In this guide, we’ll take a look at volunteerism to explore its history and benefits. Then, we’ll review how your organization can promote volunteerism in your community and improve your volunteer management. We’ll cover:

• Volunteerism definition
• History of volunteerism
• Types of volunteerism
• Why is volunteerism important?
• How to incentivize volunteerism

At its core, volunteerism is the engagement and mobilization of groups of people to support others or fight for a worthwhile cause. Volunteer programs take place worldwide, and volunteers have improved the lives of many. Let’s take a closer look at this phenomenon!

The post What Is Volunteerism? A Guide to the History & Benefits appeared first on Bloomerang.

That’s great in theory, but how do you go about doing that? Do you have the time or resources to find out what people are saying?

If you’re like most nonprofit professionals, you’re too busy focusing on your day-to-day tasks to search the internet for mentions of your nonprofit. It doesn’t make sense to have one staff member scour the internet every day for new articles and events.

That’s where Google Alerts come into play. Keep reading to find out what they are, why you should use them, and how to create them.

What is a Google Alert?

A Google Alert is an update that shares information about a specific keyword. Once you set one up, Google will send you an email summary of recent articles and other Internet activity that mention that keyword.

You can choose the sources you want to prioritize and even set things like language, region, and number of results you receive.

The best part? This service is free.

Why should my nonprofit create a Google Alert?

As we mentioned above, it’s good to keep tabs on what people are saying about your nonprofit. Not only that, but you also have the ability to keep up with things like industry news (via a keyword like ‘nonprofit’) or events that might impact the work your nonprofit is doing (via a keyword like ‘hurricane’).

A Google Alert can also help you form meaningful relationships with others and make a greater impact. For example, let’s say you operate a nonprofit organization that builds quality housing for low-income families. A Google Alert could point you toward people within your community who have expressed a need for housing assistance or companies that are searching for a nonprofit to support.

Creating your Google Alerts

First, go to Google Alerts and enter your keyword.

To get the most useful information, click “show options” next to the Create Alert button. You can change the settings to reflect how often you want notifications sent to you, what language you prefer, which specific locations to monitor, and what types of content you want to search.

Next, you’ll have to decide who you want to receive the Google Alerts email summary. Choose someone who can check the alerts regularly and enter their email address.

Tip: We recommend reviewing and editing the alerts as your needs and goals change.

Search terms to use

When setting up your nonprofit Google Alerts, here are a few basic guidelines to follow so that you can select the right terms.

• The name of your nonprofit organization: Include alternate and incorrect spellings and acronyms, if applicable.
• Names of important people in your organization: This includes founders, board members, and other prominent figures.
• Keywords related to the cause you support: Think of things like pet care, health services, women’s leadership, etc.
• The area(s) you serve: Include neighborhoods, cities, states, or countries.
• Broad industry and fundraising keywords: This could include peer-to-peer campaigns, fundraising, charity, eco-friendly, social justice, and community aid.
• Additional descriptors of your mission: Choose words that describe your nonprofit’s mission (ex: animal shelter, transportation, financial education, etc.).

Final tips

Ready to get started but aren’t sure what other keywords to include? Use a keyword checker tool and type in a few words or phrases that closely relate to your organization and your mission.

If you find that a keyword isn’t generating many relevant notifications, you can always remove it from your list of Alerts and add a new one to replace it.

Bloomerang is another powerful but easy-to-use tool that can help your team fundraise more effectively. Reach out to our team to get a Demo.

The post Google Alerts for Your Nonprofit: appeared first on Bloomerang.

You may not have the same amount of time, money, or resources at your disposal, but you can still implement some of her marketing strategies when planning your fundraising campaign.

Are you…Ready For It? If so, keep reading.

Four marketing strategies that Taylor Swift used that your nonprofit can implement too

1) Give your fundraising campaign a creative and memorable theme.

To promote Midnights, Swift created a TikTok series called “Midnights Mayhem With Me.” The short videos—which she released at midnight—revealed the tracks on her album. This sparked conversations among fans, critics, and potential supporters.

This strategy also established the tone of the era. The album is dark and moody; it wouldn’t have made sense for her to promote it in a way that was bright and upbeat. Follow Swift’s lead and choose a theme that serves your brand and your campaign’s goal.

Caveat: We don’t recommend taking Swift’s lead when it comes to posting at midnight unless your audience is also awake and donating at that time. It’s better to share exciting news when your supporters will see it.

2) Give supporters something to talk about and increase your word-of-mouth reach.

When you get people to share your campaign with their communities, you’re increasing your word-of-mouth reach. Part of the reason why Swift’s strategy is so effective is that she shares content that’s designed to get her fans talking. They’re so invested that they’ve even been known to read into how she styles her hair leading up to her big announcements.

What do your supporters care about? What do they talk about? Create assets that you know they’ll want to share with their friends, family, and community. It’s also a good idea to create those assets before you start promoting your campaign. This will save you time and free you up to be more creative as the campaign is unfolding.

3) Invite companies or influencers to promote your campaign.

Swift worked with several artists on her album; in turn, they promoted the collaborations. This exposed her work to new audiences and served as a way to increase awareness in general. She also partnered with Spotify, allowing them to post new lyrics on billboards around the world.

Take a page out of Swift’s book and find partners for your campaign. Think of local business owners, community members, and other potential supporters who might resonate with your cause. Once you have a list of names and businesses, reach out and see if they’re interested in promoting your campaign. We also recommend asking your volunteers and board members to introduce you to people and organizations you might not be familiar with.

4) Use that momentum to share more exciting news.

As you know, the hard work doesn’t end when your fundraising campaign does. One way you can make the most of this time is to use the attention and momentum you have to promote your next initiative or project.

Ask yourself: What events or good news do you have coming up that you can share with your audience? If you could share one thing with them at this time, what would it be?

For Swift, she built momentum over the course of the promotional period by revealing her new album at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, teasing the album and tracklist with videos and other social media content, and announcing her next tour after the album was released.

Prepare for your most successful fundraising era yet.

Sometimes major excitement drives major headaches. Take Swift’s tour, for example. There was so much interest in it that millions of people visited Ticketmaster’s site during the presale period. Unfortunately, Ticketmaster’s site couldn’t handle the influx of fans. Instead of feeling excited about her upcoming tour, fans were left disappointed and angry.

One way to prepare for success is by making sure you have donor management software in place that can manage an influx of donations and support you in your online giving campaigns. That way you can focus on establishing relationships with your supporters and promoting your future fundraising eras.

Schedule a Demo of Bloomerang and one of our team members will reach out to share how Bloomerang can help you reach and exceed your goals.

The post Your Best Fundraising Era Yet: What Your Nonprofit Can Learn From Taylor Swift’s Marketing Strategy appeared first on Bloomerang.

Looking for a sponsorship or new source of funding this year? Keep reading to find out what advice she has for you. You can also learn more about Mariah’s work here.

