The Digital Donor Engagement Funnel

1. Nonprofit storytelling

Successful donor engagement lies in the power of nonprofit storytelling. Modern donors seek a connection to your cause before committing, so it’s crucial to inspire them with content that’s relevant to their interests. Your website, social media, emails, blogs, and newsletters should touch their hearts and provide compelling reasons to get involved.

Creating content that resonates can be made easy by developing donor personas, or fictional representations of each major group. Consider what each group should know about your mission or what they might be surprised to learn about your work. Focus on speaking to their lived experiences while informing them about your cause.

This process is actually much easier than it sounds. You can collect email addresses through entry-level engagements – like newsletter signups – and use an email marketing tool – like Constant Contact – to segment your donors based on their interests. From there, you can send emails to each group that are specifically relevant to them.

Connection win: They get to know your work without feeling pressure to give, and you inspire them with the impact they can create with your organization.

DonorPerfect Online Forms are customizable because it’s important to show why you do what you do. Take those warm moments from your mission work and represent them in a quote or photo on your donation form.

DonorPerfect systems also come furnished with Constant Contact email marketing, the nonprofit sector’s top storytelling tool.

2. QR codes

QR codes present an excellent opportunity to connect with potential donors. To engage with people who aren’t ready to give but want more information, you can use a QR code to send them to your volunteer or newsletter signup form. For example, they may see your poster at a local store and scan to learn more. Now that they’ve expressed interest, and you’ve collected their email address, you can reach out again in the future.

When they’re ready to give, instead of writing checks, mailing cash, or sharing credit card information over the phone, they can simply scan a QR code to access your giving page. Combined with secure payment options like Venmo and PayPal, QR codes allow donors to give instantly, capturing their intent at the moment of inspiration.

This significantly reduces friction in your engagement process, making it much more effective in garnering names and gifts. Plus, you can “say more” in fewer words, letting your QR code lead them to helpful resources like photos, articles, videos, and more.

Connection win: Your audience expresses interest in learning more about your work, with minimal effort, and you save money on printed materials that prove to be much more effective.

DonorPerfect has a free QR Code Generator for your needs. Slap a QR code on any of your printed materials – signs, newsletters, flyers, balloons, whatever you choose – so people can easily scan it (leading them to your signup, giving page, or website) to see what you do. And if you’re a DonorPerfect Online Forms user, you can enable Venmo and PayPal, as well as Apple and Google Pay!

3. Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding, similar to peer-to-peer fundraising, allows you to inspire those outside your immediate circle. By enabling prospective supporters to launch their own campaigns tied to special occasions or personal milestones, you can empower anyone to become an advocate for your cause.

The personal touch of these campaigns, when combined with a user-friendly platform and customizable templates, simplifies the process of connecting and contributing. As they witness the tangible impact of their gifts towards your goals, such as funding annual programs or upgrading resources, they’re more likely to become recurring advocates.

Connection win: They can rally around a personal cause with friends and family, and your mission is put directly in front of new people with similar interests.

DonorPerfect Online Forms allow anyone to create a crowdfunding page that they can quickly and easily share on social media. People you don’t know can take whatever action they’d like (share without donating, donate without sharing, or even create their own fundraiser)!

4. Prospect research

What if you could knowingly engage the right donors with the right solicitation at the right time? Donor engagement would be a breeze, wouldn’t it?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has enabled nonprofit organizations to do just that. Specifically, donor prospect research analyzes behavior patterns to determine how likely a person is to give to your organization. Some tools even generate predictive scores that indicate a person’s readiness to give.

Speaking to your prospects’ interests and experiences through a targeted, multichannel approach not only improves your fundraising outcomes but also conserves your precious resources. Plus, your prospects can learn about an organization that’s linked to their philanthropic goals without having to go looking for it themselves!

Connection win: They can further their philanthropic journey with a cause close to their heart, and you can start a conversation over your common bonds.

Research platforms like DonorSearch, which integrates with DonorPerfect, offer sophisticated tools to identify potential first-time donors, highlight first-time donors likely to make a second gift and pinpoint donors primed for larger contributions.