Enhancing a Donor Profile With Employment Data [A Guide]

Why employment data matters in donor profiles

Employment data is crucial information for nonprofits looking to enhance their fundraising efforts and build stronger relationships with donors. When it comes to establishing well-rounded donor profiles, employer information is an essential piece of the puzzle.

Here’s why:

• It allows you to identify corporate giving opportunities. Tons of donors work for companies with employee giving programs, but they may not even know about the opportunity. When you understand where your supporters are employed, your team can uncover program opportunities and encourage donors to get involved.
• It empowers you to personalize your outreach. The more you know about an individual, the better you can tailor your communications for them specifically. Knowing where they work allows you to segment outreach by employer, industry, workplace giving eligibility, and more⁠—ultimately ensuring customized engagement.
• It permits you to estimate a donor’s giving capacity. Knowing how much an individual could potentially give is essential, and employment data can help you estimate their capacity for supporting your cause.

As you can see, the benefits of including employer data in donor profiles is multifold. If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to begin incorporating the information in your donors’ records.

Collecting employment information from supporters

Gathering employment data from donors is a crucial step in unlocking fundraising and workplace giving opportunities. However, nonprofits must be strategic in how they collect this information to ensure accuracy and encourage donor participation.

Here are some handy ways to gather employment details from supporters:

1. Include Employer Fields on Donation Forms – Adding a simple field for employer information on online and offline donation forms makes it easy for donors to provide their workplace details at the point of giving.
2. Ask During Event Registrations – Whether supporters are signing up for a fundraising event, gala, or volunteer opportunity, include a section for employer information in the registration process.
3. Leverage Matching Gift Tools – Platforms, like Double the Donation, allow donors to quickly search for their employer’s workplace giving programs, often leading them to input their company name while making a donation.
4. Survey Donors and Volunteers – Periodically send surveys to your donor base asking for updated information, including their current employer, to ensure records remain accurate.
5. Utilize LinkedIn and Other Public Data Sources – If donors haven’t provided employment details, checking LinkedIn profiles or company directories (where publicly available) can help fill in missing gaps.
6. Enlist an Employer Append Service ⁠— Utilizing a dedicated data enhancement provider can help locate employment information by scanning against publicly and privately held data sources.

For the best results, you’ll likely want to incorporate a combination of the above-recommended methods. This will allow you to access employment information for the largest number of donors possible, ensuring that you can maximize workplace giving opportunities, encourage matching gifts, and personalize engagement strategies to boost both donor participation and fundraising success.

Leveraging employment data for fundraising success

Employment data is a key component in building a well-rounded and actionable donor profile, offering nonprofits valuable insights into their supporters’ potential for fundraising success. Here’s how your team can benefit from employment data in your supporter records:

Unlock Workplace Giving Opportunities

One of the most significant advantages of knowing a donor’s employer is the ability to identify workplace giving opportunities. For example, many corporations offer matching gift programs, where they match donations made by their employees to eligible nonprofits. By tracking employment information, nonprofits can proactively encourage donors to request matches, effectively doubling or even tripling the impact of their gifts.

Beyond matching donations, many corporations also provide volunteer grants or volunteer time off when employees contribute their time to charitable causes. By knowing where a donor works, nonprofits can track volunteer activities and inform supporters about the potential to earn grant money through their workplace. This is another avenue for maximizing fundraising and tapping into a donor’s full giving potential without asking them to give more!

Strengthen Corporate Partnerships

Employment data can help nonprofits identify clusters of donors employed by the same company or industry. By recognizing these connections, organizations can approach businesses with workplace giving programs and establish partnerships that benefit both the nonprofit and its supporters.

Strengthening these corporate ties can lead to long-term collaborations, fundraising opportunities, and increased visibility for the organization.

