This trait is essential in cultivating and managing donor relationships. Credibility comes about over time and is the result of all of the above, as well as consistently demonstrating good judgement across all relationships and situations. The lack of a clear decision from a donor can be frustrating, so how we manage this will be apparent in our behavior and actions. Not everything will go as planned; indeed, many initiatives will require that we adapt our plans on the fly.
Knowing that not everything works out to plan helps maintain balance. It requires focus and preparation, and a seriousness about our work. Even the humblest donor is seeking to make a contribution in his or her own way. While a large, complex gift may require more time and effort, every donor deserves our time and consideration. If you are interested in learning more, there are a number of fundraising networking groups in Chicagoland, including the Association of Fundraising Professionals AFP Chicago Chapter , or I encourage you to reach out to someone who has been in the field for many years and do an informational interview.
You will find that fundraisers are some of the most generous people and fundraising is a career option worth exploring. Join the Discussion When I first became involved with fundraising some 25 years ago, it was more of a career that one fell into by chance. Top 10 core personality traits and key qualities of an effective Fundraiser: 1. Highly organized Expect to wear many hats as a fundraiser and time management is key — by being organized you will use your time more efficiently and be more productive 2.
Effective Communication Skills Being a strong writer and public speaker is essential when you represent an organization 3. These can be effective fundraising methods used alone, but when used in combination with digital efforts they can supercharge your fundraising strategies. Use each method to reinforce your message and pursue a well-rounded multichannel marketing strategy.
While younger donors might prefer communicating through social media, older donors typically prefer direct mail. Using only one or the other usually limits your potential audience.
A dedicated direct mail platform such as GivingMail can help maximize your direct mail promotion strategy. You can craft effective, stylish letters or postcards to share your message directly with your supporters. Create a clear reason why supporters should donate their hard-earned money or spend their valuable time with your organization. When you make appeals, be sure to include an impact statement that shows the potential donor how their money will be spent and what that gift will achieve, either for your organization or the people you serve.
Your case for support or impact statement should cover the following key points:. Having a clear, detailed case for support is important because it shows donors that you have a direction and plan for their money.
Not only can the case for support motivate your donors, it can also be a valuable tool for your staff and volunteers; they can use this resource to help strengthen their pitch when they ask potential donors to contribute.
No matter what channel you choose to engage or to make the appeal always include an explicit call to action. A call to action lets supporters know exactly how they can contribute and directs them to where they can complete that action. Because the intended action is clear and convenient, there's a greater chance that person will convert. Remember, not all of your calls to action need to be monetary appeals. The explicit ask concept works with other actions like volunteering, downloading reports, advocating for issues, sharing a message on social media, or just simply signing up to receive your newsletter.
Thank you letters are generated and sent automatically without needing staff intervention. Email marketing automation software like Salsa Engage can place major donors into segmented lists in your CRM for special communication and drip email communications over time.
There are a few digital techniques you can use to increase online engagement with your supporters and encourage a culture of online giving. The July issue of NonProfit PRO magazine touted video as a communication channel that every nonprofit must master. Since then, video has been one of the fastest growing and most used mediums in nonprofit communication and advertising. Live video is a great way to open the curtain and give supporters a peek inside your day-to-day operations.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and others prioritize video streaming and will notify your followers when you go live. This is a fast and inexpensive way to reach the masses and increase your conversion rates. Not sure what to record?
Consider the following nonprofit activities that others have been successful with:. With amateur video, it's important to remember that "good enough is good to go. The important part is getting your message out there and giving it a chance to succeed. The best digital fundraising operations are vigilant about their online forms and design them in ways that encourage the audience to convert.
The optimal donation page varies from nonprofit to nonprofit, but the goal is to make the experience as convenient as possible for your donors so they're more likely to contribute. Finding the content and design of the optimal page can be a moving target. Your fundraising forms should be singular in focus, responsive, and user-friendly. Combine your form with Smart Engagement features from your CRM and it will automatically fill important details like name, address, even donation amounts.
This will speed up the donation process and make for a much more streamlined experience for your donors. If you can bring that number down to one, your organization will have an advantage over all of them! Split test by creating alternative versions of your donation page with only one difference per version; a new title, a new form field, a different color button, etc. Send portions of your audience to different versions and track which form converts the most donors.
When the test is done, rework your final form to mirror the look and functionality of the winning version from the split test. For more tips on designing your form, check out our article on how to write a nonprofit fundraising call to action. Your website is likely the first place potential donors will encounter your nonprofit. As such, the goal for any nonprofit website is for it to be compelling, informative, and to serve as a useful tool to steward supporters toward donation.
Focus on fundraising. Your nonprofit's website should emphasize fundraising functionality. Be sure that donating online is easy for visitors. Include streamline online donation forms, elevate mobile donation platforms, and embed compelling calls to action throughout the site.
