Check out these five impactful nonprofit marketing ideas your organization needs to effectively promote its cause.

5 Nonprofit Marketing Ideas You Need to Promote Your Cause

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Reach out to Getting Attention to kick off one of these innovative marketing ideas.

 

Nonprofit marketing is the key to growing your organization, gaining support, and having people show up to your events. Without marketing, there’s no way for people to know about your nonprofit and all the great work you’re doing.

It can be difficult to come up with effective marketing strategies for a variety of reasons, especially considering that it can take 18-20 points of contact to reach a new donor. Maybe you’ve been in the marketing world for a while and feel like your marketing plan could use a refresh. Perhaps you’re constrained by your organization’s small marketing budget. Or maybe you’re completely new to the nonprofit marketing space and have no idea where to start.

Whatever your position is, we’re here to offer a comprehensive list of nonprofit marketing ideas to choose from to help you successfully promote your organization’s work. Take a look at the categories we’ll go over:

Whether your organization needs low-cost ideas to fit its tight budget or is looking for a way to connect with more supporters, there is a marketing idea that can work for you.

Let’s get started!

What is Nonprofit Marketing?

Nonprofit marketing is the process of strategizing and planning ideas that will help your organization spread its reach and mission, obtain donations, and recruit supporters like volunteers, board members, and event attendees.

While nonprofit marketing is necessary for all organizations, it’s not always easy. You must be organized and focused on the goals you have for your nonprofit. Once you figure out the nonprofit marketing tactics that work for your nonprofit, they can help your organization by:

  • Spreading awareness of your mission. At the heart of your organization is your mission or cause. Nonprofit marketing can let people know what your organization is working so hard to achieve.
  • Securing donations. The more you can share your organization and its mission with others, the more potential donations you can receive.
  • Building relationships with donors. Of course, any monetary contributions your organization can obtain are useful, but recurring donations allow for a more stable income. If you can communicate with your donors effectively, they’ll be more likely to continue supporting your organization.
  • Gaining other supporters. Volunteers, board members, and event attendees offer valuable support just like donors do. Effective nonprofit marketing ideas can help you reach all kinds of people who are willing to assist you in achieving your mission.
  • Showcasing your services. Knowing exactly what your organization provides will inspire people to contribute to your nonprofit, and a comprehensive marketing plan can help highlight your services.

With innovative nonprofit marketing ideas, your organization can take advantage of these five benefits.

Now that you know just how useful the right nonprofit marketing ideas can be, we’ll go over some strategies for how to use them effectively. We’ve split these ideas into different categories based on the overall outcome they will have for your organization:

Nonprofit Marketing Ideas For Developing Your Organization’s Mission

A clear mission statement provides the basis for the values that govern what your organization does, how your employees approach their work, and how others see your organization.

Here’s how to get started with crafting your nonprofit’s mission:

These six tips will help your organization build a strong nonprofit mission statement.

  • Incorporate storytelling. It’s the classic dilemma: showing people the work your organization has done is way better than just telling them the services you provide. Gather stories and quotes from those your organization helps so that people can develop a personal connection to your organization. Seeing the impact your organization has on real people will help others understand exactly what they could contribute to.
  • Develop a stable marketing plan or strategy. Staying organized for any task requires making a plan, and marketing is no different. A comprehensive nonprofit marketing plan will map out what you want to achieve in the near and distant future to give your efforts some direction.
  • Exude confidence. If you want people to become a part of your organization, then you need to first believe in your work yourself. List your organization’s strengths so that people can see all the ways you excel as a nonprofit. In turn, people will be more willing to support your organization since it gives off a robust and self-assured image.
  • Create an original nonprofit tagline. It’s important to be able to sum up your mission in a short phrase or sentence. That way, people interested in your work can quickly get a sense of what it’s all about.
  • Come up with design, personality, and attitude guidelines. Cohesiveness is key. Not only do you want your marketing materials to match your mission, but the way your employees act should as well. Be clear with how you want your employees to represent your organization so that everyone knows your standards.
  • Provide information about your nonprofit’s goals and progress. Being transparent about what your organization is trying to achieve and the results you’ve gotten so far will help people to get a sense of where their help could fit in. It’s also just good practice for your nonprofit to be honest and forthcoming about its operations.

Once you have a good understanding of your organization’s mission, it’s time to get online and spread the word.

Nonprofit Marketing Ideas For Using Technology Effectively

In today’s media age, productive technology use is the key to marketing success. Using technology effectively can amplify your organization’s outreach even further and spread your mission to more people. Try out these tech-savvy nonprofit marketing ideas:

Text Messaging

With a 99% open rate and 90% read rate within just three minutes of sending, text messaging guarantees that your supporters won’t just open your messages and move on with their day. Instead, they will read and act on them.

To set up a winning text messaging campaign, you’ll need the right software and strategies. Here are a few best practices from Tatango’s guide to text-to-give:

  • Leverage comprehensive text fundraising software. Look for a provider with a full suite of user-friendly tools to create your text messaging campaigns, including automation, segmentation, scheduled sending, and real-time data reports. The right software will also ensure that your text messaging campaigns are compliant with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) so you don’t have to pay any unnecessary fees.
  • Choose a relevant text-to-give keyword. Your keyword is a word or brief phrase that supporters will text to your designated short- or long-code to opt into your campaign. The best keywords are both relevant and easy to spell and market. For example, a higher education institution could use the keyword “ALUMNI” for their alumni fundraising campaign.
  • Build your contact list. Market your text-to-give keyword and code widely across multiple marketing platforms so you can encourage different audiences to opt in. For example, you can advertise your text messaging campaign on your website’s donation page, on your social media, and in your direct mail.
  • Collect and analyze donor data. Assess how effective your text messaging campaign is over time by collecting metrics, such as the average donation amount, how frequently donors text-to-give to your cause, and donor lapses. This will help you identify any gaps in your strategy and optimize your approach to better engage and motivate donors to give.

Remember that the donation page you link to in your text-to-give campaign should be mobile-friendly. Because supporters will be navigating to the page on their mobile devices, you’ll need to make the process as quick and easy as possible.

Website

It’s important to have a strong nonprofit website to showcase your organization and cause. Here are some website nonprofit marketing ideas:

  • Make a website. A well-designed website for your organization is the most widely recognized, versatile online marketing tool. Ensure that yours is easy to use and features all the up-to-date information that potential donors, volunteers, employees, supporters, and clients need to learn about your organization.
  • Create a blog. Content marketing is a great way to share what’s going on within your organization and provide relevant information about your industry. Writing lots of blog content will show that you’re a reputable source for industry and nonprofit-related topics.
  • Write engaging copy. To make your copy easy to follow, break it up with graphics and try to be as concise as possible. It can also help your copywriters if you indicate what you’re envisioning for your brand’s voice and tone.
  • Work on your content’s SEO. SEO, or search engine optimization, is what ensures your content gets found on Google and other search engines. Find relevant terms people are searching for through keyword research and incorporate them into your website and blog.

While these ideas are an effective way to strengthen your site, there are plenty of other nonprofit marketing strategies out there.

Social Media

Social media is the perfect way to engage with your younger supporters. Check out these nonprofit marketing ideas for social media:

  • Build out your social media accounts. Social media is always changing, but it’s important to stay on top of the trends and new platforms. As of right now, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat are the places to be. Lean into trends and adapt them to your organization for a fun yet relevant social media presence.
  • Make videos. Videos often allow you to portray and elicit emotion in a way that images can’t. If you have the resources to do so, try creating a short video related to your mission and post it on YouTube, your website, and your social media channels.
  • Establish a connected online presence. Connect your website, blog, and social media accounts to provide a cohesive user experience. For example, provide the link to your website in the bio of your social media accounts and feature your social media accounts on the homepage of your website.

After you have developed your nonprofit’s website and social media accounts, remember to follow all general digital marketing best practices.

