Donor Management Technologies and Strategy
It is no secret that many nonprofits and foundations rely on year-end donations for a large percentage of their annual giving. It’s clear for many you need to be sure that your donor management software is up to the task. In this article, we wanted to take a look at these proven strategies you may need along with the right technology to start thinking about now to be ready for the months ahead.
We know that it is still summer, but it is also the perfect time to plan your year-end campaign. If you put things off until December, it is going to be too late. According to Charity Navigator, most charities receive about 40% of their annual contributions in the last few weeks of the year. By getting an early start you can extend the giving season and celebrate a better new year.
Sending Out your fall and year-end appeals:
Many organizations get their best results by sending out three or more appeals timed around late summer, Thanksgiving and the middle of December. Use a combination of email and mail efforts. Segment your high dollar and major donors for more personalized communications with your donor management tools found in many integrated fundraising software tools like The Databank.
Data Enhancements and Data Intelligence:
Before you send anything out, this is the time to take a look at your donor database records. A trusted data quality expert like Updentity can help your nonprofit reach-out to constituents and donors in a more effective manner by appending quality data profile records before you spend a dime on postage. Using state of the art technology, Updentity is able to analyze your database and donor history. With this analysis, your organization could obtain a prediction including which of your donors are most likely to donate.
Google Ad Grants:
Google Ad Grants is the nonprofit edition of AdWords, Google’s online advertising tool. Google Ad Grants empowers nonprofit organizations, through $10,000 per month in in-kind AdWords™ advertising, to promote their missions and initiatives on Google.com. You have time now to take advantage of this awesome offer. Use the advertising to drive memberships, newsletter subscriptions, social media engagement, volunteers and sponsors. Ads can increase revenue through new donors, advertising opportunities, event attendance, traffic to your online store, and more.
Making solicitation and Thank You calls:
Taking the time to call your donors (see great blog article from Pursuant) increases giving dramatically. Round up as many people as you can including your staff, board members and volunteers to staff the phones. Ask people to follow-up with their personal prospects. Give them briefings when they are calling people they do not know and update your files with the data you collect. Know as much as you can about your constituents before you make that call. Monitoring what your contacts say on social channels is every bit as important as reading their emails. Today, we are fortunate to have CRM tools like Nimble CRM which can add considerable value to your existing donor management software tool to provide social insights (if feature not in current Donor Database). Further, you may consider getting financial profiles for your donors and prospects before you call via a service from WealthEngine. This type of data (Social and Financial) via various tools is an awesome combination for many development officers!
Video Email for Enhancing the Ask:
This year, maybe it’s time to do something different to increase annual giving via a new technology. We have been using an awesome new video email tool internally, and it’s great for nonprofits too. With Video Emails, you may send holiday & special occasion greetings, send targeted messages to specific groups, share updates on missions, projects, & goals. It’s very impactful and could greatly increase the power of your message.
Implementing your digital strategy:
Online gifts can come from any source, and they have been representing a larger share of year-end giving each year. Harness the power of your website via donor database tools like StayClassy and social media. Create a splash page on your website asking for contributions the last 48 hours of the year. Use social media updates on an ongoing basis to reinforce your campaign.
These are a few of my thoughts on ways to plan now for the end of the year in the heat of the summer. What ideas do you have?
As always, Contact us for expert advice on the exact nonprofit software automation you may need for your year-end giving campaigns. Until then, keep SmartThoughts in mind.
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