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Contents

5 Automations to Convert Shelter Prospects into Donors

Animal shelters often face the challenge of converting prospects into loyal donors who contribute regularly to their cause. At Virtuous, we understand these challenges and have developed targeted automation strategies specifically for animal care organizations. In a recent webinar, hosted by Virtuous experts, we explored five impactful automations that can simplify your processes, increase engagement, and convert shelter prospects into donors.

1. Welcome Series Automation

When a potential donor first interacts with your shelter, a warm, personalized welcome can set the foundation for a lasting relationship.

An automated welcome series sends tailored emails or messages to introduce your shelter’s mission, impact stories, and specific needs. Each communication provides more insight, building a bond that leads prospects to engage further. With Virtuous, these automated welcome series keep interactions timely and consistent, creating a great first impression and guiding the donor toward their first gift.

2. Engagement-Based Nurturing to Convert Shelter Prospects into Donors

An important thing to notes is that not all donors are ready to give right away. In fact, most of them aren’t. That’s where engagement-based nurturing comes in.

This enables you to communicate based on the prospect’s behavior, interests, or previous interactions. Using Virtuous, this automation tracks user actions on your website, such as visiting donation pages or reading articles. The system can then trigger targeted messages addressing specific interests, leading potential donors through a personalized journey.

Thus, by aligning your communications with the prospect’s level of engagement, you can nurture interest until they’re ready to make a commitment.

3. Re-Engagement Series for Lapsed Donors

It’s common for donors to become inactive, especially if they’ve only given once. A re-engagement series works to bring these supporters back, reminding them of your shelter’s ongoing needs and how their contributions make a difference. Automated emails can share updates, recent success stories, or volunteer opportunities that reignite their interest and drive a renewed sense of purpose.

4. Volunteer-to-Donor Conversion Pathway

Many people come to shelters as volunteers before becoming financial supporters. Virtuous’ automation can help transition these volunteers into donors by highlighting how financial contributions can further their impact.

An automated sequence may start with thanking volunteers for their time, then gently suggest how their support can extend beyond hands-on help. By making this transition seamless, you transform volunteers’ emotional investment into a financial one, supporting your shelter’s mission even further.

5. Recurring Donation Prompting

Recurring donations provide stability, allowing shelters to plan for the future confidently. Automations can simplify the process of converting one-time donors into recurring givers.

Offering personalized messaging can show how regular gifts support continuous needs—such as food, medical care, and shelter—encouraging prospects to commit to a monthly or annual giving program. By setting up recurring donation prompts, you ensure a reliable income stream while helping donors feel like an integral part of your work.

Start Growing Your Donor Base Today

Automations are powerful tools that not only save time but also create meaningful connections with potential donors. By setting up these five automations with the help of Virtuous, your shelter can build stronger relationships, increase engagement, and secure ongoing support from your community.

Ready to Make the Switch?

Request a Virtuous demo today to see how easy it is to get started with these powerful automation tools and turn prospects into dedicated supporters of your shelter’s mission.

Watch the Full Webinar

If you missed this webinar, you can watch the full video on-demand here.

What you should do now

Below are three ways we can help you begin your journey to building more personalized fundraising with responsive technology.

See the Virtuous platform in action.  Schedule a call with our team for personalized answers and expert advice on transforming your nonprofit with donor management software.

Download our free Responsive Maturity Model and learn the 5 steps to more personalized donor experiences.

If you know another nonprofit pro who’d enjoy reading this page, share it with them via Email, Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook.

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Grow generosity with Virtuous

Virtuous is the responsive fundraising software platform proven to help nonprofit organizations increase generosity by serving all donors personally, no matter their gift size.

“Virtuous truly understands nonprofits and the importance of our mission. And their open access to data and built-in custom reports gave us access to the data we need.”
Todd Shinabarger​
Chief Information Officer