It takes many kinds of donors to support your work and further your mission. Most charities strive to identify and keep major donors, while while still building a large community of individuals who support your important mission with varying levels of donations.
No donation is more important or less valuable than another. And no matter the size of the contribution, to retain that donor just one thing counts: Engagement.
Virtually Engaging Donors, Large and Small: Work To Retain Your Donors
Why is this important? Because when donors are happy, they will renew and upgrade their support. They will also refer supporters to your cause. Engage with your supporters and they will engage with you. On the DonorPerfect blog, experts spoke about how our relationships with donors changed dramatically during the pandemic and discussed some new ways to draw donors in and make them feel connected. Consider, for instance, ways to more affordably and effectively engageing your donors with the latest affordable, digital communication, collaboration and connection tools.
Make it easy for donors to stay deeply engaged with your charity and your mission.
Seriously consider establishing a 100% secure, virtual engagement hub or platform for donors to better communicate, collaborate and connect with your organization Then, instead of chasing donors with emails and reports (which largely go unread, unfortunately), they have ONE PLACE to go, whenever it is convenient, to access the most recent and important information on your mission success.
And, as you engage with your donors, be honest about obstacles to success. Is your nonprofit struggling to meet the demand for your services in the community? Do you have an impossibly long waiting list? Is there a crisis in your community that you could address if you had the financial support? Your supporters already appreciate your work and want to help. So be real with them about your needs. They will appreciate your transparency. And they will want to help.
The idea is to engage both the "head and the heart" of your donors. Make them part of your team. Get personal and help them to understand that their dollars make an enormous difference to individuals in need and to mission success.
This article draws, in part, from a recent article published by DonorPerfect: Getting Unstuck:How to Move Forward After COVID-19
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