Your donors are all different. Some prefer pasta, while others love steak. Some are always on Facebook, while others never touch social media. What does this have to do with fundraising? More than you think! Multiple Channel fundraising
Because your donors are all different, you should make sure you have different strategies for meeting them where they are—whether they’re infrequent donors, young parents looking for community, or social media friends. When you fundraise across multiple channels, you make your fundraising message increasingly personalized, so that it reaches the right donor at the right time, in the right way.
Face to face
Sure, we all do a lot of business behind a computer screen these days, but never underestimate the power of in-person fundraising. This can be as simple as mentioning fundraising during a casual conversation, as structured as having your volunteers go door-to-door with fundraising materials, or as elaborate as having a fancy donor dinner. Need ideas? Think about which segments of your community would most appreciate face-to-face contact: older donors, who’d appreciate a home visit? Young families, who are looking for community activities? Then hit the pavement.
Personalized emails
Don’t just send the same bland email to everyone in your community. Instead, divide your email strategy into segments—maybe a certain type of email goes to wealthy donors who give more than $5,000 a year (who may be interested in giving high amounts to more expensive projects, like purchasing land), while another email goes to infrequent donors (who may be curious why they should start donating again), and a third email goes to Millennial donors (who love active, peer-to-peer fundraising activities like run/walk/cycle events).
Social media strategies
If you commit some time to studying the demographics that interact with you on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, you may reap the rewards later. Do more married mothers follow you on Pinterest, versus single twenty-somethings on Facebook? You can use this knowledge strategically to place different kinds of asks to different segments of your community.
And don’t forget surveys
Are you completely confused by how your donors want to receive communications from you? Ask them! Send out a survey to discover your donors’ preferences—and then do that.