- \n
- What is donor management?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Why is donor management important for nonprofits?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Stages of the donor management process<\/a><\/li>\n
- 7 tips to improve your donor management strategy<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Donor management is a multi-faceted process, requiring input from different teams within your nonprofit\u2019s staff. But when all the pieces come together, your nonprofit will benefit from loyal support, increasing your donor retention rate.<\/p>\n
![\"Bloomerang\u2019s](\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Donor-Management-Middle-CTA-1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\nWhat is donor management?<\/h2>\n
Donor management is the steps your nonprofit takes to acquire new donors<\/span><\/a>, collect donor information and use that information to cultivate strong supporter relationships.<\/p>\n
Because donor relationships are some of the most important relationships your nonprofit has, it\u2019s important to optimize every stage of the donor management process. Creating a positive experience for your supporters increases the chances that they\u2019ll continue supporting your cause for the long term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhy is donor management important for nonprofits?<\/h2>\n
As a nonprofit professional, you know that most donations don\u2019t just appear out of thin air. The donation cultivation process requires consistent outreach and relationship-building efforts to secure ongoing gifts. A dedicated donor management strategy makes it easier to foster consistent support.<\/p>\n
Managing and growing donor relationships offers the following benefits to nonprofits:<\/p>\n
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- Increase your fundraising return on investment (ROI).<\/strong> Constantly having to acquire new donors can be costly and time-consuming. Retaining donors<\/a> through effective donor management and stewardship tends to be more cost-effective and allows your organization to gain access to a reliable fundraising stream.<\/li>\n
- Foster word-of-mouth marketing. <\/strong>When donors have a positive experience engaging with your nonprofit, they\u2019ll be more likely to speak highly of your organization to their family and friends. This can attract new supporters to your cause.<\/li>\n
- Greater donor lifetime value. <\/strong>Highly engaged donors tend to give more over time and often increase their donation amounts. This can increase the donor lifetime value (DLV) of your most involved donors, helping to create a more sustainable revenue stream.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It may take some time to develop a donor management strategy, but these benefits make it worth the time and effort because they support long-term growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nStages of the donor management process<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s helpful to look at the donor management process through the lens of the donor journey or lifecycle. The donor journey is the process by which new supporters learn more about your organization and determine whether they want to donate to your cause.<\/p>\n
The four stages of the donor journey are awareness, research, decision and retention. Let\u2019s take a closer look at each phase and how your nonprofit can optimize the donor management process throughout each step.<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Donor-Management-Donor-Journey.png\")
<\/p>\nAwareness<\/h3>\n
In the awareness phase, potential new supporters hear about your organization for the first time. This is the stage where you\u2019ll first make contact with individuals who may eventually become donors, meaning it\u2019s crucial to make a positive first impression.<\/p>\n
Creating targeted marketing campaigns is the most effective way your organization can manage potential donors at this stage. There are plenty of ways you might reach new supporters for the first time, including through:<\/p>\n
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- Google Ad campaigns<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
- Social media campaigns<\/li>\n
- Event promotions<\/li>\n
- Direct mail outreach<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The more touchpoints you can have with potential new donors, the more likely you are to catch their attention and spark their interest.<\/p>\n
Also, consider developing personalized outreach materials. Studies have shown that 62 percent of consumers<\/a> who make online purchases said that a brand would lose their loyalty if it delivered a non-personalized experience.<\/p>\n
Personalize your outreach by addressing emails and direct mail with recipients\u2019 names or referencing their past involvement with your nonprofit, whether as an event attendee, volunteer or social media follower.<\/p>\n
Research<\/h3>\n
After hearing about your organization, potential new supporters will conduct further research about your cause and your mission. In this phase, it\u2019s important to ensure your online marketing materials are designed to clearly communicate what your nonprofit does, why it matters and how donor support makes a difference.<\/p>\n
To help facilitate the research process, ensure the following marketing platforms are optimized to spread information about your mission:<\/p>\n
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- Your website. <\/strong>Make sure your website features a robust About page, community testimonials, past annual reports, information about donation uses and other content that helps potential new supporters understand what your organization is all about.<\/li>\n
