5 Best Ways To Better Donor Communication During COVID-19

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5 Best Ways To Better Donor Communication During COVID-19

Truly, we are currently living in uncertain times. The pandemic that we are dealing with right now is radically impacting our daily lives. There is a looming cloud of tension and stress; however, life goes on. In the wake of all kinds of trouble, it is important to remember that life has to go on. We all have to find a substitute for situations or things that have now become temporarily irrelevant.

For instance, fundraising for nonprofits is looking toward digital fundraising to stay afloat and well, it does seem to be working well. They are changes that every single person has to make in their respective lives right now, coping to those changes might be draining at times. Therefore, donation and your nonprofit may not be your donor’s priority right now. Yet there is work to be done, here are a few ways in which you can keep the communication alive with your donors and better your donor communication at the same time.

Show empathy

There are a lot of brands out there that, in an attempt to achieve their business goals, may sometimes send a communication that is insensitive to the recipients. Your nonprofit must show empathy as everyone is going through the same emotions. For example, you cannot joke about coronavirus in order to sell your product. You must also consider the fact that some of your donors might have somebody who is trying to recover from the damage caused by the virus or even worse, dead because of coronavirus. The safest way is to have at least 3 different people read your communication material before sending it out, make sure that your communication is always personal. If all three agree that the communication is not insensitive in any way, then go ahead. 

Communicate love

We need love more than ever today, the language has to be spoken loud and clear. Your nonprofit is a business that is trying to help others in need, however the supporters that are helping you help the needy are also human and they need to feel cared for too. A good idea is to check up on your mid to high level contributors by conducting a wellness check call. Trust us, this would mean a lot to them; nonprofits are also about loving everyone the same and being there for each other. You should also make sure that some of your donor communication such as emails and text messages are not just about your cause, it should also ask about their well being. Show and give love as much as you can. 

Focus on the basics

As a responsible nonprofit, you can also take this time to organize your donor database even better. In order to avoid any kind of confusion and mismanagement, it is vital that the database is well organized and well segregated. If you haven’t started to use a dependable donor management software, then this may be the perfect time to do some research, find out the requirements of your nonprofit and then decide accordingly. A lot of management softwares such as GiveCentral offer communication templates that will make the job easier and the flow of communication also gets better. 

Communication from the top executives

Enlist the organization’s top people to communicate with the donors. Your audience would love to hear from the CEO or the president; they would love to know his/her views on the crisis and how the business plans to move forward, together with the donors. This gives the very much needed assurity to the audience that your nonprofit knows what it is doing. Make use of social media to post videos with your top executives addressing the people. You can also opt for an “investor call” in which the leaders of your organization can talk to your biggest supporters, letting them know of the long term goals while giving reassuring messages. 

Give out useful content

It isn’t entirely right to think that only newsrooms will deliver news to your donors. You can take the initiative of giving useful information about COVID-19 via your communication through different platforms. An e-book on how one can help themselves and others to be safer is an example. You can even put a link to a resource page on your e-mailers and newsletters. It is not a bad idea to include educational materials in your content. 

When it comes to donor communication, it is best to make it all about them and not you. Always put the donor at the centre of your communication. Also remember to ask once and thank twice. This crisis is going to end someday, the bond between your nonprofit and your donors should remain. 

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