General Online Nonprofit Marketing Ideas

Finally, take a look at these general nonprofit marketing ideas to improve your organization’s online presence:

  • Encourage peer referrals with fundraising eCards. Design online greeting eCards for every occasion, so your supporters have plenty of options to choose from throughout the year. Be sure to connect each design to your cause by infusing brand elements like your logo, fonts, and graphics related to your work. Then, you can either offer them for free or in exchange for donations, so people can share how much they love your cause with their friends and families.
  • Include clear calls to action. To inspire action, tell people how they can help create change. Maybe you include a button in one of your blog posts linking to your donation page. Perhaps you add an event registration link to your email newsletter. Making it easy for people to take the actions you want them to make it more likely that they’ll respond accordingly.
  • Take advantage of virtual events. The boom of video chatting platforms in the workplace has opened up doors for virtual events. Now, you can plan an event that reaches hundreds or thousands of people all around the world. Host a panel or share some updates about your organization with your supporters for an engaging online experience.

Smart technology use can push your mission forward and help you gain support. However, it can get expensive to create so much content across different platforms, so it’s important to know how to budget your marketing plan.

Nonprofit Marketing Ideas For Keeping Costs Down

Nonprofits are typically on tight budgets, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t market their causes effectively. They just need to be smart about how they use their funds. Here are some ways you can promote your organization while keeping costs low:

This graphic highlights five cost-saving nonprofit marketing ideas your organization can use to save money.

  • Create a marketing budget. Allocate your resources where they will be most useful, and stay aware of how much money your organization has available to spend.
  • Print strategically. Consider what truly needs to be printed, aim to print double-sided pages whenever possible, and implement batch printing.
  • Unbrand direct mail. Cut spending by avoiding branded envelopes, but make it clear that the letter came from your organization so recipients won’t think it’s junk mail and toss it.
  • Add a “Donate Now” button to your Facebook page. If your nonprofit qualifies, Facebook will add the button to your page for free.
  • Team up with a local business to offset marketing costs. Local businesses are often happy to pair up with nonprofits as a way to give back to their community.

Keeping costs down where you can ensure that you can set aside the funds you need for bigger marketing projects and more expensive resources.

Nonprofit Marketing Ideas For Advertising Your Nonprofit

There are so many different nonprofit marketing ideas for advertising your organization’s services and making sure they’re put in front of the right audiences. This is great news because it means your organization can pick and choose the tactics that fit your nonprofit best. Check out some nonprofit marketing ideas for advertising your organization:

Online

Marketing your nonprofit online will allow you to reach a larger audience. Here are some nonprofit marketing ideas for spreading the word online:

  • Use Google Ad Grants. The Google Ad Grant program provides eligible organizations with $10,000 per month in Google Ad spending at no cost. You just have to apply, create your ads, and you’re good to go! However, you must maintain your account and follow all program requirements. If you need help with your Google Ad Grants account, schedule a free consultation with us.
  • Encourage peer-to-peer fundraising. Peer-to-peer fundraising is when individuals raise money for a nonprofit by reaching out to friends and family. Social media has made peer-to-peer fundraising even easier by building fundraising options on apps like Instagram and Facebook. For birthdays, holidays, memorials, or no occasion at all, individuals who are passionate about your organization can raise money for your cause.
  • Analyze your data. Track and review data such as clickthrough rate and time spent on each page to see if you can find any patterns and improve your marketing efforts. This nonprofit marketing idea can be especially useful when planning your advertising budget so that you can see where money needs to be allocated.

While it’s important to advertise your nonprofit online, there are still helpful ways to expand your organization’s reach using offline methods.

Schedule a free consultation for help with your Google Ad Grants account.

Offline

Combine your online marketing efforts with these offline nonprofit marketing ideas:

  • Sell branded merchandise. Turn your supporters into walking advertisements for your organization! Get creative with your merchandise to make it something that your supporters will love so others will get curious about your nonprofit.
  • Find brand ambassadors. Choosing a leader in your nonprofit to be the face of the organization can help with brand recognition and familiarize people with your nonprofit. Additionally, recruiting supporters or influencers to be brand ambassadors for your nonprofit is a great way to spread the word about your organization.
  • Give people a personalized experience. Whether that’s sending a letter to a donor thanking them for their support or reaching out to a supporter to deepen your relationship with them, customize the experience. People respond better when they know you took the time to give them something special.
  • Emulate larger organizations. Check out more established organizations’ blogs and scroll through their social media pages to get an idea of the progression of their organization.These are seven online and offline nonprofit marketing ideas you can use to promote your organization.

Mixing up your advertising methods is a great way to reach many different people. It also allows you to learn more about your audience and which marketing efforts they respond to best.

Nonprofit Marketing Ideas For Fostering Stakeholder Relationships

All of your supporters are important, but developing relationships with partners and donors will strengthen your organization’s network and broaden your reach. Take a look at some of our marketing ideas for nonprofits looking to recruit more partners and donors:

These six nonprofit marketing ideas will help you develop deeper relationships with your supporters.

Welcoming Partners and Donors

From the very beginning, you’ll want your new supporters to feel welcome in your organization’s community. Try out these nonprofit marketing ideas for new partners and donors:

  • Send a welcome package. Include helpful information about your organization and partner or donor program. Additionally, you’ll want to give them some fun branded merchandise such as a t-shirt, pen, or mug. Doing so can get people excited about working with you and show how much you appreciate them from the very start.
  • Take them out for a meal. Having lunch or coffee with a partner or donor is a great way to develop a relationship with them. You can show them that you care about getting to know them face-to-face, tell them a little more about your organization, and ask for feedback about your nonprofit.
  • Remind them of matching gift opportunities. If a donor’s employer is willing to match their donation, you could receive double the funding for your organization. It’s best for donors to use software that will inform them of matching gift opportunities beforehand, but it doesn’t hurt to them let know after they have made their donation to see if their employer can help.

Once you develop relationships with your partners and donors, it’s important to keep them strong.

Maintaining the Relationship

Keeping your relationships with your supporters is an essential part of your nonprofit’s success. Take a look at these nonprofit marketing ideas to help you maintain stakeholder relationships:

  • Thank your supporters and sponsors with greeting cards. Recognize your supporters for their commitment to your cause with eCards. Send cards during key times, like after they make a major donation or attend an event. Digital cards are also perfect to send during the year-end holiday season.
  • Be strategic with the timing of your messages. It’s important to build a regular email rapport with your partners and donors, whether that be by reaching out to them individually to chat or sending an email newsletter. However, make sure you look into the best time to send these messages. This may depend on the age, career, lifestyle, and time zone of your partners and donors.
  • Reach out to lapsed donors. Just because a donor hasn’t contributed in a while doesn’t mean that they’ve lost interest in your organization. Sometimes, donors are just busy or don’t have your organization on their minds. Sending them a gift or explaining how your donor program has changed can help to re-engage lapsed donors.

Forming relationships with supporters is one thing, but keeping them requires effective communication and dedicated donor stewardship efforts. Apply these nonprofit marketing ideas to your outreach to make sure you’re doing everything you can to create lasting connections with your supporters.

Additional Resources

Developing and implementing a marketing strategy can be a lot for a nonprofit to take on, but these nonprofit marketing ideas will give you a solid foundation on which to build. From solidifying your organization’s mission to fostering relationships with your supporters, there are so many ways to promote your nonprofit and make it stand out to prospects.

While we were able to give you a quick glimpse into several marketing ideas for nonprofits, you might want some more information about them. Below we’ve highlighted some resources about ideas that we mentioned:

This guide will cover top donor outreach strategies to transform your nonprofit’s outreach.

9 Donor Engagement Strategies to Transform Your Outreach

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Nonprofits rely on donors’ generosity to fund their mission programming and cover operating overhead costs. But an organization can’t expect to sit back and watch the revenue roll in without first outlining how they’ll identify donors, market their missions to them, and build relationships with them—which is where thoughtful donor engagement strategies come in.

A donor’s engagement extends beyond their donations. With the right tactics in place, you can transform them into lifelong ambassadors of your cause. On the other hand, failure to properly cultivate relationships with them means you’ll potentially lose their interest and their support altogether.

