Corporate matching gift programs aren’t as well known as other fundraising initiatives, so often donors don’t even know that they can increase their gift without giving any additional funds.

Using your prospect research tool and a corporate philanthropic database, screen each of your donor’s business affiliations. Then, send out specific matching gift letters to let them know of their eligibility! For a list of matching gift letter templates from a wide range of organizations, click here.

Target donor advised funds.

Another way you can leverage your prospect research data in smart ways is to look out for donor advised funds (DAFs). As stated in this DonorSearch flash class webinar, DAFs are the fastest growing form of philanthropy today.

A DAF account is a dedicated savings account for charity where an individual will deposit cash, stock, or other assets. However, the donor doesn’t choose a recipient right away and instead makes this decision later on.

Finding out one of your supporters has a DAF is an exciting opportunity for your nonprofit. The supporter has already dedicated these funds to charity, it’s just up to you to convince them that your organization is the right one.

Use your prospect research tool and highlight donors who might have DAFs by screening their wealth metrics. Segment those donors and start fostering those relationships to increase the likelihood of them choosing your nonprofit as their DAF recipient. Focus on non-ask communications so they know that this relationship isn’t purely based on them giving you money.

Getting to know your donors is one of the most important jobs for your fundraising team. After reading this guide, you now know how to effectively reach them and can genuinely develop those donor relationships for future engagement. Good luck!


Sarah TedescoSarah Tedesco is the Executive Vice President of DonorSearch, a prospect research and wealth screening company that focuses on proven philanthropy. Sarah is responsible for managing the production and customer support department concerning client contract fulfillment, increasing retention rate and customer satisfaction. She collaborates with other team members on a variety of issues including sales, marketing and product development ideas.

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