Create cohesion. All aspects of your website should reflect your brand, so users are always aware of your organization while they're browsing. Stick to one color scheme, formatting, and font throughout to avoid confusing your visitors. Tell your story. Websites that feature a heartfelt story are more likely to engage browsers. When readers understand why you're so passionate about the cause, they'll trust your organization and want to follow along. Include engaging content: The best marketing strategy is providing users something of value.
Include informative articles, videos, case studies, audio, and more to let users know about your campaign and cause and to help them see the value in it. Stay social. Your organization's website should prominently feature links to your various social media pages. In turn, your social media platforms should direct friends and followers to your central website. Share your website on these pages, as well as encourage social media engagement on your site. Keep content easily readable.
Avoid overwhelming your readers with huge blocks of text. Content that's broken down into short and punchy paragraphs is easier to digest, increasing the likelihood that visitors will stop and read your message.
Use visuals. Visuals create interest, break up chunks of text, and are a proven engagement strategy. Although you should incorporate them wherever it's logical, avoid incorporating too many or they'll lose their impact. Make it user-friendly: Nothing is a bigger buzzkill than a complicated website. Make sure your navigation is clear and that you feature the most important links like the one to your donation page in an obvious place, so that when people want to find them, they can.
Check out our guide to creating a nonprofit website. Social networks are excellent places to identify potential donors and start engaging them on their terms. The beauty of social media is that there are many different sites to help you with your fundraising efforts.
Each of these sites has unique capabilities, allowing you to share your message in unique ways. Pew Research completes a study each year that shows user demographics of the various social networks. Try to match the demographics of your unique audience to the social network that features that same audience. Doing so will bring you higher chances of engagement and likely conversions. If your audience is highly educated and likes research material, perhaps LinkedIn is the first place you should share.
If your audience is younger, one of the newer networks like Snapchat or WhatsApp might be more appropriate. Test your message on different social networks to see which brings the best conversion rates and other important nonprofit KPIs , then adjust your plan accordingly. Since then, mobile usage has continued to increase across all sectors, including the nonprofit space.
Yet a survey from Nonprofit Hub found that less than half of nonprofit websites are mobile responsive. That means far too many nonprofits are missing out on an entire platform for engaging their donors and likely also missing out on countless fundraising opportunities.
Accepting mobile donations is the pinnacle of convenience because it allows your supporters to contribute to your organization wherever they are and when the moment presents itself.
Optimize your mobile giving channels by making sure your online donation forms are easy to use from mobile devices, especially smartphones. Most modern web platforms have this capability built in when designing forms. You can also implement text-to-give campaigns that allow supporters to donate via SMS messaging. You send them a link via SMS and it opens a donate page on their phone where the contribution can be completed. This is a great way to capture immediate interest from supporters at events or watching live stream video.
Nonprofit CRMs that feature artificial intelligence and smart engagement can take your digital game to the next level. Information from your CRM is automatically completed on contribution forms, volunteer forms, advocacy petitions, and other calls to action.
This speeds up the process even further for your users and can make the engagement process much more user-friendly.
Machine learning can analyze previous donor contribution levels and mix that information with current demographics, appended data like income levels and affinity group interests, and recommend to you a fundraising appeal strategy that is unique to the donor. This makes your email marketing efforts much more personalized and more likely to convert. As you continue to implement artificial intelligence and smart engagement techniques in your nonprofit make sure you don't lose that personal connection with your audience.
Be deliberate about staying human-focused in your mission. While individual contributors will likely account for the majority of your fundraising dollars, there are a host of nonprofit partnership opportunities in the corporate and for-profit industries that can support and sustain your mission. A good corporate partnership is mutually beneficial and helps the sponsor achieve their goals too. Volunteerism and volunteer grants: Many corporations encourage their employees to get involved with local nonprofits.
Some give teams time off to volunteer. Others will even donate money to a nonprofit if their employees dedicate a certain amount of time to the cause! Empower a corporate champion, like an existing donor or volunteer, to post flyers, ask colleagues for donations, assemble volunteer groups, or form peer-to-peer teams at work. Challenge Grants: Your organization can strengthen your fundraising strategy by participating in corporate challenge grants. With challenge grants, a corporate sponsor agrees to donate a certain dollar amount once your fundraiser has met an agreed-upon fundraising goal, such as a percentage of dollars raised or a flat fundraising benchmark.
Consumers often patronize businesses because of their support for local nonprofits. By teaming up with your organization, corporations can fulfill corporate philanthropy requirements as well as benefit from low-cost advertising and the good-will that comes with helping good causes. Associating your cause with an athlete, entertainer, or politician can be highly rewarding for your organization.
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