Picture this: Your wildlife conservation foundation is gearing up for an email marketing campaign. Your marketing team composes an engaging series of emails, complete with stories about real beneficiaries you’ve helped, statistics that illustrate your impact, and testimonials from donors and volunteers. Once the materials are ready, you send out the first batch of emails to your supporters.
However, when you check the open and click-through rates of your email, they’re much lower than you anticipated, and your bounce rate is way too high. What could have gone wrong?
While it’s possible your email didn’t catch your audience’s attention, it’s perhaps more likely that many of your supporters didn’t receive your email in the first place due to typos in your saved email addresses, switches to new email addresses, or a multitude of other reasons.
This scenario demonstrates the importance of keeping your database organized and up-to-date through data hygiene best practices. In this guide, we’ll equip your team with the skills they need to clean up your constituent data by covering the following topics:
With these tips, you’ll be prepared to maintain a clean database filled with information that can help you get in touch with your audience and earn more support.
What Is Data Hygiene?
Data hygiene refers to the process of cleaning your database. In this context, “cleaning” refers to updating, verifying, and supplementing the supporter information you’ve stored so it’s accurate and actionable.
While clean data is error-free, up-to-date information, “dirty data” refers to outdated, incomplete, duplicated, or incorrect information. During the data hygiene process, your team will remove and correct as much dirty data as possible to ensure you’re basing decisions on accurate information and preserving resources for the right people with viable contact information.
In the case of our opening example, the organization’s email address data was “dirty” because it contained outdated and incorrect supporter email addresses, preventing their messages from reaching supporters and limiting their fundraising potential.
Data hygiene best practices provide a framework for fixing errors and filling in gaps so you have your database is a comprehensive, reliable source of truth for supporter information.
Benefits of Following Data Hygiene Best Practices
Most organizations know that data is a useful tool for making decisions and reaching supporters. Even so, this information is only helpful to your nonprofit’s team if it’s accurate and up-to-date, and data can quickly become outdated.
In fact, data decays at an average rate of 30% per year. This means that every year, nearly a third of the information you have stored about your supporters, finances, marketing efforts, fundraising campaigns, and any other area of your nonprofit is no longer viable.
That’s why it’s so important to keep your data clean. By updating outdated information and removing incorrect data, you can prevent data decay. The benefits of following data hygiene best practices include:
Improved decision-making. When you regularly update your database, you can be confident you’re basing decisions on accurate information. Without following data hygiene best practices, you’re more likely to launch campaigns that don’t reach your audience, resonate with them, or generate a positive return on your investment.
Higher engagement. Not only does clean data help you personalize your campaigns to your current audience, but it also encourages your supporters to interact with your content as it’ll be more relevant and engaging to them. For instance, if the nonprofit in the opening example were to append email addresses to their database, segment supporters into groups based on shared characteristics, and send targeted communications, they could potentially increase their open rate by 82% and their click-through rate by 75%.
Enhanced stakeholder relationships. Data-driven campaigns can help you build stronger relationships with prospects, donors, volunteers, and sponsors. Targeted, personalized messages make people feel seen and heard as individuals, enticing them to continue supporting your organization long-term.
Increased fundraising efficiency. Just like a for-profit organization, you have to spend money to make money, expending resources on marketing materials and staff member time. With clean data, you’ll reach the right people the first time, allowing you to reserve time and resources for those most likely to convert.
Reduced costs. With more efficient fundraising operations, you’ll naturally save on costs associated with dirty data, such as sending materials to the same people multiple times and managing returned mail.
Compliance with data regulations. Following data hygiene best practices ensures compliance with data laws and regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). You can highlight your compliance with these regulations on your website to build trust with donors and demonstrate your commitment to protecting their sensitive information.
More accurate reporting. Updated, organized information makes it easier to compile accurate reports about your programs’ impact and share them with stakeholders like donors and board members.
Streamlined internal collaboration. Keeping your database up-to-date improves internal communication and team member collaboration. For instance, if your fundraising team determines your organization’s major gift range based on recent fundraising data, your marketing team can develop branded outreach materials that are aligned with your major donors’ giving capacity.
Leveraging clean data creates a better experience for everyone involved in your nonprofit—from donors to staff members to sponsors to beneficiaries to volunteers.
Top Data Hygiene Best Practices for Your Nonprofit
Now that you understand the importance of proper data hygiene, it’s time to dive into some data hygiene best practices your nonprofit can implement.
Audit your database or CRM.
You can’t start fixing data errors if you’re not sure what’s wrong. Start your data hygiene process strong with a database audit.
An audit provides an opportunity to survey your database or CRM and identify potential problem areas. It allows you to focus your data hygiene efforts and establish a clear plan of action.
During your audit, make sure to follow these steps:
Clarify your goals. Your current fundraising campaign or marketing initiative’s goals should guide your data hygiene process. For example, if you’re running a direct mail campaign, focus on updating your supporters’ mailing addresses. This way, the process is more manageable, especially if you’re tackling data hygiene for the first time.
Move all data to a central location. If you have any information stored in spreadsheets or physical forms, consolidate it in one platform for easier organization and analysis.
Seek out inaccuracies. Lastly, identify any data inaccuracies, and form a plan for how you’ll resolve them.
Once your audit is complete, share the results with your team to get everyone on the same page about your data priorities and data hygiene plan.
Assign data responsibilities.
Once you have a clear data hygiene plan, it’s time to assign specific responsibilities to your team members. You may select a main data steward in charge of overseeing all data hygiene procedures and separate supporting roles amongst your staff.
For example, you may have team members responsible for verifying supporter mailing addresses, merging duplicate records, researching mailing address append services, and segmenting your supporters into relevant groups. As a result, you’ll streamline the data hygiene process and complete your objectives more efficiently.
Reevaluate your data collection strategy.
You likely collect data from your supporters through multiple methods, such as donation forms, surveys, and newsletter signups. Additionally, your organization generates data from its fundraising, marketing, and program activities.
While much of this information is helpful, more is not always better. Prioritize what information you need to collect and store to fuel your mission. This way, you’ll prevent unnecessary data buildup and make your database easy to navigate.
Common types of data you’ll likely gather include:
Supporter information. When you know who your supporters are, you can personalize your messages to them. Supporter information you collect may include name, age, gender, employer data, and contact information.
Giving data. Basing donation requests on donors’ giving history can help you retain their support and encourage them to make larger contributions. Store information related to donors’ giving amounts and frequency so your communications match their level of commitment to your organization. Additionally, identify whether any of your donors are also involved in your nonprofit as volunteers, event attendees, or cause advocates so you can reference their nonmonetary contributions to your organization as well.
Campaign metrics. Keep track of the outcomes of your marketing and fundraising campaigns so you know which techniques resonate with your audience. This data may include event attendance rates, fundraising revenue, campaign conversions, and donor and volunteer retention rates.
Financial data. Planning a feasible budget depends on storing and analyzing accurate financial data. Pay attention to the revenue you generate from donations, membership fees, merchandise sales, sponsorships, and other revenue streams, as well as the expenses you incur for costs like staff compensation, marketing material production, and program expenses. Updated, accurate financial data is also important for filing your Form 990 correctly to maintain your 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
Marketing metrics. Assess your marketing strategy with data like email open rate, ad click-through rate, website engagement rate, and social media likes, comments, and shares. Storing this information helps you identify successes and establish appropriate benchmarks for future campaigns.
When discussing your data priorities with your team, review each data category and which metrics are essential to monitor. For example, if you’re running an email marketing campaign aimed at recurring donors, you’ll likely want to focus on tracking gift amounts and email open rates.
Develop data standards.
To avoid data errors and disorganization in the future, create data standards that determine how team members should input information. These rules will ensure everyone is on the same page and make it easy to find the data points you need within your CRM.
For example, you may develop standardization rules for inputting:
Mailing addresses. While some organizations may like to use the abbreviations “St,” “Rd,” and “Ln,” others may spell out “Street,” “Road,” and “Lane.” Neither option is wrong—it just depends on your team’s preferences!
Phone numbers. You may put parentheses around the area code or use dashes between each number sequence. Additionally, nonprofits with international constituents may opt to add the country code while local organizations may omit that detail.
Titles and abbreviations. Job titles or name titles like “Chief Financial Officer” or “Senior” can also be entered as their abbreviations “CFO” or “Sr.”
In addition to data input rules, you’ll also need to develop standards for how to fix problems as they arise. For example, would you like your staff to merge duplicate records or just delete extraneous entries? When everyone knows exactly how to respond to different data errors, they’ll work more efficiently and effectively.
Continuously update and validate your data.
Considering how often people move, change email addresses, and switch jobs, it’s essential to stay on top of your data and develop a plan for regularly updating it. This is the best way to ensure your database reflects your everchanging supporter base.
One of the most common ways to update your database is through data appends. A data append involves supplementing your current database with supporter information from third-party sources. Organizations use data appends to keep their supporter data up to date and fill in gaps in their CRM.
While the types of data you can append with depend on your provider, most data append companies will offer:
Address appends. With an address append filling in missing or outdated postal addresses in your database, you can be confident that your direct mail will reach your supporters, whether you’re sending newsletters, thank-you notes, fundraising appeals, or event invitations.
Employer appends. Appending employer data to your CRM can help you identify corporate giving opportunities and encourage your supporters to help you earn more for your cause.
Email appends. As we mentioned before, email addresses can quickly become outdated, between supporters switching email addresses, changing jobs or schools, or even inputting their addresses wrong. An email append ensures you can reach your supporters via this channel.
Phone number appends. Soliciting donations via text-to-give, running phone-a-thons, and thanking major donors through phone calls all require updated supporter phone numbers. Through a phone number append, you can fuel these outreach efforts.
Date of birth appends. When you know how old your supporters are through date of birth appends, you can segment them by age and send them relevant communications through their preferred channels. Additionally, you can send them birthday messages and well wishes to build strong relationships with them.
When investing in data appending, seek out a provider that works with nonprofits. That way, you can be confident they’ll understand your organization’s needs and work diligently to help you reach your goals.
How Does Nonprofit Data Hygiene Relate to Matching Gifts?
At Double the Donation, our specialty is helping nonprofits like yours earn more in matching gift revenue. If you’re not familiar, matching gifts are contributions that employers make when their employees donate to a charitable cause. They’re called “matching” gifts because companies typically match their employees’ contributions at a 1:1 ratio, but they may have a higher or lower match ratio depending on their matching gift policies.
You may be wondering, “How exactly does nonprofit data hygiene relate to matching gifts?” When you adhere to data hygiene best practices, you’ll see the following benefits for your matching gift process:
Easier identification of matching gift opportunities. Storing accurate, updated employer information in your database simplifies the process of assessing your supporters’ eligibility. Using a combination of precise employer data and Double the Donation’s matching gift software, 360MatchPro, you can help donors recognize matching gift opportunities and how they can act on them.
Timely follow-up. When you already have up-to-date donor contact information, you can quickly follow up with them about matching gift opportunities and encourage them to send matching gift requests to their employers. Additionally, 360MatchPro automates these communications so you can focus on your mission.
Maximized matching gift revenue. With more donors checking their matching gift eligibility and receiving communications about matching gifts, you’ll increase your matching gift revenue. As a result, you’ll unlock valuable funding for your organization at no additional cost to your supporters, helping you strengthen your mission and donor relationships.
Overall, clean data streamlines the matching gift process from beginning to end and ensures you get the most out of this giving channel.
Wrapping Up and Additional Data Hygiene Resources
While you might have once thought data was the key to a successful marketing or fundraising strategy, it should now be clear that clean data is the true driving force behind powerful nonprofit communications. Remember that nonprofit data hygiene is an ongoing process. Continue following data hygiene best practices, and update your procedures as needed.
If you’re looking to learn more about nonprofit data management, check out these additional resources:
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Data-Hygiene-Best-Practices_Feature.png3751000Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2024-07-22 18:20:592024-07-22 18:20:59Top Data Hygiene Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations
Strapped for resources but still want to make a big impact? Effective nonprofit marketing doesn’t have to break the bank. There are so many exciting marketing ideas for nonprofits that can attract supporters, raise awareness, sell your offerings, and grow your impact.
In this article, we’ll share over 40 budget-friendly nonprofit marketing ideas to help you maximize your existing resources and discover new, affordable tools. Get ready to elevate your marketing game with these creative and cost-effective strategies. Here’s a sneak peek at the categories we’ll cover:
At Double the Donation, we connect nonprofits with matching gift opportunities. Since we work with organizations looking to maximize their fundraising potential, we know just how important every last penny in your budget is. That’s why we’ve created this guide of marketing ideas for nonprofits that will help you promote your organization at little to no cost.
Now, let’s jump right into these proven marketing ideas for nonprofits!
Nonprofit Marketing Basics
What Is Nonprofit Marketing?
The term “nonprofit marketing” refers to the marketing strategies you use to amplify your organization’s mission, attract donations, promote your products and services, and recruit volunteers.
To achieve your organization’s mission, you need help. It takes donors, volunteers, board members, event attendees, sponsors, and other constituents to ensure that your nonprofit can serve its community and beneficiaries.
Letting others know about the great work you’re doing requires a combination of proven nonprofit marketing ideas. From emails to search ads, choosing the right marketing strategies, tools, and channels will empower you to promote your cause to your target audiences.
The Benefits of Effective Nonprofit Marketing
It’s easier said than done to pull off a nonprofit marketing campaign. As part of your marketing plan, you’ll need to consider your organization’s unique needs, goals, and available resources to ensure the most effective outreach possible.
Despite the challenges that come with nonprofit marketing, the resulting benefits will help your organization soar. Effective nonprofit marketing can empower your organization to:
Rally support for your cause. Educating people about your mission is a crucial part of nonprofit marketing. It allows people to understand not only the work your organization does but also why you do it and how they can help.
Fundraise. Perhaps the most concrete way to measure your organization’s success is by the amount of money raised for your cause. Raising awareness for your nonprofit will help your fundraising efforts immensely.
Foster donor relationships. One-time donations are not a sustainable fundraising source for your organization. Resources indicate that recurring donations are better for maximizing your fundraising potential since they have a compounding effect. The best way to ensure regular donations is to curate good relationships with donors through consistent marketing.
Recruit other supporters. While donors are great assets to your organization, they’re not the only people who can help. Volunteers, board members, and event attendees all serve important roles in your organization. Marketing your nonprofit effectively will allow you to gather all the support you need.
Promote your products and services. Effective nonprofit marketing can help you promote your organization’s products and services, drawing more attention and boosting sales.
It’s clear that nonprofit marketing offers many advantages. However, you might be wondering where to start in the marketing process. To help you out, we’ll go over the best marketing ideas for nonprofits.
Top Nonprofit Marketing Idea 1) The Google Ad Grant
When looking for more information about a nonprofit, a cause, or truly anything, most people turn to Google first. That’s what makes the Google Ad Grant program so powerful. If you’re a qualifying nonprofit, Google will give your organization $10,000 per month in ad credits for free. With these funds, you can create Google Ads promoting any of your website’s content, including:
Educational content
Upcoming events
Volunteer registration forms
Advocacy activities
Donation and sponsorship opportunities
Nonprofit products and services
Your educational content and involvement opportunities are likely to see the best results, because these types of content attract individuals interested in information about and getting involved with your cause. Promoting informative content and available opportunities will position your nonprofit as a trusted resource and encourage deeper engagement.
Making The Most of The Google Ad Grant
Of course, you can promote more than just that content, and most nonprofits using the Google Ad Grant do! Google Ad Grant campaigns allow nonprofits to create ads targeting multiple goals at once. Here’s a breakdown of the Google Ad structure:
As the image depicts, each Google Ad Grant account can run multiple campaigns. Each of these campaigns has an overarching goal, like educating supporters, attracting volunteers, or raising funds. In each of these campaigns are ad groups. Each ad group focuses on a specific keyword, like “volunteer opportunities,” “pet adoptions,” “Chicago homelessness,” and so on depending on the ad campaign’s goal.
Finally, each ad group contains multiple ads which are different messages targeting the ad group’s keyword. Individual ads use different language and strategies to appeal to different audiences, helping you attract a variety of supporters searching your target keyword
To get started with Google Ads, all you have to do is apply and follow the program requirements.
