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Segmenting Your Donor Base: How to Personalize Appeals

November 19, 2024 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post by Missy Singh of Fundly

Imagine you’re trying to catch a friend’s attention in a crowded square. They have promised to treat you to a bowl of ice cream, but they can’t seem to find you. To flag them down, you wouldn’t just yell, “Hey, you!” You could be talking to anyone, which means you will likely be ignored. Instead, you would probably say something like, “Hey, Luis! The ice cream shop is this way!”

Connecting with your nonprofit’s donors requires the same approach. Your donors are scattered across the noisy internet, and you must find ways to speak to them personally and directly. With the right CRM and marketing tools, you can segment your donor base to ensure you send relevant messages that resonate with each recipient.

According to Double the Donation, segmenting your digital campaigns produces revenue growth of up to 760% compared to non-segmented campaigns. Let’s explore practical ways to segment your donors and tailor your appeals to their preferences and interests.

Common Ways to Segment Your Donors

Segmentation allows your nonprofit to engage in more personal, meaningful donor communications without spending the time and energy to message each person individually.

Many nonprofits segment their donors based on the following characteristics:

Donor Type

Not every donor contributes to your nonprofit in the same way. To maintain their support and provide them with the recognition they deserve, create segments based on donor type, such as:

New donor. Follow up promptly after their first gift. Then, send a welcome email or email series that provides them with more information about your nonprofit and shares additional ways to get involved.

Crowdfunding donor. Provide frequent updates about the donor’s impact and your progress toward completing the project they supported. After each campaign, keep in touch by sharing additional projects or events they might be interested in.

Monthly donor. Share regular, exclusive updates and stories about the donor’s impact on your mission. Invite monthly donors to join a community, such as a social media group, where they can connect with other passionate individuals like them.

Major donor. Use phone calls and handwritten cards to engage and appreciate these high-level contributors. Send exclusive invitations for behind-the-scenes tours and meet-and-greets that allow them to see your work firsthand.

Legacy donor. Create a legacy society that brings your legacy donors together and makes them feel like part of a special group. Share resources, including stories of other legacy donors, and recognize these individuals on your website and other marketing materials.

Every donor counts. Sending communications that are appropriate based on their level of commitment and the impact of their contributions allows you to build consistent, lasting relationships with them.

Giving and Involvement History

By understanding each donor’s giving and involvement history, you can determine how much follow-up (and what kind) is necessary to keep them invested in your cause for the long term. For example, you might create segments for:

Lapsed donors. Re-engage donors who haven’t given to your nonprofit within the past year by referencing their past impact, sharing various ways they can support your mission, and sending a survey to learn more about why they stopped giving.

Volunteers. Engage those who prefer to contribute more time than money by recommending volunteer opportunities based on their skills and interests. Invite volunteers to help you raise funds from their personal networks as peer-to-peer fundraising participants.

Event attendees. If your nonprofit hosts an annual fundraising event, such as a gala, reach out to past attendees to thank them for their support last year and remind them of some of the top experiences they had.

The longer the individual’s giving and involvement history with your nonprofit, the more personalized and meaningful thanks they deserve.

Demographics

Many nonprofits also segment their donors based on demographic characteristics to craft messages that better appeal to each person’s social and economic circumstances. Consider creating segments based on:

Age. Every generation has its own values, perspectives, and preferences. For example, Baby Boomers tend to favor in-person meetings and phone calls, while Millennials prefer the speed and convenience of text messaging. Use these generational tendencies to inform the channels and frequency with which you reach out to each group of donors.

Location. Invite donors who live in your local area to in-person fundraising events where they can connect with people who share their passion and values. If your nonprofit has many donors scattered across the country or world, consider planning more hybrid and virtual events they can attend.

Occupation. A donor’s occupation can reveal more about their financial capacity and help you uncover corporate philanthropy opportunities. For example, if you notice that many donors work for the same company, consider reaching out to their employer to see if they would be interested in sponsoring an event or organizing team-wide volunteer days.

If you are missing demographic information about your donors, use your donation page and surveys to collect the details you need.

5 Tips for Tailoring Your Appeals to Donors

Use these tips to create personalized, relevant, and genuine appeals:

Choose donor segments that directly align with your overarching goals.
When collecting data, build donor trust by being transparent about how you plan to use it.
Maintain consistent branding and voice across all of your content.
Conduct A/B testing to learn what types of messaging are most effective for each segment.
Track each segment’s average gift size, retention rate, and engagement to assess your performance over time.