You describe yourself as a sponsorship strategy coach. As a coach, how do you support nonprofit professionals?

As a sponsorship strategy coach and educator, I help nonprofit professionals position and package their events so that they can reduce their out of pocket costs, increase their income, and gain new long-term partners. It is important that the people I work with are educated on the process of securing sponsorships so they can build upon the duplicatable skill necessary for heightening their chances of bringing in more sponsorship dollars.

When did you first realize that there was a need for the work you do?

I first realized there was a need for the work that I do in 2020, when I was tasked to identify nonprofit organizations that were BIPOC led or that addressed specific social determinants of health such as food security and housing.

There were two things I heard most when meeting with nonprofits: “I didn’t know about sponsorships” and “I want to increase my impact, but I do not have the funds to do so.”

These statements bothered me because I had a solution that I knew would support their needs. I started The Sponsorship Catalyst LLC to help close the knowledge gap for already underfunded nonprofits that often served marginalized communities.

You have experience as a funder and as a seeker. Can you describe your work in those positions?

As a funder, I have reviewed hundreds of sponsorship pitch decks, negotiated, made fund allocation decisions, executed brand activations, and more. As a sponsorship seeker, I prepare sponsorship materials (i.e. proposal letters and pitch decks) to articulate the vision of an event in a way that makes the sponsor’s decision easier to make. Additionally, I navigate the conversation with my sponsors in a way that I would want someone to speak to me: relationship first, business second.

I work to build a relationship with the sponsorship gatekeeper I am in contact with so that I win over someone who would likely advocate for me within an organization after painting the vision. Additionally, I enter every conversation with my mind focused on learning about their sponsorship program and goals so that I can position my event as a solution for helping them meet their goals.

As a coach and a consultant, I help my clients put both of these things together so they

1. Present materials that make sense and articulate what they’re asking of the sponsors
2. Navigate conversations with confidence knowing that they bring value to the table that sponsors want access to

What do you wish nonprofits knew about sponsors and sponsors knew about nonprofits?

I wish sponsors knew that nonprofits are willing to be creative in how they highlight a sponsor’s support and that the support has a major impact on the community the nonprofit is serving. I wish sponsors saw nonprofits as critical to the build of our nation (i.e. nonprofit hospitals birthing the next city mayor, first response organizations caring for those in need, performing arts organizations bringing joy, and so much more).

I wish nonprofits knew that sponsors do not give money just because a nonprofit has a good cause. There has to be something there that will help them meet their goals because sponsorships are a marketing tool, not just a donation. That means there are often strings attached that come in the form of brand benefits (i.e. logo placement, vendor booths, event signage, etc.).

Securing a corporate sponsor or finding enough sponsors to cover the cost of a nonprofit event might sound overwhelming or even impossible to some people. What would you say to people who think they don’t have the capacity or ability to secure those funds?

Securing sponsors is an art and a skillset that, when duplicated over and over, can bring in a tremendous amount of funding. So, it is critical to recognize where you are while also extending grace to yourself along the journey.

Whether overwhelmed or lacking capacity or ability, one can consider hiring a professional like myself who can take the load of securing sponsors off of you and your team so you all can finish other aspects of your event planning/program.

Furthermore, there is a difference between overwhelm and capacity or ability. For someone who is overwhelmed, I recommend leveraging their team and board members by splitting up the sponsor research and outreach efforts. They can also make warm introductions to people in their networks that can turn into potential sponsors for the organization.

In addition, it is important to ensure that events are being planned well in advance in order to reduce feelings of overwhelm. I have seen many organizations putting events together 60 days before their event date, and while that may have worked in the past, it is not a long-term best practice, especially when sponsors are involved.

For those who do not have the capacity, reconsider if your organization has the necessary infrastructure to seek sponsors at the stage that you all are at. Whether you have limited staff capacity to secure sponsors or you don’t have the capacity to execute the brand benefits given to a sponsor are important factors to consider before you start seeking sponsorships. Another factor to consider is if your organization has the capacity to steward the sponsorship funds properly. If you fumble a relationship with a sponsor, chances are they will not return.

For those who don’t know, can you explain what a sponsorship deck is and why nonprofits should have one?

A sponsorship deck is a tool that is used to articulate to a potential sponsor who your organization is, who your audience is, what your event is about, and how they can be a part of what you are doing.

The importance of a nonprofit having a sponsorship deck is so that they can get buy-in from a sponsor, which in turn can help:

1. Reduce the out of pocket costs for your event.
2. Increase your event’s or program’s impact on the community your nonprofit serves.
3. Bring awareness to your organization.
4. Bring more credibility to what you’re doing.

What’s one common mistake you see in sponsorship decks and how can nonprofit professionals fix it?

There are several mistakes I see in sponsorship decks, but one of the most important mistakes is the omittance of audience data, both quantitative and qualitative. A sponsorship professional can fix this by helping nonprofit professionals understand how to frame their data, rather seemingly small or major, so that it is impactful.

Oftentimes, when I am working with small to mid-sized organizations, I recognize there is a belief that this undervalues the work they do in the community; therefore, they don’t believe their data is enough for a sponsor to buy into what they’re doing. This mindset has to be re-shaped if they expect to secure sponsors to support their mission’s work.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with nonprofit professionals who want to find sponsors in 2023?

Everyone within your organization should be bringing new relationships to the table, whether those are future funders or strategic partnerships. Relationship building is key to helping you all move your mission forward.

Leverage your existing networks by evaluating your sphere of influence, including social connections. Once you identify a contact, do not be afraid to reach out. Further, do not make assumptions of what the other person will think about your ask.

I also encourage you to be unemotionally attached to the result because you cannot control that. All you can control is the effort you put into your sponsor research and outreach. Lastly, make it fun and have your team set goals for securing funders or making new contacts and reward them for doing so.

The post Seeking a Sponsor for Your Nonprofit Event or Program: A Q&A With Mariah Monique appeared first on Bloomerang.

What’s good? Leanne Fan, a middle school student in San Diego, California, invented the coolest headphones we’ve ever heard of.

Value(s): Innovation, Unity

Area impacted: Healthcare | See how we help healthcare organizations move their mission forward.

When you think of headphones, what comes to mind? The Bose wireless ones? Apple’s AirPods? Or, if you remember this far back, the ones you wore when dancing around with your Walkman? 

Well, we’d like to introduce what we think are the coolest headphones ever invented: Leanne Fan’s Finsen Headphones. 

Fan won the 2022 3M Young Scientist’s Challenge with her project, which provides “a low-cost option to detect and treat a mid-ear infection using machine learning and blue light therapy—potentially preventing up to 60% of hearing loss in children.” 

She entered the challenge because she thought it was “an extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will allow [her] to dive deep into the depths of [her] projects.” Fan said she was also excited about meeting the other young innovators (who are equally as impressive). 

There’s more good news to come—and that includes yours.

