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Donor Retention Helps You Find New Donors Too

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If you have to put your time and energy into finding new donors OR renewing the donors you have, choose donor retention.

donor retention

Don’t just take it from me. “The old growth model is acquiring more new donors than we lose,” says Josh Whichard, a partner at Washington, D.C.’s DonorVoice. The old model, said Whichard, is like a leaky bucket, but one with more water and fewer holes. The new model is to plug more of those holes and need less water. In other words, renew your donors.

Why is it better to renew than to acquire? Lynne Wester of Donor Relations Guru Consulting points out that it’s “7 times more expensive to obtain a new donor than it is to keep the one you have.” Renewing one donor is as good as finding seven new ones!

And Kivi Leroux Miller, one of the leaders in the nonprofit field, tells us that nonprofits have to focus on retention to thrive in the long term, and she adds, “I certainly hope we will see retention grow as a priority in coming years.”

When You DO Need New Donors

Sometimes, though, you just can’t do without new donors. Maybe you’re a new nonprofit, starting out with a small circle of friends. On the other hand, you could be an old organization whose loyal supporters are aging out.

And no matter how many leaks you fix, some donors will always be one-time donors (like the majority of the people who give in honor or in memory of a friend). You need to replace the dollars they give, either by getting your existing donors to give more, or by acquiring new donors.

How do you do find new donors when you need them?

Communication is Key

In the for-profit world, companies are facing an uncomfortable fact. “Experts everywhere proclaim that people are 60% or more of the way through their decision process before they contact you or your company,” says sales maven Jill Konrath.

Nonprofits are in the same boat. Donors today do their research. They look up their favorite causes online, and they check out what you have to say about your organization–and what others say about you–before you ever hear from them.

So, if you want to find new donors, mostly they have to find you first! And when they find you online, they have to like what they see, or they will choose some other organization before you ever send them an email or a newsletter, much less an “ask.”

So, you will need to:

Introducing You

donors introduce friendsBut the best way you can acquire new donors is by having your loyal year-after-year donors introduce you!

Yes, we’re back to the importance of donor retention. Even for getting new donors, it’s vital to renew  your support from the people who have given to you already.

Think of it this way: Before they will give to you, people have to know you, like what you do, and trust you with their money.  What helps a person get to know, like, and trust your organization more than the word of a mutual friend?

Ways Your Donors Can Introduce You

  1. In person. Ask a thoroughly committed donor to set up a lunch date with one of their friends, to introduce the organization.
  2. Forward an email. Your donor can pass along your message with one of their own, “Kathy, I thought you’d want to read this because…”
  3. Share a post on social media. Again, it helps if they personalize it.
  4. Direct people to your website for timely, topical information.
  5. Just talk about you! “John, did you know that I’m involved with [your organization’s name here]? And I’m excited about it!”

If you don’t think your most loyal supporters will be happy and proud to introduce you to their friends, then your organization is a leaky bucket–and you may need to spend more time renewing your donor support instead!

But you may be underestimating the loyalty of your existing donors. Ask them. You have nothing to lose, and you may have a whole world of new supporters to win. Who are you going to ask for an introduction, today?

3 Ways for Your Nonprofit to Become More Likeable on Social Media

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“Likeable” means friendly, thoughtful, generous, human. “Likeable” also means something that people will mark like on Facebook.  Nonprofit organizations need to be likeable, in both senses. 

Why must nonprofits be likeable online?  We have known for a long time that word of mouth defines who we are.  In the age of social media, a friend’s recommendation can travel farther–and faster–than ever before.  To keep on getting clients, Board members, volunteers, and donors,  we need friends who will speak up for us.

Dave Kerpen’s book Likeable Social Media  appeared in 2010 with a bold message: the same qualities that make us likeable in real life can help our organizations win likes on Facebook.  We don’t have to be Mad Men or social media gurus.  We just need to think like the people we are trying to attract and give them what need.

In 2013, many of us are still trying to master social media.  Here are three ways to read Kerpen’s book to make your organization more likeable.

  1. For education.  Are you on social media but not sure why, or what to do with it? Read the Introduction, then skip to the Appendix for a smart overview of the various social media. Then read the book, starting with Chapter 1 but going on to the chapters that interest you most.
  2. For inspiration.  Do you sometimes feel like your Facebook posts are the same old same old?  Are you tweeting more and enjoying it less?  Look for some of the stories Kerpen tells about everybody from Omaha Steaks to the Stride Rite Foundation.  Think. “How can we do something like that?”
  3. For action.  Maybe you get it about likeability, engaging your audience, and attracting support and respect by giving information away.  But how can you start moving your nonprofit in the right direction?  I suggest making the Action Items at the end of each chapter into your social media workplan.

