Winter is defrosting and love is in the air. What better way to shake-off hibernation season by embracing your donors with the warmth of love and appreciation that you have for them supporting your mission?
Below are 7 great ways to show your donors some love this Valentine’s Day season.
Tip 1: Spring Clean Your Data
Salesforce has duplication rules in place to prevent team members from entering duplicate information on your constituents, but it is important for team members to take the time to keep the information current. Have some of your donors moved? Or perhaps you have multiple addresses on their record. Are there some relationships between donors (personal or business) that you have always meant to document, but were too busy at the time?
Before starting the new year of engaging your donors, take the time to update the donor information in the centralized database, so all team members have the most accurate information. This can help you make sure all those notes of gratitude make it to your donors.
Tip 2: Spruce Up Your Website to Streamline Online Fundraising Efforts
Holiday or seasonally-focused graphics on the website are great visuals to help trigger donors to see new activity on the website. But more importantly, the steps that the donor needs to take to make a contribution must be quick and visibly easy to find and follow. Make sure your online giving experience is quick, easy and painless for your donors.
From a donor’s perspective, the button to donate should be easy to find and the number of clicks to make the donation should not exceed three clicks, from start to finish. From the organization’s perspective, the web-to-lead feature of Salesforce will make organizing and recording donations flawless.
Tip 3: Create Thoughtful Plans of Engagement
Engagement plans are helpful tools that can provide team members on when and how to engage their donors at various times of the fundraising cycle. These plans can include items such as follow-up calls, emails, event invitations, and they can be tailor to specific categories of donors, such as Major Donors, New Donors, etc. Creating engagement plans that last between 12-18 months will ensure a consistent level of engagement to donors based on their giving/interest level, and will help your team members stay abreast of the next points of engagement through various forms of automations and alerts.
By implementing these plans of engagement mindfully, your donors will feel thanked and that their contributions have made a measurable impact on your organization.
Tip 4: Send “Thank You for the Love” Communications
The relationship between a donor and an organization that they choose to support is just that, a choice. Recognizing and thanking your donors for choosing your organization and the journey to helping you achieve your mission will go a long way in cultivating the relationship for years to come.
Whether the communication method is through email, phone or text messages, Salesforce marketing automation can track each method. It also permits segmentation among the various donors receiving communications, making each individual donor feel the love.
Tip 5: Get Social with your Donors
Social media is a direct line of communication to your donors where they can feel heard, empowered and valued by your organization. Your organization can build a strong social media presence with current and potential donors by amplifying the mission, engaging audiences in various conversations and discussions, and empower your constituents to advocate your message.
Craft a community where individuals and organizations who believe in your cause can come, ask questions, learn how to get involved and help you spread the word. Remember to engage and shout out recognize the impact that that community is making on your organization.
Tip 6: Survey & Learn from Your Donors
Providing quick surveys is one of the quickest ways that your organization can learn from your donors of what they want to see from the organization going forward or how they feel about current initiatives of the organization.
The survey can be provided to your constituents through email or text, and if you’re using a tool that’s integrated into Salesforce, the results can be captured in one centralized location. You can then organize the results and generate reports for the team members to analyze and execute changes as needed.
Tip 7: Give Them a Break…a Coffee or Lunch Break
When showing love to your donors, nothing beats an opportunity to physically reconnect with each other over a cup of coffee or lunch. Not only does the donor feel appreciated that your organization values their commitment, but it also gives you the opportunity to get to know the donor outside of an ask.
Don’t worry about rushing back to the office to document all of the notes captured from the meeting. With the Salesforce Mobile app, you can capture any notes or next steps from the meeting, as well as assign any next steps to team members in order to get the tasks started right away.
With these ideas, your donors will be feeling the love all year long. To dive more into some of the ideas shared above, you may also be interested in reading:
