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- Donor relations defined<\/a><\/li>\n
- Why you should worry about your donor relations<\/a><\/li>\n
- A typical donor relationship journey<\/a><\/li>\n
- Strategies for healthy donor relations<\/a><\/li>\n
- Putting it all together<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What does the term donor relations mean?<\/h2>\n
\u201cDonor relations\u201d is all the effort your nonprofit puts in to maintain your donors\u2019 trust, respect, engagement, and support. Nonprofits that have good donor relations give their donors a high-quality experience that fosters engagement and investment in the long term.<\/p>\n
According to nonprofit experts, you can break donor relations into four distinctive parts:<\/p>\n
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Donor and donation management<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Donor acknowledgment<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Donor recognition<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Donor reporting<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Your relationship with your donors extends to both the physical and digital worlds. With the rise of online donating, your nonprofit needs to consider how the digital interactions your donors engage with might positively or negatively impact their donor experience.<\/p>\n
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Often you might hear the term stewardship used interchangeably with donor relations. However, stewardship traditionally focuses on how your nonprofit uses the donations your donors provide you. Your donor relationship considers the entire donor journey, not just the donations. In general, you can think of stewardship as one part of the overall positive donor relations you\u2019re trying to foster.<\/p>\n
Why you should worry about your donor relations<\/h2>\n
The short answer: it increases donor retention, engagement, and commitment. The longer answer is that thinking about each individual donor\u2019s relationship with your organization helps you build a better long-term fundraising strategy.<\/p>\n
Considering how all of your actions impact your donors\u2019 relationship with your nonprofit is just good business. It helps you remove friction from the donation process and gives you perspective on what online tools and platforms your nonprofit needs to successfully engage donors.<\/p>\n
Another not-so-hidden benefit: happier donors are likely to give more, recommend your nonprofit to a friend, and volunteer to help your cause!<\/p>\n
A donor relationship journey<\/h2>\n
To understand a typical donor relationship journey it\u2019s best to put yourself in a donor\u2019s shoes and track their experience from start to finish.<\/p>\n
First, think of all the times your donor interacts with your nonprofit, both physically and digitally. Ask yourself at each step if the interactions your donors take positively or negatively impact them.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.roundupapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/RoundUpApp-DonorRelationshipJourney-infograph.png\")
The donor relationship journey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n 1. Introducing your nonprofit<\/h3>\n
The first step in any donor\u2019s journey is getting introduced to your nonprofit. There are a lot of ways this can happen and many nonprofits focus first on their physical presence at events like open houses, fundraisers, or volunteer sessions. However, your nonprofit\u2019s introduction also extends online and encompasses things like Google search results for your nonprofit, your nonprofit\u2019s website design and layout, and your social media presence.<\/p>\n
Many nonprofits miss out on the benefits a great introduction has to their donor relations and focus more on raising funds rather than building relationships.<\/p>\n
While fundraising is an essential part of your nonprofit\u2019s success, your introduction is the first and best chance you have to inspire your donor and improve your donor relations. Your physical and online introductions should ensure that every donor that meets you know what your nonprofit stands for, how you accomplish your mission, and why you need their donations.<\/p>\n
2. Explaining why donors should donate to your nonprofit<\/h3>\n
After you\u2019ve introduced yourself, you need to explain to potential donors why they should donate to your nonprofit. During this stage of the donor journey, your nonprofit wants to create a compelling case for why donors should trust you.<\/p>\n
Spend time explaining to donors how your nonprofit changes lives and how their gifts and donations can make an impact. During this stage you might provide social media posts that highlight key stories from the work you\u2019ve already done. You might dedicate space on your website or blog to share successes and accomplishments. Finally, you might operate transparently by releasing annual reports on where money is spent or how donations impact your cause.<\/p>\n
3. Asking donors to make a donation<\/h3>\n
Asking donors to make a donation is the next step in the donor relations journey after introducing yourself and explaining your nonprofit.<\/p>\n
This is a critical part of your nonprofit\u2019s success and a critical part of your donor\u2019s journey. Since your potential donors have had a chance to get to know your organization, this stage of the journey should be focused on making it as easy as possible for them to donate.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll want to make it as effortless as possible for your potential donors to support your cause. You should invest in a platform like RoundUp App or Ribbon<\/a> that offers multiple ways to donate (one-time, monthly, and through RoundUp donations), provides you with easy-to-use donation forms for your website, and gives your donors a mobile platform to easily manage their donations.<\/p>\n
