The landscape of nonprofit donor demographics is changing, as millennials and Gen Zers are increasingly becoming more engaged with organizations that they believe in.

Understanding donors’ motivations based on evidence is key to effective fundraising. On the surface, that’s a logical concept, but so many fundraising organizations overlook the importance of analyzing data and instead keep doing what they’ve always done – because it works every now and then.

Finding and retaining major donors can be challenging, especially in lean economic times. However, major donors who are committed to an organization’s mission and vision are likely to continue to support the organization – in good times and bad.

Recently, Mark Gaskill, our vice president of research and marketing solutions, had the chance to sit down and chat with WJR’s Vanessa Denha Garmo. They discussed marketing strategy for nonprofits: how to make the most of your organization’s unique story, and how you can make your donors long-term partners in your organization’s mission. Below are some highlights from Mark and Vanessa’s conversation. 

It’s not often you find someone that combines the knowledge and experience in providing measurable fundraising solutions and marketing expertise in a single individual. But we’ve found that in Austen Smith.

Study after study makes it clear that personalization is the reigning king of marketing. Organizations of all kinds are racing to develop the customer insights they need to single out individuals and create better, more personal user experiences. Non-profits can learn from these organizations and do the same to make their fundraising experiences more relevant to donors.

High-profile data breaches expose how vulnerable even organizations with sophisticated IT departments can be to attacks from outside. But you don’t have to be a large organization to be concerned about  data privacy.  Protecting data for nonprofits is just as important and can be especially risky when dealing with marketing vendors. 

In our previous article, “You have to know your donors to engage them,” we outlined the data points needed to build the emotional connections with your donors that lead to increased ROI for your fundraising. Many of those points can be found in your existing donor data, or through data appends, but some points will require primary research. In this article, we outline how to design research to be useful in creating more relevant and meaningful communications. 

Most fundraisers are familiar with the idea that it’s less expensive to keep a donor than to find a new one. And many are aware about how to retain donors: they need to build strong connections between the charity and the donor. In the past, charities have focused on the importance of making rational, deliberate appeals on the assumption that donors made rational, deliberate decisions when giving. 

CHALLENGE:
A 1,200% increase in net proceeds may not seem possible, but that’s exactly what we helped the Detroit Zoo achieve over a five-year period through a more efficient and targeted marketing program.

The results of appeal season are in for Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan (CLFM) and the impact of a new approach has been dramatic.