Multichannel donors — those who give to your nonprofit in more than one way — believe in the work you’re doing. They follow your organization closely and support you in every way they can. They give online through your website and emails. They like and share your social media posts. They attend your fundraising events, sign up for volunteer opportunities, and invite their friends to come along, too.
Data shows that donors who engage with your nonprofit in multiple ways stick around longer, and in turn, give more. Data shows that multichannel donors contribute four times more frequently than online-only donors, and offline-only donors, and (on average) twice as much money as online-only or offline-only donors.
Here are 4 strategies to help build those relationships.
• Strategy #1: Get to know your multichannel donors. You can’t grow your multichannel donors unless you know who they are, how they’re giving, and what motivates them to support you.
Know your multichannel donors:
- Who they are
- How do they give
- What motivates them
- Create donor profiles to communicate & engage them
Understanding the fundraising activities, messaging, and campaigns that cause people who have given before to continuously give in new and different ways is crucial in creating engaging donor experiences that retain enthusiastic, loyal supporters — A.K.A., multichannel donors.
Keeping track of donors and their giving patterns is no easy task, but fortunately, fundraising and donor management tools can do it for you. You can create donor profiles that help you identify who your donors are so you can effectively engage them, segment communications based on donor activity, and communicate
• Strategy #2: Craft an engaging digital presence that promotes giving in multiple ways.
Engage with donor-first digital presence:
- Inform with emotional connection
- Compel action & encourage loyalty
- Website as central hub with
- Email campaigns & social feeds
- All with multiple easy ways to give
A successful multichannel fundraising strategy reflects a donor-first approach to every move you make. That includes building an experience across all of your digital touch points that informs donors of your work, creates an emotional connection, compels action, and encourages loyalty.
To maximize online giving, you should always pair your website, emails, and social media campaigns with a variety of ways for donors to support your cause that are quick and easy. It’s not just for your donors to engage, but also for you to manage.
Your website serves as the central hub of your organization’s online activity. In today’s digital world, a modern, updated website packed with touching photos, heartfelt testimonials, donation and registration forms, and social feeds is a must. And for multichannel donors, your website can be their single source of information to keep up with your latest fundraising campaigns, events, and more.
Don’t stress if your website needs a makeover. You don’t need a web team to make it happen. There are plenty of tools available to have your website up, running, and continuously updated in-house by your staff. It will always be fresh and engaging and your team will feel proud to have a part in it.
Events make it personal:
- Plan fun engaging events
- Get to know them face-to-face
- Everything makes an impression
- Add an auction to your event
- Tools make things easier: Texting, specialized software…
• Strategy #3: Make giving personal by hosting fun and engaging events.
Meeting donors face-to-face gives you a unique opportunity to really know them and for them to know you.
The type of event you throw, the diverse personalities of your team, the way you weave your mission into the details of the day all make an impression. While events can be a heavy undertaking, there are tools to make managing volunteers, collecting gifts, and entertaining guests easier.
Nearly all text messages are read within three minutes, so leverage the power and popularity of text messaging to stay in touch with your multichannel donors. Promote giving at your event with a text-to- give keyword and short code. Encourage text message opt-ins at the event and keep your donors posted on all sorts of fundraising campaigns year-round. The best thing about text updates is that your donors will always see them.
Give your multichannel donors something to bring home by pairing your event with an auction. Whether you’re new to fundraising auctions or an experienced auctioneer, you can take the hassle out of live, silent, and online auctions with a cloud-based auction software that makes it easy and fun for your staff and your guests.
Remember, multichannel donors are fans of your organization. They give in different ways because they’re dialed into what you’re doing. Regularly reach out to your multichannel donors to:
- Thank them for their support;
- Show them how their donations are helping your cause;
- Invite them to upcoming events;
- Ask them to volunteer;
- Remind them that their generosity encourages others to give; and,
- Keep them updated on what’s new.
Don’t limit these communications to email. Be sure to keep your website, social channels, direct mail appeals, and personal engagement efforts up-to-date.
Emily Rose Patz is a senior writer at DonorPerfect in Fort Washington, Pa. Her email is [email protected]. The column was excerpted from the organization’s guide to multichannel donors at http://www.donorperfect.com/multichannel