“Whether your organization is already deeply engaged with its customers or is far from it, the process of becoming further involved starts with one person, and one action.”  -Dave Kerpen  You are that person.  Read this book and take your first step.

 

How Do You Say That in Nonprofit? The “Buying Cycle”, Heads, and Hearts

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People decide to buy products from companies.  People–maybe the same people–decide to give money to organizations.  What can nonprofits learn from the business “buying cycle” that will help us to create loyal supporters?

According to Catherine Sherlock, one thing we can learn is when to appeal to people’s hearts and when to their heads.

Catherine Sherlock

Catherine Sherlock

She says, “The idea that people buy solely on emotion is old-school selling… Under old-school selling, people felt manipulated—which is why they started turning to the Internet and to friends for answers rather than engaging with salespeople.”

Nonprofits don’t want to manipulate people into supporting us.  We do want people to know what we do, and love it, and give money to keep us doing it.  In other words, we want their hearts and their heads at the same time.  How do we appeal to both?

 

Content Marketing: Giving Nonprofit Donors What They Want

Content marketing is a buzzword right now, but if you’re like many nonprofit organizations, you may have a hazy idea what it means.  You may think of it as just “publication.”  Unless you’re publishing anonymously, though, what you write, or post, or video will shape the perception of your organization.  Content marketing means putting content out strategically in ways that benefit the audience and help them get to know and love your agency.

Now, when people see your content, they may have just heard of you for the first time, or they may know you quite well.  If you ran into a longtime donor or volunteer on the street, wouldn’t you greet them very differently from someone you just met?  You also need different messages–different information and different emotional tone–when you’re “meeting” people through your writing or social media.

Catherine Sherlock tells us that when businesses build relationships with customers, they go through a set of stages, a “buying cycle.”  Nonprofits go through a similar set of stages with our supporters.

buying cy

Catherine Sherlock explains the buying cycle (marketingprofs.com)

    • Awareness: They don’t know who you are.  You have to give them a reason to pay attention and find out.  Short, emotional content works best.  “Funny, weird, and inspirational are what tends to get shared on social media.”
    • Interest: They’re beginning to recognize a need for your services.  They want to know who you are.  This is a great time to tell stories that show your organization’s personality and your values in action.  Remember, though, your purpose is not to brag: it’s to deepen their interest and begin to build trust.
    • Evaluation: They’re seriously considering your program or service—and comparing you with your competition.   “At this stage, provide people with good, solid materials that enable people to substantiate their early feelings of security and trust.”
    • Purchase:  For nonprofits, this is the moment when the donor clicks the “donate” button or mails the check.  “People’s fears about making a wrong decision often re-emerge at the point of taking action and handing over money. So, reinforce the feelings that you used to gain their attention in the Awareness stage, and ensure the actual purchase process is painless.”   (That means you make it easy for the donor to give, and thank them and remind them what a difference they are making both during and after the donation.)
  • Loyalty:  In the nonprofit world, we sometimes talk of donor “retention,” and the “stewardship” it takes to keep our donors’ support over the long haul.  Businesses talk about loyalty, instead.  I prefer that, because it makes it clear that their continued attention and support is a further gift our donors give to us.  We can and should work to deserve their loyalty, and that means appealing both to emotion and to reason.  We can “maintain that sense of safety and trust that [we] established in earlier stages” and “provide information that proves” we are worthy of their trust.

The Right Audience at the Right Time

Now that you understand the cycle,  you can see that appeals to reason and emotion go hand in hand.   You will want to stress one more than the other at different stages, but mostly you will find the best way to combine them.  This raises the question: how can nonprofits catch their supporters at the right time in the relationship to send them the message that will fit them?

First off, you have to know your audience.

Then, if your nonprofit is big enough (or has a big enough communications budget), you may be able to do a lot of research and to capture the results in a constituent relationship management (CRM) database, so that you can send different messages to supporters at each stage of the cycle.

If you’re smaller, or if time or money are tight, you can still segment your list.  At a minimum, target different messages to new prospects, first-time givers, and established supporters.

Finally, think about what that audience wants to hear.  At this stage of the relationship, do they want you to grab their attention, or to help them trust you, or to reassure them that their trust is justified?  Are they ready for you to convince them or to touch their hearts, and how?

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