If you need help wielding this amazing resource, reach out to a Google Grants agency. We recommend Getting Attention! They’ll assist you with every step of the process, including applying for the program, choosing keywords to target, and making sure your account complies with all requirements.
Top Nonprofit Marketing Idea 2) SEO
If you’re looking for an organic way to reach supporters and beneficiaries, experiment with search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. This nonprofit marketing idea involves optimizing your website’s content to rank higher in search engine results, allowing you to connect with people searching for keywords related to your nonprofit. This approach involves:
Creating high-quality, informative, and multimedia-rich content related to your cause and services
Researching and using relevant keywords
Ensuring your website is user-friendly and mobile-responsive
Building links back to your SEO content from relevant, trustworthy sites
When done effectively, SEO drives organic traffic to your website without the need for significant advertising spend. This increased visibility will boost cause awareness, sales for revenue-generating programs and services, registrations for annual events, and overall support for your work. Plus, SEO will help build credibility with both search engines and users, as higher-ranking websites are often perceived as more authoritative and reliable.
The ROI for this channel is exceptionally high, because it allows you to target highly qualified audiences. Let’s say someone searches for a niche service or program you sell. If your content related to that offering is optimized for search engines and has built backlinks from external sources, your nonprofit will ideally appear toward the top of search results. Then, potential customers can click through to learn more.
Making The Most of SEO
While it’s possible to make big SEO gains for free, many organizations partner with SEO agencies to reduce their workload and skip the learning curve. We recommend the nonprofit SEO experts at Nexus Marketing!
Unlike generic marketing agencies, Nexus Marketing specializes in the unique challenges and opportunities nonprofits face and has marketing strategies tailored to meet these specific needs. Their team of experts is skilled in optimizing content to resonate with nonprofit audiences and leveraging industry knowledge.
To improve search engine rankings and drive organic traffic, they use proven best practices, such as:
High-quality content creation: The Nexus content team crafts SEO content that delivers results based on extensive keyword research. Between years of experience in writing for the mission-driven sector and a deep understanding of your brand, their content captures attention and converts visitors into supporters.
Connections in the mission-driven space: Nexus has a proprietary network of 500+ partners in the nonprofit, association, faith-based, education, and healthcare sectors. By tapping into this existing network, you can say goodbye to cold emailing authoritative websites and instead scale your organization’s authority-building strategy.
Focus on ROI: Their client engagements are designed for immediate results and long-term success by growing revenue through search engines, industry promotion, and near-term demand generation opportunities. With Nexus, most organizations see qualified leads within 3 to 6 months and achieve a 2x – 5x ROI within 12 to 18 months.
Why You Can Trust This Agency: Nexus Marketing has a proven track record of success. For example, one of their nonprofit clients ranked for only 5 tracked keywords before the partnership began. Today, they rank for 185+ of their most important tracked keywords. As a result, they’ve experienced steep growth in organic search traffic and have sold more of their online curriculum. You can read the complete case study to learn more.
Note that they specifically help nonprofits looking to raise money via revenue-generating programs, services, products, revenue streams that pay royalties, and annual events that attract broad audiences.
By continuously staying up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and best practices, Nexus Marketing ensures that nonprofits not only increase their online visibility but also effectively boost product and service sales. If you’re ready to harness the power of SEO, reach out to our friends at Nexus Marketing.
Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits Building Their Missions
As we’ve mentioned before, your nonprofit’s mission is central to its goals and aspirations. It should also be one of the main focuses of your marketing efforts. Since it lays the groundwork for your organization’s values, your mission should inform your branding, outreach tactics, and promotional content.
If you don’t have a well-developed mission or want to give yours a refresh, try some of these nonprofit marketing ideas for building your organization’s mission:
Write a powerful tagline. When it comes to marketing, people absorb more information when it’s concise. Your mission is one of the most important aspects of your organization, so you’ll want prospective supporters to understand it right away. Take the time to condense your mission into a short tagline that you can use in your marketing materials.
Establish standards for design, personality, and attitude. Make a good first impression with cohesive branding. From the way your website looks to the way your employees act, every aspect of your organization should work together to form a perfect picture of your nonprofit.
Rework your nonprofit’s appearance. Speaking of branding, changing yours up can bring new life to your organization. A funky new logo or elevated graphics can entice potential supporters and demonstrate your willingness to improve your nonprofit. You can even reach out to a graphic design company for help with your organization’s new look.
Be upfront about your organization’s goals and results. People interested in your organization want to know what you’re trying to accomplish and what you’ve been able to achieve so far. Being open about your nonprofit’s operations lays a solid foundation for great supporter relationships.
Share what you do well. Don’t be afraid to brag a little! Your organization is doing amazing work, and people should see that. If you show confidence in your nonprofit and highlight its strengths, people will be more eager to get involved.
Use storytelling. Giving people specific examples of individuals you’ve helped fosters deeper connections between your supporters and your organization. Stories make your marketing more personal and digestible for prospective supporters.
Create a marketing plan. To stay focused and organized, you’ll need a comprehensive marketing plan. That way, you’ll have all of your goals and intentions in one place for you to easily go back and reference.
Your mission is the foundation of your marketing efforts, but now it’s time to expand them! Head to your nearest computer or phone to start sharing your incredible organization with others.
Bonus Tip: Include your nonprofit’s values in all your marketing efforts, including ads, to ensure your messaging reflects your mission and resonates with potential supporters.
Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits Advertising Their Services
Letting others know what your organization does is essential to earning their support. Your nonprofit does great work, so why not show it off? Advertise your services with the following online and offline marketing ideas for nonprofits.
Online Advertising Ideas
The internet allows you to share your services with the click of a button. Whether you want to invest in paid advertising or create eye-catching merchandise, there are endless ways to stand out in the digital space. In addition to the Google Ad Grant, try these online marketing ideas for nonprofits:
Optimize your website content for search engines. Your search engine advertising and SEO campaigns can support one another. By incorporating SEO best practices into your content, you can increase your nonprofit’s visibility and attract organic traffic before you even start advertising. That means you’ll build a sustainable, cost-effective foundation for long-term audience engagement. Use relevant keywords, create high-quality content, and ensure your website is user-friendly to rank highly on search engine results pages. Plus, following SEO practices gives you high-quality content you can use as landing pages for your ads.
Track your analytics. Data is the key to figuring out which of your marketing efforts are effective. Use Google Analytics or another similar tool to track and review website traffic and the actions people take on your site. That way, you can see if there are any patterns or areas where you can improve. For example, if a certain landing page on your site has a high bounce rate, it might be time to refresh it to make it more worthwhile for your supporters.
Sell branded merchandise. Turn your supporters into walking advertisements with branded merchandise! It’s a win-win situation where you raise more for your cause and receive free advertising, while your supporters get to show the world what they believe in. Branded t-shirts are always a great idea, but you could also go with hats, tote bags, or mugs depending on your audience’s preferences. Once you work with a graphic design company to bring your merchandise to life, you can set up an online store and let your supporters know all about it!
Advertise your products and services. If your nonprofit sells products or services, leverage digital advertising to promote these offerings. Showcase them prominently on your website. Then, also turn search engine traffic into a revenue-generating channel with high-value content targeting the keywords your customers are searching for, driving additional revenue and expanding your reach.
Online advertising is a proven way to connect with larger audiences than ever before. Break down geographical barriers by leveraging these marketing strategies.
Digital marketing is all the rage these days, and for good reason. However, that doesn’t mean that more traditional offline marketing efforts should go extinct. While online marketing can expand your reach, offline marketing can help create a personal experience for your supporters. Use these offline marketing ideas for nonprofits in conjunction with your online ones:
Create flyers. A good old-fashioned flyer is a great way to grab potential supporters’ attention. It allows you to fit an abundance of information about your organization into a small, foldable, and engaging handout. You can send fundraising flyers in your direct mail campaigns, hand them out at events, or keep them in your organization’s office for walk-ins. People will love the opportunity to learn about your organization’s services in an easily digestible format.
Recruit brand ambassadors. Influencer marketing is a fairly new yet powerful way to promote your organization. Finding people with an online presence who truly care about your nonprofit’s mission and are willing to spread the word can help you reach new audiences quickly. These brand ambassadors can also help you host in-person events or sell your branded merchandise to get people excited about your organization.
Research larger organizations. If you want to be the best, you’ll have to learn from the best. Look into what larger, more experienced nonprofits are doing and attempt to replicate it. You can even reach out to a team member at an organization you admire and ask if they’d be willing to give your nonprofit some advice.
Personalize your outreach. Reaching out to people using offline methods allows you to establish more personal connections with them. For example, you could go up to a volunteer at an event to learn more about them or promote matching gifts to your donors in a customized postcard. People will appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into these outreach methods and associate that quality with your organization.
For the best results, use a combination of online and offline marketing ideas. That way, you’ll reach different audiences and see which methods work best for which supporter segments.
Your mission is the foundation of your marketing efforts, but now it’s time to expand them! Head to your nearest computer or phone to start sharing your incredible organization with others.
Bonus Tip: Use your Google Ads to support other marketing efforts! Direct traffic to your peer-to-peer ambassador page and merchandise store, increasing visibility and engagement for these initiatives.
Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits Leveraging Technology
These days, there’s so much technology to help us improve and innovate our everyday lives. For nonprofits, leveraging technology appropriately can expand impact and help reach new audiences through different channels.
To make sure your nonprofit knows how to use each type of technology effectively, we’ve split our technology nonprofit marketing ideas into three separate categories.
Website
Like all organizations, nonprofits use their websites to teach others about what they do, what they stand for, and how visitors can get involved. Ensure your organization’s website is the best it can be with these website nonprofit marketing ideas:
Update your nonprofit’s website. From Squarespace to Wix to WordPress, there are so many website building platforms that make updating and maintaining your site easy. Include information about current events and initiatives and provide the latest updates on your service offerings to entice potential supporters to get involved with your organization.
Make SEO a habit. For nonprofit websites, SEO is crucial for increasing visibility and attracting supporters. Even if you’re leveraging the Google Ad Grant, optimizing your website is essential for a strong ad strategy, helping searchers find your content and inspiring them to convert (AKA donate, register for an event, buy your products, and so on). Regularly research and create content targeting relevant keywords to stay current with trends. Additionally, ensure your website is mobile-friendly to improve rankings in mobile search results, making it easier for users to access your information on any device.
Start a blog.Keeping an up-to-date blog allows you to display news about your organization and industry with long-form, informative content. Writing blog content about nonprofit-related topics also establishes your organization as a reputable source of information in the field.
As you create informational pages and blog articles for your nonprofit’s website, focus on quality content creation. Make sure your copy is clear and concise, and break text up with graphics wherever possible to create a user-friendly experience.
If you have the resources, hiring a qualified copywriting team will help make sure the copy across your site is strong and cohesive. For instance, working with a nonprofit marketing agency that fully understands your brand and is knowledgeable about the nonprofit sector can ensure your messaging is both impactful and focused on generating high-quality sales leads.
Event Landing Pages
Your nonprofit may already use event management software to plan and execute its fundraisers. Depending on the type of fundraiser and the software you use, you’ll be able to use different features to promote your fundraising initiatives.
Oftentimes, these platforms can help you build customized event landing pages to spread the word about your upcoming events. These pages can include:
Information about the event: This can include anything from the fundraiser’s date and time to event-specific details. For example, where will your annual walk-a-thon be held this year? Will your charity auction involve mobile bidding or physical bid sheets?
Forms to take action: Registration and donation forms can easily be embedded into your event landing page. This way, supporters can immediately commit to a donation or participation in your event.
Information about your nonprofit: Include your mission or vision statement, a synopsis of your work, and other information about your nonprofit on your landing page. This draws visitors in and urges them to continue exploring your nonprofit’s website to learn more about the cause they’ll support by participating in your event.
Plus, the customizable nature of these landing pages allows you to incorporate your nonprofit’s branding, reinforcing supporters’ trust in your organization. By associating your brand with your fundraising events, you’ll attract attention to the heart of your fundraising and outreach efforts: your mission.
Social Media
Social media is not only how people stay connected to their family and friends, but also to the companies and organizations they care about. With nearly every organization maintaining a social media presence, it’s important to understand how you can make yours stand out. Here’s what we suggest:
Use different platforms. To connect with as many people as you can, your organization should create social media accounts on several different platforms. Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube are great places to start. X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Snapchat also offer unique ways to engage with your younger supporters.
Participate in trends. Perhaps the most important part of your social media presence is playing into current trends like using humor and short videos over images. That way, your content stays fresh and engaging for your supporters.
Create marketing videos. While images can be very informative, videos are better for eliciting emotion. Creating and sharing videos about your mission on social media will allow you to connect with your audience on a deeper level.
Take advantage of social media advertising. If you don’t feel that you’re reaching the correct audience organically, you can create ads on the social media platforms you’re using. For example, Facebook’s advertising platform allows you to set up campaigns that target people based on a variety of factors such as age, gender, location, and interests. This approach can help you segment your supporters into different groups and communicate with them accordingly.
Connect your online assets. To promote your online presence, make it easy for people to jump from platform to platform. For example, you can create a social media post about a new blog article and add a link to the article in your social media account’s bio. That way, you’ll drive traffic from your social media page to your website’s blog. Doing so can allow people to interact with your organization in a different way and perhaps learn more about what your nonprofit does.
Your nonprofit’s website and social media accounts are your biggest online assets. Now that we’ve covered them, it’s time to learn some general online marketing ideas for nonprofits.
General Online Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits
To get the most out of your online presence, it’s important to follow general digital marketing best practices. Check out these marketing ideas for nonprofits looking to rule the marketing game online:
Leverage multi-channel marketing. To increase your online visibility, tap into digital marketing channels like search ads, social media, and texting. Use these channels alongside traditional marketing methods such as emails, phone calls, and direct mail. This will increase your chances of reaching supporters on their preferred communication method.
Encourage your supporters to take action. Informing your supporters about your organization is great, but what exactly do you want them to do to help you out? Use calls to action across your marketing materials to work towards your goals. For example, include the link to your donation page in your Instagram bio and create a post encouraging people to contribute. To help promote your events, add your event registration link to your regular email newsletter. Note that the most effective calls-to-action start with determining what actions you want your supporters to take and making it easy for them to do so.
Host virtual events. Hosting events online, such as webinars and panels, allows more people to participate than ever before. Since no physical space is required, guests can easily participate in virtual events from wherever they are, presenting a unique opportunity to engage with all different types of supporters at once.
Learn more about supporters with data appends.Data enhancement services add information to your existing database, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and demographic details, to create a more comprehensive profile of your contacts. This enriched data helps improve the accuracy and effectiveness of your marketing campaigns by allowing you to better segment your audience. With detailed insights about your supporters, you can personalize your outreach, enhance engagement, and ultimately drive higher conversion rates.
Leveraging technology effectively allows you to reach your intended audience and rally support for your cause. We know that your nonprofit is likely working with a tight marketing budget, though. To make sure your organization has the resources it needs to create the best online content possible, we’ll teach you how to save money in other marketing areas.
Bonus Tip: Leverage content marketing to enhance your nonprofit’s online presence. Create high-quality, informative, and engaging content that addresses your audience’s interests. By consistently publishing valuable, keyword-optimized content, you can boost your organic search rankings, attract more visitors, boost sales, and increase support for your cause.
Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits On a Budget
Marketing can get expensive. However, there are ways that nonprofits can promote their organizations while still keeping costs low. Maximize your marketing potential while minimizing your spending with these marketing ideas for nonprofits on a budget:
Determine your marketing budget. It’s easiest to keep costs down when you have a clear budget in mind. That way, you’ll know exactly how much you can spend on your nonprofit’s marketing and allocate your resources accordingly. Include costs such as those for physical marketing collateral, marketing software, and staff time.
Plan your printing. Printing can get expensive very quickly. Besides, there are so many digital marketing methods your organization can leverage. Only print what needs to be printed, and try to print double-sided and in batches.
Use unbranded envelopes for direct mail. If you do need to print materials for a direct mail campaign, there are ways to keep your costs down. Sending unbranded envelopes will help you save money. Just remember to indicate that the mail is from your organization in a different way so recipients don’t mistake it for junk mail.
Add a “Donate Now” button to your Facebook page. As we mentioned before, calls to action are key to motivating your supporters to contribute to your cause. Adding a “Donate Now” button to your nonprofit’s Facebook page is an easy way to encourage donations. The best part is that it’s free as long as your nonprofit qualifies for Facebook’s fundraising tools.
Work with a local business. Many companies are happy to pair up with a nonprofit, helping you out financially. While you get extra funding or resources for your marketing efforts, they get to give back to their community and improve their reputations. Before you look for a local business willing to work with you, determine what you want to get out of the partnership. Examples of corporate philanthropy include companies donating money directly to your organization, keeping a donation bucket in their store, or contributing food or supplies for your event.
It’s important to create a marketing budget and try to conserve resources when possible to save up for more expensive marketing efforts. These budget-friendly marketing ideas for nonprofits are a great place to start to maximize every dollar your organization earns!
Bonus Tip: The Google Ad Grant provides free ad credits, making it a low-cost way to attract attention to your website. All you need to do is put in the initial effort to get your site up to Google’s quality standards and complete the application process. From there, you’ll just need to create and maintain your ads.
Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits Forming Stakeholder Relationships
There are so many different stakeholders involved in your organization. Donors, corporate partners, volunteers, board members, sponsors, and event attendees all play a huge role in your nonprofit’s success. With that, it’s important to form good relationships so you can build a strong support network.
In this section, we’ll go over some marketing ideas for nonprofits starting and stewarding relationships with their stakeholders.
Starting Stakeholder Relationships
Building a good foundation for your relationships with stakeholders is essential to making sure your connections are long-lasting. Here are some marketing ideas for nonprofits beginning new stakeholder relationships:
Look for opportunities to form new connections. Finding stakeholders to work with can be tough, especially for newer nonprofits. Leverage any connections you may already have and form new ones by reaching out on social media or attending a nonprofit conference in your industry. That way, you can start to meet people who may be potential stakeholders and have their own network of potential stakeholders they’re willing to share with you.
Create a welcome package. Once you initiate a relationship with a new stakeholder, it’s time to make them feel welcome in your community. Curate a package of information and branded merchandise to introduce new stakeholders to your nonprofit. You can include items as small as stickers of your logo to yard signs they can display to show their support for your organization. No matter what you send your new stakeholders, you’re showing them that you care.
Treat them to a meal. To form a more personal connection with a stakeholder, take them out to lunch or coffee. Teach them more about your organization, answer any questions they have, and gather feedback about their work with you so far. Not to mention, this is a great opportunity to learn more about who they are and what drives them to support your cause.
Inform new donors of matching gift opportunities. Some of your new donors may not know what matching gifts are or if they’re eligible to participate. Make it easy for donors to identify matching gift opportunities by providing matching gift software that shows if their employers are willing to match their donations. That way, you can earn more, and your new donors can feel good about making an even bigger impact on your organization.
Now that you know how to start your stakeholder relationships off strong, it’s time to learn how to keep them that way with effective stewardship.
Stewarding Stakeholder Relationships
Maintaining relationships with your stakeholders requires care and commitment. You must communicate with them well and respond to their needs. That way, you can build long-lasting connections that drive your work forward.
Practice good supporter stewardship with these marketing ideas for nonprofits:
Communicate regularly and strategically. Like with any relationship, maintaining supporter relationships requires communication. Establish effective communication habits with your stakeholders by reaching out to them individually, sending email newsletters, and reconnecting with them at conferences and other events. You may want to assign different people to manage different stakeholder relationships so you don’t overwhelm any one person on your team. Additionally, you’ll want to choose an opportune time to communicate. Factors that might influence the messages, timing, and platforms you use might include their age, career, lifestyle, or time zone.
Reach out to lapsed donors. Sometimes, donors will only contribute to your organization once. If so, you can encourage them to continue their support, or inform them of different ways they can still support your nonprofit without contributing monetarily, such as by volunteering or sharing your social media posts. For recurring donors who haven’t contributed in a while, try sending them a gift or explaining new features of your donor program to spark that relationship once again.
Collect feedback. Listen to your stakeholders and any feedback they give you, whether it’s solicited or not. Stay true to your organization’s stakeholder guidelines, but also hear your stakeholders out. You want to provide them with a positive experience with your organization, and they may have some valuable suggestions for how to improve that experience.
If you’ve learned anything from this section, it should be that stakeholder relationships require effective communication. In the next section, we’ll dive into more nonprofit marketing ideas specifically focused on improving your organization’s communication skills.
Bonus Tip: Google Ads are an opportunity to make a first impression on a large number of potential supporters. Start off on the right foot with strong ad copy, high-quality content, and a modern website.
Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits Staying in Touch with Their Supporters
It takes a lot of effort to maintain relationships with your supporters. With effective and regular communication, your nonprofit can keep supporters around and continue to grow your network. We’ll give you some marketing ideas for nonprofits working on their communication style and supporter involvement.
Communication Style
You already know that the messages you communicate to your supporters are vital, but how you communicate those messages is just as important. Here are a few pointers to make sure you send the right messages to the right people in ways that will resonate with them:
Be timely. Simply responding to your supporters’ messages quickly shows that you care. Not only does it communicate that you want to address their concerns, but also that you want to respect their time.
Stay positive. Keeping a positive attitude in your communications will help supporters form a positive association with your nonprofit. Besides, it’s always more enjoyable to interact with organizations that have an optimistic outlook and kind employees.
Store individuals’ preferences in your supporter database.Organizing your supporters’ information in a database not only helps you learn more about them but also how they like to communicate. If you ask for supporters’ communication preferences and store that information in your database, then you can interact with supporters in the ways they prefer.
Create supporter segments. Segmentation is when you divide your supporters into categories based on shared characteristics in order to communicate with each group more effectively. There are various ways to segment your supporters. You may choose to divide them by stakeholder type with categories like donors, partners, clients, and board members. Another way to group supporters is by age, location, or length of involvement with your organization. That way, you can send relevant messages to the right people without flooding their inboxes with unnecessary messages.
Communicating with your supporters effectively will create a better reputation for your organization and lead to stronger stakeholder relationships.
Supporter Involvement
Communication goes both ways. You inform your supporters about what’s going on within your organization, but they report back to you with their thoughts and feelings about your nonprofit. These marketing ideas for nonprofits will help you get supporters more involved in your organization:
Survey your supporters. Your staff can brainstorm ways to make your organization better, but you’ll never know what more your supporters need unless you ask them. Sending out a survey will allow you to collect valuable feedback and show that you care about improving your supporters’ experiences with your organization.
Engage supporters on social media. Social media is built to help people create connections with each other. Strengthen your bonds with your supporters by making your social media presence interactive. For example, take advantage of polls, live stream capabilities, and Q&A features in the platforms you use.
Host events. What better way to get people involved than by gathering together in person? Hosting an event allows you to show off your organization and get your supporters excited about it. Deck out your event in branded materials such as table runners for a cohesive look. You can also plan activities such as raffles and games to make the event fun for everyone involved.
Interview supporters. As we discussed before, storytelling is a great way to make your marketing personal. For storytelling to work, you’ll need to collect stories from real people involved in your organization. Interview interested supporters so you can learn more about their experiences with your organization and use their quotes to promote your nonprofit across different channels.
Peer-to-peer fundraising. Your supporters can help fundraise, engage supporters, and market your nonprofit in the process. With peer-to-peer fundraising, people raise money by collecting donations from their friends and family. To encourage your supporters to participate, teach them how to set up a peer-to-peer fundraising page. An even easier method is to leverage the built-in peer-to-peer fundraising options on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. This fundraising option is especially popular around holidays and birthdays, so if you know your supporters’ birthdates, you can proactively reach out and encourage them to create a fundraiser on your nonprofit’s behalf.
Treating your supporters with the utmost care and respect begins with proper communication. You should use a give-and-take approach in which you update supporters about your organization and they give you feedback about your nonprofit in response. That way, you can work together with your supporters to constantly improve your organization.
Bonus Tip: As part of maintaining your website, continue posting high-quality content. Valuable research reports and blog posts are likely to get shared around, improving your nonprofit’s search ranking placements. And be sure to incorporate SEO best practices, to get that content in front of as many people as possible!
Conclusion & Additional Resources
Nonprofit marketing encompasses a range of considerations. In addition to the regular business concerns of how to promote your organization effectively, nonprofits must also worry about how to do so on a budget. With these marketing ideas for nonprofits, we’ve given you a head start on your marketing strategy to save you time and money.
This guide explored a ton of marketing ideas for nonprofits, but there may be some that you want to learn more about. To help you out, we’ve provided some resources that will allow you to dive deeper into some of our favorite ideas, including:
Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits: The Complete Guide. The Google Ad Grant program is a proven way to push your cause forward. Learn more about marketing your cause using paid advertising with this guide from Getting Attention.
SEO for Nonprofits: Crash Course & Get-Started Guide. SEO is one of the most effective nonprofit marketing ideas for enhancing your online presence. Discover how to optimize your website’s content and dominate search results pages with this comprehensive guide from Nexus Marketing.
12 Best Nonprofit Graphic Design Tools. A huge element of nonprofit marketing is creating a cohesive experience for your supporters. Using the right graphic design tools will allow you to create images that align with your organization’s branding and design standards.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Marketing-Ideas-for-Nonprofits_Feature.jpg3801000Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2024-06-12 10:00:012024-07-25 14:25:2240+ Marketing Ideas for Nonprofits to Spread Your Mission
From marketing to cultivation, it’s no small effort to drive supporters to your donation page. But when they get there, are they making the impact your nonprofit needs? If your average donation amount is falling short, there are strategies you can use to maximize support right on your donation page.
Donation levels are one of the most important factors in determining gift amounts as they guide your supporters into giving an amount that’s right for them and your nonprofit. When used strategically, they frame your nonprofit’s impact and encourage donors to increase their support.
To help your nonprofit better use donation levels, this guide will explore:
Let’s clarify exactly what we mean by donation levels before jumping into tips for how to create the best donation page possible.
What are Donation Levels?
Donation levels, also known as donation tiers, are suggested giving amounts that appear on donation pages. For example, a nonprofit might have donation levels of $20, $50, $100, and so on.
These amounts help guide supporters in how much to give when donating by providing examples of what is considered a low donation amount, a medium amount, and a high amount. Donation levels are especially helpful for first-time donors who may be unsure how much an average donation should be.
While donation levels can contain the gift amounts and nothing else, many nonprofits seek to increase donations by characterizing their donation levels with names, impact examples, and other descriptors.
What’s the Difference Between Donation Levels and Donation Types?
While the names are similar, “donation levels” and “donation types” are different concepts. Donation levels are suggested giving amounts on a donation form, while donation types are different kinds of gifts.
For example, donation types include major gifts, recurring gifts, in-kind donations, and corporate support. There is some overlap in that the donation types of low, moderate, and major donors may correspond to donation levels.
For example, recurring donors may give $50 monthly or $200 monthly. A donor who contributes $50 and one who donates $200 are both recurring donors but at different donation levels. However, whether this is the case depends on your nonprofit and average gift amount.
5 Strategies for Creating Effective Donation Levels
Donation levels are easy to add to your donation form, but to use them to their fullest potential, follow these strategies.
1. Calculate average donation amounts.
Donation levels are not set at random. These amounts are strategically calculated based on average gift sizes, supporters’ giving capacity, and fundraising goals.
Your first step to setting your donation levels should be calculating your nonprofit’s average donation amount. When calculating this amount, it may be appropriate to exclude some donations, like gifts from major donors. While these contributions are certainly important, it’s unlikely a supporter using donation levels to gauge their gift amount will make a major donation right off the bat.
Additionally, consider dividing your donors into two groups: one-time and recurring donors. Most donation pages that use donation levels divide suggested giving amounts along these guidelines, creating two sets of donation levels donors can consider. In general, the amounts for recurring donations will be much lower than one-time gifts but add up over time.
Once your donation data is properly curated, calculate your donation levels by dividing the total amount of donations in a year by the number of donors. With this information, you now have to decide how your average donation should impact your donation levels. A few options include setting the average donation amount as:
A lower donation level. To increase your average donation amount, set the median donation amount as a lower level. This may decrease your total donors but make each supporter who does give more valuable.
A middle donation level. Setting your average donation amount as your median donation level should be considered by nonprofits looking to maintain their current levels of support.
A higher donation level. This is a more unorthodox option but may be useful for nonprofits looking to increase donor acquisition by making entry-level donation amounts more accessible.
Assess your nonprofit’s donor acquisition and lifetime donor value rates to determine which of these options best fits your unique situation. Then, create subsequent donation levels that follow a logical progression. For instance, if your average donation amount is $25 and you want to set it as a low-tier amount, you might make the following levels $50, $75, and $100.
2. Link donation amounts to specific outcomes.
When a donor is choosing which donation level to give at, they may ask what the tangible difference between each option is. After all, why should a donor give $75 over $15?
Your donation levels can answer this question by briefly describing the types of outcomes that will result from each donation amount. For instance, here are some hypothetical outcomes from the example nonprofit Cat Rescue Club:
$25: Enrichment toys and bedding to keep our shelter cats happy and healthy.
$50: A week’s worth of food for our shelter cats awaiting adoption.
$75: Support for our network of over 100 foster families.
$100: Adpotions for 10 cats, helping them find their forever homes.
$200: Lifesaving surgery and medical treatment for cats in need.
These outcomes not only encourage supporters to move to higher donation levels but also increase their emotional investment in your nonprofit. After all, if they know they are providing essential support, donors are likely to stick around to see how their contributions helped, leading to increased retention.
3. Consider donor psychology.
Donation levels are ultimately a tool to guide donors’ giving behavior. While many supporters approach nonprofits’ donation pages with a clear idea of how much they want to give, many are also receptive to the cues and suggestions your donation levels provide.
When crafting your donation levels, try reading up on the basics of giving psychology. A few key insights to consider include:
Most donors will choose the second lowest donation level.Ultimately, donors are parting with their money when they give. As such, many want to donate an amount that doesn’t make them feel cheap, but they still want to be conservative about how much they spend. With this in mind, consider basing your donation amounts around the second-lowest donation level.
Low donation levels are encouraging to on-the-fence donors. This is useful for attracting new and first-time donors who are interested in but cautious about supporting your nonprofit.
High donation levels encourage loyal supporters to give more. However, this comes at the cost of driving away the on-the-fence donors.
Think of your donation levels as a general parameter of how much is acceptable to give. Donors who fall outside of that range are more likely to conform to the range (if they planned to give a higher amount than the highest donation level) or not give altogether (if they planned to give less than the lowest amount).
4. Name your donation tiers.
To help your donors develop a connection with your nonprofit, consider naming your donation levels. This can help donors to not only think of themselves as supporters of your nonprofit but as part of an exclusive group.
These names can reflect the hierarchical structure of your donation tiers. For example, you might name your levels bronze, silver, and gold. Or, instead, choose names that reflect your nonprofit’s cause. For instance, the Cat Rescue Club might name their donation levels Calico, Tuxedo, Tabby, and so on.
Nonprofits often employ this strategy during crowdfunding campaigns. These campaigns tie donation levels to specific rewards donors receive in exchange for their support. Naming these tiers not only helps donors form an identity related to your campaign but also makes organizing and distributing rewards easier since each category has a specific name rather than just a number.
You can also apply this reward strategy to your normal donation page, especially if your nonprofit has a membership program. For example, check out these tiers from Sarasota Orchestra:
Names like “musician circle” and “maestro circle” not only reflect the benefits these tiers provide but also make higher-tier donors feel like a core part of the orchestra.
5. Always provide a custom giving option.
In addition to your tailored donation levels, always add the option for supporters to write in and give any donation amount they want. While many supporters will default to using suggested giving amounts if they are provided, others will approach your donation form with a clear idea of exactly how much they want to give and they should be able to do so.
This also allows donors to give outside your donation range (on either the high or low end).
To ensure your donation tiers are as effective as possible at driving valuable gifts and acquiring donors, here are a few more donation page tips.
1. Promote matching gifts.
Envision a world where you double all of your donation levels and supporters can contribute those increased amounts with no issue. With matching gifts, this world is possible for at least some of your donors.
Matching gifts are a type of corporate giving program wherein businesses match employee donations to nonprofits, usually at a 1:1 rate. However, many supporters are unaware of these programs, let alone how to participate in them.
Providing a brief explanation about matching gifts. For supporters who are unfamiliar with matching gifts, a one or two-sentence explanation on your donation page can encourage them to check their eligibility and submit a match request. This explanation can be as short as something like: “You may be able to double your impact. Check if you’re eligible for matching gifts with your employer.”
Adding a matching gift search tool to your donation page. Consider investing in matching gift software, which allows you to embed a matching gift database search tool right into your donation page. Supporters can use this tool to check if they are eligible for a matching gift during the donation process.
Encouraging supporters to check their matching gift eligibility on your confirmation page. If supporters opt not to interact with your matching gift search tool while donating, give them one more chance to start the matching gift process by adding a message to (or even embedding your matching gift search tool) into your donation confirmation page. Using our hypothetical nonprofit example from above, consider what a matching gift database tool might look like on Cat Rescue Club’s page:
These gifts come from donors’ employers, meaning you can earn twice your regular donation levels at no extra expense to your supporters. Be sure to emphasize this and the potential impact these additional gifts can have when promoting matching gifts to supporters.
2. Encourage recurring giving.
Donation levels apply to both one-time and recurring gifts. All of the strategies we’ve discussed so far apply to both categories, but let’s dive deeper into tips for encouraging recurring giving now:
Adjust your recurring giving donation levels.Your donation levels should be less for recurring gifts than the corresponding ones for one-time gifts. For example, if your lowest donation level for one-time gifts is $25, you might make the recurring donation level $10. While this amount is less than half of the time-one gift, it will outpace it in three months’ time, and more than quadruple the amount in a year.
Display recurring giving and one-time donation options next to each other.Position your recurring giving and one-time donation tiers next to each other or allow supporters to easily toggle between them. This allows donors to make a direct comparison when deciding what to give. Plus, recurring gifts are less of an initial commitment, which makes them seem like a better deal to donors when placed next to high one-time donation levels.
Update any relevant text.Recurring gifts impact nonprofits differently than one-time gifts, and your donation levels should reflect this. If a one-time donation level promises to support a certain number of beneficiaries for a week, consider how the impact changes when it’s a smaller recurring gift.
To calculate your recurring donation levels, use the same strategies as discussed earlier, only this time, focus on just your current recurring donors. Additionally, of the strategies discussed, consider adding donation tiers below your average recurring gift amount. Recurring donors are likely to stick around long-term and you can persuade them to increase their donation amount over time once they commit to making their first gifts.
3. Keep your donation page short.
When trying to include all of these tips in your donation page, it’s easy for your page to bloat in size. However, lengthy donation forms are likely to turn off potential donors, especially the new and on-the-fence donors we discussed earlier.
When designing your new donation page, consider how to keep each element concise and easy to understand at a glance. For example, if you want to go with a button approach to donation levels, you might try a page layout like this:
Or, if you want all information to be visible for easier comparison, an approach like this maintains a minimalist design:
4. Brand donation page to your nonprofit.
Your donation page is arguably the most important page on your website. Ensure supporters who land on it—especially those who navigate there from an external source like social media—know without a doubt that it belongs to your organization.
You can accomplish this by maintaining consistent branding across your website and ensuring your donation page specifically has a few key visual brand elements. These include:
Your logo
Brand colors
Key brand visuals
From the mobile version of your donation page, consider how you can ensure brand elements are present but unobtrusive. For example, you might remove key brand visuals, such as a photograph of beneficiaries, but keep your logo. This minimizes scrolling for mobile users without sacrificing branding consistency.
5. Continue adjusting your donation levels.
Your audience, donors’ giving behaviors, and economic circumstances change, and so should your donation tiers. To determine your donation levels’ effectiveness, keep an eye on key metrics, such as:
Average donation amount
Donor acquisition
Donor lifetime value
Total number of donations
Analytics tools can help you track these metrics and specific donors’ behaviors over time. After implementing new donation levels, take note of new trends in donor engagement. Additionally, consider experimenting with different donation level amounts by creating unique donation levels for various campaigns. For example, you might set lower donation levels for a crowdfunding campaign to encourage new donor participation.
More Donation Level Tools and Tips
Your donation page is an essential tool for earning the funds that keep your nonprofit going. With donation levels, you can encourage more donors to give and increase donation amounts. To get started, calculate your average giving amounts and make strategic decisions about your donation goals.
For more information on how to attract and retain donors, explore these resources:
Building Trust and Loyalty: Mid-Level Donor Program Basics. Mid-level donors are a core supporter group that is influenced by donation levels. Discover how to build trust with this group and encourage them to move to higher donation levels.
Paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO) programs continue to gain traction as companies boost their CSR while engaging employees in meaningful community activities. These initiatives not only reflect a company’s commitment to social impact but also empower organizations to make the most of their volunteer base. However, despite the growing prevalence of VTO, there’s a significant knowledge gap regarding workplace giving initiatives—even among eligible supporters. And that’s where a well-thought-out plan for marketing volunteer time off to your audience will come in handy!
In this post, we’ll dive into the world of Volunteer Time Off for nonprofits and share key recommendations for effectively promoting VTO. Here’s what we’ll cover:
Read on to explore the transformative impact corporate volunteer initiatives like these can have on your organization, its mission, and your community as a whole.
Let’s get started!
What Is Volunteer Time Off?
Volunteer Time Off (which is also referred to as VTO, paid-release volunteer time, or employer-sponsored volunteerism) is a unique benefit that allows employees to spend typical work hours volunteering with charitable causes. This type of program supplies additional time off, above and beyond any existing vacation or sick leave, and is specifically designated for team members to participate in volunteer activities.
VTO programs vary among companies in terms of eligibility criteria, time off granted, submission processes, and more. Some companies offer a set number of VTO hours per year, while others allow employees to use VTO on a flexible basis. The types of volunteer activities permitted can also range from community service projects to skills-based volunteerism and more.
Why Does Marketing Volunteer Time Off Matter?
As a form of corporate partnership, the purpose of Volunteer Time Off is multi-fold. First, the programs enable companies to demonstrate commitment to social responsibility and engage employees in meaningful ways. At the same time, employees are presented with a unique opportunity to give back to their communities and support their favorite causes—like yours—without missing a day’s wages. This fulfills individuals’ desires to make a positive impact and fosters a sense of purpose in their work inside and outside the office.
For nonprofits, the availability of volunteer time off widens the prospective supporter pool, incentivizing individual involvement and significantly increasing engagement. However, many employees are unaware of the VTO programs offered by their employers, leading to a missed opportunity for companies and nonprofits alike.
That’s why marketing the programs is so essential, and why organizations like yours are taking increasingly proactive steps to drive awareness among their audiences. When done well, simply highlighting VTO opportunities in donor- and volunteer-facing materials will allow you to bridge the knowledge gap and unlock a new avenue for community involvement.
10 Top Strategies For Marketing Volunteer Time Off at Your Org
Crafting a Volunteer Time Off marketing plan is essential for organizations looking to supercharge volunteerism and engage supporters with corporate incentives. So, how, specifically, will you increase awareness of the programs among your audience to maximize participation? We recommend implementing the following strategies and best practices in your efforts.
1. Establish Volunteer Time Off metrics and KPIs to track.
When it comes to marketing just about anything—including volunteer time off and other corporate giving programs—determining which KPIs (or Key Performance Indicators) your team will track is an essential first step. Implementing the appropriate metrics in your promotional plan allows you to measure the effectiveness of your VTO program and identify opportunities for improvement in your strategy.
These might include:
Volunteer participation rates
Number of existing volunteers using VTO
Number of first-time volunteers using VTO
Total number of hours donated through VTO programs
Average number of VTO hours used by volunteers
Number of companies offering VTO for your volunteers
VTO volunteer retention rate
Tangible project impact
Digital engagement (email clicks, social media likes, etc.)
By tracking these indicators and more, you can supercharge your efforts with data-driven decisions, demonstrate the program’s value to stakeholders, and optimize volunteer engagement. And that will set you up for successful marketing as you begin promoting the opportunities to supporters.
By tracking these indicators and more, you can supercharge your efforts with data-driven decisions, demonstrate the program’s value to stakeholders, and optimize volunteer engagement. And that will set you up for successful marketing as you begin promoting the opportunities to supporters.
2. Look at examples of other organizations’ VTO marketing efforts.
If your organization has yet to begin promoting volunteer time off to your audience, it can be a bit overwhelming if you’re not sure where to start. Fortunately, studying successful examples from your peers and other organizations’ VTO marketing efforts can provide valuable insights and inspiration.
Take a look at the following web pages from two nonprofits sharing information about Volunteer Time Off programs with their supporters:
Example #1
Example #2
Each one provides an essential overview of the opportunity, and analyzing their strategies can help identify best practices, innovative ideas, and common pitfalls to avoid.
3. Provide an overview of VTO basics on your nonprofit website.
As the examples showcase above, one of the best ways to promote volunteer time off to your supporters is to share information about the programs on your nonprofit or school’s website. After all, your website is an invaluable resource for volunteers and donors looking to get further involved with your organization. It makes sense for VTO to be a featured opportunity!
If you already have a Volunteers’ page on your site, be sure to add a blurb about Volunteer Time Off there—along with instructions on how individuals can locate their companies’ guidelines. You can also include information on your workplace giving or “Ways to Give” pages or even dedicate a brand new page to all things VTO.
Regardless, a clear and concise overview can serve as an essential incentive for volunteer engagement. By making this information easily accessible on your site, you can educate visitors, encourage more individuals to take advantage of VTO, and reduce barriers to participation.
Top tip: Once you have VTO content live on your website, use Google’s Ad Grants program to promote the page to a wider audience at no cost!
4. Share impact-focused volunteer time off content on social media.
Another way to spread the word about Volunteer Time Off programs is by sharing information from your organization’s social media profiles. For the best results, the content you publish should highlight the benefits of volunteerism on your cause and emphasize the convenience with which individuals can support your efforts.
Try scheduling a combination of informational content, mission impact stories, volunteer testimonials, statistics and research, participating companies, step-by-step instructions, and more. Across all your posts, keep in mind platform-specific best practices, such as regarding multimedia materials, hashtags, linking strategies, and more.
Remember: Social media is a powerful tool. Use it to show supporters how they can do even more to move your mission forward in tangible, hands-on ways. As a result, you can amplify your organization’s message, attract new supporters, and build a growing community around your cause.
5. Source employment information from volunteers and donors.
In order to locate opportunities for supporters to take VTO while volunteering with your cause, you’ll need access to their employment data. It should be a no-brainer that you’ll want to know where your volunteers work. However, you shouldn’t overlook the VTO potential of your donors, either! Most organizations’ donors and volunteers overlap by a significant amount—and volunteer incentives like VTO can help encourage even more donors to give their time.
So, how can you get the information if it’s not already available? One of the easiest ways is to request employment data directly within your volunteer registration forms, donation pages, and more. However, other identification methods may include the usage of a matching gift company search tool, email domain screening, data appends service, and more.
6. Inform volunteers about VTO opportunities within onboarding.
Make sure volunteers are familiar with the idea of volunteer time off from the start of their engagement to ensure available opportunities do not go unclaimed. For this, we recommend incorporating VTO information directly within the onboarding or training processes.
This approach helps set expectations, drives immediate engagement, and encourages volunteers to see if they qualify. Early education about VTO can also enhance volunteer retention and satisfaction by making it easy for eligible supporters to get paid while supporting your cause!
7. Send personalized follow-ups after volunteer activities.
Personalized follow-ups help build a stronger relationship between each volunteer and the nonprofits they support, thus increasing the likelihood of ongoing engagement and retention. As you begin implementing a plan for marketing volunteer time off for your cause, you don’t want to overlook the power of personalized communication.
Here’s how this can work:
Let’s say your organization gains a new volunteer who works for Warner Media, which you know offers a generous amount of VTO. After the individual’s first volunteer shift, you decide to send a tailored thank-you note. The note should demonstrate your appreciation of the individual’s support and remind them about their company’s volunteer incentives.
When the individual reads the message, they’re ultimately inspired to complete the request process for their employer to count their hours toward the Volunteer Time Off program.
If you have access to program guidelines or submission instructions, that information can help simplify the experience for your volunteer, too!
8. Encourage VTO-eligible supporters to organize group events.
One of the most impactful ways to promote volunteer time off is by leaning into word-of-mouth marketing. To demonstrate the value, let’s say the same volunteer continues supporting your organization with their VTO. You already know the individual works for a company that offers volunteer time off for its employees. One of the best ways to get more VTO-eligible supporters through your doors is to empower existing volunteers to organize group events with their peers.
If Volunteer A receives dedicated VTO hours, it can be assumed that Volunteer A’s colleagues can likely request VTO, as well. That means you’ll have a larger pool of individuals willing to do important work for your cause without facing the impact of a lost day’s wages.
Bonus: Free Sample Volunteer Time Off Marketing Materials
Ready to jump into marketing volunteer time off to your audience, but not sure where to begin? Feel free to use these sample graphics as a starting point.
Sample #1: General VTO Overview
Here’s what this example does well:
With an attention-grabbing header and concluding with a clickable CTA button, this sample focuses on driving action among volunteers. When users click the button to learn more, they should be directed to a VTO resource on your site. There, it should overview the opportunity in detail and instruct supporters on how to determine their eligibility for the programs.
Sample #2: Informational Infographic
Here’s what this example does well:
An infographic can be an excellent way to share tons of important information in an engaging and visually appealing manner. This sample content highlights a few key insights from our Volunteer Time Off statistics page, providing a helpful snapshot of the opportunity for nonprofits and their supporters.
Sample #3: Defining Volunteer Time Off
Here’s what this example does well:
It’s important for your audience to have a solid understanding of VTO programs before you can expect them to participate. Therefore, starting at the beginning with an easy-to-understand definition allows you to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page.
Sample #4: VTO Company Spotlight
Here’s what this example does well:
One of the best ways to ensure supporters understand the VTO opportunity is to highlight real examples of the programs. This sample marketing material does so well by sharing specific guidelines and insights regarding the highlighted company’s programming. Plus, it encourages the organization’s audience to self-identify as eligible for the particular program!
Wrapping Up & Next Steps: Start Growing VTO
Volunteer Time Off programs can drive significant social impact for nonprofits, their supporters, and the companies interested in giving back. As a result, the opportunity is not one that should be overstated.
Start by encouraging your audience to tap into VTO and other workplace giving initiatives. From there, your team can harness the power of employee volunteerism to advance its mission more effectively than ever before.
Interested in supercharging your organization’s corporate engagement strategy? Check out these recommended resources for further reading:
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DTD_A-Deep-Dive-into-Marketing-Volunteer-Time-Off-for-Nonprofits_Feature.png6001600Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2024-05-17 17:39:312024-11-22 15:17:47A Deep Dive into Marketing Volunteer Time Off for Nonprofits
The end of the year is always a busy time for fundraising, and your nonprofit tries to start planning months in advance. But the planning phase may take longer than anticipated, leaving you scrambling in October and November to figure everything out in time.
If your nonprofit relates to this situation, then you need an annual fundraising calendar stat. With a fundraising calendar, your entire fundraising strategy for the year can be laid out in as much detail as you need. With this preparation tool, your team can approach your fundraising goals confidently and follow clear plans to achieve them.
To help you get started with this essential nonprofit planning tool, this guide will explore:
First, let’s answer a few questions about fundraising calendars and how they fit into any nonprofit’s organizational strategy.
Annual Fundraising Calendar FAQ
What is an annual fundraising calendar?
An annual fundraising calendar is a planning tool used by nonprofits to outline and schedule their fundraising activities and campaigns throughout the year. Fundraising calendars may include details about:
Donor engagement activities
Fundraisers communication plans
Key dates and deadlines
Fundraising goals
Program costs
Staff and volunteer hours
Fundraising calendars are highly customizable, and your nonprofit’s calendar should include the information and level of detail that helps your team. For example, your nonprofit might already have a separate content management calendar for marketing initiatives. In this case, you might just add key marketing activities to your fundraising calendar, such as campaign kick-offs, but leave off granular details, such as when social media posts go live.
What are the benefits of an annual fundraising calendar?
Ultimately, your fundraising calendar’s effectiveness depends on how your team uses it. A well-planned and executed fundraising calendar allows you to reap the following benefits:
Your fundraising calendar is your nonprofit’s roadmap for the year, and if you follow that map, you’ll ideally reach your fundraising goals’ destination.
