Improving Nonprofit Donor engagement challenges many organizations. In a survey of Nonprofit organizations, respondents reported only 46% of donors made repeat gifts in the following year and for every 100 new donors gained, 99 were lost. One of the key conclusions of the survey was:
“… it costs less to retain and motivate an existing donor than to attract a new one, and so taking positive steps to reduce gift and donor losses is often the best strategy to increase net fundraising gains at the least cost.”
One of the positive steps Nonprofits can take is to nurture engagement with Donors to keep them coming back. Improving Nonprofit Donor engagement can be accomplished by these steps.
1. Leveraging the Donor Database
Successful Nonprofits seek to know as much about their Donors as possible. This means gathering and organizing a lot of data. A significant slice of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems used by for-profit enterprises concentrate on managing this kind of data. When a Nonprofit uses a CRM, every touch with a Donor needs to be captured along with demographic information so a 360-degree view can be created for each of these critical Stakeholders.
2. Donor Connectedness
Donors give because they believe in the Nonprofit’s mission. That’s what they become involved in the first place. Retaining them as donors depends on how well the organization stays in touch, delivering the right messages to them at the right times. Reaching out to Donors with targeted email campaigns driven by the data in the Nonproft’s CRM system will help accomplish this. By segmenting the Donor database according to key metrics, communications are better targeted and, therefore, more effective.
3. Websites Updated With Fresh Information
Keeping the Nonprofit’s digital content fresh is essential. It conveys a sense of the organization’s vitality and professionalism. Investing in a robust, easy-to-use Content Management System (CMS) will help the Nonprofit keep digital content up to date. This improves the efficiency of the organization so it can make the most of its limited staff resources while improving Nonprofit Donor engagement.
4. Event Management
Producing events is an important way for organizations to promote their missions. Yet, most Nonprofits struggle with multiple software programs to manage events. A Nonprofit will benefit from more effective events when it acquires software that combines streamlined event creation, management, and follow-up. Better events mean attendees will be more apt to register for future events, and more likely to become committed donors.
5. Feedback Mechanisms
Feedback from Stakeholders supports better decision-making by Nonprofits as they strive to achieve their missions. Full-featured feedback software allows an organization to easily create and manage feedback loops with Donors to support better decision-making aimed at enhancing engagement and deeper commitment.