Don’t miss out: We’ll continue to share good news on our blog. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you don’t miss it! 

Share your good news: We’d love for you to tell us about the good you’re doing. Big or small. Funny or serious. We want to hear about it! Email your good news to Claire at claire@kindful.com.

Bonus recommendation: Check out Good Good Good, which shares good news stories on their website, social media platforms, monthly print newsletter, weekly podcast, and daily email newsletter. 

The post What’s Good? Leanne Fan, A Middle School Student, Invents Headphones That Detect Ear Infections appeared first on Bloomerang.

As with every other industry today, nonprofits are especially dependent on good data to be successful. And donor data is at the top of the critical care list. The problem that every nonprofit faces, however, is that data degrades, and donor data degrades faster than most. Don’t let poor data keep you from reaching your fundraising goals!

What is poor data really costing you?

• Creates a poor donor experience. Some donors may not mind not being addressed or recognized incorrectly, but some will. Having the correct information, even something as simple as a prefix, can mean the difference between getting a donation and having your appeal thrown out with the offers for meal delivery services. Having data that creates a clear and accurate donor experience can make your donors feel seen and valued.
• Prevents you from launching impactful campaigns. If your data is incomplete or outdated, can you trust that your campaign segments are accurate? Personal touches are important and play a key role in cultivating a one-time gift into a regular donor. Cleaning up donor segments will ensure that your message is getting to the right person at the right time to maximize your campaigns.
• Keeps you from reaching the right audience. Save your organization money and resources by preventing a large pile of returned mail. Twelve percent of all Americans move each year and outdated data won’t reflect that. Bloomerang automatically runs nightly address verification and deceased suppression updates to combat this problem.

Good donor data can mean the difference between having a meaningful interaction with a donor or really missing the mark. We all want the former, but finding the time and expertise to know where to focus can be challenging. Knowing all your options for achieving a healthy database is the first step in creating one.

Should you get a database health check?

Here are some things to consider and questions to ask.

• What kind of bandwidth does your team have? Do you have a dedicated database manager or team? Do they have the time to audit and clean your database before 2024 fundraising?
• Database audits and edits can easily be done by experts. Experts can help you focus on what’s most important to have a clean, trustworthy, and updated database to help you meet your goals.
• What’s the real cost to your organization? When you account for staff time and resources, it can often be cheaper to outsource your database health check. You can ensure it’s done correctly while you focus on achieving your mission.

Clean your data up now. Do yourself and your organization a favor and start considering the options you have to get your database in tip top shape for the new year. That way when 2024 rolls around, you can relax because you’ve totally got this data thing under control so you can focus on what you do best.

At the end of the day, clean nonprofit data isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. And Bloomerang can make it easier. Healthy data is powerful data. Bloomerang customers can benefit from a Database Health Check subscription to ensure their organization is getting the most out of their data. Take your fundraising to the next level. Don’t delay – start 2024 on the right foot.

The post What Is Bad Data Really Costing Your Organization? appeared first on Bloomerang.

Users of Bloomerang donor management software now can have access to DonorSearch’s powerful prospect research data with one click from within Bloomerang. For as little as $15/month, nonprofit organizations that use Bloomerang can research prospective donors and get information from 25+ public and proprietary philanthropic and wealth databases. Bloomerang clients will also have access to DonorSearch’s sophisticated analytics that help accurately predict donors, ask amounts and other key information.

“Bloomerang users will be able to perform in-depth philanthropic and wealth research on any prospect within seconds,” said Jay Love, CEO of Bloomerang. “They can identify their best prospects and formulate ask amounts and approach strategies based on the powerful information they find through DonorSearch.”

DonorSearch will enable Bloomerang users to find information on prospective donors in seconds, and use analytical models to predict future philanthropy. “We’re excited to partner with Bloomerang and make it easy for them to screen and research donors,” noted Bill Tedesco, president of DonorSearch. “Giving Bloomerang users one-click access to DonorSearch will give Bloomerang users another powerful tool to help them find and research more well qualified donors.”

“We’ve always worked to provide easy-to-use, comprehensive tools that give nonprofits what they need and want,” said Love. “Making DonorSearch available within Bloomerang gives our clients a powerful fundraising resource.”

About DonorSearch

DonorSearch, headquartered in Marriottsville, Maryland, is a leading prospect research and screening firm. Founded in 2007, DonorSearch supports nonprofits of all types, including charities, healthcare organizations, fraternities/sororities, religious organizations and educators. Using information from 25 databases and proprietary algorithms, DonorSearch helps nonprofits identify and engage more philanthropic prospects.

The post DonorSearch Announces Partnership and Integration With Bloomerang appeared first on Bloomerang.

With that in mind, here are 3 reasons why your nonprofit should create and leverage an earned media plan:

1. Distribute content and amplify your nonprofit’s reach and mission

The best way to increase the reach of your content and your mission is by leveraging earned media. Press releases are one tool in your storytelling bag. But if leveraged correctly, they can be a very powerful tool. An earned media plan can help guide your messaging and how it can enhance and expand your mission. Positive media exposure from your press releases not only informs the public about what you tell them through your writing, but it increases general brand awareness for your nonprofit. When you include your main message and core messages in your plan, it’s important to think about how the content you’re distributing can amplify your mission.

It’s also important to think about how the information you’re sharing relates back to the readers:  your constituents, donors, people in your community, volunteers, people interested in your mission, potential donors, etc. Think about the audience each press release is directed to when you’re drafting out the main overarching message in your plan, and don’t be too “we” focused. Show how the value in the information you’re sharing is relevant and relates back to the reader.

Pro tip: cross-promote your press releases on your owned channels (website, social media, blog) for even greater reach. You can also reach out to or tweet at other influencers in your community, or those who’ve previously assisted your nonprofit, and encourage them to share your pieces.

2. Build brand credibility and loyalty

As constituents see your organization’s mission and impact shared, they will be more likely to remember you the next time they want to make a donation to a charity. The more visible your nonprofit becomes the more credible you appear, AND the more loyal your constituents will be to your mission. An earned media plan will help you research and leverage the appropriate media contacts to reach out to for each press release and core message within in. It should also help you segment and direct your pitch emails to each contact. Your press release is more likely to get picked up, and picked up more frequently, if you reach out to the right people with the right message.

Use your earned media plan to guide the purpose behind each press release and the stories or research you’re trying to share. Sharing impact, research, and your nonprofit’s unique perspective are crucial for building credibility and loyalty. Try to find ways to show your organization as a thought leader in your industry.  

3. Encourage sustainability and drive results

Earned media has better ROI and is more cost effective than paid media or online advertising. The reach of a story can grow faster and its lifespan can increase more easily through earned media. It can sometimes create a snowball effect of cross-promotion and increased media impressions if it’s picked up by more and more news outlets as its reach grows. Given the right circumstances, earned media has the potential to grow beyond even what you planned or hoped. That continual promotion by influencers can help your nonprofit’s earned media efforts be sustainable, and in turn, your nonprofit’s mission. After all, that’s always what drives each press release and outreach effort.