If something does come up and you need to deviate from your plan, do not throw out your calendar. Instead, treat it like a living document and make necessary edits. This will allow you to consider future outcomes and successfully shift plans for how to achieve your fundraising goals.
When should nonprofits create a fundraising calendar?
Ideally, your nonprofit should have its annual fundraising calendar ready well in advance of the upcoming fiscal or calendar year, depending on how you manage your operations. For some nonprofits, this means having a calendar that outlines activities from July 30th to June 1st. For others, this means January 1st through December 31st.
Whichever way you set it up, plan to create your calendar at least a month in advance of when you will actually start using it. This way, you can avoid playing catch-up and start preparing for long-term projects right away.
How to Create an Annual Fundraising Calendar
Set Clear Goals and Objectives
We’ve discussed the types of general activities that your annual fundraising calendar can document, but the content on your calendar should be dictated by your goals for the year. Think of your calendar as not just a checklist of activities for the year but a plan for achieving specific goals.
As such, your first step in designing your fundraising calendar is to define your nonprofit’s fundraising goals for the year. These goals should:
Align with your overall mission and financial needs. Talk with your team, especially your executive director and program managers, to identify what your nonprofit needs to accomplish this year. For some nonprofits, this might mean planning a growth strategy, while others might seek to raise enough funding to maintain current operations.
Be practical based on past years’ performance. Evaluate your organization’s past fundraising activities and campaigns to identify what worked well, what needs improvement, and what should not be repeated. This ranges from social media strategies and events to sponsorships and grant applications.
Consider expected trends and events. Is there anything your nonprofit can predict will happen in the coming year that will impact your fundraising efforts? This might include trends in corporate funding, major political events, and seasonal activities. For example, every nonprofit should consider the heightened philanthropic activity around the end of the year.
Use these goals as guidelines for your entire fundraising calendar. When adding activities, consider how each proposed initiative helps your overall goals. If something doesn’t clearly align, consider if it’s still necessary or even if it takes resources away from other activities.
Identify Key Fundraising Activities
Next, use your goals to determine the types of fundraising activities and campaigns you plan to undertake during the year. A few campaigns you might add to your fundraising calendar include:
Matching Gift Campaigns
Fundraising calendars help nonprofits plan specific fundraising activities that need to take place at specific times, but they can also help track and coordinate ongoing fundraisers. For example, your nonprofit might add reminders to continually promote matching gifts.
Matching gifts are a passive fundraiser in that once a nonprofit has matching gift software enabled on its donation page, the fundraiser essentially runs itself. However, you can earn more from matching gifts by remembering to regularly promote it to donors, so they in turn remember to fill out and submit matching gift requests to their employers.
To learn more about matching gifts and why you should add a matching gift campaign to your annual fundraising calendar, check out this video from the Double the Donation team:
There are also events and specific time frames related to matching gifts that you may want to add to your fundraising calendar. For example, if you organize a matching gift challenge with a sponsor, you should add notes to your fundraising calendar about when this period begins and ends, as well as plans to market it to donors.
Major Gift Cultivation
It’s common knowledge in the nonprofit sector that approximately 80% of the average nonprofit’s funding comes from just 20% of donors. Recent reports show this trend has only been exacerbated with 90% of donation revenue coming from 10% of donors.
This means if your nonprofit does not already have a formal process for courting major donors, now is the time to start planning one.
On your annual fundraising calendar, add directions for your major gift officers. As they develop relationships with major donors, the donation cultivation process will become highly individualized, and major gift officers will need to create their own schedules for each prospect. However, your fundraising calendar should document steps for your major giving program as a whole.
For example, you might add core activities such as:
Conduct prospect research
Reach out to new prospects
Cultivate relationships by inviting major donors to special events
Make asks for a major upcoming project to donors likely to convert
Putting these activities on your calendar will help you continually refresh your database of prospects, grow your major giving program, and ensure major gifts come through at key times of the year.
Events
From booking a venue to organizing a marketing campaign, events require significant planning but can also bring in significant revenue. For major events, consider breaking their planning into multiple steps, such as:
Initial planning. Early planning stages for events depend on the event type, such as an auction requiring an extensive item procurement period. However, for most events, major activities to add to a fundraising calendar include organizing sponsorships, booking venues, planning activities, and making necessary software and resource purchases.
Marketing. Event marketing should start at least several weeks before a major event and requires planning beforehand. Consider scheduling time for market research and marketing asset creation, as well as creating an outreach schedule for when promotions go live. For example, you might plan time to hire a graphic designer to create invitation eCards, then use eCard software to schedule their delivery.
Marketing. Event marketing should start at least several weeks before a major event and requires planning beforehand. Consider scheduling time for market research and marketing asset creation, as well as creating an outreach schedule for when promotions go live. For example, you might plan time to hire a graphic designer to create invitation eCards, then use eCard software to schedule their delivery.
Hosting. Unless an unexpected emergency comes up, you should schedule a specific date to host the event early on. This enables bookings in advance for venues, entertainment, and catering.
For events, pay special attention to staff time and what types of staff you will need. Some events may be able to rely heavily on volunteers, whereas others might require a significant amount of work from staff and even external vendors.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaigns
In many ways, peer-to-peer campaigns run themselves, but they need coordination to get off the ground and make an impact. For your peer-to-peer campaign, add the following items to your fundraising calendar:
Software purchases. If your nonprofit does not already have peer-to-peer software, plan to begin the purchasing process in advance of your campaign. Be aware that some software purchases, such as platforms that are major investments or require significant customization, may require months-long implementation processes.
Volunteer recruitment. Determine how and when you will recruit participants. You may start making open calls early on and then plan to ramp up recruitment as your campaign’s start date nears.
Onboarding. Schedule time to create a formal onboarding process for volunteers in advance. You should have a style guide for how to present your nonprofit online and a walkthrough for how to use your peer-to-peer software.
Be aware that if you are hosting a rolling peer-to-peer campaign, you will have no set dates, and your timeline will be looser. Whether your campaign is scheduled or rolling, add reminders to regularly check in with your peer-to-peer fundraisers to provide encouragement, answer questions, and thank them for their participation.
Giving Tuesday Campaign
Giving Tuesday is one of the most important fundraising days of the year with almost $3.1 billion raised in 2022. If your nonprofit wants to participate in Giving Tuesday, start planning your campaign early.
Many nonprofits use Giving Tuesday as an opportunity to try new fundraising strategies to reach new audiences and stand out from the crowd. Whether your nonprofit is using an old strategy or trying something new, remember to pencil in research time for your campaign plan. Use the period several months in advance of Giving Tuesday to determine what fundraising strategies donors are responding to, if nonprofits in your field are using them, and if they are feasible for your organization.
Then, schedule time to assemble a team, establish your strategy, purchase and implement any needed software, and create necessary marketing materials. If you don’t have a separate content management calendar, consider adding notes about when to post announcements and send out promotional materials to your annual fundraising calendar.
Determine Timing and Scheduling
You now know what activities you want to put on your fundraising calendar, but when should those activities happen?
For every activity, assign a specific date or time frame based on:
Seasonality. Certain times of the year lend themselves to certain fundraisers. For example, the end-of-year holiday season is likely to be packed with marketing campaigns and events, whereas the fall may primarily be dedicated to planning those upcoming activities.
Donor behavior. Consider how donors are likely to respond to future activities based on previously scheduled ones. For instance, at the end of the year, you may make a major push to acquire new donors. In the following months, you would then shift gears to prioritize retention efforts to maintain as many of those donors as possible. This factor is especially important when it comes to establishing major giving practices.
Relevant external factors. Are there any upcoming challenges or opportunities you are currently aware of that might impact your schedule? For instance, if your marketing head is going on maternity leave, you may need to schedule a training period for the replacement to get up to speed.
Additionally, consider how much time should be dedicated to each activity. For example, while an event might only last for a few hours on a single day, you might need well over 100 hours of staff time to prepare for that event. This will help you balance schedules and avoid overwhelming any one team or person at your nonprofit.
Allocate Resources
In addition to the time activities will take, consider what other resources are needed. This may include budgeted funds, as well as which personnel is assigned to what activities to avoid double-booking or overextending resources.
Alternatively, consider what resources each activity is likely to bring in. For example, a volunteer recruitment drive will increase available volunteer time while an expected renewed grant will provide more funds for various programs.
How to Maintain an Annual Fundraising Calendar
Meet regularly with your team
Your annual fundraising calendar’s effectiveness is contingent on your team following it and adapting it as needed. Meet with your team about this year’s fundraising calendar regularly to:
Create your calendar. Unless your nonprofit is a one-man team, you need input from the rest of your team to determine which activities to prioritize, what resources you need for those activities, and who should be responsible for them. For instance, you might initially assume your IT team can handle your website redesign single-handedly, but after input from the rest of your nonprofit realize they need to work in tandem with your marketing team.
Ensure ownership. Every task on your fundraising calendar should be assigned to a specific person or group of people. Meet with various teams so they are aware of their responsibilities each month.
Make necessary adjustments. The people carrying out your various fundraising activities will be the first to sound the alarm if adjustments need to be made. Keep lines of communication open so team members can report delays, needed additional resources, and shortfalls. On a more positive note, team members might also report that certain activities earned more or were wrapped up in less time than expected.
By talking to various members of your staff, you will gain a broader perspective of your nonprofit’s current operations and capacity. This will improve your understanding of what your team can reasonably accomplish in a given year and help you stay on track to hit your fundraising goals.
Track Progress
As mentioned, your annual fundraising calendar is a roadmap for achieving your goals for the year, and that roadmap may need to add a few detours here and there. These hiccups should not derail your entire calendar. Instead, be ready to be flexible and make adjustments as needed.
Track fundraising activities in relation to your annual goals. For example, if you have a target amount you want to raise this year, you might focus on how much your fundraisers, events, and major donors bring in throughout the year. If a fundraising event has lower attendance than expected due to weather, consider how you can adjust other activities planned in future months to make up for that revenue shortfall.
Consistently engage donors
While your calendar likely only lists major activities, don’t forget the small everyday activities that keep your donors engaged. For instance, you can’t predict when every new donor will decide to give, so you need a flexible strategy that allows you to show appreciation and recognize donors at a moment’s notice.
Annual Fundraising Calendar Template
If you search the web for fundraising calendars, you’ll likely find results that look like a regular calendar you might hang up in your kitchen. These are not annual fundraising calendars and have limited use for nonprofits.
Rather, your fundraising calendar should take the form of a spreadsheet to be more useful to your team. Here’s an example and breakdown of the core elements of an annual fundraising calendar:
Month. Annual fundraising calendars are usually broken down by month to avoid making them too unwieldy. If there are specific activities that need to happen on specific dates, such as hitting a grant submission deadline, add a note to your calendar.
Activities. What activities are taking place this month? Usually, these are overall activities for the month, such as “plan Giving Tuesday campaign” or “start contacting potential annual gala sponsors.”
Costs. To the best of your ability, estimate how much each activity is expected to cost. This includes software purchases, vendor costs, and staff time. If you haven’t already prepared it, consider crafting your nonprofit’s annual budget in tandem with your fundraising calendar. This helps you keep track of where your money is going and ensure you have enough funds allocated for the entire year.
Staff. Determine who at your nonprofit will be responsible for what activities. This can be names of specific individuals or groups, such as your marketing team, major gift officers, or volunteers. Additionally, estimate approximately how much time you expect staff to spend on any one activity.
Expected income. Ultimately, your fundraising calendar is about earning money for your nonprofit. As such, for applicable activities, do your best to estimate how much they are expected to earn. This is especially necessary if your nonprofit’s annual goal is related to hitting a specific fundraising target.
Notes. If there are any extra reminders you want on record about a planned activity, add them to your notes section. This might include a reminder about the staff member going on maternity leave or a note emphasizing a strict deadline for a certain task.
To keep your nonprofit on track for the entire year, consider adding an optional “Goals” section to the top of your fundraising calendar. This should be a statement of what you hope to accomplish during the year that you can always refer back to at a glance each time you look at your calendar.
Annual Fundraising Calendars: Wrap Up
With a well-thought-out plan, any nonprofit can start its fundraising year off right. Annual fundraising calendars can help your organization do just that by creating timelines, allocating resources, and helping to focus your goals. To get started with your annual fundraising calendar, use our template or create your own. Then, meet with your team and start planning.
For more fundraising and organizational resources, explore these guides:
From local communities to global movements, effective nonprofit data collection is a silent hero. Collecting nonprofit data involves systematically gathering, analyzing, and using information to track performance, enhance decision-making, and amplify impact. It’s not just about numbers; it’s about understanding your organization’s needs, measuring progress, and strategizing to meet local and global challenges.
Collecting the right data helps organizations like yours understand what works so you can do more good in the world. That way, you can use your resources more efficiently to reach the right supporters and beneficiaries.
In this ultimate guide, we’ll share how nonprofits can collect data effectively and explain how that data can serve as the fuel for transformative action. Here’s what we’ll cover:
With the right insights, your nonprofit can make a greater impact on the world, whether you’re focused on improving your corporate partnerships, marketing segmentation, finance management, or programs. Let’s dive in!
How Do Nonprofits Collect Data?
Nonprofits can collect data through various methods, depending on their goals, resources, and the nature of the data they need. Here are some common methods and types of data collection software for nonprofits:
Forms: Your nonprofit can use donation forms, volunteer applications, event registrations, and intake forms to gather supporter and beneficiary information. Each form is designed to collect data about different types of recipients. For example, donation forms collect donor data like contact information, donation amount, payment information, employer information for matching purposes, and gift designations.
Surveys and Questionnaires: Nonprofits can use surveys to gather feedback from beneficiaries, donors, and the general public. These questionnaires can be distributed online, via email, social media, or in person.
Marketing Platforms: Nonprofits can view metrics within their digital marketing platforms to understand audience behaviors and tailor messaging. For example, Google Analytics provides information about website visitors, including how much time they spend on specific pages, what content they engage with, and what channels drive them to the site. Meanwhile, email marketing tools provide insights on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions which explain which content and calls to action resonate.
Financial Management Software: Specialized software helps manage and report on financial data like revenue and expenses, ensuring compliance with accounting standards and regulatory requirements.
CRM Systems:Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce for Nonprofits, Bloomerang, and Blackbaud store all interactions with supporters and corporate partners, including communications, contact information, contributions, and feedback.
How you collect data depends on which metrics you want to focus on to ensure long-term sustainability and increase impact. Decide on which data will best support your organization and put systems in place to gather it.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Nonprofit Data
There are two categories of nonprofit data you can collect:
Quantitative data refers to information that can be quantified, meaning it can be measured and expressed numerically. Examples include the number of volunteers who participated in an event, the amount of money raised from a fundraiser, the number of website visits, and the number of acquired donors in a certain time frame.
Qualitative data is descriptive data that cannot be assigned a numerical value. This includes information like donor names, anecdotal survey responses, and preferred contact methods.
By leveraging both types of data, nonprofits can gain a more comprehensive understanding of their impact, tailor their services more effectively, and better communicate their successes and challenges to stakeholders.
The Importance of Efficient Nonprofit Data Collection
Nonprofits are expected to compete for time, attention, and money with companies and peer organizations. In fact, the average person sees roughly 5,000 ads per day. Standing out requires speaking to the right people at the right time with the right message. Nonprofit data makes that possible!
Here’s a rundown of the most important benefits of nonprofit data:
Measure impact and see which programs are working
Better understand how to effectively allocate resources (e.g., time, money, and personnel)
Make informed decisions, such as planning new programs based on community needs assessments
Demonstrate accountability by sharing how funds are being used
Deliver timely appeals based on past engagement data to inspire action, raise funds, and cultivate relationships
Send powerful messages at the optimal time by segmenting communications based on interests and preferred communication channels
Communicate program impact and challenges to stakeholders
For an example of nonprofit data in action, imagine an organization dedicated to providing clean water across continents. By collecting data on water quality, community health, and usage patterns, the nonprofit can tailor its initiatives to each region’s specific needs, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and that the solutions are sustainable.
By processing and analyzing data, nonprofits can create targeted interventions, monitor outcomes, and adapt strategies—activities that are crucial in a world where resources are limited and stakes are high.
