Donor motivations are the "why" that drives their support of your nonprofit. Learn how to uncover those motivations and inspire more support in this guide.
By Ryan Carpenter
For the last several years, nonprofits have struggled to make ends meet due to falling revenue, rising inflation, and an increase in community needs. Charitable giving saw a 2.1% decrease in 2023 after inflation, showing how challenging it is for donors and nonprofits to keep up with inflation rates.
Fortunately, there are ways your organization can battle these disheartening statistics. Whether you're future-proofing your fundraisers by focusing on future giving initiatives or leveraging low-cost digital channels to acquire donors, your nonprofit can still inspire enough support to keep its operations going strong. However, these efforts will only be successful if you have a deep understanding of why your donors give.
In this guide, we'll dive into what you can do to discover, analyze, and appeal to donor motivations and maintain a healthy level of funding for your cause.
1. Use ethical and organized data collection methods.
To enhance donor relations, NXUnite recommends conducting thorough research to learn as much as you can. However, you'll need to consider the ethics of collecting this information.
The three main ethics to keep in mind are consent, confidentiality, and communication. Get permission from donors when gathering information about them and always prioritize data security to keep their personal information private. You'll need to maintain transparent communication with donors about how you'll use their data and make sure staff members know how to appropriately handle and use donor data.
Additionally, use collection methods that yield clean, accurate, and organized data. This means the data is free of errors, duplications, and formatting inconsistencies. One option is to use online forms or surveys, like your donation page, that require donors to enter responses in a certain way. You can also use data gathered from social media, email, and other marketing platforms to see who is engaging with your communications.
No matter what technology you're using to collect data, make sure all of these findings are routed to your constituent relationship management (CRM) system so the information is consolidated in one unified platform.
2. Perform a deep data analysis.
Once you've collected and organized your supporter data, it's time to analyze it. During this step, you'll identify trends, opportunities, and other insights to guide your fundraising strategies and make outreach more effective.
According to GivingDNA's guide to data analytics for nonprofits, the following tips can help you discover more useful, accurate insights:
- Screening more frequently. Some organizations neglect their data and only reference it on a quarterly (or even yearly!) basis. While this process takes time out of your busy schedule, trust that conducting screenings at least once a month is well worth it. For example, you could find an opportunity to secure a large donation from an existing supporter in less time than it takes to secure several smaller ones from new donors.
- Referencing internal and external data. Don't rely solely on the data you've collected about your donors. Compliment that information with data concerning broader trends in the nonprofit sector and your specific niche (e.g., giving patterns for animal welfare organizations).
- Segmenting donors. Donor segmentation involves sorting donors into groups based on shared characteristics. Doing so can help you identify and target your most loyal or valuable donors. Some tools will automatically segment and pinpoint these opportunities for you, so be on the lookout for those.
- Studying a variety of attributes and data fields. Don't limit your analysis to basic data points like demographic information or average gift size. While these are important to understand, they don't always reveal the full picture. Dig into everything you know about your donors, including things like communication preferences and contributions to other organizations, to gain a comprehensive overview of their behavior.
Choosing a robust data analytics tool can also make a world of difference and help you quickly derive actionable insights from your data. Look for one that is designed specifically for nonprofits and assists with tasks like prospect identification and wealth screening.
3. Examine donors' journeys.
Understanding the journey supporters follow between discovering your organization and making their first donation can help you peel back the layers to identify their reasons for giving. Mapping out this journey will show the touchpoints donors interact with, enable you to tailor experiences and communications to their position in the donor journey, reveal pain points and gaps that pose retention risks, and help you make data-driven decisions.
Let's look at an example. A nonprofit that focuses on environmental conservation is plotting out a donor journey for a segment of donors who are outdoorsy, interested in sustainable living, and make sporadic donations to peer organizations. The donor journey follows these stages:
- Awareness: The donor discovers the nonprofit through a social media campaign. At this stage, the nonprofit notes that this group of donors engages most with posts about sustainability and environmental justice, hinting at their interests.
- Consideration: The donor deepens their engagement by navigating to the nonprofit's website and reading resources about its mission, programs, and goals. The organization identifies which pages these donors spend the most time on to infer which programs or issues inspire them to give.
- Decision: The supporter subscribes to the nonprofit's newsletter and registers for a beach clean-up and recycling event. At the event, the donor asks staff about the specific ways your organization prioritizes sustainability before ultimately making a donation.
- Post-donation: After contributing, the donor receives thank-you messages from the nonprofit that highlight how the donation will be used. The donor responds positively, indicating that they approve of how their money is being used to further the mission.
- Engagement, advocacy, and referral: The donor continues to engage with the nonprofit, particularly with programs that promote maintaining natural spaces and advocating that more people start recycling. The donor promotes these programs online and even recruits like-minded friends and family to join in.
Each point in the donor journey can allow your nonprofit to see how, when, and why donors engage with and support your cause. However, make sure you have the right tools and technology in place to capture these metrics. When getting started, at least have a Google Analytics account in place to track website traffic, as well as platforms that will measure digital marketing engagement.
4. Personalize communications.
After you've worked to uncover your donors' motivations, develop a nonprofit marketing plan that details how you'll appeal to those motivations. In addition to segmenting your donors based on their giving preferences, habits, and interests, you can:
- Share personalized thank-you notes that demonstrate the impact of donors' support, explain how that funding will be used, and even feature testimonials or stories from beneficiaries.
- Provide tailored impact reports that show the progress their favorite programs have made.
- Make customized calls to action that relate directly to their interests and reasons for giving to your cause.
- Send personalized recommendations for upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and resources that they might enjoy.
When communications are relevant to your donors and their interests, they'll be much more likely to engage and provide ongoing support for your cause. Additionally, supporters will feel more seen and connected to your organization when you show that you know who they are and what they value.
If current trends continue, stewarding and retaining a loyal donor base will only become more important. Understanding who your donors are and knowing their interests, passions, and histories with your cause will help you make personal and authentic appeals for support. Not only does this show that you've taken the time to get to know them, but it also convinces them that your nonprofit is the best equipped to address their concerns and make a significant impact.
Ryan Carpenter is the Vice President of Client Success at GivingDNA, an all-in-one fundraising analytics, data visualization, and wealth screening tool. He has experience and interest in developing innovative strategies that efficiently identify, cultivate, and solicit donors and prospects through effective engagement tactics. Ryan has a keen ability to synthesize large data sets and has a proven track record in creating successful cross-channel donor engagement strategies that deepen donor relationships.
No comments:
Post a Comment