If you use a custom URL to a specific landing page in your press release, or have a specific, trackable call-to-action, you’ll easily be able to see and monitor the results of your earned media efforts. Not only that, but you can see who’s picked up your story. Those sites that have picked it up should be able to give you analytics on how many impressions or page views your story has received. Outside of using a platform like Google Analytics or Moz to track impressions, page views, or backlinks, you could also search for the headline of your press release to see if anyone else has picked it up and monitor how well the stories rank. If you’re familiar with search engine optimization (SEO) at all, try to include SEO tips and best practices in your plan so your press releases are written with it in mind. It can give your online pieces a longer life cycle.

At the end of the day, the most important purpose behind an earned media plan is to help you think about why you want to share something. What value are you trying to convey and what do you hope to get from earned media? The answer to this question and your purpose should always drive any content you put out there, whether earned or owned.

Need help getting started with an earned media plan? DOWNLOAD THIS SAMPLE NONPROFIT EARNED MEDIA PLAN for a starting point.

How could your nonprofit benefit from using an earned media plan? Let me know in the comments below!

The post 3 Reasons Why Your Nonprofit Should Create an Earned Media Plan appeared first on Bloomerang.

A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that dives into your organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. The elements of your SWOT (if done effectively) should form the core of your organization’s strategic plan.

Here’s a breakdown of what SWOT stands for:

Strengths – internal characteristics of your nonprofit that give it an advantage over others

Weaknesses – internal characteristics of your nonprofit that give it a disadvantage compared to others

Opportunities – external elements that your nonprofit could use to its advantage (this could also even be done at a program level)

Threats – external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for your nonprofit

Why is this important?

A SWOT analysis should give your organization confidence and a better idea of what strategic direction to go in, as well as an idea of what issues will need to be dealt with. This strategic planning tool should be used to empower your nonprofit and make you more sustainable. Leverage your organization’s strengths and opportunities, and learn from and prepare for weaknesses and threats. The most important thing to remember when drafting out your SWOT is to dive deep. Don’t be too general in your answers, and be sure to involve multiple people at your organization in the process. This analysis should not be a solo exercise. Different perspectives can be enlightening. If you really want to set your organization up for success, you’ll be as honest as possible during this process.

If you’re starting a new nonprofit, a SWOT should be done in the early planning stages once you have the idea and mission down, but it can also be beneficial to do if you’re already established and want to evaluate any changes or pivots you’ve made or are planning to make.

Here’s a Brief Example of a SWOT Analysis

Org name: People against Human Trafficking

Internal Factors

Strengths

• Only organization in the area that provides these type of services = no direct competition
• Passionate volunteer and donor base (albeit small)
  • Could use them for positive word of mouth and promotion

• Valuable services provided
  • Show impact better

• Clear vision and long history associated with the mission
  • Our origin story is personal to our Executive Director and is a emotional story to help draw in interest. The ED has been advocating against human trafficking before it became more widely-known.

Weaknesses

• Small volunteer base
  • Solution: Reach out to qualified younger demographic (30 – 50 years old) to help out with weekend rehabilitation programming

• Volunteer and staff burnout and turnover
  • Solution: Cut back on time-consuming events that aren’t working on focus on what does
• Lack of communication externally
  • Solution: Create an earned media plan and focus on what can generate buzz
• Poor record-keeping
  • Solution: look into getting a donor database

External Factors

Opportunities

• Develop partnerships with other local nonprofits (especially since no direct competition)
  • Make a list of organizations that could be a good fit

• We’ve impacted a lot of people
  • They can be the inspiration in some marketing materials. Garner video and written testimonials when we can. Their stories can help educate our community.
• Sent a survey and found out that a lot of women in the community are passionate about our cause.
  • Focus on targeting 30 – 60 year old women for volunteering and donations.

Threats

• Can be hard to measure impact of certain programs
  • Figure out what impact makes the most sense to measure and communicate
• Cash flow / external costs
  • Solution: cut events that don’t perform as well to save on some cost. Confer with finance.
• Society/community isn’t as familiar with or comfortable talking about human trafficking
  • Solution: Work on low-cost materials, programs, and events that can help educate the public

Answer these questions to make your analysis even stronger:

Once you’ve filled out the high level points of each quadrant, dive in more. Don’t leave any stone unturned. What is the cause of each strength, weakness, opportunity, or threat? What is influencing each point? Are there any discrepancies between any of the points or any of the people involved in the process? If so, why?

Pro tip: As evidenced by some of the bullet points in the sample above, it can be a good idea to go through each point and map out a solution for weaknesses or threats, as well as include more ideas to make a strength or opportunity really come to life and be an even bigger asset.

The next step is for you to actually get started. Bring in your team and pull together your ideas. Don’t be afraid to include volunteers and donors in this process. As with any strategic planning process, the SWOT analysis is all about self-discovery for your nonprofit.

The post How Nonprofits Can Use A SWOT Analysis appeared first on Bloomerang.

With the World Health Organization officially declaring COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, we wanted to share with you some timely crisis fundraising advice, articles, opinions, and resources in the wake of coronavirus and its financial implications.

This post will be updated. Please leave a comment with links to anything you think we missed.

Keep calm, confident and read on.

Free Resources:

• LinkedIn Makes ‘LinkedIn Learning’ Courses on Working From Home Available for Free Amid Coronavirus Changes
• Cisco, Google Hangouts follow Zoom’s lead in offering free video conferencing features amid coronavirus outbreak

Advice:

CDC Foundation Has COVID-19 Guidelines For Nonprofits – “What can nonprofit leaders do in this time of uncertainty and concern? Judy Monroe, MD, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation, offers five steps or initiatives that leaders of all nonprofits and philanthropies can take or consider.”
Read more >>

Coronavirus Pandemic and Fundraising – “Lots of advice for fundraisers trying to figure out what to do about the Coronavirus pandemic is floating around. Roger Craver at The Agitator has selected a sampling of some of these.”
Read more >>

Coronavirus and Fundraising: What to Expect and How to Prepare – “Gail Perry shares a guide on what to do and say right now, and what to expect from major donors and capital campaign prospects.”
Read more >>

How Nonprofits Can Connect Virtually During Trying Times – “With the current state of coronavirus, Claire Axelrad shares her advice on how nonprofits can still connect virtually during this time.”
Read more >>

March 3: Corona virus – how will it impact charities? – “John Lepp, Beate Sørum, and Jen Love discuss the effects on legacy giving and donor acquisition with the COVID-19 panic.”
Read more >>

Avoid the 3 Biggest Mistakes of Fundraising in a Recession – “Since the coronavirus outbreak, stock markets have been on a roller coaster and oil producers are waging an ugly pricing war. What is a nonprofit fundraiser to do? Check out this advice from Marc Pitman.”
Read more >>