Key Types of Nonprofit Data to Collect
There are endless types of nonprofit data you can collect, but some are much more helpful than others. For example, you don’t need to know which elements a user hovered over but didn’t click on your website. Unless this metric directly tied to improving user experience, collecting this nonprofit data will only bog down your software.
Let’s explore six types of nonprofit data you should collect.
Supporter Data
Data can tell you a lot about your donors, volunteers, and corporate sponsors. The more you know about your supporters, the better you can tailor your appeals to resonate with them.
Some of the most helpful supporter data to collect includes the following:
Full name, including preferred name and title
Geographic location to send relevant appeals, such as nearby events
Date of birth so you can segment communications based on age and reach out on supporters’ birthdays
Contact information, including email addresses, phone numbers, and postal mailing addresses
Employment details to locate corporate giving opportunities and estimate giving potential
Education, including areas of study to reveal causes they’re likely to support
Giving history such as donation amounts, frequency, gift designations, attended events, and volunteer involvement
Hobbies and interests to understand what opportunities inspire donors
Charitable involvement with other organizations, such as board service or donations
Here’s a sample donor profile to give you an idea of what this data might look like:
Sufficient nonprofit data collection practices will enable you to easily segment your supporters into groups to improve your outreach. The good news is that if some of this information is missing or outdated, data appending services can fill it in. We’ll explore this type of nonprofit data collection service later.
Marketing Data
You know who your supporters are, but do you know how to communicate with them? Collecting marketing data will help you understand what messages resonate and encourage your audience to get involved.
Key marketing data to collect includes:
Website traffic: Pay attention to how many people visit your site, how they get there, what pages they visit, and how long they stay. This information will help you optimize the user experience and set your website up to convert.
Social media engagement: Impressions, likes, shares, and comments tell you whether your social media posts are reaching your audience and encouraging engagement.
Email open and click rates: Are your subscribers opening your emails and clicking through to your site? These metrics let you know how effective your email marketing is. If your open rates are low, experiment with your subject lines and send emails under a real person’s name, like your fundraising director.
Advertising data: If your nonprofit advertises, look at keyword volume and competition. Getting Attention recommends choosing keywords with high search volume and low competition. For your ads themselves, nonprofit data like impressions, ad conversions, click-through rate (CTR), and cost per click (CPC) tell you how well your ads are performing and how much they’re costing you.
To collect this nonprofit data, audit your past marketing efforts and review what information your marketing software automatically collects. In turn, you can learn which platforms and messages drive supporter engagement to set future outreach up for success.
Campaign Data
Collecting campaign data will help evaluate your nonprofit’s effectiveness and better plan campaigns in the future. Important nonprofit campaign data to collect includes:
Donor and volunteer retention rates: Track how many donors or volunteers continue engaging with your organization over time. A donor or volunteer is considered “lapsed” if they haven’t given or volunteered within the past 12 months, but the length of time is up to your organization. High retention rates often indicate strong relationships and effective engagement strategies. Compare your nonprofit data with industry data to gauge success. For instance, Fundraising Report Card’s donor research indicates that the average donor retention rate is approximately 35%.
Event attendance: Measuring attendance at events helps your nonprofit gauge interest and engagement levels and assess the effectiveness of promotion strategies.
Campaign conversions: Monitor data on how many people took the desired action as a result of a campaign, such as donating, signing up to volunteer, or registering for an event. Also, pay attention to how many people your campaign converts into first-time supporters vs. recurring supporters.
Fundraising totals: Track the total funds raised per campaign to assess financial success and allocate your budget to future campaigns.
By systematically collecting campaign data, you can continuously improve your campaigns and invest in the most successful campaigns.
Expenses: Monitor costs associated with delivering programs and running fundraising campaigns. Also, use your financial data collection software to monitor operational and capital costs like salaries, rent, utilities, major equipment, and buildings.
Revenue: Track your income via donations, grants, event fees, product sales, membership sales, and other revenue sources.
Cash-on-hand: This is the total amount of accessible money at any given time from checking accounts or on-premise cash reserves that aren’t reserved or invested. This data indicates how long your nonprofit can survive without donations or funding.
Tracking this information will ensure your nonprofit’s financial health, help meet regulatory requirements, make informed management decisions, and maintain the trust of donors, volunteers, and other key stakeholders.
Corporate Partnership Data
Strong corporate partnerships help expand your nonprofit’s initiatives. Considering these relationships need to be mutually beneficial, you should track data related to your partnerships, such as:
Key contacts: Track the names, positions, and contact details of the primary contacts at the company.
Agreement terms and duration: Monitor the specific terms of the partnership agreements like the objectives and responsibilities of each party so you can fulfill all obligations. Also, know the start and end dates of the agreement.
Renewal conditions: Ensure you know the criteria your nonprofit must meet to have the partnership renewed at the end of the contract’s term.
Financial contributions: Track donation amounts, dates, and in-kind contributions such as goods, services, or expertise provided by the partner.
Employee engagement: Monitor corporate employees’ involvement in your nonprofit’s activities, including volunteer hours, participation in events, or matching donations.
Impact metrics: Collect and share quantitative and qualitative data demonstrating the impact of the partnership on your nonprofit’s goals.
By collecting the right nonprofit data for your partnerships, you can maximize companies’ impact and demonstrate the value of these partnerships to your corporate sponsors. This data-driven approach not only helps maintain current partnerships but also attracts new corporate sponsors by showcasing the tangible benefits of collaborating.
Data From External Studies
Your nonprofit can better understand the market and improve its programs by leveraging data from external studies. Consider collecting data from the following sources:
Public records: Collect demographic, economic, health, and educational statistics from public records to tailor services and understand the needs of your community. For example, a childhood education organization might collect demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau to identify low-income areas with limited educational resources.
Privately funded surveys: Incorporate data from market surveys, impact assessments, and stakeholder surveys to inform marketing strategies, evaluate program effectiveness, and gather feedback from key constituents.
Research publications: Use academic research, industry reports, and policy analysis to gain evidence-based insights, understand industry trends, and navigate the regulatory landscape effectively. For instance, a health-focused nonprofit can use academic research from a university study that identifies effective strategies for reducing diabetes.
Sector benchmarks: Use benchmarks to evaluate your organization’s performance related to peers. For instance, an animal welfare nonprofit might review annual benchmarking reports from a national animal protection agency to compare their animal adoption rates, recovery rates from medical treatment, and rehoming success with similar organizations.
Collecting data from external sources can cut down on the amount you spend conducting research. Just make sure you entrust reliable sources.
Tips to Improve Your Nonprofit Data Collection
Building an efficient nonprofit data collection strategy can be a large undertaking, but it will ultimately drive greater success for your organization. Here are some industry best practices to collect data ethically and efficiently.
Use Software That Integrates.
Chances are, your nonprofit uses software to run fundraisers, collect donations, manage volunteers, hold events, and oversee every aspect of your organization. In terms of nonprofit data collection, choosing systems that integrate can reduce the time and effort required to manage data across different platforms.
Integrated software ensures that nonprofit data is consistent and accurate, which minimizes errors that occur when manually transferring information between systems. Plus, it enables real-time data updates, giving all team members access to the latest information to make decisions.
For example, our matching gift software integrates with 100+ leading nonprofit software platforms, including fundraising tools, workplace giving platforms, CRMs, and more. That helps minimize nonprofit data inconsistencies from manual data entry, guaranteeing that donor information and matching gift opportunities are current and accurate across all systems.
Leverage Nonprofit Data Appending Services.
Nonprofit data appending is a process where additional data elements are added to your database to enrich the information you have on donors, volunteers, and other contacts. The process involves comparing the data you provide to a larger, external database and integrating new information to create more complete constituent profiles.
Contact details like phone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses, and social profiles
Employment data like job title and employer’s name
Demographics like net worth, birthdate, gender, and political affiliation
Routinely leveraging data enhancement services ensures you have accurate, complete information to understand your supporters, can contact them without messages bouncing, and can better drive them to give.
Use Ethical Nonprofit Data Collection Practices.
When it comes to nonprofit data collection, you should always respect the rights and privacy of your supporters. Here’s how you can accomplish that:
Obtain explicit consent from individuals before collecting their data. This involves explaining why their data is being collected and how it will be used.
Leverage secure databases and software that enable encryption.
Collect only necessary data and avoid gathering irrelevant sensitive information.
Give participants the right to access their own data, request corrections to inaccurate data, and opt out of your nonprofit data collection processes.
Require employees to enable two-factor authentication, use a secure password management system, and routinely update passwords for your nonprofit’s software.
Only give certain employees access to sensitive data.
Collecting data ethically will not only help you comply with legal standards, but it will also build trust among your supporters. Pay attention to standards and best practices specific to your industry. For example, nonprofits that handle protected health information (PHI) in the United States must adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Routinely Clean Your Data.
As part of managing your nonprofit data, you’ll want to keep it clean. “Clean” data refers to data that’s not excessive, erroneous, inaccurate, outdated, mislabeled, or duplicated. The cleansing process helps maintain data hygiene and should be performed regularly, such as annually or bi-annually.
Some data collection software for nonprofits offers features like deduplication to make this process a breeze. Plus, data enhancement is always an option for updating or filling in missing information.
Imagine a nonprofit that continues to use community demographic data from ten years ago to design its youth education programs. Because the demographic profile (such as age distribution, income levels, and educational attainment) of the community can significantly change over the decade, relying on this outdated information could lead the nonprofit to offer programs that are no longer relevant or effective for the community’s current needs.
Next Steps for Your Nonprofit Data Collection
Ultimately, your nonprofit’s strength lies in its ability to make informed decisions that drive its mission forward. Effective data collection is the foundation of this strength, providing the insights needed to optimize resources, engage stakeholders, and measure the true impact of your work. As the sector continues to evolve, the organizations that prioritize data-driven decision-making will be the ones leading the charge toward a brighter future.
While you refine your nonprofit data collection processes, explore these resources to learn more:
Data Ethics and Privacy: Questions in Matching Gift Fundraising. Protecting donor data is essential for building trust and growing fundraising revenue. Follow the tips in this guide to ethically collect and protect data during the matching gift process.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Nonprofit-Data-Collection_Feature.png7502000Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2024-05-09 12:48:432024-05-09 12:48:43Nonprofit Data Collection: How to Gather The Right Insights
A swift thank you is all it takes for 34% of donors to give again. And beyond boosting retention, a gratuitous follow-up can help your nonprofit share its impact, adhere to compliance standards, and show donors the appreciation they deserve.
While your nonprofit may already have a donor recognition process in place, an important first step is to send a gift acknowledgment letter. Let’s explore why these letters are important and how your organization can craft one that’s both effective and heartfelt!
Gift Acknowledgement Letter FAQs
What is a gift acknowledgment letter?
A gift acknowledgment letter, also known as a donation acknowledgment letter, is a formal document sent by a nonprofit to donors to express gratitude for their contributions. This appreciation message also serves as a way for donors to claim tax exemptions and reap the financial benefit of giving to your cause.
Is a gift acknowledgment letter required?
The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) lays out specific guidelines for written acknowledgments for tax-deductible donations—meaning that gift acknowledgment letters are not only a best practice but are required in certain instances. Nonprofits are required to provide a written acknowledgment for any single donation of $250 or more, whether in cash or in-kind.
The acknowledgment should include certain details such as the amount of the donation, a description of any non-cash contributions, and a statement indicating whether the organization provided any goods or services in exchange for the donation.
Should gift acknowledgment letters be sent for matched gifts?
When donors make a contribution that’s matched by their employer, your nonprofit has two supporters to thank: the employee and the employer. Not only should you send a gift acknowledgment letter to the donor, detailing that their gift was matched, but you should also send a separate acknowledgment to their employer. This can open the door to a future partnership, or at the very least, ensure they continue matching contributions to your cause.
Donor appreciation is just one best practice to follow when working with matching gifts. For more tips, watch the following video:
Because matching gifts are such a highly engaging fundraiser, prompt follow-up is especially important to maintain the engagement.
How soon after donors give should it be sent?
While there is no hard and fast rule for the exact timeframe within which a gift acknowledgment letter should be sent, it’s generally recommended that it be sent as soon as possible. This way, donors can be confident that their gifts went through and have access to everything they need to claim a tax exemption.
What should be included in a gift acknowledgment letter?
A gift acknowledgment letter should include the following elements:
Recipient’s information: Include the donor’s name in your salutation. This personal touch can help your organization establish strong connections with donors and help them feel valued.
Statement of gratitude: Start with a warm and sincere expression of thanks. Make it clear that their support is valued and appreciated, and connect it back to your cause.
Details of the donation: Specify the amount or nature of the donation (e.g., monetary contribution, in-kind donation, matched gift), as well as any restrictions or designations the donor may have specified.
Tax information: If applicable, provide information about the organization’s tax-exempt status and confirm that the donation is tax-deductible. Include the organization’s Tax ID number (if in the U.S.) for the donor’s records.
Impact of the donation: Briefly explain how the donor’s contribution will be used and the impact it will have on the organization’s mission or programs. This helps donors understand the importance of their support.
Your organization’s name: Sign off with your organization’s name to indicate that this donation went toward your nonprofit’s cause. You can also sign the letter with the name of a staff member or a leader within the organization for an added personal touch.
If relevant, you may also invite the donor to further their involvement with your organization. Consider adding a sentence or two inviting the donor to an upcoming event or providing details about how they can continue receiving communications from your nonprofit.
How to Write a Gift Acknowledgment Letter
1. State the purpose of your letter
Start your gift acknowledgment letter with a confirmation of the donation. This introduces the recipient to the letter by reminding them of their gift. It should only take a sentence or two.
2. Make your letter visually engaging
Before you start crafting the content of your letter, determine how you’ll make it catch the recipient’s attention. After all, your gift acknowledgment letter is only beneficial if the recipient actually reads it!
Here are a few strategies to make your letter visually engaging:
Plan engaging formatting
Choose legible fonts
Use animations or images
To make this process easier, use a digital card creation service like eCardWidget. This solution allows you to customize premade templates or start from scratch with unique cards branded to your nonprofit. Then, you can send the card to donors via email.
Taking the online route for gift acknowledgment letters unlocks numerous opportunities to invigorate your cards with engaging content. You can include everything from fun animations to eye-catching images and reuse the cards in the future as needed.
3. Personalize your note
Personalizing a gift acknowledgment letter adds a special touch and shows your donors that you genuinely value their ongoing support. Use these best practices to personalize your letter:
Use the donor’s name: Address the donor by their name. Avoid generic salutations like “Dear Supporter” and instead use their actual name, such as “Dear [Donor’s Name].” This increases the likelihood of donors reading your letter and shows them that you recognize them for who they are and not just as another revenue source.
Reference the donation: In the letter, mention the specific donation amount or type (e.g., monetary donation, in-kind donation). This shows that you’ve taken the time to acknowledge their contribution individually.
Express genuine gratitude: Tailor your appreciation message to reflect the impact of the donor’s contribution. Instead of a generic thank-you, express gratitude for the specific ways their support will make a difference.
Share a personal story: If you have any personal anecdotes or connections with the donor, mention them in the letter. For example, if the donor has been a long-time supporter or if their donation aligns with a particular interest or passion, acknowledge that connection.
Highlight previous support: If the donor has supported your organization in the past, acknowledge their ongoing commitment and express gratitude for their continued support.
By personalizing your gift acknowledgment letters, you can show donors that their support is truly valued and strengthen the bond between them and your organization.
4. Explain the impact of the gift
Personalized outreach that highlights donor impact makes 41% of donors willing to give again. You can demonstrate the donor’s impact by including:
A detailed story about the work that was accomplished with the donor’s gift, incorporating quotes from beneficiaries and volunteers.
Statistics and data relevant to the project supported by the donation.
A summary of larger goals to show how the donation supports your nonprofit’s long-term plans.
Remember to keep the message donor-centric, highlighting the impact their gift will make. The letter should be about what the donor—not your nonprofit—accomplished with their gift.
5. Express heartfelt gratitude
Craft a sincere message by using emotive language to convey your gratitude. Depending on the method you use to send your letter, incorporate additional elements to make it more meaningful. Sending handwritten letters can enhance the personal feel of the message, but digital platforms may allow you to include visuals alongside your message for more vivid appreciation.
