7 Attributes of a Donor-Focused Brand

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7 Attributes of a Donor-Focused Brand

1. Offers that move donors to take action2. Donor choice and control3. Meaningful donor appreciation4. Reporting back on the impact of donor gifts5. Sending the right message to the right donor at the

right time6. Transparency, openness, and two-way communication

with donors7. A plan to maximize engagement for every donor

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What is a Donor-focused Brand?• Simply put, it is the sum of the donor’s experience as they

interact with a nonprofit, including– The look and feel and content of all communications– The offers they are given– How they are thanked for their gifts

• It is led and organized to put donors first– It recognizes and always communicates that donors are why the

organization is successful. It’s the donors who are heroes. – It means that all departments – from admin to program to data

management and all back-office functions recognize they’re part of the donor marketing strategy.

• It strategically re-invests net income for continual growth of the donor file

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1. Offers that move donors to take action • Meets a need the donor cares about: problem / solution

– Specificity– Leveragable– Tangible– Urgent– Scalable– Benefits– Emotion

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1. Offers… continued• Packaged in a manner that conveys the offer effectively

– Donor-focused creative guidelines• Typography and fonts• Colors• Layout• Use of photos

– Logos and tag lines that are donor focused• Maximizes channels to reach donors where they are

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2. Donor choice and control• Recognize that the donor is in charge of the relationship• Give them choice and control over

– Channels– Frequency– Offers that they care about

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3. Meaningful donor appreciation• “Meaningful” as defined by the donor

– Timeliness – thank the donor for their gift as soon as possible – within 48-72 hours after gift is received

– Recognize it is a “gift” – no matter the amount (not a donation)

– Specificity of the gift amount and tie back to offer that was responded too

– Mail, online, phone, and in-person – all viable channels– The unexpected – send a “thank you” voice message or a

post card just out of the blue – not tied to a recent gift

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4. Reporting on the impact of gifts • Survey after survey indicates that donors want to know

how their gifts are used, and the same surveys indicate that one of the key reasons donors stop giving is lack of reporting– Direct mail – newsletters, stories of changed lives– Inserts in acknowledgements– Telephone town hall briefings– Voice message updates– Individual calls to middle and major donors– Events– Online via website and email

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5. Sending the right message to the right donor at the right time• The focus is on understanding who the donor (and

donor prospect) is based on all the best available data.– Clear strategy to maximize net– Prospect database and list strategy– Modeling for response

• Is your sustainer model built on your organizational schedule or the donor’s?

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6. Transparency, openness, and two-way communications• Give donors feedback options

– Online, Social, eMail– Phone– Surveys– Invitations for local meetings

• CEO/President should ask – “how are we doing with your gifts?”

• Respond to donor complaints, concerns, and questions

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7. A plan to maximize engagement for every donor• Map out your donor’s experience – are they more than a

transaction?• Donating episodic gifts is only one means for engagement.

Loyalty is maximized through marketing as many of the following as possible:– Sustainer / committed donor giving programs– Volunteering– Events– Town hall reporting via group calls– Webinar reports– Planned Giving– Peer to peer engagement– Social media– Advocacy– Prayer (for faith based organizations)11

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If you want help putting these concepts into action for your nonprofit

• Contact Jeff Nickel– 626-616-3295– Jeff.Nickel@TrueSense.com– twitter.com/ajnickel– linkedin.com/in/ajefferynickel

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