A few things for nonprofits and foundations to consider in light of the Coronavirus – “This virus reveals several of the weaknesses of our sector and our society. Vu Le brings up critical points for nonprofits and foundations to consider.”
Read more >>

Coronavirus survival, crisis fundraising advice, and event roundup tips from Michael Rosen – “Coronavirus is spreading with profound implications for the nonprofit sector. While there is no reason for you to panic, you and your nonprofit organization should prepare for what is happening and what could happen.”
Read more here, here, and here >>

Communicating about the Coronavirus and Your Upcoming Events + Tips for Working Remotely from Kivi Leroux Miller and Kristina Leroux – “We are used to working through last-minute snafus and freak weather events, but a pandemic? Check out this advice on what you should say about your upcoming events, and how to stay productive when working remotely. ”
Read more here, here, and here >>

8 Steps for Successful Fundraising During the Coronavirus Crisis – “Your donors are anxious. Your board members are freaking out. It’s up to you to lead the way. So what’s a fundraiser to do? Check out these 8 steps from Amy Eisenstein to weather the coronavirus crisis.”
Read more >>

What you can do for your donors and others in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 Edition – “No matter where you are globally, the past few weeks have probably been a roller coaster of uncertainty, emotion, and even sometimes anxiety. To help, here’s some advice from Lynne Wester for your relationships with donors during this time.”
Read more >>

[PODCAST] From Stock Market Crashes to Crushing Goals – “In this episode, RAISE Podcast is joined by Jim Husson, Boston College’s SVP of University Advancement to discuss stock market crashes.”
Listen now >>

Our Events Were Canceled: Here are 10 Customer Engagement Strategies We’re Trying Instead. – “Here are 10 customer engagement strategies from Sruthi Kumar that can still give you valuable time with your prospects and customers even when your events are cancelled.”
Read more >>

COVID-19 and Your Cause – “Some bosses are about to cripple their charity’s future with one bad decision around COVID-19. Sean Triner has identified several key areas where you could be impacted.”
Read more >>

Training remotely: A facilitator’s guide – “If you aspire to provide training or facilitation from a geographic distance, here are Andy Robinson’s 7 tips on what you need to know for effective remote training.”
Read more >>

Fundraising in the Time of COVID-19 – “There is nothing like a global pandemic to create a bit of uncertainty in the minds of EVERYONE! Larry Raff shares some workarounds for how we conduct business.”
Read more >>

Immediate Actions for Fundraising Through a Health Crisis + Fundraising Strategies in Uncertain Economic Times from Laurence Pagnoni – “When the economic outlook is hard to get a handle on, fundraisers get nervous. Here are some innovative ways to handle cash reserves at your nonprofit while also managing social distancing.”
Read more here, and here >>

A Huge Mistake Nonprofits Make in Preparing for COVID-19 – “Our brain’s main way of dealing with threats is the fight-or-flight response. Gleb Tsipursky at NonProfit PRO shares the 3 cognitive biases we need to watch out for.”
Read more >>

Help for Nonprofits During Uncertain Economic Times – “The Chronicle of Philanthropy shares a roundup of articles to help nonprofits during the coronavirus, plus tips on how to shore up their reserves.”
Read more here, and here >>

Coronavirus And Your 2020 Fundraising Goals: What Nonprofits Need To Know – “Alyssa Wright at Forbes shares a few tips to ensure we all stay on track to hit our annual goals and drive change all across the globe, regardless of how many galas we have to cancel or meetings we must postpone.”
Read more >>

Free resources for creating a Coronavirus Appeal – “With emergency appeals related to the pandemic now moving beyond discussion, Mark Philllips thought it might be helpful to provide a couple of template letters that could be useful should you need to launch an appeal for additional support, either now or in the future.”
Read more >>

Love for fundraisers in a time of coronavirus – “Fundraising is never easy but currently it looks even more challenging as we all face a coronavirus pandemic which is having severe social and economic consequences. Howard Lake shares his thoughts at this stage to give some perspective and some tips.”
Read more >>

What other good advice would you share? Leave us a comment below! We’re all in this together.

The post [DIGEST] Essential COVID-19 / Financial Crisis Fundraising Advice appeared first on Bloomerang.

You can listen to the full conversation here.

Be sure to check out previous episodes of The Beacon Podcast here >>

Full Transcript:

Announcer: Welcome to The Beacon, your connection to nonprofit success. Now here’s your Lighthouse Counsel host.

Jeff: Hi, welcome to The Beacon Podcast, your connection to nonprofit success. I’m Jeff Jowdy, your host for today’s discussion on your nonprofit and managing its engagement with those outside the organization. Our guest today is one of my favorite experts in the nonprofit arena and an all-around great guy, Steven Shattuck, the Chief Engagement Officer at Bloomerang. Steven, welcome to The Beacon Podcast.

Steven: Thanks for having me.

Jeff: This is always a treat and for our listeners who are not familiar with Steven, you will soon be and need to be. But from getting his start in the nonprofit sector as a fundraising video producer and digital content creator for organizations like Butler University, the Girl Scouts, American Heart Association, to speaking at conferences, you will know that Steven is definitely a creative person. He curates Bloomerang’s education content and hosts the weekly webinar series focused on thought leaders in the nonprofit sector and he’s contributed content to a variety of organizations.

He’s also an AFP Center for Fundraising Innovation committee member, a Fundraising Effectiveness Project work group member and a Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at Plymouth University study fundraising steering group member and co-author of “Fundraising Principles and Practice,” the second edition.

Now this is, I love this. You are the recipient or were of the David Letterman Scholarship. I love it. So Steven graduated with honors from Ball State University with a degree in telecommunications and creative writing. And again, Steven, welcome and thanks for being here.

Steven: Yeah, thanks for having me. This is fun.

Jeff: You are certainly a go-to expert on engagement. And with engagement, who should a nonprofit be primarily focused on? Would it be the previous donors, potential new donors? Who should they be reaching out to?

Steven: Well, I like the question because I think the question itself is an important one to ask and if you’re a fundraiser or if you’re a donor database manager, if you’re dealing with donor data anyway, if you’re asking that question, you are already, you know, light years ahead of a lot of your peers. Unfortunately, a lot of nonprofits don’t communicate individually to different types of donors. So getting over that hump and understanding that that is a good thing to do, I think it’s a first step. So it’s a great question and I think that once you’ve decided, hey, we want to segment our communications, and we want to do different things for different types of donors, then you’ve got to decide, okay, what are you going to do for it?

And there’s a lot of ways to kind of approach that. And I think that you could talk to, you know, a true expert. Not necessarily me, I don’t really consider to, I don’t really like to call myself that word, but I appreciate the kind sentiments. Now you could ask someone that question, and they could say first-time donors are the best, and that wouldn’t be wrong. You could say, you know, high value donors are the best to concentrate. I don’t think that would be wrong either.