You also want to consider additional ways your online donation process might negatively impact your donor relations. Having confusing site layouts and non-mobile-friendly forms makes it harder for donors to give.<\/p>\n
4. Acknowledging donors\u2019 donations<\/b><\/h3>\n
After donors have made their donations, it\u2019s critical that your nonprofit acknowledge this donation. You might send out physical letters in the mail thanking users for their support or send out a personalized email acknowledging the gift you received.<\/p>\n
In general, try for a two-day turnaround. At RoundUp App we send out personalized emails to donors who join our platform that day. We also acknowledge one-time gifts immediately with automatic donation receipts sent directly to your donors.<\/p>\n
You might use a personalized email template to automatically send your donor a thank you and let them know how their donation is being used. Whatever strategy your nonprofit chooses, make sure you acknowledge donations to positively impact your donor relations.<\/p>\n
5. Engaging your donors in the long-term<\/h3>\n
Once your donor has given a donation, their donor relations journey doesn\u2019t automatically end. Instead, you\u2019ll want to switch your focus to continual engagement with your donors.<\/p>\n
In this stage, focus on providing updates, telling your organization\u2019s story, and highlighting the successes each donor allows you to achieve. Use tools like RoundUp App\u2019s donor dashboard to track your donors and see who is actively giving and who has dropped off from donating.<\/p>\n
Make sure to address both audiences equally. You don\u2019t want to negatively impact your donor relations by solely communicating with your donors when you need donations. Instead, donors want to feel inspired and like they\u2019re part of your nonprofit\u2019s team!<\/p>\n
Improve donor relations with RoundUp App<\/h2>\n
RoundUp App helps improve donor relationships through tools that streamline the donation process.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/a><\/p>\nStrategies for healthy donor relations<\/h2>\n
Building positive donor relations requires a lot of work both physically and digitally. Try these strategies to improve your donor relationships and experiences online:<\/p>\n
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- Remove friction in the donation process<\/li>\n
- Make it easy for donors to manage their donations<\/li>\n
- Build a culture of giving by integrating donating into their daily life<\/li>\n
- Acknowledge and engage donors continually<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Remove friction in the donation process<\/h2>\n
A great way to improve donor relations is to remove friction in the donation process. To remove friction in the donation process you need to ensure that your website is easy to navigate, that your donation forms are easy to use, and that all of your tools and platforms are mobile-friendly.<\/p>\n
First, think about how your website layout might be causing friction<\/a>. Is it easy for donors to find ways to donate immediately, or do donors have to poke around before finding your donate button? Consider adding donate buttons into your navigation menu, or providing compelling donation calls to action on your home page.<\/p>\n
Next, ask yourself if your donation forms are easy to use? Do potential donors have to navigate to new pages or use outdated forms to make donations.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.roundupapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Screen-Shot-2022-03-08-at-4.07.29-PM-1024x574.png\")
Embeddable Donation forms on RoundUp App<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n At RoundUp App we make it easy for donors to give directly from your website with custom donation embed forms.<\/p>\n
Finally, with the rise of mobile-giving make sure that all of your tools and platforms are mobile-friendly. At RoundUp App we take a\u00a0mobile-first approach to donating<\/a>. We make it super easy for donors to find your nonprofit on our platform, set up a new donation, and start giving immediately to your nonprofit using mobile-ready features and tools.<\/p>\n
Make it easy for donors to manage their donations<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.roundupapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Make-Receiving-Donations-Effortless@3x-1024x794.png\")
An easy to use donation management app: RoundUp App<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n When donors RoundUp their everyday purchases they report feeling more engaged and inspired by the nonprofits they support. It\u2019s one of the reasons we love the RoundUp method of donating so much!<\/p>\n
Whenever possible, integrate giving into the daily lives of your donors. By making donating a daily habit and not a monthly expense, you\u2019re building an audience that feels directly connected to the causes they support. This improves donor relations overall and makes donors feel like their part of your team!<\/p>\n
Acknowledge and engage donors continually<\/h2>\n
After a donor has made a donation, continue communicating with them! Send thank you emails or notes, create blog posts that highlight the impact of their donations, or continue to engage them with your nonprofits\u2019 story through social media!<\/p>\n
Use marketing templates<\/a>, like those found in RoundUp App, to build out yearly content calendars that share your nonprofit\u2019s mission and highlight your successes.<\/p>\n
- Why you should worry about your donor relations<\/a><\/li>\n