To help, we’ll walk you through the basics of engaging donors and explore proven methods that are known to drive nonprofit support, including:

At Getting Attention, we empower nonprofits to connect with new prospects and promote valuable opportunities using the Google Ad Grant program. Through our time working with nonprofits, we’ve seen how different tactics drive results for nonprofits.

We’re confident this guide will give everything you need to better connect with your supporters and drive increased support in your fundraising initiatives. Let’s get started!Get a consultation to learn how you can use the Google Ad Grant as a donor engagement strategy.

What Is Donor Engagement?

Donor engagement refers to the process of building and maintaining relationships between a nonprofit and its donors. This includes all interactions that encourage donors to become more invested and involved in the organization, including communications, events, volunteer opportunities, and fundraisers.

The primary goal of a donor engagement plan is to cultivate loyal relationships with donors by forging deeper connections. The more you engage donors, the more likely they are to stick around for the long term. In other words, their engagement directly impacts your donor retention rate.

To increase commitment, nonprofits often experiment with different donor engagement strategies like unique marketing tactics and public recognition to improve fundraising outcomes.

Why Nonprofits Should Track Donor Engagement

We’ve all heard that retaining a donor is more cost-effective than soliciting donations from first-time donors. New donors need countless touchpoints before deciding to give whereas current donors have already demonstrated an affinity for your cause and need less convincing.

Plus, due to fluctuating donor retention rates and increased marketing costs, the price of replacing lapsed donors has skyrocketed. As a result, losing donors is unaffordable for many organizations.

Tracking donor engagement is imperative to your mission’s continued success. Specifically, here’s what tracking donor engagement will enable your team to do:

This graphic explains the importance of engaging donors and tracking key engagement metrics.

  • Divide your supporters into meaningful donor segments. Send relevant appeals by grouping donors based on their donation tiers, donation frequency, and interests.
  • Identify areas to upgrade support. Locate major giving prospects by paying attention to long giving histories, notably high wealth indicators, and high engagement scores.
  • Create personalized acknowledgment and solicitations. Send targeted follow-up outreach that aligns with donors’ support levels and appeals to what they love about your organization.
  • Get ahead of potential lapses. Monitor people who have downgraded their support, whether they’re attending fewer events or stopped donating altogether.

Tracking the right details will allow your nonprofit to cultivate meaningful relationships and reduce the number of lapsed donors. Overall, investing sufficient time and energy can help you establish a solid foundation for your mission.

Signals That Measure Donor Engagement

Donor engagement expands far beyond financial contributions. While consistent giving is a top engagement indicator, there are several other factors that communicate donor involvement.

Using a powerful CRM and other digital tools, your nonprofit can track a range of donor engagement signals, like:

These are the most common donor engagement signals nonprofits should track.

  • Gift amount and frequency
  • Recent upgrades or downgrades in donation size
  • Event attendance
  • Response rates
  • Hours volunteered
  • Social media interactions
  • Matching gift eligibility
  • Survey responses
  • Email subscription status and open rate
  • Website visits and time on site

As you can see, both financial and non-financial indicators can signal donor engagement. Using your CRM alongside other tools like Google Analytics for monitoring web traffic, you can identify donors who are at risk of disengagement or who are ready to upgrade their support.

For example, let’s say another donor consistently donates $50 on a regular basis, interacts with your social media posts, and fills out your surveys. They may be a great candidate for recurring giving. Monitoring the right metrics allows you to identify these upgrade opportunities!

9 Donor Engagement Strategies to Drive Support

With the fundamentals nailed down, you’re ready to craft a plan for engaging donors! Knowing what drives your supporters to stick around will help you interact meaningfully and communicate that your organization cares about its supporters.Check out these nine donor engagement strategies.

Remember, each nonprofit’s donors are unique, so every organization finds success in different donor engagement strategies. Tailor your approach to your supporters, and you’ll be on the right path.

1. Google Ad Grants

If your nonprofit isn’t already leveraging Google Ad Grants in its marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to engage with existing and prospective donors. Here’s what getting involved in the program entails:

  1. Google offers up to $10,000 in free advertising credits to eligible 501(c)(3) organizations per month.
  2. Your nonprofit leverages this in-kind advertising space to promote your cause and its fundraising efforts to supporters by targeting specific keywords.
  3. A (potential or existing) supporter conducts a Google search for a term related to your nonprofit.
  4. Your nonprofit’s website shows up in the top spot on Google’s search engine results page.
  5. The supporter clicks through to your nonprofit’s site and decides to get involved with your cause, such as by making a donation.

Our guide to Google Ad Grant impact shows that search ads (like Google Ads) have the highest ROI for nonprofits using paid advertising among other platforms. And since 98% of searchers click a result on page 1 of Google, you stand to gain a lot of exposure for your digital content.

Most searchers click on a result on page one of Google, making Google Ad Grants a great way to engage donors.

Google Ad Grants are essential for increasing donor engagement on two key fronts⁠: attracting new supporters and providing additional engagement opportunities for existing supporters.

By utilizing the free ad space made available by the world’s most popular search engine, your organization can put your cause in front of tons of new and recurring donors, opening up even more chances for building on those relationships.

Get a consultation to chat about using the Google Ad Grant as part of your donor engagement strategies.

2. Matching gifts

Matching gifts are an extremely effective type of corporate philanthropy that places individual donors at the heart of their employers’ giving strategies. They help to deepen both corporate and donor relationships with your nonprofit.

Here’s how these workplace giving programs typically work:

  1. An individual donor gives to your nonprofit.
  2. You encourage the donor to look into their matching gift eligibility through their employer by providing access to a matching gift database or asking them to contact their company directly.
  3. Upon determining their matching gift eligibility, the donor completes a quick online submission form to request their donation match.
  4. The employer reviews the request and verifies that the initial donation adheres to pre-determined matching criteria.
  5. A matching donation is provided by the donor’s employer, so your nonprofit receives two gifts for the price of one.

Highlighting matching gift opportunities is one of the most effective ways to engage donors⁠—and there are a ton of studies to back this up. Not to mention, following up with matching gift donors after their initial contribution provides your nonprofit with an additional touch point for reminding donors of your mission.

Research shows that 84% of donors are more likely to donate if a match is offered, with 1 in 3 donors indicating they’d give a larger gift if matching is applied.

Meanwhile, companies that do not currently match employee gifts may be willing to consider a Custom Matching Gift Program. To pursue this avenue, reach out to potential corporate partners and pitch the idea of a short-term workplace giving initiative that involves matching staff donations exclusively to your nonprofit.

Not only is this an excellent way to engage previously ineligible donors in matching gift campaigns, but it can also increase your fundraising reach as your mission is exposed to the company’s other team members.

Plus, having a successful corporate philanthropy partnership with a business can lead to further opportunities in the future, such as financial, media, or in-kind sponsorships.

3. Online greeting cards

Engaging donors requires you to get creative. Digital greeting cards might be just what you need to capture supporters’ attention! When you spend time creating visually-attractive designs, your eCards can act as an easy, cost-effective, and interactive way to engage donors.

Boost donor engagement by offering digital greeting cards.

There are a few ways you can leverage eCards in your donor engagement plan, including:

  • Provide cards as donation incentives. Give your donors a fun reason to give! eCardWidget’s guide to charity eCards explains that you have a few options for using eCards for fundraising. For one, you could sell your eCards in your online fundraising store. Alternatively, add them to your website where donors can give in exchange for eCards.
  • Send cards to thank donors. Showing appreciation for donors can go a long way in retaining their support. Have your fundraising staff send thank-you eCards as a way to recognize your committed supporters after they donate or during the holiday season.

We recommend that you create designs for every occasion. Create a mission awareness collection to amplify a cause awareness campaign, holiday cards to celebrate important days year-round, and tribute cards to let individuals give in someone else’s name. Your options are endless! Donors will appreciate having a fun, interactive way to support your cause and share it with their loved ones.

If you’re offering them in exchange for donations, make sure your online greeting card creation platform allows you to enable donations. No matter your approach, be sure to brand each eCard to your cause, even if you only add your logo to the corner.

