Fundraising is a difficult but necessary challenge. There are a variety of worthy causes all vying for the attention and donations of many of the same groups of people, adding to the daunting task of marketing your nonprofit and putting those hard earned donations to work. One of the keys to finding success in this competitive environment is to find ways to consistently engage with potential donors so that they’ll be more likely to send those donations your way. Here are five tips that can help you better execute your mission by staying top of mind to donors.
Campaign Consistently
Consistency in not only your messaging but in your cadence of campaigning is of the utmost importance. A clear, easy to understand message is key to catching the attention of donors who are bombarded by incessant streams of ads and requests from all directions.
Produce top-notch content
Just saying who you are and what you’re about isn’t enough and randomly asking for donations isn’t the best idea. If you’re looking to engage your potential donors and encourage them to choose your organization you need to produce compelling content that draws attention and offers something tangible to the audience. Sharing industry trends, your opinions on various nonprofit matters, and other types of content that provide value not only establishes you as a subject matter expert, but also provides your audience with content they can use daily.
Utilize your content consistently across social channels
Once you’ve created top notch content that potential donors will find useful, it’s time to share that information. We’re all familiar with social media, but often we do not share consistently enough to make an impact on our audience. It’s important to not only create a content calendar that guides your monthly posts, but also to ensure that you’re posting your content across all of your relevant channels, including Google My Business. Doing so will engage your audience, build your nonprofits brand, and even contribute to higher search engine rankings.
Don’t forget about email campaigns
When engaging with donors it’s critical to not just utilize one channel of communication. Multiple channels are key to keeping your organization top of mind and one of the easiest to take advantage of is email campaigning. It’s likely your nonprofit is already engaged in some sort of email campaign, however, there are a few key things to keep in mind as you either develop or optimize your campaign. First, ensure that the email campaign is consistent with any social media campaigns or upcoming events you may have on the horizon in order to present a clear message to your audience. Second, utilize the useful content that you’ve created in your campaigns in order to provide value and, finally, campaign consistently, based on seasonal giving trends, special fundraising events, or any other news or resources you may offer.
Measure results and adapt
As your campaigns progress on social media, via email, etc. it’s critical to measure key performance indicators to ensure that the campaigns are achieving the goals you’ve set. KPIs can be different from nonprofit to nonprofit and even campaign to campaign, so it’s important to have clear goals set from the beginning so that you will know which metrics to watch in order to make informed decisions on refining your campaigns. Most email campaign platforms have built in KPIs, as do all social media platforms. You can also rely on Google Analytics to see how your campaigns may be affecting your website traffic.
In order to fundraise effectively you have to be on the top of your donors’ minds as frequently as possible. Taking advantage of these tips to better engage with them is a great first step towards more fundraising success.
