Nonprofit organizations are feeling the cuts from donors in ways previously not experienced. The tough economy has donors decreasing their average gift size or limiting their giving to only the organizations they feel the strongest connection to. These key findings from the 2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study spell out the changes nonprofits have to contend with in securing the funding they need:  

• Donations under $50 grew from 51 percent to 61 percent in 2008
• The percentage of gifts over $1000 were down by half in 2008  
• Gifts under $250 accounted for 97 percent of all gifts

With lower dollar donations becoming a larger slice of the pie, nonprofits need to focus on increasing the average gift size from low-dollar donors and maintaining the gift size of higher-dollar donors. So what’s the best way to succeed in a climate like this? It’s by improving the experience of being a donor and by staying relevant to them. Here is one way to help ensure you stay high on your donor’s priority list:

Keep donors engaged in a way that works best for them. After a great initial “thank you”, it’s important to stay connected with your donors and continue to build their confidence in your organization. Let them know what their donation is achieving. And a great way to do that is to stay in touch with them in ways and with content that’s about what they care about. This means avoiding the common mistake of speaking to all donors at once with a broad overview of your success. Appeal to different donor groups and their top concerns. If the content you share is not interesting to a particular donor or group of donors, it won’t be read or watched and you will burn them out or cause them to feel indifferent about your organization.

To know what’s compelling to your donors, ask them. An easy, time-, and budget- friendly way to learn about your donors are short online surveys, which is a way they prefer to engage:

Of the high-threshold engagement opportunities, online surveys received the second highest response rates. More so than emails requesting time-consuming activities like volunteering or attending an event.

-2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

Click here to see some questions you can ask your donors to find out what motivates them, and how you can best keep them engaged. Consider on-boarding your donors by letting them know their participation in this short survey will help improve the communications they receive from you. From the results you can:

• understand what your donors value so you can prioritize your efforts to stay top of mind with them,
• learn the best way to tell donors what their donations are achieving through media you know will reach them (Tip: You will find out if social media should be one of them.), and
• identify your most passionate advocates and how to best cultivate stronger relationships with them so they donate more and spread the good word about your organization.

Remember, just like the world around you, your donors’ interests will change over time. Getting regular feedback/input from them is key to winning their continued support.

Next week, discover another way to keep your organization high in your donors’ priorities. Happy growing!

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