- Your social media pages. <\/strong>32% of donors<\/a> say they are most inspired to give via social media, more than any other channel. Maintain an active presence on the social media accounts your nonprofit uses, whether on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc. Share information about events, volunteer opportunities and fundraising campaigns. Also, create posts that offer insight into your organization\u2019s history and current strategic goals. Social media is also the perfect place to feature the behind-the-scenes work of your nonprofit in action.<\/li>\n
- Your email newsletters.<\/strong> Use your email newsletters as an opportunity to spotlight different aspects of your nonprofit\u2019s mission. Include interviews with community members, volunteers, staff members and other important stakeholders. Incorporate plenty of photos and other visual content to help bring your mission to life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Ultimately, your goal should be to make it easy for new audience members to understand your organization on a deeper level in just a few minutes by looking at any of your digital marketing platforms.<\/p>\n
Decision<\/h3>\n
In this stage, new audience members decide whether they want to show their support and donate to your cause.<\/p>\n
Offer multiple ways for donors to give depending on their preferences, including:<\/p>\n
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- An <\/strong>online donation page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> Your online donation page should be easily accessible on your website. Include buttons or links on your home page and main menu that send website visitors directly to your online giving form. Make sure your donation page is streamlined and simple so that donors can quickly fill it out. Also, offer the option for donors to turn their one-time gift into a monthly donation to help encourage more recurring giving.<\/li>\n
- Direct mail fundraising.<\/strong> Ensure your fundraising request letters include a pre-addressed envelope for supporters to send in a check or cash donation.<\/li>\n
- In-kind donations. <\/strong>Make sure donors are aware of your in-kind giving opportunities. Some donors may work for or own companies that often have surplus products they can donate to your cause. Others may simply prefer donating items rather than monetary gifts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Once donors decide they want to give, you want to ensure your donation processes are as straightforward as possible. This increases the chances that donors will follow through on their intention to give and <\/em>feel more inclined to donate again in the future.<\/p>\n
Retention<\/h3>\n
The donor journey doesn\u2019t end once an individual has donated. In the ongoing stewardship<\/span><\/a> and retention phase, your nonprofit must work to stay engaged with donors, cultivate stronger relationships and ultimately encourage them to become recurring donors.<\/p>\n
There are three aspects of the retention process:<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Donor-Management-Retention-Process.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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- Donor appreciation<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/strong> The first thing you should do after donors give is thank them for their contribution. Send an automatic thank you email and donation receipt so donors know that you received their gift. Then, continue your appreciation efforts with a more personalized email or letter. You can even call donors to thank them over the phone.<\/li>\n
- Donor stewardship and engagement<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. <\/strong>Donor engagement and stewardship are the relationship-building efforts your nonprofit undertakes to foster stronger donor relationships. These efforts include inviting donors to events or volunteer opportunities, sending donor surveys to gather their feedback and sharing the impact of donations.<\/li>\n
- Follow-up donation requests. <\/strong>After stewarding your donors, you\u2019ll eventually be ready to request another donation. At this point, it\u2019s important to use what you know about donors, including their past donation amounts, to request an appropriate donation amount.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
By carefully managing and cultivating donor relationships, you can make the donor journey a cyclical process and promote more recurring gifts.<\/p>\n
Next, we\u2019ll dive into some tips and best practices for optimizing your donor management at every stage of the donor journey.<\/p>\n
![\"Bloomerang\u2019s](\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Donor-Management_Middle-CTA-1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n7 tips to improve your donor management strategy<\/h2>\n
As you streamline each step of the donor lifecycle, there are several tips, best practices and tools you can use that will help simplify the donor management process.<\/p>\n
1. Set realistic goals<\/h3>\n
Setting donor management goals can give your nonprofit\u2019s team an objective to strive for that will guide all of your donor outreach efforts. Your goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant to your organization\u2019s overall mission and time-based.<\/p>\n
Set an overall donor management goal for your organization each year as well as goals for every campaign. For example, you might set yearly goals to acquire 200 new donors or increase your donor retention rate to 50%. Then, you might set smaller goals for your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign<\/span><\/a>, such as recruiting at least 50 volunteer fundraisers or calling every person who gives to the campaign to say thank you.<\/p>\n
2. Track metrics<\/h3>\n
Determine quantifiable metrics to assess your donor management progress. These metrics should be relevant to your goals. For example, you might track donor engagement analytics such as:<\/p>\n
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- Donor retention rate<\/span><\/a> (how many donors who gave last year give again this year)<\/li>\n
- Donor acquisition cost (how much your nonprofit spends to acquire one new donor)<\/li>\n
- Donor lifetime value (how much value a donor offers your nonprofit over time)<\/li>\n