Additionally, maintain strong nonprofit data hygiene to keep your donor profiles accurate and up to date. Conduct regular database audits to merge duplicate entries, verify contact information, and standardize formatting.

Whether you’re trying to boost engagement for an upcoming fundraising campaign—such as Giving Tuesday—or following up to thank donors for their support, Fundly recommends incorporating visuals and stories that bring people closer to your cause. Use donor interests and preferences to guide your communications, but remember to vary the types of content you send to keep it fresh and engaging for your audience over time.

Missy Singh is the Director of Operations, Client Services & Sales at Fundly. She has been working there since 2011 when she started as a Customer Experience and Implementation Manager. As an integrated platform for social impact, Fundly serves as an industry leader in crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising. In 2015 Fundly combined with NonProfitEasy to offer enterprise-level technology that addresses nonprofit needs with features such as a CRM, volunteer management, membership management, and event registration.

Fundraising Tuesday: How Much Communication Is Too Much?

April 2, 2024 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

A guest post by Evan Appleby at ForOurSchool.org

Effective fundraising communication is a skill that requires finesse. While over-communication risks overwhelming your audience, under-communication can mean missed opportunities. Whether you are spearheading a school math-a-thon or championing a non-profit, finding the right balance is essential to your success.

Know Your Audience

Recognize that not everyone is the same, and the right amount of communication can vary depending on the recipient.

Segmentation: Group people based on their preferences. Tailor your message and the frequency of your messaging to what is most effective for each one. For instance, some donors may appreciate weekly updates, while others may only want to be notified about campaign milestones.

Preferred Channels: Some people respond better to email, direct mail, or social media, while others prefer text messages or in-person interactions. Since the type of messaging can vary by medium, if you can determine which medium is right for each group you want to reach, you can adapt the frequency of the messaging to be aligned with the message.

Motivation: Understand why people choose to be involved with your event or organization. Are they passionate about literacy (in the case of a read-a-thon)? Are they driven by community spirit or personal connections? Knowing the message that you want to convey can also help determine the right channel to use.

Diversify Communication Channels

While bombarding potential donors or participants with 10 emails in a week is rarely effective, embracing a mix of communication methods can make frequent outreach more palatable and yield better results.

Email: Ideal for regular updates, campaign progress reports, and impact stories.

Text Messages: Quick, concise reminders or urgent calls to action.

Social Media: Great for announcements, or upcoming events.

Direct Mail: Tangible and personal—great for major donor appeals

Posters: Use these at events, community centers, or local businesses to build awareness

In-Person: Attend events, host meetings, or set-up tables to establish a more personal connection.

Navigate Among Competing Voices

Within a school or in the nonprofit ecosystem, the attention of participants or donors can be fleeting due to the many competing voices.

Other Fundraisers: Collaborate rather than compete. Share insights, coordinate efforts, and avoid duplicating messages.

Internal Stakeholders: Teachers, program managers, and board members communicate with donors too. Align your messages to avoid overwhelming supporters.

External Influences: Consider external events (e.g., national crises, holidays) that may impact your communication schedule.

Measure and Adapt

As you formulate your communication strategy, keep room for changes based on performance and feedback.

Metrics: Track open rates, click-through rates, and response. Adjust based on data.

Feedback: Listen to your audience. If they express feeling overwhelmed, it’s time to pull back.

Testing and Adaptability: Experiment with different communication frequencies and channels. Learn from what works and what doesn’t.

Effective fundraising communication is intentional, empathetic, and adaptable. Remember, sometimes saying less can yield a more significant impact.

Evan Appleby is the CEO of ForOurSchool.org, a Math-A-Thon and Read-A-Thon platform focused on enhancing math skills, promoting literacy, and fostering community spirit. Through ForOurSchool.org, Evan is committed to not only raising essential funds for schools and organizations but also creating enjoyable learning experiences with real-world impact. When not working on the platform, you can usually find Evan on a basketball court or volunteering at his daughters’ gym classes.

Fundraising Tuesday: 3 Segmentation Strategies For Donors With Your CRM

March 12, 2024 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Effective outreach helps your nonprofit raise awareness and funds for its cause. But if you want donors to respond to your messages, you’ll need to make your outreach relevant to each recipient.