Identify High-Potential Donors

Employment data can also help nonprofits segment their donor base by employer size, industry, and giving capacity. For example, donors working for large corporations may have access to more generous matching gift programs or higher volunteer grant amounts. By understanding these dynamics, nonprofits can prioritize engagement with high-potential donors, ensuring they are leveraging every opportunity for financial support.

Tips for building well-rounded donor profiles

Building a well-rounded donor profile is essential for maximizing engagement and increasing fundraising success. By incorporating the following strategies, fundraisers can build detailed and actionable donor profiles that enhance engagement, increase contributions, and strengthen long-term relationships.

1. Track engagement history.

Understanding a donor’s journey with your nonprofit is essential for building strong relationships and optimizing your fundraising efforts. Tracking engagement history allows organizations to see how supporters interact over time, from donations and event attendance to volunteer work and advocacy efforts.

By maintaining records of these interactions in your CRM, nonprofits can personalize their outreach, recognize loyal supporters, and tailor future fundraising appeals based on past engagement. This data helps identify high-potential donors, re-engage lapsed supporters, and create meaningful connections that encourage long-term involvement.

2. Collect key data insights as donors engage.

The best time to gather valuable donor data is when supporters are actively engaging with your organization. Whether they’re making a donation, signing up for a newsletter, or attending an event, nonprofits should seize these moments to collect insights like employer information, communication preferences, and giving motivations.

Simple form fields or follow-up surveys can capture these details without overwhelming donors. By continuously collecting relevant data, organizations build richer donor profiles that improve engagement and fundraising outcomes.

3. Encourage self-reported updates.

Donors change jobs, move to new locations, and shift their philanthropic interests over time. To keep donor profiles accurate, nonprofits should provide easy ways for supporters to update their information on their own. For example, this can be done through self-serve donor portals, email campaigns with update requests, or periodic surveys.

All in all, encouraging donors to keep their profiles current ensures that nonprofits can reach them effectively and leverage opportunities like matching gifts and corporate giving programs.

4. Consider an append service to fill in gaps.

Even with proactive data collection, donor profiles may have missing or outdated information. Luckily, data append services can help nonprofits fill these gaps by cross-referencing donor records with external databases to update contact details, employment information, and more.

These services enhance donor insights without requiring additional effort from supporters, allowing nonprofits to maximize corporate giving potential and personalize outreach based on accurate, up-to-date data.

5. Ensure clean data practices.

Maintaining clean and organized donor data is crucial for effective fundraising and engagement. For the best results, nonprofits should regularly audit their databases to remove duplicates, correct outdated information, and standardize data formats.

Plus, implementing data hygiene best practices—such as consistent naming conventions, accurate email categorization, and privacy compliance—helps organizations avoid errors and ensures that fundraising efforts are based on reliable information.

All in all, a well-maintained donor database leads to more efficient outreach, better donor relationships, and increased fundraising success.

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Wrapping up & additional resources

Incorporating employment data into donor profiles provides nonprofits with valuable insights that can significantly enhance their fundraising efforts. From identifying matching gift opportunities to engaging corporate partners in new ways, employment information enables organizations to maximize donations and build stronger donor connections.

By implementing effective data collection methods and leveraging workplace giving programs with the right tools and resources, nonprofits can optimize their fundraising strategies and drive greater impact in the long run.

Interested in learning more about nonprofit fundraising and corporate giving? Check out these additional resources:

• The Value of Donor Employer Information in Workplace Giving. Collecting and leveraging employer information can unlock valuable opportunities in workplace giving. See how knowing where your donors work can maximize contributions and enhance fundraising success.
• The Ultimate Guide to Employer Appends for Fundraisers. Discover how employer appends can enrich your donor profiles with crucial employment data. Such a service can help you identify new opportunities for corporate giving programs and beyond! Learn more here.
• Driving Value with Employer Data in the Supporter Lifecycle. Employment data can be used throughout the donor lifecycle—from initial engagement to long-term stewardship. Find out how tracking and utilizing employer information at every stage can deepen relationships and increase funding.