Internet to Connect with Major Donors
“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different than you and me.”
“Yes. They have more money.”
The Wired Wealthy. Using the Internet to Connect with Your Middle and Major Donors.
March 24, 2008
An in-depth survey and study by Convio, Sea Change Strategies and Edge Research
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHARITIES AND CAUSES
Following are recommended strategies and tactics for organizations committed to building stronger relationships with their wired wealthy donors. Some of these recommendations are equally applicable to all online donors, and indeed to all online constituents. And while it certainly makes sense to adopt most of these recommendations universally, from a financial point of view, it is the wired wealthy whose happiness will contribute most to your bottom line.
Unfortunately, there is no obvious shortcut for separating the reclusive All Business donors from the eager Relationship Seekers and so forth. What you can do, what we urge you to do, is create and provide options that lets the wired wealthy customize their online relationship with you. As one donor we interviewed asked, “Why are my only choices either email me or don’t email me?” If we offer one overarching recommendation, it is to find a way to get beyond this all or nothing choice.
- Don’t panic … but don’t assume doing nothing is an option. Most wired wealthy donors are not fundamentally unhappy with online communications. But they aren’t delighted either. Using the online channel better should be a development priority. And, recognize that your middle and major donors are coming to your web site, and what they see may influence their giving decisions. Ask yourself: Is our web site up to the task? Are our emails inspiring?
- Segment your list. Your best donors want different things from you.
- Your All Business group – and probably the others – want the smoothest possible online donation process, and the best possible case for giving on your site. Emails for All Business should be scarce, but should include an annual tax summary and periodic donor reports on where the money is going and what you have accomplished
- Your Casual Connectors and Relationship Seekers are open to cultivation. Look at your emails and your home page as opportunities to inspire.
- Tell great stories, both on your web site and in your emails. Use powerful, evocative images.
- Report back to donors via email at least once per quarter detailing some of theways you have used their donations.
- Provide and promote some engagement options, including video, podcasts, your blog, and action opportunities. Permit donors to opt out of communications promoting these special engagement options if they are not interested.
Finally, that all-important group of Relationship Seekers is looking for engagement. In addition to the engagement options above:
- Invite highly motivated donors to blog about you, join your LinkedIn group, or review you favorably on CharityNavigator’s new donor comment area.
- Recognize donors who have been giving for some time, or who have helped to recruit others.
- Solicit ideas and suggestions from donors on a regular basis.
- Power to the people – make donor control your new mantra. If at all possible, provide donors with some control over the content and frequency of emails. Create email options for your wired wealthy donors. Let them choose between a minimal package of emails that includes an annual renewal reminder, a tax summary and more comprehensive email options. Ask donors for their information and frequency preferences and create customized emails that reflect content interests.
- Let the message drive the technology and not the reverse. For this group of donors in particular, don’t get stampeded into whatever the latest thing is online. Don’t replace quality with quantity. Don’t communicate when you have nothing to say, just because there is a scheduled email. Try to segment emails by interests, but don’t assume you know what those segments are; ask your donors. Make inspiration a metric that guides much of what you communicate.
- Pay special attention to video. Maybe this is the single exception to recommendation four. Relationship Seekers are heavy users of online video and express significant interest in seeing more. Hire a professional producer, and ask a test group of donors what they think before launching to a wider audience. No single video is going to change everything; a series of modestly produced short videos will get more mileage than one blockbuster. Most “viral videos” never go “viral.” Don’t measure success merely by looking at how many times a video has been viewed. The real measure is whether the right people – your wired wealthy Relationship Seekers – have seen it, and whether it has inspired them.
- Make listening an every day tactic. We found the participants in this study to be not at all shy about expressing their likes and dislikes. With online communications and philanthropy in general in a state of flux, keeping close tabs on the evolving preferences of your constituency will be critically important. Even the act of asking has cultivation value; donors will be pleased you are listening. Here are three ways to make listening a key element of your communications plan:
- Track “over the transom” comments. Chances are your organization already gets a fair amount of unsolicited email from list members and donors. Are you seeing it? Is someone at least distributing summaries of the issues that are coming up repeatedly? A handful of emails may represent a much larger group of folks with similar concerns.
- Establish a donor advisory panel. This is rapidly becoming a fixture in the commercial sector. Recruit a few hundred donors (and possibly list members) to serve as a sounding board for future issues, tactics and campaign ideas. Survey them at least once a month so they feel like they are being utilized.
- Ask for feedback in your newsletter. Ask readers to rate each issue, and then ask for additional open-ended feedback.
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