I think it all kind of boils down to what’s important to your organization. How are you doing in different arenas? Really though you can’t go wrong with first-time donors. But we were talking before we started to hit the record button about the importance of first-time donors and you know you mentioned my work with FEP, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. My experience with that data and with that report that comes out every year, always kind of geared towards first-time donors because as a sector we only retain about 32% of first-time donors.

We only get a second gift from a 32.5% of first-time donors. And that to me is really low, right? Because if your cost per acquisition was more than the gift amount that that first-time donor gave, you may have negative ROI right off the bat from that first gift. So you need a second gift from that donor just to break even, let alone, you know, achieve sustainability or high lifetime value or any of those good things. So I think a good place if you’re thinking about segmenting communications and, you know, segmenting your database, I like first-time donors. Getting that second gift is really, really critical because the 60% 68% 67% of those first-time donors never give again. Then you know, you don’t have to kind of that baseline for sustainability.

So I like first-time donors. You can make a very strong case for concentrating on monthly donors. I think that is a really good segment to do something special for because a monthly donor is a good bequest prospect. They’re a good major gift prospect. So they trust you, they love you, they gave you their credit card number. They said yeah, you know, take out 20 bucks a month. Very high retention rates there, very high lifetime value. So you want to keep those people.

And then high value donors, you know, I think if you had to choose between stewarding a donor who gives you $1,000 a year versus one who gives you $50 a year, I think some common sense comes into play there. I don’t like ranking people by their gift amount necessarily, but all things being equal, yeah, you might want to make sure that that high value donor is retained and is upgrading and is doing other things with you. But no matter what you do, as long as you’re doing some segmentation, you should feel good about that because most nonprofits don’t do that.

They send out the same email newsletter, the same appeal, the same thank you letter to all donors regardless of recency, frequency, channel, gift amounts, you know, all those different signals that make up individual donors. So do segmentation. That’s the number one thing. Personally, I would concentrate on those first-time donors just because you want to increase the retention rates there.

Jeff: Excellent. So segmentations is the key. What have you found are the most effective methods for engaging with donors and prospective donors?

Steven: Yeah, I think that’s where you kind of get into the meat and potatoes of the segmentation. A new donor who has given once, they probably need to hear different things from you than someone who has given, you know, 10 years in a row like clockwork because those are two very different donors. Even if the gift amount is the same, I think that’s one reason why it’s really important to move past gift amount in terms of messaging and segmentation because the frequency and the recency is really what should drive the messaging and the content.

So for example, I think one thing you might want to do if you do segment that way is first-time donors, you want to get to know them, right? A lot of times we kind of jump right in with a new donor, act like where their best friends, act like there is this really strong relationship that when we assume they already know everything there is to know about us as an organization. And conversely, we make a lot of assumptions about that.

So what I tell people who kind of buy into all of the things that saying is if you segment by first-time donors, get to know them. That first gift is not the end is the end goal. That’s the starting point.

So asking those people, why do they give? You know, what’s your connection to our cause? Why did you do give? Who are you? Because when we get the answers to those questions, if we get them, you’re not going to get them all the time. But when you do get those answers, you can tailor the messaging and the content based on what they tell you.

So rather than trying to guess or maybe experiment, let’s find out, you know, “Oh, well, I gave to you because I had a grandmother who died of Alzheimer’s,” versus someone who gave because they saw a peer to peer campaign, you know, their best friend who was doing an Alzheimer’s walk. Like those are very different types of first-time donors. Even if their frequency and the gift amount is the same, you have maybe a channel difference or a reason for giving difference and you want to communicate to those two donors very differently. Even though maybe on paper they look like the same kind of donor.

So I guess my short answer, I kind of gave a long answer there. My shorter answer is get to know them. Ask them questions, right? Find out who they are, why they gave. Maybe what they expect out of you. You can ask them what is it that you would like us to send you? And there’s a lot of research actually there’s a mountain of research that shows that donors like to be asked those questions. They see it as an engagement point. They like it when nonprofits show interest in them. Even if they do not respond to you, just the act of asking those questions is going to be a good thing. So get to know those new donors.

For those more long-term donors, making sure that you’re telling them stories, you’re telling them the stories of what their gift is doing out in the world. Again, research shows that you cannot tell too many impact stories, case studies, success stories, whatever you want to tell them, but making sure you’re always putting a spotlight on the donor. Hey, this year you’ve fed this many families. This year you helped put this kid through college and now he’s the first person in his family to have a degree. Telling those stories, making sure that the donor understands what it is their donations are doing out in the world.

I think if you do those two things and nothing else, there’s a lot of other things you could do, they’re very worthwhile. But if you were to stop there, you are going to be in really good shape compared to how other nonprofits operate.

Jeff: Excellent. So you mentioned asking and sharing stories and repeating those and I would do one of them for our listeners. If you’re looking at software you were sharing earlier, it’s pretty exciting that Bloomerang, you can ask questions in the wide variety of methods that you now have a survey feature built in.

Steven: Yeah, you can send a survey right to donors in your Bloomerang database. So you can segment by new donors versus existing donors, you know, longer term donors. And then the other thing we haven’t talked about is lapsed donors. You know, you don’t have to write those people off and consider them gone forever. You don’t have to remove them into your database. You can do something with those people that have stopped giving. Those are great people to ask questions of, hey, did we do something wrong? What would it take for you to give again?

And I think you have to tread lightly there for sure but I would consider lapsed donors to be a segment of donors or constituents at least that you should be communicating to in a different way from other types of donors. Maybe they simply lost touch. Maybe they moved, maybe they passed away, and the only way you’re going find out those things is if you to segment your communications, maybe invest in data services to find out if they have moved or passed away or something like that, but do something differently with them.

Don’t just continue sending them direct mail year after year without that giving because it’s either going undelivered, it’s not hitting the mark. You may have offended them in some way. Don’t be afraid to ask and find out what those things are potentially

Jeff: I know that you’re extremely creative and also know that you’re grounded in data from your involvement with Bloomerang and the Fundraising Effectiveness Project and more. So how about are there things that you observe that a lot of nonprofits are doing that they think are effective, but as you look at the data, they really aren’t effective?

Steven: Well, you know, I always go back to events is kind of one thing that sticks out in my mind and I will preface that by saying there are many, many organizations that do events very well, that have high ROI, that bring in a lot of money and everyone’s happy and it doesn’t maybe cannibalize other methods of giving or burnout employees.

That’s one thing I can attest to you. I have a wife that has been working for nonprofits for a whole career, almost 12 years now. Burnout from events is a real thing. I can definitely attest to that. You mentioned in the intro I used to make fundraising videos. A lot of those were for events and I can tell you that that is usually a very stressful process.