4. Peer-to-peer giving

Organizations hosting peer-to-peer campaigns are able to reach new donors (via existing supporters who take on a fundraising role for your nonprofit) while offering one of the most engaging ways for existing supporters to participate.

Equipped with customizable donation pages from the organization’s peer-to-peer platform, supporters then reach out to their own networks of friends and family members to solicit donations for a cause they care about.

First-time donors are more likely to contribute when asked by peers, rather than directly by your organization. Donately’s guide to peer-to-peer fundraising explains that “even if they’re unfamiliar with your work, they can still form a personal connection thanks to the power of social proof.” That means this donor engagement strategy enables your team to get in touch with new supporters you may not have won over on your own.

All the funding goes to your organization’s mission, and you’re left with a ton of donors who are highly engaged with the cause. From there, you can work to continue building connections with new and existing individuals through additional donor engagement ideas.

5. Volunteer opportunities

Even your most dedicated donors don’t want their only communication with your team to be additional requests for funding. That’s why it’s an excellent idea to offer unique opportunities for involvement with your mission.

And one of the best ways to do so is by encouraging donors to participate in volunteer opportunities! This can be an excellent way for donors to see your cause in a new light.

Not to mention, you can even monetize this donor engagement strategy by highlighting the potential for volunteer grants. Many donors (especially those previously determined to be eligible for matching gifts) work for companies that provide financial support to the nonprofits their employees volunteer with.

6. Donor appreciation

Two of the most common reasons why donors stop giving to nonprofit organizations they’ve supported in the past are:

  1. They were never thanked for their gift.
  2. They were not informed about how the funding was being used.

Both of these undersights together can lead a donor to believe that the nonprofit in question didn’t really need their donation in the first place. ⁠As a result, donor engagement may decrease.

Luckily, effectively communicating appreciation for your donors can assist in solving all of the above problems. You’ll want to thank each individual donor for supporting your nonprofit with their hard-earned dollars through meaningful outreach via a variety of methods, such as:

  • A handwritten thank-you letter. Show a little extra effort by writing thank-you messages the old-fashioned way. It’ll add personality to your note and remind donors that they’re supporting an organization comprised of real people.
  • A video message. Think outside the box and create a more dynamic thank-you message for donors. Feature your nonprofit’s staff, supporters, board members, and even beneficiaries (with their permission). Not only are videos impactful, but they’re easy to make; all you need is a mobile device with a camera to shoot, edit, and send video thank-you messages.
  • Access to exclusive content and opportunities. After you’ve thanked your supporters, you can show further appreciation by providing unique content they can’t get anywhere else. For instance, invite them to meet and greets with beneficiaries, special webinars with nonprofit influencers, and other interesting chances to engage further with your mission.
  • Donor appreciation days. Who doesn’t love a party? Donor appreciation days allow you to pull out all the stops for your supporters. Make it a night to remember with free food trucks, games, goodie bags, and live entertainment. Or, you can organize an outing to a fun community activity, such as the zoo or a sports game.
  • Addition to a donor wall. Your donors want to leave their mark on your nonprofit, and you can symbolize this connection with a donor wall. Create different tiers based on the value of the donor’s contributions and add them to it on an annual basis. You can even host an inauguration ceremony for new additions to make your donors feel special.
  • Donor gifts. Re:Charity’s expansive list of donor gift ideas explains that thoughtful gifts help to show appreciation and that you value your relationships with donors. Gifts can include branded merchandise, gift cards, or tickets to activities.

Not only is thanking your donors the polite thing to do, but it also helps close the loop and reiterate to the donor that you received and processed their contribution successfully. So long as you show genuine appreciation for your supporters, you can cultivate lasting relationships with them and retain their support long-term.

7. Segmentation and personalization

Unfortunately, a donation appeal that begins with “Dear donor” or “To whom this may concern” and ends with a generic request of $5, $10, $25, or $50 is not likely to produce great results. That’s because it won’t elicit the emotional connections that are required for effective fundraising nowadays.

Why not? An effective ask needs to incorporate strategic segmentation and personalization⁠—two things that, when done well, can go particularly far for your donor engagement plan. It’s what makes a donation request feel like an intimate appeal to an essential partner in your organization’s mission (which, as you know, is what your donors are).

In order to drive donor engagement, segment your communications. You should group donors by specific characteristics to receive targeted information relevant to that slice of your network. Common segments might include:

Tracking donor engagement allows you to segment your donors into meaningful groups.

  • Donation level (including frequency and amount)
  • Geographic region
  • Interests (e.g., lifestyles, attitudes, and mission engagement preferences like events or monthly gifts)
  • Preferences (including communication preferences and preferred involvement opportunities)

Further, you should also personalize your communications to each individual. That may include addressing the recipient by name, referring to a recent donation, or acknowledging how long the donor has been involved with your organization.

8. Unique fundraising ideas

Choosing unique, exciting, and refreshing fundraisers is an essential part of engaging donors! And that’s not saying you have to drop your tried-and-true fundraising ideas, either. Just try sprucing them up to make them stand out, and your audience will be more than happy to participate.

A few ways to spice up your existing fundraising ideas include:

  • Incorporate a fun theme. For example, if you usually host a fun run in the fall, consider getting into the holiday spirit with a Halloween costume theme. This will help set your fundraiser apart from others.
  • Add entertainment. While your fundraiser surely has a main event, don’t be afraid to add side entertainment and activities to keep attendees engaged. For instance, add a concession stand to your fun run, or incorporate a wine tasting at your next gala.
  • Implement gamification. To get attendees to emotionally invest in your event, implement gamification elements so they further connect with your fundraiser. This could mean incorporating a fundraising thermometer so attendees can visually see the impact of their gifts, encouraging them to make larger gifts.

Aside from these strategies, you can also consider taking your in-person fundraising events virtual. By doing so, you’ll be able to connect with more supporters all across the country and even the globe. Or, if you’re intimidated by the thought of an entirely online event, you could make your next event hybrid instead.

9. Powerful storytelling

The story you tell about your nonprofit and its mission is essential for securing and retaining donor support.

To bring your strategic storytelling practices to the next level and inspire more supporters to get involved, it’s important to incorporate essential storytelling elements. Include these three fundamental components:

  • A group or person in need of aid (your organization’s beneficiaries)
  • A compelling hero (your nonprofit’s team and the donors who support your work)
  • A key solution (what your organization does to make a difference).

From there, you’ll also want to include supporting data, an emotional narrative, sensory details, and relevant imagery when possible.

The idea is that donors feel connected to the story and desire to play a role in the solution⁠—thus, supporting (or continuing to support) your organization in its work!

Sign up for our newsletter for more donor engagement ideas.

Final Thoughts on Donor Engagement

Your donor base forms an essential component of your overall nonprofit organization, and their engagement with your cause is critical for continuous mission success. A highly engaged donor is more likely to contribute to your cause time and time again⁠—so you don’t want to settle for base-level efforts.

Luckily, utilizing donor engagement strategies like workplace giving promotions, strategic fundraising, and cost-effective marketing can make a huge difference. That means it’s time to begin incorporating these ideas into your donor engagement plan and make sure you equip your team with the tools required to do so effectively!

Want to learn more about engaging donors in your nonprofit organization? Browse these additional resources:

Get started with Getting Attention so you can leverage the Google Ad Grant to promote donor engagement opportunities.

Matching gifts despite economic downturns and how corporate funding remains steady

Matching Gifts Remain Steady (If Not Growing) Despite Economic Downturns

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Effective fundraising can be difficult in the best of times, and strenuous economic circumstances can throw a wrench in any organization’s well-laid-out plans. That said, matching gift programs remain a top source of funding for many nonprofits, and matching gifts despite economic downturns is entirely possible.

In order to best craft a matching gift strategy for your organization, it’s essential to both look at past examples and cite probable trends for the future.

Which is why, in this guide, we’ll share valuable insights into the following:

The good news is this ⁠— research shows that matching gift opportunities remain steady and are likely to continue doing so. At the same time, it’s important to equip your team with the knowledge surrounding matching gift programs, their current status in the nonprofit sector, and what you can do to set your mission up for success.

