6 Ways to Increase Donations At Your Nonprofit

Looking to increase donations?

Makes sense, as this is one of the major hurdles facing non-profit organizations. But what actions are you currently taking to make it happen? And how do you know the actions you are taking are going to have any effect?

Read on for our six main tips for increasing donations.

1) Personalize your outreach.

Nobody likes a message that looks like it’s going to a thousand other people.

That’s why personalization is so important. This could be anything from more personal phone calls to emails that include your donor’s name. Regardless of the strategy that you choose, just remember this: personalization makes people more comfortable.

They are then more likely to appreciate you and increase the amount they donate.

2) Prioritize donors who have already contributed.

The 80/20 rule is alive and well. Just like many industries, the majority of your donations will come from about 20 percent of your donors. That means that they are your best bet for bringing in more revenue. 

Treat them as such. This could mean emailing them more often than anybody else or prioritizing phone conversations with them first. It could also be as simple as spending a few extra minutes on extra personalization of thank you cards.

3) Show people exactly where their money is going.

People donate because they want to be involved in a cause that they believe in. However, that doesn’t mean you can expect to take their money without proof of where it’s going.

That’s where proof comes in. Share pictures of the good work your organization is doing. Post information detailing the results you have achieved with the help of your donors. Regardless, show your donors that their money is bringing tagine results. Only then will they be convinced to make donating a regular part of their schedule.

Read our ultimate guide to social media marketing for the fundamentals of sharing images online.

4) Send thank you gifts.

This follows from the last point. No matter what their stage in life, people like to be appreciated. That’s why thank you gifts are so important. They acknowledge the good work that a donor has done, and take the time to give them a personal note. 

Another idea is to send thank you notes on personal “donor anniversaries.” 

For example, on the 6-month anniversary of somebody’s donation, you can send a thank you follow up card. This not only builds your reputation as an organization, but is also more likely to get them to donate more.

A double win!

5) Make it easy.

One of the quickest ways to prevent donations is to make it more difficult than it has to be. This means anything from pages that take too long to load, to buttons that you have to press too many times, to directions that are not explicitly clear. 

Donating should be easy; build the entire donor experience with this in mind.

Your website should be easy to navigate. The donation portal should be easy to find. The entire process should be so simple and quick that they hardly even notice they’re doing it.

Fail here and your conversion rate of “interested in donating” to “donated money” will be far lower than it should. Read this article on web design for some more specific advice.

6) Get creative with your content.

Most organizations know how important their content strategy is.

Unfortunately, not enough organizations are fully utilizing it to increase donations. This is a huge missed opportunity, because creative content is one of the best ways to gather more money for your cause. 

Here are just a few ideas:

• Put donation calls-to-action on every one of your blog posts.
• Post Instagram stories where you announce a “every dollar matched” donation contest.
• Interview the people you are helping and send the video links to your email list.
• Create detailed infographics detailing what percentage of every dollar spent goes where.

As cliche as it sounds, the possibilities of your content are endless. They are only limited by your own creativity.

The fact is, modern marketing is run off the back of content. Take this seriously and combine it with an experimental attitude, and you will most almost certainly start to increase your donations!

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Are you looking for help growing your online business or nonprofit? Give us a shout! We provide a free consultation. Email us at info@lughstudio.com!