- Email open and click-through rates<\/li>\n
- Social media engagement metrics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You can use several tools and resources to identify and analyze these metrics, including your:<\/p>\n
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- Donor database<\/a><\/li>\n
- Online donation software (this might be part of your donor management system)<\/li>\n
- Email marketing platform<\/li>\n
- Social media platforms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Work with your team to determine which metrics you\u2019ll track, when you\u2019ll report on each metric and who is responsible for updating each metric. View metrics reports regularly to understand what\u2019s going well and which areas of your donor management approach need improvement.<\/p>\n
3. Invest in donor management software<\/h3>\n
A donor management system<\/a> is a software tool that allows nonprofits to store, organize and report on supporter data. You may have also heard this platform referred to as a nonprofit CRM<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Donor management software benefits<\/h3>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/bloomerang.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Donor-Management-Software-Benefits.png\")
<\/p>\nInvesting in powerful donor management software offers many benefits. This tool allows nonprofits to:<\/p>\n
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- Personalize donor outreach. <\/strong>When you track donors\u2019 information such as full names, donation and volunteer histories, event attendance and other data, you can personalize donor outreach messages. For instance, rather than sending a generic thank you email that begins with \u201cDear Donor,\u201d you can send a personalized message that addresses the donor by name and thanks them for their specific donation amount.<\/li>\n
- Track fundraising progress.<\/strong> Your CRM allows you to track fundraising metrics and other analytics related to your fundraising campaigns. This makes it easy to see how your events and campaigns have changed over time.<\/li>\n
- Identify potential major donors. <\/strong>You can use your donor management software to identify donors who have the potential to become major donors. Donor management systems like Bloomerang<\/span><\/a> provide insight into who your most engaged donors are and which donors have the highest giving capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It\u2019s important to look for robust donor management software that offers a wide variety of features to meet your nonprofit\u2019s needs. Typically, it\u2019s better to look for a more robust system upfront that can grow alongside your nonprofit rather than sticking with an inexpensive but less built-out option<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n
Donor management software features to look for<\/h3>\n
Every donor management system will look slightly different, but there are a few must-have features to seek out if you\u2019re looking to invest in a new solution. Look for software with these features:<\/p>\n
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- A donor database<\/a>. <\/strong>This is the tool you\u2019ll use to build, view and update donor profiles.<\/li>\n
- Online giving tools. <\/strong>An online giving platform<\/a> allows you to create an online donation page and process digital donations. This provides a better donor experience, empowering them to give from anywhere, at any time.<\/li>\n
- Reporting features. <\/strong>Your donor management system should be able to run reports on a variety of topics, including marketing and fundraising campaigns, donor engagement metrics and other annual planning insights.<\/li>\n
- Integrations. <\/strong>Integrations allow you to extend your donor management software\u2019s functionality by adding the other software tools you\u2019re already using. This ensures seamless data transfers between your CRM and platforms like your email marketing tool or event management system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Online giving tools. <\/strong>An online giving platform<\/a> allows you to create an online donation page and process digital donations. This provides a better donor experience, empowering them to give from anywhere, at any time.<\/li>\n
- Track fundraising progress.<\/strong> Your CRM allows you to track fundraising metrics and other analytics related to your fundraising campaigns. This makes it easy to see how your events and campaigns have changed over time.<\/li>\n
- Donor stewardship and engagement<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. <\/strong>Donor engagement and stewardship are the relationship-building efforts your nonprofit undertakes to foster stronger donor relationships. These efforts include inviting donors to events or volunteer opportunities, sending donor surveys to gather their feedback and sharing the impact of donations.<\/li>\n
- Direct mail fundraising.<\/strong> Ensure your fundraising request letters include a pre-addressed envelope for supporters to send in a check or cash donation.<\/li>\n
- Your social media pages. <\/strong>32% of donors<\/a> say they are most inspired to give via social media, more than any other channel. Maintain an active presence on the social media accounts your nonprofit uses, whether on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc. Share information about events, volunteer opportunities and fundraising campaigns. Also, create posts that offer insight into your organization\u2019s history and current strategic goals. Social media is also the perfect place to feature the behind-the-scenes work of your nonprofit in action.<\/li>\n
- Foster word-of-mouth marketing. <\/strong>When donors have a positive experience engaging with your nonprofit, they\u2019ll be more likely to speak highly of your organization to their family and friends. This can attract new supporters to your cause.<\/li>\n
- Why is donor management important for nonprofits?<\/a><\/li>\n