Let’s begin.

What We’ve Learned From Previous Economic Downturns

Since the conclusion of the Great Depression in 1939, the U.S. has fallen into thirteen economic recessions. In the most recent circumstances, we’ve seen the effects that difficult national (and even global) financial crises have had on one of the most popular forms of corporate philanthropy⁠—matching gifts.

Luckily, the evident impact has been largely positive, which is a benefit to the companies, their employees, and nonprofit causes around the world.

Matching Gifts in the Great Recession

The Great Recession, which occurred from December of 2007 to June of 2009, was one of the first to take place while matching gift programs were a commonplace type of philanthropy. And while many were concerned about companies taking away the giving opportunities, this didn’t tend to be the case.

In the words of Aron Cramer, president and CEO of Business for Social Responsibility, “This recession is wiping away a lot of things, but so far, corporate responsibility seems to be a survivor.” Looking back on the happenings, we’re glad to report that corporate giving continued to thrive throughout the downturns.

Here’s what a few well-known companies had to say (and do) concerning corporate giving in the 2008 recession:

General Electric is an example of a company continuously matching gifts despite economic downturns.General Electric — According to its 2008 annual report, the GE Foundation reallocated an additional $20 million to increase its support for organizations providing communities with basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. In fact, General Electric’s overall philanthropic giving grew by 13.6% as compared to the previous year⁠—despite a stock price decrease of 55%.

In the words of GE’s Chairman and CEO at the time, Jeffrey Immelt, “When we come out of this fog, this notion that companies need to stand for something – they need to be accountable for more than just the money they earn – is going to be profound.”

Starbucks is an example of a company continuously matching gifts despite economic downturns.Starbucks ⁠— In December of 2008, Howard Schultz, at-the-time CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, published a contributor piece in the Huffington Post outlining his passionate belief in the participation of corporate social responsibility. Amidst the economic downturn of the time, Schultz proclaimed that it was not the time to cut giving and other social contributions.

In his own words, the Starbucks CEO stated, “With that mindset comes the false belief that investments in people and training can wait; that corporate social responsibility can be put on the back burner.” And the idea is reflected in Starbucks’ matching gift data, as well! Not only did the company retain its matching gift program despite overall financial hardship, but it saw a 28.6% increase in matching gift totals from year over year (source: 2007 and 2008 Global Impact Reports).

Matching Gifts + COVID-19

The next recession seen by the U.S. took place between February and April of 2020 and was the direct effect of the coronavirus pandemic during the same time period. And again, many were pleasantly surprised at the charitable responses taken by tons of businesses, small and large.

Check out these companies’ matching gift responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn:

AbbVie is an example of a company continuously matching gifts despite economic downturns.AbbVie ⁠— In order to aid in COVID-19 relief efforts, global biopharmaceutical company AbbVie opted to significantly increase its charitable contributions to nonprofit causes amidst the pandemic outbreak. In late March of 2020, the company announced a $35 million donation above and beyond its existing nonprofit funding⁠. This was in addition to an expanding matching gift program for its employees, offering to match team member donations at a 2:1 rate, rather than its typical dollar-for-dollar approach.

According to chairman and chief executive officer, Richard A. Gonzalez, “AbbVie is making this donation to nonprofit partners that will have an immediate and significant positive impact in communities that have been hit hardest by this unprecedented crisis. Our 30,000 AbbVie team members around the world are proud to be able to help make a difference in the fight against this virus.”

General Mills is an example of a company continuously matching gifts despite economic downturns.General Mills ⁠— General Mills, Inc. similarly chose to increase its employee matching gift program in response to COVID-19 as a way to further motivate its employees to give back to their communities. In March of 2020, the company increased its maximum matching gift amount per employee by 50%. Not to mention, when you consider General Mills’ already-established 2:1 match ratio, the company set its employees up to continue making a significant difference, resulting in over four times their initial donations’ impact.

Mary Jane Melendez, president of the General Mills Foundation, reported the following: “As a company, we have the values, insights, and partners to positively impact the lives of millions of people worldwide during this unprecedented time as the world navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants will help expand food access and lend added support for many of our communities around the world.”

And it didn’t end there, either! Double the Donation compiled a list of even more key companies that chose to expand their matching gift initiatives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic⁠. This includes Apple (introduced a two-to-one ratio as opposed to their traditional dollar-for-dollar match), Google (significantly increased their matching gift cap to $20,000 per employee), Honda, Microsoft, and more.

What We’re Seeing Regarding Recent Program Updates

This has been a significant year in terms of changes—both regarding corporate matching gift programs as well as in the overall economic landscape. Luckily, despite any economic downturns we’ve seen, the adjustments in matching gift programs have been overwhelmingly positive.

Let’s browse a few companies that have enhanced their employee donation-matching initiatives in the past year—and specifically, how they’ve done so.

Reinstated Programs

Reinstated matching gift programs

These programs that had previously lapsed have been brought back, further empowering their employees to get involved:

  • Murphy Oil Corporation – Corporate matching gift program reinstated
  • Kimray – Corporate matching gift program reinstated with a new maximum match of $2,000

Increased Match Ratios

Increased matching gift ratios

Increasing matching gift ratios enables employee donors and the nonprofits they support to do exponentially more with the funding they contribute. Now, with growing match ratios, these companies aim to double, triple, and even quadruple their team members’ individual gifts:

Elevated Donation Maximums

Increased matching gift maximums

As corporate donation matching maximums grow, so does the capacity for donors’ matching gifts to make a difference for the causes they care about. Check out these companies’ programs, now with more room for eligible matching:

Matching gifts as a whole tend to ebb and flow; one program may end, while another few begin. However, we’ve seen the overall offerings increasing steadily in the past few years. And as we jump into the new year, we can continue to expect program enhancements, new offerings, and more.

What We Can Expect for the Future of Matching Gifts

As the U.S. economy trends downward, many are once again beginning to question the future of matching gift fundraising opportunities. Will companies cancel these programs as their own profits are in danger? Or will they up their giving efforts as their communities’ needs continue to grow?

Unfortunately, there’s no way to look directly into the future and figure out what companies will end up choosing. However, a look at the past, and an analysis of current matching gift trends, can help us craft our hypotheses.

And that being said, here’s what we can expect to occur in terms of matching gifts despite economic downturns:

Companies with existing programs will continue to match employee gifts.

First things first, most companies that already match employee donations are likely to continue doing so. A matching gift program is typically an ongoing initiative rather than something that is often canceled and re-instated at a later, more promising point in time. Most companies see matching gifts as what they are⁠—long-term, positive investments⁠—and will not opt to negate their offering, even despite a nearing or existing recession.

Not to mention, the vast majority of companies will have already established their matching gift budgets for the time being. Plus, cutting corporate philanthropy programming in order to increase business profits would be a pretty poor public relations strategy⁠. This is especially true in a time when corporate social responsibility is being increasingly demanded from businesses across the globe.

More companies will begin offering employee donation-matching initiatives.

In a recent survey, 39% of companies reported plans to expand their workplace giving programs (such as matching employee gifts) in the next two years. Regardless of challenging economic conditions, the demand for charitable-minded companies is increasing.

Employees want to work for companies that support the greater good⁠—often through nonprofit causes⁠. Not to mention, consumers want to spend their dollars in the same way by supporting businesses that care about giving back.

This is particularly crucial in a time such as now, which is being referred to as the “Great Resignation.” Individuals are leaving their existing companies in droves in order to find employment that better suits their wants and needs. For many, that means locating opportunities with companies that prioritize social responsibility and philanthropy⁠—especially to the nonprofits that they themselves support.

Thus, more and more businesses are looking for new ways to demonstrate their participation in corporate social responsibility. One of the easiest and most impactful ways to do so is with employee gift-matching, which is why employers are launching new programs every day⁠. And we expect that they’ll continue to do so!

Some employers will expand their matching gift program thresholds.

Considering how many companies opted to increase their matching gift programs during the recessions of 2008 and 2020, it can be expected that some will choose to do the same now.