That’s where constituent relationship management (CRM) solutions come in! CRMs store donor data, which can reveal shared characteristics among your supporters. By separating donors into categories based on these similarities, you can personalize communications.

In this guide, we’ve created a list of segmentation strategies your nonprofit can use. Explore these strategies to send the right messages to the right people.

Segment donors by communication preferences.

Your donors aren’t all the same, and they don’t all want to give using the same channels. For example, some might respond to phone pledges while others prefer online donations. Use data to see how each segment prefers to communicate and then use a multichannel approach to engage them.

CharityEngine’s guide to nonprofit donations recommends using the following tools:

Email: If your audience is a little older, email is a reliable way to engage them. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it can stay in an inbox and remind donors to act.

Optimized donation forms: No matter which channel you use, everyone will end up on your donation form. It should make giving easy, offering many payment options and the ability to begin a monthly gift.

Mobile campaigns: Younger audiences respond favorably to SMS or text-to-give campaigns. If that’s the makeup of your audience, mobile is the way to go.

Appeal to as many communication preferences as possible by planning message templates. This way, you can adjust your messages for any channel. You’ll reach every donor, whether they prefer a text message or direct mail.

2. Group donors by involvement history.

Imagine you accept a job offer and arrive at the office for your first day of work. You’re probably expecting to go through training or new employee orientation. Wouldn’t you be surprised if you weren’t trained at all and were expected to just start working?

In the same way, your nonprofit’s communication should match a donor’s level of experience with your organization. For example, engage brand-new donors with feel-good stories about your mission. Or, identify your monthly givers and consider a campaign to get them to pledge $5 a month. Knowing how people are giving helps you understand what the next ask should be.

Properly managed donor data reveals donors’ histories of involvement. Your CRM can analyze giving history for you to make these patterns easier to find. Consider the following elements of their involvement:

Recency: Throughout a donor’s engagement with your nonprofit, the messages that will be most compelling change. For example, if someone donates regularly, show them how their donation is used. If you have a lapsed donor, your strategies will change.

Nature: How did donors come on board? Were they a plus-one at an event, or did they make a gift in a loved one’s memory? Understanding how they’re involved can help you send the right message.

Method: Knowing how donors give can help you tailor messages for your audience. For example, send a quick text to donors who usually give through a text-to-give campaign.

Plus, this information can be used as social proof when stewarding prospective donors. It’s human nature to want to join a crowd! Entice others to commit to your organization by publicizing giving trends or offering donor profiles.

3. Use gift size to segment donors.

While every donation is important, gift sizes can indicate a level of commitment. For example, someone who occasionally makes sizable gifts may be a candidate for a major gift. Or, someone who gives small gifts could make a reliable monthly donor.

Tracking gift size with your CRM reveals donors’ responses to your fundraising efforts. This way, you’ll know what future fundraising asks are appropriate. To do this, segment donors according to the following gift sizes:

Annual gifts: It can be easy to dismiss year-end donors until that season rolls around. Build better relationships with them by sending communications as early as September! Issue a challenge and track progress to generate excitement.

Mid-level gifts: Mid-level donors are already committed to your cause. But they might be one impact story or case study away from making a more sizable gift. Share the impact of their donations and what more your nonprofit needs.

Major gifts: Selecting nonprofit fundraising software involves looking for the right features. You’ll want a CRM that manages major and planned gifts. This way, you can identify major donors and thank them for their generosity. Gratitude helps you cultivate stronger relationships with these donors.

According to Double the Donation, you can also upgrade donors to higher giving levels. Use your CRM to learn how donors’ relationships evolve with your nonprofit. Then, create a plan to guide other donors through this journey.

Use these segmentation strategies to target donors for more relevant fundraising appeals. Also, they’ll help you properly steward donors! Your CRM can show you how to thank donors personally and specifically. This way, you can send the right messages, gifts, invites, and more to deepen each donor’s commitment.

Philip Schmitz – CEO & Founder

Philip Schmitz is the CEO and founder of cloud-services leader BIS Global, creators of the CharityEngine fundraising & communications technology platform. Founded in 1999, Phil has managed the vision and strategy for BIS’s suite of integrated business applications & hosting tools used by more than 400 businesses & non-profits.

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Segmenting Your Donor Base: How to Personalize Appeals