Be Your Donors’ Favorite Charity: Why Engagement Matters

NTEN Conference 2013#13NTCSurvey

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92%

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>30%

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What we’ll be talking about:

Key findings from the survey

Recommendations based on the findings

How you can access the report and data

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1,022 donors Gave at least $25 in the

last 12 months & accept emails from nonprofits.

Asked about current donation & engagement activities, focusing on how they interact with their “favorite” charity (BCF)

Asked about preferred online methods for engaging with BCF.

Key Findings - Donor Engagement Study

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Participant Demographics

18-20 21-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70 or older

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%

Age

Respondents US Census

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Participant Demographics

0%

10%

20%

30%Household Income

Respondents Census

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Participant Demographics

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%Education Attainment

Respondents Census

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Respondents

Female50%

Male50%

Gender

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How many charities do you think your

supporters are donating to over a

year?• 1• 2 - 3• 4 - 6• 7+

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Key Finding: How many charities do they donate to in a year?

78% Give to more than one charity

1 22%

2 - 3 49%

4 - 6 17%

7+ 12%

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Key Finding: How is that $ divided?

Favorite67%

All others33%

Donations Donors gave

67% of their annual amount to their favorite charity.

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Do you have metrics in place to measure

the relationship with your donors?

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Key Finding: Are they being thanked for their donation?

21% Said they were never thanked

Thanked immediately after donating

30%

Thanked more than once over 12 months

18%

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Key Finding: How are they interacting with their “favorite” charity?

79% Receiving Paper Mail

Receive email 53%

Visit Website 52%

Receive eNews 52%

Receive Phone Call 41%

Visit Facebook 30%

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Key Finding: How would they prefer to interact with their “favorite” charity?

Respondents chose “Visit Charity’s website from my computer” as most preferred channel for all activities.

Receiving email was the 2nd preferred channel for all activities

16% preferred accessing and tracking their donation activity via personal profile on Charity’s website

15% preferred learning about events via Facebook page visit

13% preferred learning about volunteering via visiting website from mobile device

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Key Finding: What is motivating them?

65% “Believe in the charity’s cause”

Want to help make change happen

30%

Have friends or family who support the cause

20%

Know someone who has received help from the cause

19%

The charity asked for their help

18%

Want to set good example 16%Want to connect with others 15%

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Key Finding: How else are they supporting their favorite charities?

38% Volunteer at least once throughout the year

Participate in fundraising events

34%*

Fundraise for Charity

27%

Sign online petition 27%

Contact elected officials

21%

Share personal story with others

18%* They report doing this at least once a year

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Key Finding: Age impacts the types of activities they engage in

Activity Age Group Most Likely to Engage

Make a donation to the charity 30 to 69Volunteer for the charity Under 50Participate in fundraising events Under 40Fundraise on behalf of the charity Under 50Sign an online petition or pledge Under 40Contact elected officials 30 to 49Share a personal story online 30 to 49

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Key Finding: How easy is it to do these activities?

92% reported that donating was easiest activity79% reported that volunteering was at least somewhat easyMost difficult is contacting elected officials (31% )29% say fundraising on behalf of the charity is at least somewhat difficult28% say sharing their personal story is at least somewhat difficult

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Key Finding: How are they being your champions?

Donors also spread the word and encourage activity for their “favorite” charity

Talk to friends and family

54%*

Encourage friends and family to donate

40%

Encourage friends and family to volunteer

30%

Forward an email 27% Forward an e-Newsletter

23%

Share, like, or comment on Facebook

22%

* Doing these things at least a few times a year

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Are you empowering your champions?

Becoming their BCF (Best Charity Forever)

A guide for long term donor cultivation

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Why Cultivation Matters

As many as 3 of 4

new donors never make

another gift

Over the 10 years, there has been a shift in key fundraising metrics.

Cost of donor

acquisition is on the rise

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Why Cultivation Matters

As many as 3 of 4

new donors never make

another gift

Over the 10 years, there has been a shift in key fundraising metrics.

Cost of donor

acquisition is on the rise

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Why Cultivation Matters

As many as 3 of 4

new donors never make

another gift

Over the 10 years, there has been a shift in key fundraising metrics.

Cost of donor

acquisition is on the rise

Lower ROI = reduced investment in finding new donors

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Click to edit Master text styles • By understanding your most

engaged supporters and giving them the relationship THEY want to have, you are better positioned to stem the “leaky bucket” phenomenon.

Why Cultivation Matters

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How? Be the constituent’s BCF

BCF

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• 67% of $s go to the BCFs• 30% of constituents fundraise for their BCF at least

once a year• Constituents with a BCF tended to leverage

multiple digital access points (website, email and social media)

BCF Benefits

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Measure, Refine, Repeat: Understand what is working, adjust, and try again

How do I become the BCF?

Make It Real: Identify where your focus will be and create your strategy

Take Stock: Assess the current state of your organization’s assets and audience

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Take Stock: How good is your web site?