Economic difficulty and community needs tend to share a positive correlation⁠—when one increases, the other follows suit. As a result, corporations see a growing demand for nonprofit services and feel compelled to do even more.

And as a bonus for nonprofits, these expanding programs tend to see particularly high levels of employee participation as well. When team members see their employers giving or offering more to charitable causes, they can be increasingly inspired to contribute their own dollars as well.

Find out how your team can improve the overall donor journey with matching gifts

Next Steps for Elevating Your Nonprofit’s Gift-Matching

What can you do to help your organization make the most of available corporate donation-matching dollars? The #1 step you can take is ensuring your donors are aware of the opportunities in the first place.

In fact, studies show that over 26 million individuals are currently employed by companies with matching gift programs. But more than 78% of this group has never been informed about them! And, despite being eligible to participate, these individuals will be unable to secure matching gifts from their employers on your behalf if they don’t know about the programs.

So keep an eye out for companies with matching gift programs as they’re constantly changing, and new programs are being added every day. Then, be sure to educate your donors about the vast opportunities at hand⁠—and how they can get involved.

For donors interested in matching gifts who work at employers without a program, provide them with the resources they need to pitch a matching gift program to their employer. This might be information about your nonprofit’s programs specifically and how your initiatives align with the given company’s values or general information about how matching gift programs can boost employee engagement and motivation.

Interested in learning more about matching gifts (despite economic downturns and beyond)? Check out these other information-packed resources:

  • 14 Important Questions to Ask About Matching Gifts. You probably have some questions about matching gifts and how your organization can make the most of these programs for your cause. Read up on these frequently asked questions and answers to find out everything you need to know!
  • The Ultimate Guide to Securing Corporate Sponsorships. Matching gifts aren’t the only corporate giving program these companies are offering, either. Browse this comprehensive guide to determine the best ways to secure corporate sponsorship opportunities for your cause.
  • Matching Gift Best Practices: Raise More for Your Nonprofit. Do more with matching gifts! These tried-and-true matching gift fundraising best practices will show you how to inform your audience about the programs, simplify the participation process for donors, and much more.

This guide will help you understand the relationship between donor data research and retention and how to leverage it for fundraising.

An Ultimate Guide to Donor Data Research and Retention

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You’ve likely heard the saying that it’s cheaper to retain a donor than it is to find a new one. It’s why maintaining high levels of retention is so crucial for many organizations. Luckily, donor data research can help!

In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about donor data⁠ and how it can impact your overall retention rates. This will include:

By collecting detailed information about your supporters, you can develop beyond-surface-level relationships and better target your marketing outreach to each individual. In the end, you’ll see more donors continuing to support your efforts, providing your organization with improved fundraising results over time.

Ready to find out how to leverage donor data research in your retention strategy? Let’s begin with the basics.

Getting Attention can help you harness your donor data to run a successful Google Ad Grants campaign. Click for a free consultation call.

Types of Donor Data to Prioritize

There’s a ton of information available out there about each and every person. To optimize your donor retention strategy, you need to know which types of data will be of use to you.

We recommend prioritizing the following:

Contact information

An individual’s contact information is the most essential element of their donor profile. It’s what you need to get in touch with the donor after their initial contribution, thank them for their support, and begin developing a relationship. In the end, it’s also what you’ll use to send follow-up donation requests.

Ideally, this donor data should include as many of the following details as possible:

  • Name
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Mailing address

If you have multiple ways to get in contact with a donor, it can also help to note their preferred communication methods. This might incorporate text messaging, phone calls, email correspondence, direct mailings, and more.

An example of a donor profile is shown, which is an important part of donor data research and retention best practices.

Nonprofit involvement

Next, it’s important to have a solid understanding of an individual’s historical nonprofit involvement⁠—both with your organization and others. Thus, ideal data on an individual’s nonprofit involvement should include:

For example, you’ll want to engage with a long-time repeating donor much differently than you would a first-time contributor to your cause. Luckily, this information should be one of the easiest to collect and leverage⁠—particularly when it comes to giving history in regards to your own organization⁠—using your nonprofit’s CRM or donor management system.

Employment details

Did you know that your donors’ employment information is one of the most crucial pieces of data you can access? Not only can this information help roughly identify your supporters’ wealth status (more on that below), but it can also open up significant opportunities for matching gifts, volunteer grants, and more. Plus, understanding employment status can even help uncover invaluable business connections and open doors for potential corporate sponsorships as well.

So what exactly do you need to know? The company an individual works for is likely the simplest data point to find. From there, however, additional information such as employment type (full-time, part-time, seasonal or temporary, retired, etc.), job title, and tenure at the business can provide further insights into a donor’s employment.

Matching gift eligibility

A donor’s matching gift status is most often directly related to their employment. But an individual’s matching gift eligibility is such a key component that it should be considered its own donor data point altogether.

Once you know where your donors work (and typically, their employment type), you’ll be more likely to determine whether they qualify for workplace giving programs. From there, you’ll be able to easily and efficiently communicate that eligibility to each individual.

As a result, this data point can function as an additional engagement opportunity (or more likely, multiple). Not to mention, studies report donors being more likely to give if they know that their gift can be matched! And when you follow up with match-eligible donors after they give, you can keep your organization at top of mind for longer, remind them about the impact of potential matches, and ultimately drive more corporate revenue toward your cause.

Wealth data

Understanding a supporter’s wealth level is an essential part of determining ideal donation request amounts and, thus, optimizing your donor relations strategy. In order to craft a solid estimate for an individual’s ability to give, consider the following types of wealth marker information:

  • Real estate ownership
  • Stock ownership
  • Political giving
  • Business affiliations
  • Salary estimations

Together, these data points enable you to recognize and identify prospective major donors and target them as effectively as possible within communications.

Bonus! Hobbies and interests

An individual’s choice of hobbies and interests can tell you a lot about who they are as a person⁠—rather than just a wallet. Though this may not be as “essential” as the other data points listed, having this information in your donor profiles is never a bad idea.

For example, let’s say you’re having a face-to-face conversation with a major donor. Knowing about their hobbies and interests, such as favorite sports (and sports teams), pastimes, animals, foods, and more, can help identify opportunities for genuine connections and similarities and begin building a rapport in the relationship.

How Nonprofits Can Collect Donor Data Insights

Now that you know what kinds of data points are of interest to your fundraising team, how exactly will you go about collecting that information?

Here are a few key methods you might use:

Online donation forms

Did you know that your organization’s online donation forms can provide a wealth of invaluable information about your donors? And if so, are you doing as much as you can with the donor data you collect?

As a donor completes their gift by utilizing your nonprofit’s online donation tool, they’re likely prompted to enter a range of details⁠—from their name and contact info to the way they got involved with your organization.

Matching gift software

Matching gift software (such as Double the Donation) is a specific type of fundraising technology that typically integrates with an organization’s online donation form, CRM, and more. it’s one of the simplest and most impactful ways to collect information about donors’ employment⁠—including current company and matching gift program eligibility.

There are a few ways that this software typically works! For one, a matching gift database search tool can be embedded directly into the organization’s online donation page and/or confirmation screen. Once donors visit the page, they are prompted to enter their company’s name in the auto-completing search tool, which then provides them with detailed information about the company’s available matching gift program criteria and next steps. Not to mention, the company name entered in the search tool is automatically associated with the individual’s donor profile for the organization to come back to.

Even if donors overlook the matching gift tools during the online giving experience, matching gift software may identify additional match-eligible supporters through corporate email domain screening, automated email follow-ups, and more.

Data append services

Have you already utilized multiple of the above methods for collecting donor data and realized you still have a number of holes in your donor profiles? That’s when you may want to consider data append services to help fill in the gaps!

Data appends are typically conducted by third-party agencies that have access to tons of publicly and privately held data sources on millions of individuals. All you need to do is supply the service provider with the information that you do have (for example, a donor’s first and last name and email address).

The appends service then scans that information against the rest of the data and provides additional details about each individual (such as their place of employment, mailing address, birth date, and more).