6. Invite supporters to stay involved
Your gift acknowledgment letter shouldn’t be the end of your communications with donors. Ensure they stay involved by offering additional engagement opportunities in your letter.
Invite supporters to upcoming events, highlight volunteer opportunities, and direct them to other ways to stay in touch, such as feedback surveys or social media channels. If you send a digital card, you can use links and buttons to make it easy for donors to explore your other communication channels.
Gift Acknowledgment Letter Template
To make sure you include everything that’s needed in your letter, use this template as a starting point:
Dear [Donor’s Name],
Thank you so much for your generous donation of $[amount] on [date]. This letter is to officially acknowledge the receipt of your donation, which we have designated to support our [specific program]. Your support is vital to our efforts and makes a significant impact.
Please keep this letter for your records as it may be used as official documentation for tax purposes. No goods or services were provided in exchange for your donation.
We are deeply grateful for your generosity and commitment to our cause. Your support not only helps us achieve [specific goals], but it also strengthens our community of advocates and changemakers. We would love to see you at [upcoming event] or work with you on our volunteer team. Please visit our website [website URL] or contact us directly for more information on how you can greatly enhance our collective impact.
Thank you once again for your commitment to [cause].
A gift acknowledgment letter weaves together your nonprofit’s appreciation, engagement, and compliance efforts following a donor’s generosity. It provides an opportunity to deeply connect and foster lasting relationships with your treasured supporters.
If you’re looking for more information on how to inspire donors to give and cultivate meaningful relationships with them, check out the following resources:
Digital Marketing for Nonprofits: The Ultimate Guide. Keep in touch with donors beyond your gift acknowledgment letter by optimizing your communication efforts. Explore this guide to improve your digital marketing.
https://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Double-the-Donation_gift-acknowledgment-letter_Feature.png7602000Adam Weingerhttps://doublethedonation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/logo-dtd.svgAdam Weinger2024-05-08 20:53:572024-05-08 20:53:57How to Craft a Heartfelt Gift Acknowledgment Letter
You likely have a number of matchable donations in your CRM at any given time. If you’re looking to revamp your strategy, you might wonder if gifts made last week, month, or quarter remain eligible for the giving programs. Fear not—many contributions from the past year (give or take) should still qualify for company matching. Now, you’re just waiting for your donors to complete their matching gift requests!
The problem is that many donors remain unaware of the matching gift opportunity entirely. When an individual has no idea their employer matches, they won’t take the necessary steps to request associated funding and secure additional revenue for your nonprofit.
That’s why educating your teamand your donors about the importance of matching gift requests is essential. And we’ve provided this expert guide to help you do so!
In this blog post, we’ll cover the following key topics:
A matching gift request is a submission made by a donor to their employer as part of the company’s matching gift program. The request aims to secure a corporate match for the individual’s donation to a nonprofit cause, making it an essential part of the matching gift process.
The Matching Gift Fundraising Process
A donor contributes to a nonprofit.
The donor determines if their gift qualifies for an employer match.
The donor completes a matching gift request from their employer.
The employer reviews the matching gift request and verifies the initial donation with the organization.
The employer approves the matching gift request and disburses match funding to the organization.
Though the request itself can vary from one company to the next, these forms generally source information on the employee, the recipient organization, and transaction details.
How Do Donors Complete Matching Gift Requests?
The actual task of submitting a matching gift request is going to fall on each individual donor. However, it helps to ensure your fundraising team is familiar with the process and prepared to assist donors in completing it.
Here’s how it generally works:
Step 1: A donor receives a link to their matching gift form.
After a donor contributes to a nonprofit, the organization should take proactive steps to encourage the individual to complete the matching gift request process. This might mean promoting matching gifts from the confirmation screen or in a separate email follow-up (as pictured below).
For the best results, the reminder should include an acknowledgment of the donor’s initial donation along with a direct link to their company forms.
Step 2: The donor logs into their company’s giving portal.
After the donor receives a link to their employer’s matching gift form, they should navigate to the company’s giving portal or corporate philanthropy platform. This site will generally house a range of corporate giving information, including the forms required for employees to complete their matching gift requests.
Once on the page, they’ll log in using credentials provided by their employer. Most online portals have contact information for the company’s program administrator, should a donor have difficulty accessing the platform on their own.
Step 3: The donor initiates a matching gift request.
Within the company’s giving portal (or externally, for companies that don’t use them), a donor should locate the option to initiate a matching gift request.
This may be presented as a specific form or an online application within the portal.
Step 4: The donor provides donation details on the online form.
The donor should now follow the instructions provided by the portal to complete their matching gift request form properly. They should expect to supply information about…
Themselves (i.e., employee ID number, corporate email address)
The organization they supported (there will typically be some kind of search field or dropdown menu from which to choose)
Their recent transaction details (gift format, amount, date, etc.)
Once approved, the company makes its own donation to the nonprofit, effectively doubling (or, in some cases, tripling) the impact of the original gift.
What to Know About Matching Gift Request Deadlines ⌛
Matching gift requests are not generally required to be submitted immediately following the initial giving transaction. However, nearly all companies establish some sort of deadline by which employee matching gift requests must be completed.
The dates themselves vary, generally coinciding with the calendar year (e.g., December of the year in which the donation was made; the end of the calendar year plus a grace period into the following one) or a set amount of time post-donation.
Top tip:Encouraging timely submissions from donors is integral to an optimized strategy. The more time passes after an individual’s donation, the less likely they are to complete the match. Not to mention, the sooner your nonprofit receives the extra funds, the sooner it can put those funds to good use.
See How Matching Gift Automation Can Help
Get a sneak peek of the industry-leading matching gift automation solution, 360MatchPro.
Familiarize yourself with the following types of program deadlines. Plus, review leading matching gift company guidelines to see when their employees’ matching gift requests are due!
Deadline #1: A Set Number of Days or Months Post-Donation
The first type of deadline is based on the amount of time elapsed since the individual completed their initial donation. While most companies offer flexible submission windows for matching gift requests, deadlines can range from 30 days to an entire year post-transaction.
Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae currently matches part-time and full-time employee donations up to $5,000. Unfortunately, some donors miss out on this funding opportunity, largely due to a lack of program awareness, which results in missed matching gift requests.
Match request deadline: Fannie Mae donors must submit their matching gift requests within 30 days of their donation date or by December 31st of each year (whichever is sooner).
Altria offers a generous matching gift program (up to $30,000 per employee per year) along with sizable volunteer grants (up to $500 after 25 hours of volunteering).
Match request deadline: Altria’s program administrator must receive all matching gift requests within 90 days of the donations being made.
Apple offers a generous matching gift program for full-time and part-time employees. Each year, team members are encouraged to request between $1 and $10,000 in matches from qualifying gifts!
Match request deadline: Employees should be sure to submit their matching gift requests swiftly, as Apple requires gifts to be registered within one month of the transaction date.
Microsoft matches between $1 and $15,000 per team member per year. Plus, employees can earn grants for their favorite organizations worth $25 for each hour they spend volunteering.
Match request deadline: Employees are welcome to request matching gifts for any qualifying donations made in the past 12 months!
Fast food corporation YUM Brands, including employees at Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell restaurants, matches gifts at a dollar-for-dollar rate up to $1,000 per associate per year.
Match request deadline: All YUM Brands employees should complete their matching gift requests within six months of their initial donations.
The other main type of matching gift request deadline is one that aligns with the calendar year (running from January 1st to December 31st). That means tons of companies set their deadlines at December 31st.
Here are a few examples:
AVON
AVON matches employee donations up to $15,000 per year. And the first $500 donated is matched at a 2:1 rate, thus tripling the initial donation value.
Match request deadline: AVON employees should mark their calendars! While the deadline indeed falls in December of each year, team members are required to complete their requests prior to December 11th rather than the standard 31st.
Freeport-McMoRan matches donations of up to $40,000 to a wide range of nonprofits. While the first $1,000 donated is matched at a 2:1 rate (thus tripling each initial dollar’s value), donations above $1,000 are matched dollar-for-dollar.
Match request deadline: While Freeport-McMoRan encourages employees to submit matching donation requests at the time of the initial donation, employees can submit matches until Dec. 31st of the year following the date of the donation.
SAP America gives charitably through the SAP Together Program. Within this initiative, SAP employees are incentivized to donate to nonprofits to unlock matching gifts for their favorite organizations.
Match request deadline: Matching gifts must be requested of the company by December 31st of the year in which the initial donation is made. However, donors should be encouraged to submit their matches as soon as possible due to a company-wide annual limit.
The last group of companies establishes their matching gift deadlines according to the calendar year as well. But they also tack on an additional month or so.
Boeing
Boeing offers a monetary match, a volunteer grant match, and a fundraising match. And while full-time and part-time employees qualify to have their gifts matched dollar-for-dollar, retirees of the company are eligible to request a 0.5:1 match.
Match request deadline: Boeing employees (or retirees) participating in any matching gift program must submit their matching gift requests by January 31st of the year following the one in which the initial contribution/volunteerism/event took place.
Each year, Verizon matches employee donations of up to $5,000 to the educational institutions of their choice. Meanwhile, all other nonprofits qualify for up to $1,000 in match funding, along with $750 grants for organizations with which employees volunteer.
Match request deadline: Matching gift requests must be entered into the electronic matching gift system before January 31st of the year following the date of the donation.
Adobe matches donations of up to $10,000 per employee per year. Additionally, employees can submit volunteer or “dollars for doers” grant requests worth $250 for every 10 hours they volunteer.
Match request deadline: All matching gift requests must be submitted by January 31st of the year following the one in which the gift was made, regardless of the donation date.
Coca-Cola generously matches employee gifts at a 2:1 ratio. That means for every $1 an employee contributes, Coke gives $2 up to a maximum corporate contribution of $20,000.
Match request deadline: All employee matching gift requests should be completed and returned to The Coca-Cola Company by February 28th of the following year.
Bank of America (including the investment management and wealth management division, Merrill Lynch) matches employee donations to nearly all nonprofit causes. Each year, team members can request between $24 and $5,000 worth of matches for personal donations of equal amounts.
Match request deadline: Employees must complete an application and have the recipient organization verify the gift. This information must be received by January 31st of the year following the date of the donation.
Fun fact: General Electric was the first company to implement an employee matching gift program in 1954. Today, it matches millions of dollars worth of gifts to approved charities around the world. Each team full or part-time team member is encouraged to request between $25 and $5,000 per year!
Match request deadline: General Electric offers one of the most extended matching gift program deadlines, with employees being able to request matches until April 15th(tax day!) of the year after their gifts were made.
Unfortunately, matching gift deadlines mean little if your organization isn’t informing donors about matching gifts first. After all, the vast majority of match-eligible employees (approximately 78%) have no idea their company even matches gifts.
How will a donor know to submit a request on time if they don’t know to submit one in the first place?
Luckily, marketing matching gifts to your donors is easier than ever (check out our free downloadable resource for more tips and tricks!). Proper software can help screen for match-eligible transactions, inform donors of their eligibility, and supply individuals with actionable information to initiate the process, too.
As the fundraising sector’s top matching gift tool, 360MatchPro identifies matching gift opportunities and triggers personalized marketing emails. It also integrates with nearly all of the leading fundraising solutions, allowing it to supercharge the donation process and make implementation and management quick and easy.
Watch the following 60-second overview video to learn more:
Streamlining Matching Gift Requests With Auto-Submission
Traditionally, an employee wanting to file a matching gift request had to determine their eligibility for a match before identifying and completing the correct forms for their employer. Then, as outlined above, the matching gift request process typically requires an individual to log into a separate portal. There, they supply donation data and submit their matching gift form.
But today, the matching gift request process is being transformed. And it’s beginning with a shift toward 360MatchPro’s groundbreaking auto-submission functionality! Now, companies that enable this option through their CSR platforms empower employees with a one-click request opportunity directly from their favorite organizations’ giving pages.
When requesting a match is as simple as selecting a checkbox on a confirmation screen, more donors will be inclined to do it—which is why auto-submission is such an invaluable tool.
Wrapping Up
Effectively navigating the world of matching gift requests can seem like a daunting task. But armed with the right knowledge and resources, donors can maximize the impact of their contributions to nonprofits like yours.
Keep in mind that as the fundraising organization, it’s your responsibility to ensure your audience is informed and encouraged to participate. And that means recognizing the potential for matching gifts and taking proactive steps to supply donors with company forms and guidelines.
Interested in learning more about effective matching gift fundraising practices? Check out these additional recommended resources:
Corporate Matching Gift Forms | The Ultimate Guide. From understanding the process to maximizing your submissions, this resource equips you with the knowledge to navigate and optimize matching gifts for your nonprofit.
In major election years, political campaigns are at the top of everyone’s minds. Your organization’s supporters receive political advertisements and donation appeals alongside those from your nonprofit, and donors may even wonder where your organization stands on key election issues.
While 501(c)(3) nonprofits are prohibited from participating in or supporting specific political campaigns, that doesn’t mean you should ignore them. Not only can election results impact your organization’s work in the future, but there are also plenty of lessons you can learn from political campaign strategies to improve your own fundraising and marketing campaigns.
We’ll cover five concepts that political campaign staff understand well and explore how you can apply them to your nonprofit’s strategies.
1. Time is of the Essence
Since every political campaign runs on a hard deadline, they understand the importance of urgency in every facet of their operations. Political campaign staff plot out detailed field plans, campaign timelines, and editorial calendars to ensure that every action contributes to the ultimate goal of winning the election. They hit the ground running, leveraging volunteers to speak with hundreds of voters at a time about supporting their candidate.
You can approach your fundraising campaigns with the same mindset to increase their momentum and drive results. Try infusing more urgency into your nonprofit’s campaigns by:
Writing urgent calls to action. The calls to action (CTAs) that you include in fundraising appeals, social media posts, and emails should convey the importance of your nonprofit’s work and empower supporters to act now. For instance, the CTA “Donate to save a turtle today!” inspires more urgency than “Donate here.”
Hosting a phonathon. Political campaigns use phone and text banking to connect with many voters in short time spans. Your nonprofit can do the same by hosting a phonathon in which volunteers call and connect with numerous donors in one day using a standardized script.
Leveraging automation to connect with donors immediately. Marketing automation tools can help you increase the speed at which you reach out to supporters and drive more action. By automatically sending emails or texts immediately after a donor gives, for example, you can quickly strengthen that relationship and inspire further involvement.
Additionally, make sure to frequently update donors on the progress of your campaigns, projects, and programs to show them that your nonprofit is working urgently to put their donations to good use.
2. Public Opinion is Paramount
Political campaign strategists spend plenty of time and resources researching the opinions of voters and crafting messages that will resonate with them. They understand that voters get a candidate elected, just like a nonprofit’s donors enable it to further its mission, and they prioritize voter opinion effectively.
Donors’ opinions, priorities, and concerns should play a central role in your nonprofit’s strategy development, guiding how you approach marketing and fundraising campaigns.
To better understand and speak to your audience’s motivations, send out periodic surveys to ask for their feedback directly. Ask questions like:
Why do you donate to our nonprofit?
What do you consider to be the most important aspects of our cause?
What other causes are you interested in?
What kinds of programs do you want to see from us in the future?
If you could change one thing about our organization, what would it be?
Along with asking your donors directly, take into account research on the opinions of the general public. For example, 77% of consumers want to purchase from companies with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives like matching gift programs. With this in mind, your nonprofit might prioritize your matching gift fundraising campaigns to appeal to the public’s interest in CSR.
3. Volunteers are Drivers of Change
Similar to nonprofits, most political campaigns don’t have large teams and therefore have to rely on volunteers for major efforts like canvassing and phone banking.
Because these efforts are so critical to the success of political campaigns, campaign staff understand and value their volunteers’ power to enact change. Some campaigns even use distributed organizing tactics, giving leadership positions to select volunteers and empowering them to lead their own volunteer teams on behalf of the campaign.
Your nonprofit can take inspiration from these tactics by improving your volunteer program and empowering volunteers to act. Use the following strategies to do so:
Emphasize skill development. No matter what kind of volunteer opportunities you offer, they involve certain skills that volunteers get to develop when they participate. Highlight the opportunity to improve soft skills like leadership and communication along with relevant hard skills like gardening or teaching.
