{"id":21724,"date":"2019-01-22T15:46:49","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T15:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virtuous.org\/raise\/2019\/01\/22\/7-ways-to-show-donor-love\/"},"modified":"2019-01-22T15:46:49","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T15:46:49","slug":"7-ways-to-show-donor-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virtuous.org\/raise\/7-ways-to-show-donor-love\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Ways to Show Donor Love"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Your nonprofit might exist to serve your beneficiaries. But you\u2019ve got to serve your donors\u2019 interests first. Raise donors before you raise money.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broadly speaking, you can divide nonprofit work into three large categories:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Administration, <\/li>
  2. Programs, and <\/li>
  3. Development. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Of course, some nonprofit sectors (like private universities) may have more than that. But even if your organization operates with more categories, this blog post will be helpful.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Like the proverbial chicken and the egg, which side of the nonprofit do you start with? Which deserves the higher priority?
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is where nonprofit management gets messy. They all have to be running at the same time for your organization to remain alive.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And to make things more difficult, each of these areas in your nonprofit require experts to run them. Administration, fundraising, and program leadership are all separate career fields!  
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Too keep their sanity, most nonprofits will neglect their administration and fundraising for the sake of programs. That makes sense because you exist to serve your beneficiaries.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But it\u2019s not wise because\u2026<\/em>
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Eventually poor administration and bad fundraising will catch up with you and force you to close your doors. Then, you won\u2019t be able to serve anyone.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But between administration and fundraising, fundraising is normally the first thing leaders put off. It\u2019s just no fun to talk with people about giving their money to your cause. But it doesn\u2019t have to be this way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Raising Donors vs. Raising Money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If you change the way you view fundraising from raising money to raising donors, fundraising becomes a whole lot more meaningful (and maybe even fun).
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When you raise donors, you\u2019re focused on starting new relationships with real people.<\/strong> Each donor is an individual with interesting experiences, profound ideas, and inspiring tales to tell.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But when you raise money, people become numbers on a spreadsheet.<\/strong> They\u2019re just data in a wealth model or a name on a prospecting list. Like dairy cows, they only exist for what you can get out of them.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When you raise donors, you take time to listen to your donors\u2019<\/strong> reasons for giving, their dreams for the future, and their fears. Even if it costs more from you, you\u2019ll do what\u2019s necessary to make giving a life-enriching experience for them.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But when you raise money, the fear of spending too much money, time, and effort can stop you<\/strong> from making giving to your organization a pleasure. In other words, you listen more to your fears than your donors.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cRaiseDonors\u201d is more than our name. It\u2019s our philosophy. It goes like this\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Successful fundraising is donor-centric<\/a>, guided by the results of fundraising experiments<\/a> (that\u2019s how you \u201clisten\u201d to your donors), and driven by real affection for your donors (aka, \u201cdonor love\u201d).<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    So how do you show your donors love?
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You could go to each one with a hug and a cheese tray gift, but that\u2019s not what I\u2019m talking about. Donor love is shown in the way that you tailor the giving experience to your donors\u2019 preferences, style, and desires.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So here are seven general ways to show your donors the love they deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    #1. Go where your donors are \u2014 online.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The majority of donors are not only surfing the internet, they\u2019re using it daily for banking, purchases, work, and so many other parts of life.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So it\u2019s no surprise the The 2018 Giving Trends Report<\/a> says 54% of donors prefer to give online<\/strong>.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you want to show donors that you care about their preferences, than go online where they\u2019re already performing so many important financial functions. Don\u2019t make them write a check when they really just want to click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    #2. Personalize your communications.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Donor-focused copy makes them feel as if you are talking only to them.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Research shows 71% of donors feel more engaged<\/a> with a nonprofit when they receive content that\u2019s personalized.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here are 3 ways to personalize donor communications:
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Use merge tags to insert their first and last name at the beginning of your emails and letters.<\/li>
    2. Talk to them using the word \u201cyou” rather than talking about your donors in the third person.<\/li>
    3. Talk to them as a real person with emotions and desires not a logic-based robot.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      To bond with donors, engage them as a human. Dry and formal organizational communication doesn\u2019t resonate with donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      #3. Make appeals more personal using plain text emails.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      How is an email from a friend formatted?
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Does it have logos and fancy pictures? Probably not.
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Logos, silky pictures,and colorful buttons are associated with marketing. As a result, people read such emails with skepticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For appeal emails, plain text copy produces better results than HTML copy.
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      A case study by NextAfter<\/a> showed that a plain text appeal increased donor conversion by 77.5% compared to an HTML one.
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The reason for this is simple\u2014the email looked, felt, and sounded more personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      #4. Share the value proposition for your nonprofit and let the donor see how they can be a part of it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Don\u2019t just tell donors to give, show them why.
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      One of the most common mistakes in fundraising is to make your organization the hero of the story.  But when you are talking to a donor, it\u2019s not a time to pat yourself of the back. It\u2019s time for you to invite others to be a part of the story.
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In fact, it\u2019s an invitation for the donor to become a hero in the story.
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This is why sharing stories that unpack how their gift fuels impact are so significant and meaningful. And stories of impact take the focus off of how great your organization is and instead how important the work you do is.  
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      And that\u2019s a story a donor will want to be a part of.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      #5. Make landing pages simple and easy to use.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      There are fewer things in life more satisfying than arriving at a website and finding everything you\u2019re looking for quickly and efficiently. This, my friend, is donor love.
      <\/p>\n\n\n\n