Asking directly

One of the most straightforward ways that an organization can collect information about its donors is by going directly to the source⁠—the donors themselves.

Common ways for doing so include sending out a brief online survey in which donors can provide a range of requested information or offering donors access to a customizable online donor profile for your organization. In either case, individuals can share details about themselves, which your organization can use to get better acquainted with its audience.

The Impact of Donor Data Research on Retention

Once you’ve collected a plethora of information about your donors, it’s time to use that information to optimize your supporter relations strategy. Consequently, you’ll typically see significantly improved retention levels in no time.

These are some of the specific, tangible benefits of donor data research that result in nonprofit supporters sticking around for the long haul.

Personalization in communications

Personalized communications are more likely to grab recipients’ attention. This typically results in higher open rates, conversion rates, and more.

In order to personalize your organization’s messaging, however, you must have donor data to incorporate. At the very least, you need to know⁠—and use⁠—your donors’ names! Other helpful data points can include recent donation history (amount and campaign), events attended, and personal connections to your organization’s mission.

Take a look at these examples:

“Dear Brenda, Thank you so much for your recent donation of $200 to our cat rescue organization. Your generous support continues to make our mission possible⁠—and we’ve loved getting to know you at our recent gala, too!”

“Dear donor, thank you for your donation! Your generous support continues to make our mission possible⁠.”

Increased personalization makes donors feel more intimately connected to your organization as a key component of your mission. When this occurs, they’ll be more likely to continue supporting your cause with additional gifts for years to come.

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Targeted donation request amounts

Organizations often use specific donation asks to encourage donors to make larger gifts⁠—both within online donation forms and with face-to-face major donation requests. However, you can’t just choose a set range of dollar amounts and use it as a universal suggestion for all donors.

Why? If your suggested amounts are all beyond a prospect’s giving ability, they’re likely to feel discouraged from giving and perhaps never complete their intended gift. At the same time, if you request small or mid-size “typical” donation amounts from a potential major donor, you’re likely to leave significant funding on the table.

That’s where targeted donation asks come in! By understanding your supporters—complete with a solid foundation of donor data research⁠—you can craft ideal gift requests for each individual. The donor will be more likely to contribute to your cause, and you’re likely to maximize the donations you receive.

Workplace giving opportunities

Workplace giving programs⁠—such as matching gifts and volunteer grants⁠—can offer a significant form of funding for nonprofit organizations. They can also increase donor engagement, encourage on-the-fence individuals to contribute, and keep supporters coming back time and time again.

In fact, 84% of donors even report that they’re more likely to donate if they know a match is being offered, and mentioning matching gifts in your fundraising appeals results in a 71% increase in response rate.

All of that is to say that they’re great ways for nonprofits to boost donor retention. And, your donor data research sets you up for continuous success in that field by identifying eligible donors to follow up with.

Multi-channel marketing

The most effective way to ensure your marketing materials reach existing donors and encourage them to keep giving is to use data-driven approaches. Storing basic donor information such as their demographics, engagement with your nonprofit, and interests helps you hone in on the best strategy to drive conversions. Specifically, donor data can help you:

  • Know which platforms to prioritize. Keeping track of your most popular communication channels helps you decide which are worth further investment. For instance, if 90% of your donors prefer email communications to direct mail, that’s a good indication of where you should focus your budget and efforts. Some of the other channels include SMS, direct mail, social media, email, website, in-person, and strategic partnerships within your community.

A diagram shows the main multi-channel marketing platforms (explained in the list above) that you can leverage for donor data research and retention success.

  • Pivot your strategy over time. Your donor base is constantly changing, so your outreach approach should too. Your marketing copy should include a blend of evergreen and topical focuses to accommodate upcoming campaigns and more general messages of support. Track data such as donor response rates to gauge which approaches work best.
  • Create CTAs. Different calls to action work for different segments of your supporter base. Tracking donors’ campaign interests makes it easier to make calls to action resonant and personal to more of your donors.
  • Target the right keywords. One of the best digital marketing channels for nonprofits is search ads. Plus, with the Google Ad Grants program, you can get up to $10,000 of free advertising space on Google’s search engine results page every month. Donor data such as location and interests can help you decide the best keywords to target. For instance, if you want to reach donors in a certain area, you can target local keywords for your most-populated donor areas.

Want to learn more about Google Ad Grants? Watch the video below for a rundown:

It’s much more difficult to advertise without donor data to guide your tactics. Boost your return on investment in marketing across every channel by intentionally leveraging relevant donor information.

Main Takeaway for Donor Data Research and Retention

The more you know about your donors, the better you can craft relationships with them. And the stronger your donor relationships, the more likely they are to continue supporting your cause time and time again.

Ready to learn more about donor data management and what you can do with the information for your cause? Check out these additional resources:

Mastering donor data and retention strategies for digital marketing can be challenging. Click to launch your online presence with Getting Attention.

Explore these five designer-approved nonprofit graphic design steps to make a bigger impact with your next marketing campaign.

5 Insider Nonprofit Graphic Design Steps to Boost Campaigns

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Nonprofit marketing helps organizations raise awareness about their missions, promote their services in the community, and attract volunteers and donors.

Take your nonprofit’s marketing strategy to the next level by incorporating high-quality graphic design. These graphics have a host of benefits for your nonprofit—for example, studies indicate that 46% of consumers decide the credibility of an organization based on its web designs and visual content. Quality graphics also make your message more engaging for your supporters and boosts your overall brand awareness.

We’ll cover these five designer-approved steps to creating a great nonprofit graphic design strategy:

  1. Establish Your Nonprofit’s Brand
  2. Choose Graphic Design Tools to Get Started
  3. Tell Stories Through Your Graphic Design
  4. Keep Your Nonprofit’s Audience in Mind
  5. Stay Open to New Graphic Design Ideas

Graphic design has high rewards for nonprofits, but getting started can be difficult. To help you take that first step, we’ll jump into how to develop your nonprofit’s brand.

Click here to learn more about how Getting Attention can help you increase your nonprofit’s brand awareness.

1. Establish Your Nonprofit’s Brand

Every organization needs a unique brand, including nonprofits. While you may not be selling a product or service to customers like most brands do, you’re still selling something—your impact. When potential supporters come across your marketing materials, they’re deciding if they want to “buy” into your mission by supporting the cause.

Your nonprofit’s brand needs to be recognizable to supporters immediately. Surveys show that choosing a signature color to represent your organization can increase brand recognition by 80%. That way, anyone who comes across your marketing materials will immediately associate them with you.

Here are the key visual branding elements to include in your graphic design strategy:

These terms can help you establish a cohesive and consistent brand so you can complete this nonprofit graphic design step.

  • Logo. A well-designed logo will be the most noticeable part of your brand for your supporters. Create a logo for your nonprofit that expresses your organization’s personality, isn’t overly complicated, and resonates with your audience.
  • Fonts. Using the same fonts across all your communications ties them together in your supporters’ minds. Choose two distinct yet harmonious brand typefaces: one for titles or headings and one for body text. To avoid a cluttered look, don’t use more than three fonts.
  • Color Scheme. It’s recommended to select up to three main brand colors and four to five secondary colors. Make sure to consider color theory to choose a color scheme that balances harmony and contrast.
  • Images. Whenever you include photos or graphics in your marketing materials, make sure they reflect your organization’s mission and your supporters’ values. Additionally, make sure your nonprofit has the appropriate permissions and licenses to use and share them.

To keep your branding consistent across all marketing materials, create a nonprofit brand guide that details all the elements above, as well as information about the communication platforms you use and the audience for each one.

2. Choose Graphic Design Tools to Get Started

Once you’ve established a brand for your nonprofit, you can start designing! You’ll need to have a set of graphic design tools that will help your work, not hinder it. Choose tools that are beginner-friendly and cost-effective.

Here are our recommendations to get you started:

Graphic Creator

According to recent studies, 45% of marketers use infographics to promote their products or services. Join this movement by creating graphics that are custom to your nonprofit. To get started, you’ll need to choose a beginner graphic creator where you can use templates to design flyers, infographics, social media posts, and even short videos.