Host peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. Let volunteers take the lead on fundraising by hosting a peer-to-peer campaign in which they raise money on behalf of your nonprofit. These campaigns give volunteers a chance to develop their fundraising skills and deepen their relationship with your nonprofit.
Show appreciation to volunteers often. Volunteers are more likely to stay involved with your organization when they feel like their participation is appreciated and makes a genuine difference to your mission. Appreciate volunteers by sending thank-you emails, giving them small gifts, and regularly asking for their feedback.
With a more empowered, involved volunteer force at your disposal, your nonprofit can start taking advantage of corporate volunteering programs, too. Invite volunteers to tap into their employers’ volunteer grant initiatives to make an even greater impact on your cause.
4. Digital Channels Make a Difference
Your nonprofit likely already uses a variety of digital communication channels to connect with donors and spread greater awareness of your nonprofit’s work. But are you leveraging these channels to their full extent?
For political campaigns, digital marketing and outreach is a top priority. They use digital tools like text banking software, canvassing apps, and social media outreach tools to get their message in front of voters across as many channels as possible. They also use a mix of paid and non-paid advertising methods to reach new online audiences.
Think about the digital channels your organization hasn’t yet explored and how they could give your fundraising campaigns a boost. You might try tapping into video marketing, for instance. Or, you could leverage free programs like the Google Ad Grant to try out search advertising. Take stock of the resources you have at your disposal, then choose a few new digital avenues to tap into.
5. Mobilization Requires Multiple Touchpoints
Political campaigns don’t stick to one canvassing or volunteer recruitment method — they use a combination of phone banking, door-to-door canvassing, text messages, social media advertising, email, and more. Campaign staff understand that one message or conversation isn’t enough to mobilize voters and volunteers.
The same is true for nonprofits. To truly inspire action from your supporters, you need a multi-channel fundraising strategy that provides plenty of touchpoints with current and prospective donors. This may include channels like email, text, social media, direct mail, your website, and more.
For the best results, segment your audience based on factors like their donation histories, past involvement, and communication preferences. Then, tailor your outreach and fundraising appeals to the interests of each group to make every touchpoint more meaningful.
Applying These Lessons to Matching Gift Fundraising
Political campaigns and nonprofits may seem different on the surface, but both aim to enact change by touching the hearts and minds of their supporters. This is especially true when it comes to matching gifts — by mobilizing your donors to request matching gifts from their employers, you’ll inspire them to double their impact on the causes they care about.
To apply these political campaign lessons to your matching gift fundraising strategy, try taking the following steps:
Use a matching gift automation tool to immediately follow up with match-eligible donors and instill urgency in your appeals.
Solicit feedback from donors who have requested matching gifts before and use their opinions to guide your matching gift fundraising strategy.
Promote matching gifts across all your online channels to create multiple digital touchpoints with match-eligible donors.
By incorporating these lessons into your organization’s next matching gift fundraising campaign, you can find new ways to engage supporters and mobilize them to act.
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Imagine a place where every name tells a story of generosity, where each plaque and sign is a testament to selfless giving. That’s the power of well-conceived donor recognition. This guide invites you into a world where gratitude meets artistry. We’ll help you understand why expressing gratitude through donor walls, plaques, and signs is more than a courtesy—it’s a catalyst for continued philanthropy.
Recognizing donors is an art form, and through donor walls, plaques, and signs, your supporters’ contributions can be immortalized. This guide will help you fully understand these symbols of gratitude, from their basic concepts to the intricate process of designing them. We’ll explore the following:
Whether you’re a nonprofit, an educational institution, or a healthcare facility, understanding donor recognition is key to fostering lasting relationships with those who support your mission. In no time, you’ll create a recognition space that honors donors and inspires future generosity.
FAQs About Donor Recognition Walls, Signs, and Plaques
What’s A Donor Recognition Wall?
A donor recognition wall is a wall that displays the names of major donors or donors who contributed to a particular campaign. The wall can take many creative forms depending on the campaign. Donor recognition walls can display a lot of names, so they are most often installed after a large capital campaign. Walls are usually permanent installations, though digital walls can be updated often.
What’s A Donor Recognition Sign?
Similarly to a donor recognition wall, a donor recognition sign often lists the names of donors who contributed to a particular campaign. A sign is usually portable and printed on a plastic or vinyl banner instead of metal or brick. As such, donor recognition signs are better choices for charity walks and other off-site or outdoor sponsored events.
What’s A Donor Recognition Plaque?
When an individual, organization, or small group of individuals are the sole or lead donors to a particular campaign, honor those supporters with a donor recognition plaque. Plaques are often posted outside doors in buildings that a major contribution helped build. Donors could also take their plaques home with them if you don’t have anywhere permanent to house them.
How Much Do Donor Recognition Walls, Signs, Or Plaques Cost?
The cost of donor recognition walls, signs, or plaques can vary widely depending on factors such as:
Materials: Common materials include acrylic, glass, metal, and wood. Higher-end materials like bronze or tempered glass will be more expensive. Simple acrylic or wood plaques can start below a hundred dollars, while premium materials can run into thousands.
Size and Complexity: A small, basic plaque might cost as little as $50 to $200, while larger, intricate wall installations can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands, especially for custom designs or interactive digital displays.
Design and Customization: Custom designs, including engraving, intricate patterns, or digital elements like screens or interactive features, will add to the cost.
Installation: Professional installation can also increase costs, especially for larger or more complex structures.
As an estimate, small to medium-sized organizations might spend anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars on donor recognition, while larger institutions with extensive customization and high-quality materials could see costs exceeding $10,000.
Get quotes from multiple vendors and consider the balance between cost, durability, and aesthetic appeal to find the best solution.
How Do You Make A Donor Wall, Sign, Or Plaque?
To make a donor wall, sign, or plaque, you’ll need to work with a professional designer or signage company to design and manage the fabrication and installation process, ensuring that the final product aligns with the intended aesthetic and quality standards. For a more cost-effective solution, you might work with a local artist to hand paint a donor wall.
What Should Donor Recognition Walls, Signs, And Plaques Say?
When deciding what to write on your donor recognition walls, signs, and plaques, aim for grateful language that highlights your donors, not your own efforts.
Remember, the purpose of plaques is to reward your current donors and encourage prospective donors to give to future campaigns.
Think about phrases like:
“Donated in honor of her grandmother, Sarah.”
“Made possible by the generosity of Jenna Smith and her family.”
“In recognition of the charitable spirit of Matt Jones.”
Especially when creating plaques for individual donors, ask the honorees how they’d like to be acknowledged.
Why Donor Walls, Plaques, and Signs Are Effective
Donor walls, plaques, and signs all provide a tangible way to thank donors and create a sense of community. Each one serves as a visual testament to the generosity of the individuals and corporate sponsors who contribute to a cause or institution. Most commonly, organizations create these recognition installations to:
Show donor appreciation. A key element of effective donor retention is showing your supporters you appreciate their contributions. An easy way to celebrate your donors is to post their names publicly!
Build a legacy. A wall, sign, or plaque sticks around for a long time, sometimes as long as the building is still standing. This long-term expression of gratitude speaks to donors, especially those leaving planned gifts to your organization.
Inspire others to give. It’s not just your past donors who see your walls, signs, and plaques — prospective donors also see them as they walk by or scroll by them online. Seeing the public commendation a donation receives will encourage others to give!
By showcasing names and contributions prominently, a donor wall, plaque, or sign fosters a sense of community and investment among stakeholders.
When to Recognize Donors on Walls, Signs, and Plaques
Any organization that wants to honor donors meaningfully can create donor recognition walls, signs, or plaques. This includes nonprofits, foundations, higher education institutions, faith-based organizations, athletic associations, and medical facilities.
In other words, recognize your donors if you have them! It’s just a matter of determining who you’ll recognize. Here are some types of impactful supporters to thank with your display or plaque:
Your major donors deserve to have their names posted somewhere prominent. For example, you might name a certain hallway or room after a major donor who helped build it by donating to a capital campaign. If you raised money to construct or renovate a building, you’ve got a natural place to post your donor recognition wall or plaque permanently.
Planned gifts are often among the largest that a nonprofit receives, so planned givers should definitely be included in donor recognition walls, signs, and plaques. Prominently placing their names can even encourage others to leave planned gifts.
Matching gift donors put in the extra effort to request matches from their employers, so commemorate their efforts by featuring them on a donor wall or sign or by sending them a plaque.
In-kind donors are equally important to your other supporters. Especially if you host events, you’ve likely received some in-kind gifts from sponsors, such as a venue, equipment, or staffing. You can specify the kind of donation you received on your donor recognition wall, sign, or plaque.
Thank your crowdfunders by posting your donor recognition wall, signs, and plaques online! Many crowdfunding websites offer this feature.
Individuals aren’t the only ones who donate. Chances are, you rely on sponsors for revenue, too, so don’t forget to thank companies and organizations that sponsor your events or contribute to your campaigns!
Of course, you’ll want to set a threshold for how much someone needs to donate to earn a spot on your donor wall. Determine your contribution levels and what kind of reward will be associated with each one. Leverage your donor database to determine who meets each threshold. Then, add each contributor to your display.
How to Design Your Donor Recognition Displays
Now that you understand the fundamentals, let’s delve into the process of creating impactful and memorable recognition pieces, complete with examples and design tips.
Choose A Style.
Start by considering where you’ll build your display. Your donor wall, sign, or plaque should complement its surroundings. In a historic building, traditional materials might blend in better, whereas in a new, minimalist space, contemporary designs could be more fitting.
In terms of materials, here are some common styles of donor recognition walls, signs, and plaques to consider:
Glass: For a clean, classic way to show appreciation for donors, glass is a great choice. However, glass walls and plaques aren’t as portable as other materials, so use glass for capital campaign donors who helped build a new building or another stationary object. Just make sure your glass wall is in a safe place, away from children or machinery that could break it!
Stone: Marble or granite creates a sense of permanence and prestige, making it ideal for monumental or commemorative displays.
Brick: When organizing a capital campaign for a building, especially for a school or hospital, a sentimental way to recognize your donors is with brick. The symbolism is obvious: your donors are the building blocks to your success. You could make an entire donor recognition wall sidewalk out of brick, or post plaques on individual bricks for your donors to take home with them.
Metal: Brass, bronze, and other metals are durable and versatile. That makes them suitable for both traditional and contemporary designs.
Acrylic: This is a versatile, cost-effective option that can mimic glass or be used in colorful designs.
Digital: What if you want to keep a running tally of your donors’ gift amounts, incorporating healthy competition into your donor recognition wall? What if you want to use your wall for more than one campaign? By installing a digital donor recognition wall, you can! Though it might be more expensive in the short term, you can reuse a digital wall more easily than permanent materials.
Each material has its unique qualities and can be chosen based on the desired aesthetic, durability, maintenance requirements, and budget.
Know What Elements to Include.
When designing a donor wall, sign, or plaque, incorporating key elements is crucial to effectively acknowledge contributions, show impact, and convey the right message. Depending on which type of display you choose, here are the fundamental components to include:
Fundraising Campaign Name: Clearly display the name of the fundraising initiative. This connects each donor’s contributions to the specific project they supported.
Donor’s Preferred Name: This personalizes the recognition and honors the individual or entity making the contribution.
Gift Amount: Listing the gift amount is optional, depending on your organization’s policy and donors’ preferences. When included, it can highlight the level of support and encourage others to contribute.
Organization’s Name and Logo: Feature your organization’s name and logo prominently to reinforce brand identity.
Timeframe of the Gift: Indicate the period during which the donations were made. This contextualizes the support and can be particularly relevant for ongoing or annual campaigns.
Each of these elements is vital for creating a meaningful, effective donor recognition display, ensuring that contributors feel valued and appreciated for their support.
Create A Strong Layout.
How you arrange elements on a donor recognition wall, plaque, or sign is a critical aspect of its design. For starters, ensure the layout strikes the right balance and avoids an overly cluttered or excessively sparse appearance. The layout must enhance the overall design and harmonize with the architectural characteristics of the surrounding space.
Above all, it needs to resonate with your organization’s purpose and align with your campaign’s objectives. For example, a sleek, minimalist arrangement might represent vibrancy, whereas a detailed, gallery-like setup could reflect the rich heritage of your organization’s endeavors.
Moreover, the layout offers an excellent chance to differentiate between various donor tiers through varying sizes and prominence. For instance, matching gift donors or top matching gift companies that support your nonprofit could have a special designation.
Infuse Your Nonprofit’s Branding.
Infusing your branding into a donor wall, sign, or plaque display is crucial for maintaining a consistent identity. For instance, a modern, tech-focused company might prefer a sleek, digital display, while a traditional academic institution might prefer classic materials like wood or brass.
To effectively incorporate your organization’s brand, consider the following elements:
Color Scheme: Utilize your organization’s color palette in the display. Consistent use of brand colors strengthens recognition and ties the donor wall to your nonprofit’s overall identity.
Logo and Typography:Incorporate your nonprofit’s logo prominently in the design. Ensure the typography used for other text matches or complements your official fonts.
Brand Messaging: Include key phrases or a mission statement that encapsulates your organization’s ethos. This reinforces your nonprofit’s purpose in the display.
Imagery and Graphics: If your brand has specific icons or graphic styles, integrate these elements into the design. This could be through background images, borders, or decorative elements.
Material and Style Consistency: Choose materials and a style that resonates with your nonprofit’s character. For instance, a modern, tech-focused nonprofit might opt for sleek, contemporary materials like glass or metal, while a community-oriented organization might prefer warm, natural materials like wood.
By following these guidelines, you can create a donor recognition display that not only honors contributors but also serves as an extension of your organization’s brand, enhancing its visibility and impact.
Working With A Donor Recognition Wall Agency
Working with a donor recognition wall, sign, or plaque agency can streamline and enhance the process of creating an impactful, professional display. These agencies specialize in understanding the unique needs and vision of organizations, bringing expertise through the following services:
Design Expertise: These agencies offer professional design services to create a visually appealing and memorable donor wall. This can include innovative layouts, the use of color, and the organization’s branding.
Material Selection: Agencies can choose the right materials for the donor wall, such as glass, metal, wood, or digital displays. They understand the durability and maintenance requirements of different materials, ensuring that the wall remains attractive over time.
Digital Integration: For a modern touch, agencies can incorporate digital elements such as touch screens, allowing for interactive experiences and easy updates as new donors contribute. Some agencies also offer services to extend the donor wall experience to online platforms.
Scalability: They can design donor walls that are scalable, allowing for easy updates as more donors contribute over time, without compromising the overall design integrity.
Installation and Maintenance: They manage the installation process, ensuring that the donor wall is securely and properly installed. They can also provide guidance on how to maintain the wall.
Unveiling Events: Agencies can assist in planning unveiling ceremonies to celebrate and acknowledge donors, making the donor wall a focal point of these events.
For instance, Eleven Fifty Seven designs and builds custom donor recognition walls to celebrate your supporters and your purpose. They blend creativity with functionality, ensuring the final product aligns not just with aesthetic preferences but also with practical considerations like space, durability, and budget. From the initial idea to thoughtful designs to the finished product, their team will collaborate with you to create something truly meaningful.
Their process involves understanding your nonprofit’s needs and even includes a space planning process. Through on-site and virtual brainstorming sessions with your team, Eleven Fifty Seven develops the entire look and feel of your donor recognition wall, ensuring it’s unique. Then, their team handles to process of creating your donor recognition wall by doing all the fabrication in-house, as well as handling project management and installation.
Whether you’re looking to create a traditional donor recognition display or think beyond the wall, Eleven Fifty Seven can help you do it.
Additional Donor Recognition Resources
In the tapestry of philanthropy, each thread of support weaves a rich narrative of community, innovation, and progress. Recognizing the individuals behind these threads transforms gratitude into an art form.
A well-branded donor wall, sign, or plaque can act as a powerful marketing and engagement tool. You’ll not only acknowledge donors but also communicate your organization’s values to visitors, potential donors, and the wider community.
To continue learning about powerful fundraising and donor recognition, explore these carefully curated resources:
How to Ask for Donations: A Nonprofit’s Guide. Before you can celebrate your donors’ contributions to your campaign, you need to ask them to donate! Write the perfect donation solicitation to encourage participation in your fundraising campaigns.
