Tag: Philanthropy

Best Practices for Digital Communication with Donors

 

 

These days, it’s nearly impossible to find an organization that hasn’t conducted some form of online fundraising. Does your team actively engage and support donors with digital communication? It can be difficult with limited in-person interactions.

 

Plus, the digital environment is a loud and busy space. The competition for donor attention is at an all-time high. Without a coherent, unified digital communication strategy, you risk losing focus and visibility—especially true if you’re targeting an older population.

 

A comprehensive digital communication strategy is the single best way to ensure a personal interaction without the in-person interface—helping you to put your overarching fundraising or donor acquisition goals into action.

 

When creating a digital strategy for your organization, focus on these constituent parts to simplify the process.

 

  1. Determine your goals.
  2. Examine your audience.
  3. Define your constraints.
  4. Equip your team with the right tools.
  5. Craft a communication plan.

 

A digital communication strategy is only effective if its well-received by donors. Here are four best practices to ensure donors engage with your digital communications.

 

Personalize Conversations

 

A nonprofit’s success is related to the relationship they have with donors. Whether you’re sending out an appeal or a thank you letter, you must personalize your donor communications—80 percent of people say they engage with personalized messaging[1].

 

In a world with primarily digital communication, it feels less ambiguous. Digital communication requires you to be more purposeful with how (and when) you communicate.

 

Personalize your donor communications by:

 

  • addressing them by name;
  • communicating with them as an individual, not the organization they’re affiliated with; and
  • referencing their previous involvement and its impact.

 

Use Donor-Centric Language

 

Having a donor-centric tone when communicating with your constituents goes a long way. Switch your general messaging to donor-centric messaging—it can be as simple as speaking to “you” vs. “we.”

 

Incorporating a donor-centric tone also requires an awareness of your donor’s goals. By understanding their unique needs, you can connect and engage with them better.

 

Empathize with your donors by asking questions that engage with purpose.

 

  • What is most valuable to you?
  • How do you envision supporting our organization?
  • What are ways we can help you achieve your goals?

 

Leverage Multichannel Communication

 

A multichannel approach is essential for donor communications. It allows you to reach a larger audience and reinforce your messaging. Donors vary with how they prefer to communicate.

 

Email marketing is a common way to communicate, but its important to utilize other channels such as:

 

  • social media;
  • website landing pages;
  • text messaging; and
  • telephone

 

Make Technology Simple

 

There’s no doubt that technology will impact your digital communication strategy in 2021 and beyond. Donations are happening online more frequently, requiring the use of eSignatures or transfer of documents.

 

Often, donors are sending documents with sensitive or confidential data through email that isn’t always encrypted.

 

Some donors may be hesitant or discouraged from supporting your organization due to security concerns or complicated technology processes. If you’re dealing with an older population, how do you communicate effectively and leverage technology? You’ll need to simplify technology and clearly explain the requirements.

 

You may consider implementing programs to support your digital communication strategy. SignNow[2] offer organizations the ability to streamline document workflows, automate and collaborate donation form processing, request eSignatures, and protect sensitive data with advanced encryption to keep contracts and other sensitive information safe.

 

 

[1] https://us.epsilon.com/pressroom/new-epsilon-research-indicates-80-of-consumers-are-more-likely-to-make-a-purchase-when-brands-offer-personalized-experiences

[2] https://www.signnow.com/solutions/nonprofit

Let’s evaluate your CRM

Author: Dauwn Parker, Principal Consultant at Precision Partners

Maximizing the benefits of Constituent Relationship Management systems has become critical for organizations that are looking to solidify the long-term viability of their fundraising, advocacy, and advancement programs. This has created an urgency for organizations to find answers to the following question…

Why do so many Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) implementations fall short in the following ways?

    • Meeting the expectations of its users
    • Being the catalyst that transforms how the organization relates to its constituents
    • Ushering users into the age of “Self-Service”
    • Realizing the Return on Investment

THE CHALLENGE..

These common barriers to success are often the culprit that limit the success of a CRM implementation

Hurdle #1: Defining project objectives and measurable factors for success

With the pressure of developing an RFP, selecting a software vendor, packaging a project proposal and justification for board approval, magically garnering resources that are already overloaded – this critical step is often lost in the shuffle.

Hurdle #2: Implementation Preparation

CRM Implementations are often a new endeavor for an organization and the members of the project team. This often leads to the phenomenon of You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know. This lack of knowledge and preparation can limit project success before it even gets started and in most cases the impact isn’t realized until the project is well underway.

Hurdle #3: Support for Project Leadership

Software implementations are demanding and projects that seek to revolutionize the way an organization interacts with its constituents increases the need for peak performance by the Project Manager. All too often the Project Manager is asked to run the implementation marathon without a coach, proper training, preparation, or continued support.

Hurdle #4: Project Team Performance

Project team members must be fully engaged to become a high performing team. Fully engaged does not equate to a dedicated resource. No matter how much or how little a person is allocated to a project, the following factors must be present for a high performing team to emerge:

  • A team identity
  • Clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and expectations
  • Above all else a commitment to the success of the team
  • Continual reinforcement that their contribution is integral to the success of the team
  • Recognition and Appreciation
  • Personal and professional growth or value in their engagement

Hurdle #5: Project Health Assessments

Project status is most often measured by whether the project is on time, within budget, and the software application is delivered according to the documented specifications. While these are important elements to monitor this does not speak to the overall health of the project. Did the methods used to deliver a quality product on time and within budget cause a loss of trust between project team members or stakeholders, disintegration of cross departmental relationships, or loss of credibility for the project sponsor or sponsoring department? Most organizations would say that any of these negative impacts are not acceptable, but it often happens in projects without a structure for prevention or intervention.

Hurdle #6: Stakeholder Engagement and User Adoption

Many projects manage to engage a core set of team members who develop a solution that they wholeheartedly believe will meet the needs of the organization. It is the biggest threat to morale when after such a strenuous effort, the software application does not meet the most basic needs of some key stakeholders and declared unusable.

If you are currently facing these challenges that are threatening the success of your CRM implementation, Precision Partners Project Advisory Services is your solution.  

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