For this nonprofit graphic design step, consider choosing a graphic creator like Canva.

Canva is a streamlined, beginner-friendly tool. It’s more user-friendly and low-cost than platforms like Adobe Illustrator, making it perfect for busy nonprofit professionals. The platform offers customizable templates for documents, presentations, social media posts, videos, and more. You’ll also have access to Canva’s library of free-use graphics, images, and fonts.

Make sure to apply for Canva’s nonprofit plan to access premium features for free.

Stock Image Source

When you can, take pictures of your supporters engaging with your cause during events or your staff working with beneficiaries. These images will communicate the work you do and show your audience the real people behind your impact.

However, it’s not always feasible to have a professional-quality, organization-owned image ready for every occasion. This is where stock photos can come in handy.

There are many different sources you can use for quality stock images. While some require paid subscriptions, there are plenty of free options available as well.

Look for an online image source like Pexels to streamline this graphic design step.

Pexels is an online source for free stock images. The website has an easy-to-use search bar where you can type keywords related to your nonprofit to find the perfect images. The site offers stunning, unique images for various terms from “animal rescues” to “charity food pantry,” so you’re bound to find media that suits your organization.

Don’t forget to look here for videos, too—Pexels offers thousands of clips that could be the perfect B-roll footage for your next video campaign.

Website Builder

With an intuitive website builder, you can create and update your organization’s website without having to hire a web developer to code the site from scratch.

For the website-building phase of these nonprofit graphic design steps, consider a popular tool like WordPress.

WordPress is one of the most popular website builders across all sectors. Select a sleek theme and easy-to-use layout to give your supporters a pleasant user experience. This solution is flexible and allows you to get creative. For example, you can include blogs, newsletter signup pages, eCommerce stores, and even educational courses within WordPress.

Morweb is a website builder that supports nonprofits specifically, meaning it will help you accomplish these nonprofit graphic design steps.

Morweb, on the other hand, provides web support specifically for nonprofits and other mission-driven organizations. Morweb can help you develop a custom website with modules streamlined to provide an intuitive user experience, meet accessibility compliance, and integrate with external APIs. Additionally, Morweb’s team will be there to support you each step of the way, even during the migration and post-launch phases.

3. Tell Stories Through Your Graphic Design

No matter what graphic design tools you use, everything you create should point back to your nonprofit’s mission. Using graphic design to tell stories is a great way to highlight your organization’s community impact and function.

Storytelling is the way to go in order to get your message to stick in your supporters’ minds. People often remember stories considerably more than statistics, and using this method can increase conversions by 30%. Stories also get your supporters emotionally involved in your mission, inspiring them to take action.

You don’t have to—and shouldn’t—limit your storytelling efforts to words alone. Graphic design can add to verbal stories or become a story in itself. To incorporate graphic design into your nonprofit’s storytelling on different platforms, start with these ideas:

  • Create a carousel of images celebrating a successful event on your website.
  • Feature those who’ve benefitted from your services in social media posts with images and descriptive captions.
  • Design header images for marketing emails to detail your mission statement creatively before diving into the specifics of the message.
  • Add charts and graphs in your brand colors to your presentations to show successes and areas of improvement backed up by data.

Wherever you use stories in your designs, make sure they reflect both your organization’s overall goals and the intent of that particular piece of communication.

4. Keep Your Nonprofit’s Audience in Mind

Your goal is to make your nonprofit stick in your supporters’ minds. So, you’ll need to shape your designs to reflect their needs, wants, and interests by analyzing your donor data.

However, not every supporter of your nonprofit has the same needs, wants, or interests. To develop designs that appeal to various segments of your audience, keep these considerations in mind:

Demographics

Gathering demographic data on your supporters is the first step to understanding your audience. If you know more about the groups who support your cause, you can tailor your design strategy to their interests.

These are some common demographic factors that will be helpful to know about your nonprofit’s audience:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Location
  • Education
  • Family status
  • Wealth

These factors all influence how your audience thinks and what they value, shaping their unique motivations for engaging with your nonprofit. For example, younger generations may want to see social media graphics or digital flyers about creating positive change in society, while older generations might prefer charts incorporated into presentations related to tax-deductible giving.

Past Engagement

Demographics give you more context about who your donors are, but past engagement data will tell you more about how individual supporters interact with your nonprofit.

These considerations will be most useful from a design-strategy standpoint:

As you study your audience during this nonprofit graphic design step, keep these four engagement considerations in mind.

  • Type: This refers to the way(s) supporters interact with your nonprofit, such as giving monetary gifts, in-kind gifts, volunteering, etc.
  • Recency: This indicates when they made their last contribution or attended their last event.
  • Frequency: This metric refers to how often supporters donate or volunteer.
  • Amount: This illustrates how much money they give each time, or how much total time they’ve spent volunteering and attending events.
  • Motivation: This information highlights why they’re involved with your organization (for example, a personal connection to your cause).

Engagement analytics can also help you prioritize certain groups within your audience to boost retention rates. After all, retaining your current supporters is more cost-effective for day-to-day operations than attracting new ones.

Decide which set of engagement data is most important to your graphic design strategy based on your nonprofit’s current goals. If you want to increase the frequency of the donations, for example, highlight the benefits of becoming a monthly donor in your designs.

Supporter Segmentation

When you combine demographic and past engagement data, you can start segmenting your supporter base.

A supporter segment is a group of people who interact with your nonprofit and share characteristics. Your segments may include a group of long-term major donors who are likely older, wealthy, and educated. Another segment might be made up of volunteers acquired through social media who are younger and have fewer means to donate at this point.

Once you’ve established segments that represent your core group of supporters, you can use your understanding of who you’re targeting in each of your marketing campaigns to adapt your graphic design choices. When communications are personalized to them, your audience will be more likely to engage with your nonprofit’s communications and respond to your calls to action.

5. Stay Open to New Graphic Design Ideas

When you’re getting started with nonprofit graphic design and developing a marketing strategy, you’ll need to stay flexible with your ideas and process.

Flexibility doesn’t make planning any less important—you should still outline each of your design ideas in detail and make sure they align with your goals. But don’t be surprised if you end up going in a different direction based on initial reactions to your concepts, new data on your audience, or new trends in your space.

Here are some popular nonprofit marketing trends that can help your organization reach and resonate with its audience:

  • Personalization. Because it’s so easy to access data about your supporters, be sure to personalize each communication to their preferences. In an email marketing campaign, for example, you might include their name in the subject line. When it comes to graphic design, tailor your imagery and copy to the segment you want to appeal to (e.g., for cat lovers, use images of kittens in communications from your animal shelter). Consider accessibility-related concerns your audience might have as well.
  • User-generated content (UGC). This term refers to content created by your organization’s supporters (e.g., a volunteer posting pictures documenting their experience), which is often seen as more trustworthy or authentic. You can make it easy for supporters to create UGCs by providing a kit of branded templates they can customize. For example, to motivate them to share your upcoming charity race, you could create social media post templates they can add their names or a personal message to.
  • Technology grants. Initiatives like the Google Ad Grants program give nonprofits funding or free credits they can put toward their marketing efforts. Many organizations are taking advantage of these programs to make their advertising budget go further and reach wider audiences. By applying for the Google Ad Grant, for example, you can drive more interested users to your website, where they’ll see your engaging graphic design work. Check out the video below for more benefits of the program:

Consider reaching out to specialized consultants to improve your marketing results. To help manage your Google Grant account, you might work with a marketing consultant. They’ll help you pick relevant keywords, maintain compliance, design engaging ad copy, and more.

If you work with a graphic designer, for example, you’ll give them an overview of your strategy and tell them about your plans for certain designs. Then, they’ll come back with examples of content.

Additional Resources

Creating great graphic designs for your nonprofit will go a long way in attracting, engaging, and retaining supporters. Follow these steps to start adding graphic design to your nonprofit’s marketing strategy.

For more tips and tricks about nonprofit graphic design and marketing, check out these resources:

Click here to learn more about how Google Ad Grants can help your nonprofit reach more supporters.