It goes back to the ROI thing. If you can spend 100 hours on an event that you barely break even on, you know, what would happen if you spent 100 hours thanking donors, calling them just to say, “Hey, you know, you’re gift did these awesome things throughout the year. We are so grateful to you. We can’t wait to tell you all the great things that are going to happen next year to your gifts. We just appreciate you so much.” That’s powerful. If you could maybe steer some of those hours towards stewardship and if you are segmenting your stewardship, it may even be the most impactful.

The other thing is online giving. I’m a millennial and I work at a tech company, a fundraising tech company. To hear someone like me maybe be a little bit, you know, bearish on online giving. I always kind of like to remind people, you know, if it’s less than 10% of overall giving, don’t beat yourself up too much over things like Giving Tuesday and you know how your online donation form looks. I think that will grow. I don’t think we should ignore those things.

I think that more and more people will give online as the years go by, but don’t sacrifice things like direct mail, which is still very, very impactful. Print newsletters are great. They still do really, really well. I think a lot of people have kind of abandoned those for maybe email newsletters, which I’ve seen not be as effective.

So don’t be in too big of a hurry to kind of rush into the future into those digital channels at the expense of things that have always worked and I think will always work. Well done direct mail, well done direct response, phone calls, pick up the phone, call a donor and tell them that you appreciate them. Voicemails are just as good. Even though if we’re getting into the 21st century here, don’t forget about some of those analog things that are still really impactful.

Jeff: Excellent. In terms of data, Steven, what would you recommend a nonprofit focus on? What does that essential data that nonprofits need to have on donors that can really help enhance their engagement strategy?

Steven: I think why someone gave is a really, really powerful one because it will help drive everything that you send to them going forward. So ask, don’t be afraid to ask, especially on the new donor side, you know, how did you find out about us? You know, what drove you to give today? Do you have some connection to this cause? If it’s an organization that is fighting a specific disease, I think that’s definitely an appropriate question to ask. A lot of data I saw a study by the late great Jerry Panas and to the bequest prospects and one of his top signals for a good bequest prospect was some sort of personal connection to the mission.

So if you can uncover those things, and the good news is that donors are like to be asked, right? There’s a lot of research. The Donor Voice did an interesting research study into donor loyalty and they found that opportunities for feedback from the donors, so listening feedback is something that donors really like and it’s something that keeps them around when you can do those things. And everyone benefits because the people who do respond, you can use that information to guide your efforts.

So why someone gave, we recommend people do that at Bloomerang. Make sure you have that filled out as a field on someone’s donor profile because you can report on it. These are the people who had a loved one who had this illness. These are people that, you know, whatever all those things are, and you can tailor your communication that way.

From a metric standpoint, I think a data point that’s very important, and it probably won’t surprise you to hear me say this, but you know, your donor retention rate, how many donors are you retaining from one year to the next and drilling down into, you know, what’s your first-time donor retention rate versus maybe how many monthly donors you retain or maybe how many event donors or online donors. The more you can dig into that data, the better.

And then another one that I like is the lifetime value of a donor. Sometimes when you look at the most recent gifts, and that’s what we judge that donor on. That person gave $100 donor last year, so we’re going to put them into, you know, the $100 donor bucket. But hey, they’d been giving $100 for 15 years and we don’t expect them to stop doing that. But you know, they might, we don’t expect them to.

So the lifetime value, we know the entire value of how much that donor has given and how much we can expect them to give in the future, that’s a much greater number and you may want to communicate to that person differently versus someone who gave $1,000 once five years ago and hasn’t given again. So looking at the kind of the holistic picture of the donor life cycle, the lifetime value of that donor, I think it’s a really good thing to look at. If you’re looking at lifetime value and your retention rates, you’re going to be in good shape for sure.

Jeff: Awesome. Thank you, Steven, for your great insight on donor engagement and we really look forward to having you back again, but thank you so much.

Steven: Yeah, anytime. We’ve got to have you on our webinar series too. We’ve got to have you back too.

Jeff: I would enjoy that. And for our listeners, Bloomerang is one of the companies that we are proud to recommend. So if you have needs in technology and donor relationship management software, you have to have a conversation with Steven and our friends at Bloomerang. You can check them out at bloomerang.com and there you can also see the archives of his fantastic weekly webinars series and follow Steven on Twitter @BloomerangTech, @BloomerangTech. And again, to our listeners, thank you for joining us for this episode of The Beacon Podcast, your connection to nonprofit success.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to The Beacon, your connection to nonprofit success. Tune in every week for nonprofit topics with special guest interviews, suggest future topics and learn more about upcoming podcasts and guests at lighthousecounsel.com.

The post [PODCAST] Refining Donor Engagement Strategies appeared first on Bloomerang.

This is a term that’s important to the nonprofit sector because it is associated with donor development. “Moves” relates to the donor life cycle from an individual to prospective donor to first-time donor and on — hopefully to an upgraded, renewing, or major donor. “Moves” are the actions and touches your organization takes to establish these relationships and move prospective donors closer to your cause and mission.

How well your nonprofit does at moving donors through the gift cycle plays a role in your donor retention and donor engagement efforts. The better you do at this process, the more engaged your donors are, and the higher your donor retention rate will be. As you get started with moves management, it’s important to define your donor life or gift cycles and what each tier means and how donors and prospective donors can move from one level to the next. Before beginning with donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship within the “moves” process, it’s important to make sure you have the identification, research, and strategy steps figured out first. You can simply add identification, research, and strategy into each of your moves management stages: cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Create a strategic action plan for each of the three stages and make sure that plan includes your research, qualifications, and goals.

Understanding gift and donor life cycles

As stated, within the moves management process you have the individual components of donor cultivation, donor solicitation and constituent communications, and donor stewardship and relationship-building. In addition to those stages you also have several life cycles that your donors can phase through including, first-time donor, donor renewals and upgrades, major gift donors, and legacy or planned giving. A donor can lapse, of course, at any point in the stage once they’re past the first-time donor cycle, but the hope is that focusing on successfully “moving” donors can help you decrease your lapsed donor number by increasing engagement. Remember, it’s up to your organization to do the initial work and planning for each stage, as well as defining what each life cycle means and looks like based on your average gift size.

Now, let’s dive into each of these important concepts, components, and stages for nonprofits to understand and focus on in order to complete the whole process and move their donors and prospective donors towards the major donor level.

Donor cultivation

Building and deepening relationships with donors and prospective donors is one of the most important things a nonprofit can do to see fundraising success. To get started with donor cultivation, it’s always a good idea to set goals or create a plan. Cultivation is about building lasting relationships and you need to be in it for the long haul with thoughtful action. Focus your cultivation efforts on an articulated goal, and make your next “moves” as part of a systematic plan thoughtfully designed to get you towards that end. Ensuring your donor cultivation plan has a vision, big picture goals, objectives, strategies, tactics, and accountability before you move into implementation mode is essential. Determine your goal and make it donor-centered.

Finding your best donor prospects to begin cultivating can be as simple as starting with the ones hidden in your donor database. Prospect research is difficult, but it can be easier if you start with people you already know. These can be current donors that you want to upgrade or renew, or supporters, volunteers, or lapsed donors that you could cultivate into current donors.

