Why Powerful Tools Are Important to Your Nonprofit

Nonprofit Management

Article | July 12, 2022

Are you expecting all donors to be the same? If you answered “no…well actually… kinda,” then you are not alone. It’s simple to send out the same fundraising message to everyone. However, you can transform your fundraising when you understand that there are many reasons why a person chooses to donate to a nonprofit. Once you understand the psychology of donating to charity, you can then best appeal to current and potential donors. Why do Donors Give? Along a spectrum, there are two extremes that prevent nonprofits from using donation psychology in their fundraising messages. On one end, the person making the ask – the Executive Director, Development person or Board member – assumes all donors have the same motivations for giving that they do. This translates into single-focused messaging that appeals to the person making the ask and to some donors, but not to others. On the other end of the spectrum when a nonprofit neglects philanthropy psychology, the person making the ask becomes paralyzed. They fear offending donors by asking at the “wrong” time. They focus on external, societal crises, such as the pandemic, wars, tragedies, and make a decision for the donor that this is the wrong time to be asked for a gift. They assume that the donor would be offended if asked. The Millennial Impact Project studied why donors across generations start giving. Unexpectedly, according to the researcher, Derrick Feldmann, donors first give because they want to belong. They desire to join their friends or be a part of a cause doing the good they wish to see in the world – this is before they understand what the cause or nonprofit is seeking to accomplish. As they gain that sense of belonging and begin believing in the cause, they can be motivated to continue to give when the nonprofit taps into their giving style. The Seven Faces of Philanthropy was groundbreaking research published in 1994 that has been updated and is still relevant today. In summary, the researchers found that donors give for different reasons. Some donors give because they enjoy the act of giving, especially through events. More donors prefer to donate to local charities or make a long-lasting impact through their investments. Other donors desire to repay or pay forward in gratitude through their giving. Others give because of religious or altruistic reasons. Then, there are donors who see giving as a family tradition and, if applicable, to teach their children generosity. Understanding the donor’s motivations for giving guides a nonprofit in developing the right message, using the right fundraising methods and segmenting to the right group of donors. How Can you Encourage Your Donors to Give? Now that you understand the psychology behind making a philanthropic gift, you can implement this knowledge to customize your fundraising appeals. First, you will need to determine why your donors give. This is done through discussions with Board members, personal conversations with donors, and through donor surveys. It begins with a simple question, “Why do you give to…?” The answers will assist you in creating donor identities; that is, the types of identities or groups where donors wish to belong. Sample identities could be “community leader” or “survivor” or “change maker.” Next, based on what you learned from your current donors, pick the top two or three donor motivations and associated identities. Alter your current messaging and fundraising methods to these giving reasons. The messaging and methods that inspire your current donors will likely attract more donors. Begin testing your messaging for these two to three reasons: Which message has the highest engagement in response and donation? This will be your primary message that you will rotate with the secondary messages. As you further explore your donor’s psychology for giving, you can advance to segmenting your communications based on what will motivate groups of donors to give. Once you understand donor psychology, you will wonder how you missed the clues to why your donors give – and be ready to catch future donors by staying one step ahead of their giving habits.

Fundraising

Article | July 15, 2022

Have you ever heard of the "Ladder of Engagement"? It's definitely not a new strategy, but as the world increasingly relies on keeping audiences engaged and connected, it's an increasingly important tool for all nonprofits. The nonprofit ladder of engagement is a powerful tool to hook your "casual follower" and move them toward being your most loyal donor and everything in between. If you don't already have a strategic ladder of engagement for your nonprofit, now's a great time to develop one. And for organizations that have one in place, it's good practice to evaluate and make adjustments from time to time--and summer is an excellent time of year to do just that! This blog will help you develop or update your nonprofit's ladder of engagement.

Nonprofit Management

Article | July 14, 2022

In 2011, only 11% of traffic to Classy fundraising campaigns came from mobile devices, but by 2018, it was over 50%. Not only does having a mobile-friendly campaign increase your interactions with donors, but it also builds their trust in your organization. Classy’s report Why America Gives found that 41% of donors said they’d have lower trust in how a nonprofit would use their funds if they couldn’t easily donate online or via their mobile device.

Article | May 14, 2020

As a follow-up to last week’s blog on Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Spring 2020 Release features, we’re jumping into a deep dive of the Accounting Subledger product – the connection between fundraising and finance that will help you reconcile data and have consistency and transparency across accounting and fundraising operations.