Nonprofit organizations are almost always looking to increase their fundraising revenue. Marketing is a major factor in securing ongoing donations, but funding pressures and staff limitations can make it a challenging task. Luckily, there’s this little thing called marketing automation that’s proving to be highly effective in helping nonprofit organizations secure donors and increase donor retention.

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation is simply an electronic tool that allows you to send marketing information to donors. This is usually based on their patterns of behavior and is conducted over a period of time. There are all kinds of marketing automation strategies that you can use across multiple platforms. However, the most effective strategy for boosting donor engagement with nonprofit organizations has been email marketing.

Improving Donor Retention Problems

One of the greatest challenges faced by nonprofit organizations is donor retention. But by using marketing automation, you are able to connect with new and existing donors in a more personalized and meaningful way. With today’s technology, organizations can communicate more effectively with their followers and as a result, create stronger and longer-lasting connections. 

“Ideally, you want the time and effort that you spend in recruiting new donors to be a worthy investment,” said Carol Ryan, a writer at Paperfellows and Bigassignments. “This is where marketing automation succeeds. One of the main reasons why donors stop supporting organizations is due to poor communication.”

She went on to mention how simple, timely and well-organized marketing campaigns can dramatically improve donor acquisition, without stretching your resources too thin.

“Email campaigns, for example, allow for prompt and informative communication with donors, as well as providing them with customized content, which can be the difference between a donor showing continued support or abandoning an organization,” Ryan said. 

Creating A Successful Email Marketing Campaign

The purpose of an email campaign is to build strong relationships with new donors from the very beginning, so as to maintain their engagement and support over time. Roy Arthur, a marketing automation expert at Write My Paper and Business Writing Service, said a successful welcome for new donors consists of around three to five emails.

“The first email should be sent immediately after a donation has been made and this is your ‘thank you’ email,” Arthur said. “This not only shows donors that you are grateful for their contribution, but it also allows you to explain your mission to your new donor and enables you to set expectations, such as how often they should expect to hear from you. It can also be really useful to have an executive director create a video thank you message, in which they outline the broader vision for your organization. Include a link to that video in your email. Essentially, you want this first email to feel personal, informative and to reinforce the donors’ attraction to your organization and its cause.” 

There should be a few days between each email, so as not to overload donors. Your second email should focus on the impact that your organization makes, as well as sharing the vision of your organization’s future with your donors. Again, videos work particularly well as they help to break down the work you do into simple, accessible information.

The purpose of the third email is to learn more about your donor. This will allow you to collect valuable information about them and what they care about. In the long-term, this will help you to create more personalized content and to provide more tailored communications with your donors. 

You can send a fourth email with further information about other platforms where donors can follow your organization, such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. You can then share weekly videos, updates and news via multiple platforms, as well as your subscriber/donor email newsletter. This regular contact will allow donors to feel involved and demonstrate that you care about and are committed to the work that your organization does.

Making effective use of marketing automation will enable your nonprofit organization to create more meaningful and long-lasting relationships with donors. By adopting these marketing strategies, you will be able to successfully convert donors into loyal supporters, who will continue to engage and invest in the work you do.

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Source Taken From: Nonprofithub.org