Another good way to cultivate donors at any stage of the funnel is to ask open-ended questions and send donor surveys to get to know your prospects and current donors, and to find out the best way to communicate to them. Donors like when we ask them questions about themselves and learning about your donors is invaluable in guiding our donor communication efforts.

Donor solicitation

In order to solicit your donors properly to move them further into your donor life cycle, you need donor management software that makes it easy for you to cultivate your relationships with your donors, survey your donors, denote your donor’s communication preferences, and segment your constituent communications.

Nonprofit data segmentation is a must to help you better solicit your donors. The lack of personalized communications is one of the core reasons that donors stop giving. Organizations who segment their donors into unique groups based on frequency and recency of giving, reasons for giving, interests and other demographic information have taken a significant step toward increasing their donor retention rates.

Being donor-centered in your donor solicitation efforts is the number one thing you can do to get that gift and keep it year after year or month after month. Get inside your donors’ heads to find out what they actually want from you. Focus on the donor and create a specific and tangible story of the impact their gift has made. Tip: Make sure you use the word “you” more than “us” or “we” in solicitation communications to donors or prospective donors. Our Ahern Audit feature can help your writing be more donor-centered. It’s not about you, it’s about the donor.

Donor stewardship and relationship-building

Successful donor cultivation and solicitation are key to developing and deepening your donor relationships. They all go hand in hand when it comes to moves management. Being good at developing donor relationships will happen naturally as you focus on those first two components mentioned. Personal touches are key and using custom fields in your database are another easy way to build relationships. Don’t underestimate how important authenticity with donors and communicating outcomes to them at all levels can be.

Relationship-building is the essence of fundraising. If you are building or enhancing relationships with your donors, you are literally moving ahead two vital strategies for fundraising success in the long term. First, you and your team are improving donor retention. This is essential, because if a donor is not maintained from year to year, it is nearly impossible to facilitate the knowledge and engagement levels needed to upgrade their giving to a major gift level. Secondly, multiple years of being retained allows all of the factors necessary for a major gift to come to fruition for a donor. Just think of what can happen during year after year of giving.

Donor upgrades and renewals

Getting a first-time donor to make a second gift is crucial to increasing your donor retention rate. Getting a donor to give again, whether that’s on a monthly or annual basis, is the best thing you can do for your donor retention rate. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, only 23% of first-time donors ever make another gift. You can use moves management to move those first-time donors into repeat donors. The first step is rewarding and satisfying the donor with personal touches.

Subsequently, once that donor has become a current donor, you can work on upgrading them — either to give more frequently or to give more. It’s important to have a separate plan of action for each donor segment of first-time, monthly, and annual donors — and ending with the next section below. The best way to motivate and upgrade nonprofit donors is to satisfy donors by giving them what they want (appreciation!), meeting them where they are, and connecting them with your mission.

Major donors and major gift fundraising

Even the smallest organization can begin to steward, cultivate, and secure donations that aren’t just significant to your organization, but significant to the donor. Savvy fundraisers are moving in the direction of putting more focus on major gifts because giving is dropping in the small and medium gift buckets. Upgrading your mid-level donors into major donors is possible, as is finding new donors that could already be at your organization’s major gift level.

Focusing on and having a plan for major gift donors is the last piece of the donor development puzzle. The easiest place to kickstart major gift fundraising and start looking for major donors are the ones already in your database, or already associated with or supporting your nonprofit. Identification, prioritization, and qualification are the first steps before you begin cultivating and stewarding your major donor prospects. Donor retention rate has actually dropped overall, but the retention rate for major donors is usually higher than the standard average, so it’s even more important to take advantage of creating and investing in a major gift program.

Claire Axelrad, JD, CFRE, has created a 3-part major gift fundraising series that can help you get started creating your major gift program:

• The basics
• Getting started
• Revving it up

If you want to see a real-life example of how a Bloomerang customer engages major donor prospects, click here.

Legacy or planned giving

If you can do all the steps above correctly, you’re already well on your way to securing legacy gifts from your most dedicated and engaged donors. The number one reason a current donor doesn’t include your nonprofit in their will or trust is because they were never asked, so it’s important to make asking for legacy gifts a priority. You can accomplish this by writing and talking about legacy giving in simple, understandable terms. Make it easy for the donor to understand how this works and that it’s an option for them. Spread the word about your case for legacy giving, spend time on prospect research and segmentation, focus on donor-friendly stewardship, and talk about the value and fulfillment of leaving a legacy. Talking about death doesn’t have to be as macabre as you think. Make the focus more about honoring their lives!

And of course, the number one thing is to set up a meeting with your donor, explain how everything works, make them feel heard, and go for the simple “ask.”

Data segmentation plays a key role in the moving donors through the gift cycles

As you likely already know, and we’ve already mentioned, donor data segmentation plays an important role in helping you upgrade and retain donors. If you do it right, segmenting your donors can increase the lifetime value of your donor base.

A lack of personal communication is one of the core reasons that donors stop giving to you.

Organizations who segment their donors into unique groups based on frequency and recency of giving, reasons for giving, interests and other demographic information have taken a significant step toward increasing their donor retention rates.

Why?

Because they can tailor messaging precisely for that constituent; messaging that will resonate with them and move them to continue supporting the nonprofit. You can usher in a new era of donor engagement for your organization by segmenting your communications. And if you need help getting started (no matter what software or CRM you use) you can read A Beginner’s Guide to Nonprofit Data Segmentation.

Conclusion

If done correctly, moves management can be an invaluable process for your nonprofit to employ on your donor retention and engagement journey. The better you are at cultivating and soliciting donors, the more sustainable your nonprofit can become. Nonprofit sustainability can only get better when you succeed at engaging, soliciting, and stewarding your donors at every stage of their life cycle. Discover where gaps lie in your organization’s potential to succeed with individual donations. Did you know? A good donor database can make getting started with successful donor development even easier for your nonprofit. Download and read our Buyer’s Guide to Fundraising Software to determine which option is best for you.

Happy fundraising!

Additional Resources to Help You Get Started

Major gift fundraising

• Guide: Major Gift Fundraising for Small Shops
• Major Gift Success Stories from Bloomerang Customers
• Article: Top Strategies to Kickstart Major Gift Fundraising

Upgrading and retaining donors

• Article: Secret to Upgrading Nonprofit Donors? Personal, Not Personalized
• Article: Top 10 Ways to Upgrade Nonprofit Donors
• A Guide to Donor Retention

Donor data segmentation

• Beginners Guide to Nonprofit Data Management
• Reporting and Analytics with Bloomerang

Legacy gifts and planned giving

• Article: 3 Secrets to Acquiring Nonprofit Legacy Gifts
• Article: 3 Tips for Identifying Planned Giving Donors

The post Moves Management for Nonprofits appeared first on Bloomerang.