Your communications plan should focus on engaging and inspiring your supporters, but when it comes to making the ask, are the odds in your favor? Here are three questions that will help you optimize your organization’s giving experience.
Are you being honest about what the experience is?
Let’s all agree on this: the giving experience is much more than a donation form. In fact, it’s even more than the moment when you make the ask.
Your nonprofit’s giving experience begins at awareness and continues through acknowledgement. Each part of this experience should connect and build on the pieces that come before (and after) it. This consistency reinforces your message and keeps prospective donors in the moment of giving. Your appeals, newsletters, website, online donation page, social media, thank yous, and everything else in your campaign should all have the same compelling story, call to action, and impact statements that help donors clearly understand the impact their gift will have.
Step into your donors’ shoes and walk through the entire campaign to ensure that the journey they see is the one you intend them to experience. (It just so happens that Network for Good has a free guide that will help you audit your giving experience. Download your copy now.)
Do you understand what your data is telling you?
It’s very difficult to get smarter about your campaigns if you’re not sure what’s working. And it’s almost impossible to do that if you’re not collecting and tracking the right data. (And no, a spreadsheet no longer counts.) And when you’re not getting smarter, you’re wasting time, money, and your donor’s attention.
Make sure your donation and campaign data is flowing into an easy-to-use donor management system that will allow you to quickly track and report on your results. You’ll see who’s giving (and who’s not), understand which outreach works best with each segment, and be better equipped to form the right strategies to meet your goals. (Join me for a free webinar tomorrow to learn how to use your donor data to increase your fundraising results this year. You’ll also get a sneak peek at Network for Good’s new donor management software, which is going to make your life a whole lot easier. I promise.)
Are you putting enough emphasis on the follow through?
Getting a supporter to give to your campaign is important, but the stewardship plan to thank, retain, and grow these donors is critical. For each campaign and each core segment, have a clear plan for following up with these donors in a way that connects your communication to the reasons they gave in the first place. As we covered in the first question, this is still part of your donor’s journey and paying attention to retention help you get more from the investment you make in your fundraising campaigns.
During next week’s Nonprofit Technology Conference, I’ll be joined by Donna Wilkins, CEO of Charity Dynamics, to present a session on this very topic, How to Win: Optimizing Your Online Giving Experience Want a live audit of your nonprofit’s giving experience? Sign up for a chance to have us optimize your campaign on stage.
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