Where To Start:

• Recognize the in and out doors of your site

• Understand how visitors move through your site

• Identify content types that receive more engagement

• Be aware of the visuals you offer

35% of donors report visiting a charity’s Web site from a few times per year to daily.

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Donor Centric Web Copy

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Take Stock: Are you being social?

Where To Start:• Track your social metrics over

12 to 18 months to see if spikes in engagement tie to other marketing efforts

• Analyze your social content to see if it is formatted to fit the social medium

• Look for content that received high engagement to identify the best content types

54% of donors are willing to talk to friends and family about their favorite organization.

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Take Stock: Are your emails working?

Where To Start:• Look back over the last 12-18

months to determine averages for open, conversion, and participation rates

• Identify messages that performed well and determine why

• Asses your use of automated email series and their effectiveness

51% of donors get information about their favorite charity from an enewsletter.

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Welcome Series

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Take Stock: What message are you sending?

Where To Start:

• Analyze the content of all your channels to be sure it includes statements of your impact

• Be sure you content speaks directly to your main segments

• Try A/B testing to identify the best possible messages

• Use analytics to measure the most engaging messages

21% of donors say they were never thanked.

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• Email “thank you”employing video

Make Your Thank You Memorable

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Make Your Thank You Memorable

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Make Your Thank You Memorable

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Take Stock: Are you using all channels?

Where To Start:• Analyze each of your media

assets for fit on multiple channels and devices

• Compare the audiences for each media channel to identify overlaps and gaps

• Identify any missing content types and channels that appeal to your audiences

13% preferred learning about volunteering via visiting Web site from mobile device.

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Pulse Check

Which “Take Stock” Area is Your Highest Priority Right Now?

• Understanding your Website Traffic

• Understanding Email Effectiveness

• Messaging• Leveraging

Social Media• Multi-Channel

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How do I become the BCF?

Make It Real: Identify where your focus will be and create your strategy

Take Stock: Assess the current state of your organization’s assets and audience

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Make It Real: Campaign Calendar

• Start with you own organization’s calendar• Flag major holidays• Add seasonality to your engagement offers• Stay flexible and nimble

Today6

Months

12 Month

s

18 Month

s

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Engagement Level

Frequency

Breadth Recency

Passive Once Clicked on 2+ email

12 months

Active Twice Clicked on 2+ email and took action on engagement activity

12 months

Very Active Three + Clicked on 2+ email and took action on engagement activity

6 months

Make it Real: Segmentation Example

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Make It Real: Tailored Campaigns

Email Content Social Content

Web Content Direct Mail

Defined Segment

A tailored approach will enable you to explore how different segments are performing in terms of acquisition, attrition, engagement, and conversion

Email Content Social Content

Web Content Direct Mail

Defined Segment

Email Content Social Content

Web Content Direct Mail

Defined Segment

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Make It Real: Start Measuring

Succeed or Fail, InformativelyBefore you do anything, know how

you’re going to measure it and what success looks like

Audience Content Access? Content Engagement

Conversions

# of useable postal address

Email open and click through rates

Web site visits # conversions by type

# of useable email subscribers

Social media views and reach

Visits to conversion pages

# conversions by channel

# of fans/followers on each social site where you maintain a presence

Unsubscribe rate # of retweets and mentions

# conversions by source

# of Facebook comments and shares

Value of conversions by type, channel, and source

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Measure, Refine, Repeat: Understand what is working, adjust, and try again

How do I become the BCF?

Make It Real: Identify where your focus will be and create your strategy

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Measure, Refine, Repeat: Look Back

Periodically, step back and evaluate the effectiveness of your efforts thus far. After all, you established your baselines for just this comparison

• Measure the response to your engagement campaigns

• Compare to your benchmarks to understand growth

• Segment the people who responded

• Note the characteristics of the people who engaged and what they engaged with

• Look at past behavior of this segment alongside past marketing efforts to identify opportunities

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Measure, Refine, Repeat: Most/Least

Ever heard the saying, “I wish I had 10 more like him?” Well, you have to know who he is before you can say that.

• What does your most engaged segment look like?

• How do they prefer to engage with you?

• How did they evolve over time?

• What does your least engaged segment look like?

• How is that different from the most engaged?

• Can you affect change on them?

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Measure, Refine, Repeat: Look Closer

Look hard to find the cross-promotional and upsell opportunities that take campaigns to the next level

Cross-promote

• Ask activists to donate

• Ask donors to share

• Ask sharers to act

Upsell

• One time donors to monthly sustainers

• Event donors to event participants

• Event participants to team captains

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Measure, Refine, Repeat: Understand what is working, adjust, and try again

How do I become the BCF?

Make It Real: Identify where your focus will be and create your strategy

Take Stock: Assess the current state of your organization’s assets and audience

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Contact Information:

donna@charitydynamics.com@donnajwilkins@charitydynamics

What next?

• The Reporthttp://www.nonprofitdonorengagement.com

• Guide to Long Term Donor Cultivationhttp://www.charitydynamics.com/guide/

• Sign up to survey your supporters and compare to the benchmark at http://www.charitydynamics.com/surveyoffer/

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