Its Time for Once Again as Annual

It'southward a pretty common experience. Someone you haven't talked to in a long time – months, fifty-fifty years – suddenly messages y'all out of the bluish. Only rather than inquire how you lot're doing or catching up for lost time, they immediately enquire for a favor.

Information technology'south not that you're unhappy to help – in fact, you could actually care about their state of affairs and desire to lend a hand. But in that location'due south something about being asked abruptly for a favor – peculiarly after not talking for a long time – that can exit people less excited to take activity. Information technology doesn't communicate any involvement or appreciation for them equally people.

The aforementioned thought can applies to your reengagement strategy with your donors. Your donors may not have given for a while, merely restarting the conversation with an abrupt ask can communicate a lack of gratitude. Effort to inquire donors to requite again in a more positive fashion. Remember, donors want effective communication from the organizations they support.

With 60-70% of new donors declining to requite over again the next year, it'due south extremely important to accept this request seriously; particularly considering over half of donors who exit an organisation practise so because of lack of effective communication from the nonprofit. A huge part of communicating effectively is demonstrating you genuinely value whom you're talking to.

So, how should you lot strike up another conversation with your donors? In this mail service, we'll look at how one organization, Liberty in N Korea, did an awesome job with their reengagement email. We volition suspension down why this email works, and talk over how you can use similar tactics to your next email campaign.

The Psychology Behind Positive Reinforcement

Possibly the most hitting function about this electronic mail is its celebratory tone. The donor hasn't given in an entire year – why is this suddenly a good matter? Why are we jubilant their lapse in contributions? Shouldn't nosotros repeat how crucial their gifts are, and ask them to donate once again?

Rather than just trying to pull another donation, psychology says y'all volition get amend results by celebrating your donor'southward previous donation instead.

In 2012, Liane Immature, Alek Chakroff, and Jessica Tom, psychology affiliates of Boston College and Harvard University, conducted a study on the function of self-perception in motivating moral behavior. When participants were asked to recall their past good deeds, and to perceive themselves as moral "do-gooders," they gave twice equally many charitable donations as participants who recalled bad deeds.

What does this tell u.s.a.? Past positively reinforcing your donors' past support, you can make the connection for them betwixt the deed of their previous contribution and their deepest perceptions of who they are as individuals. And when making a contribution becomes personally meaningful to them, donors are more probable to give again.

Gloat Your Donors' Awesomeness

LiNK's email demonstrates this type of positive reinforcement perfectly. Instead of directly asking for another gift, the message but reminds the supporter of their previous donation, celebrates what information technology accomplished, and validates its importance.

It all starts with framing the occasion equally an "anniversary." Let's compare this approach to a generic ask.

Happy one-year anniversary to your last donation!

This gives donors a reason to celebrate! Their final donation was a special occasion, and they can commemorate it by giving over again.

Information technology's been a while since your terminal donation, requite over again!

Definitely less exciting. This tin can likewise backlash if donors feel like you're just looking for more money (which you are, but a lack of appreciation won't compel anyone to willingly give.)
The main difference between these approaches is the employ of positive affirmation. Rather than focusing on what your supporters tin practise (make another gift), focus on what they have already washed. Rekindle their excitement by emphasizing the of import office they accept already played in your mission.

In this spirit, LiNK's electronic mail still sounds excited near that final souvenir, using language like:

• "This time last yr, you became part of a larger movement…"

• "Nosotros want to thank you again, and celebrate your support of our mission…"

• "Thanks…to your generosity…"

Arts and crafts your linguistic communication so donors can connect supporting your cause as a office of their core sense as individuals. LiNK'south email accomplishes this beautifully. Their CTA strategically follows their biggest non-donation related, personal encouragement:

Discuss Their Impact

In addition to the supporter'south importance to the organization, the email drives home another point: the directly bear upon of the supporter's last donation. The electronic mail describes the organisation's programs and communications evolution it helped to fund. And by giving a tangible number of refugees that were helped last year, the organization translates the gift's impact into a direct, physical result. The supporter is shown all the incredible things their one donation produced.

The last judgement speaks about the donor'southward importance to your piece of work:

You lot too helped them thrive in their new lives…

By emphasizing "you lot," the message makes information technology articulate that the donor is the one driving change. In your own emails, remind your donors that they are the ones making your arrangement's bear on possible. Allow them know that they are ones providing the solution to an urgent need and, most importantly, thank them for helping to make change happen.

Make Sure to Stay Data-Driven

We've talked about what you lot can say in your reengagement e-mail, but when should you actually send it to your donors? LiNK's electronic mail reinitiated contact with donors who hadn't given in a year, but this timeline might look different for your system. Whether you determine to reach out to supporters afterward a year, six months, or 3 months, you'll accept to test what timeline best engages your audience.

To make a smart, data-driven conclusion near your timeline, segment your donor lists and tailor your messaging. Using a CRM solution, you can collect and analyze donor data and pull reports based on dissimilar criteria. Salesforce, for instance, is a robust backend CRM system that supports many software integrations (including Classy!). By feeding your diverse applications into Salesforce, yous can aggregate all your donor data into one place, streamline your reporting, and analyze donor engagement.

While in that location's a ton of criteria by which you tin can segment your donor database, here are a few to help you get started:

• The last fourth dimension they donated
• The amount of their last donation
• The total number of donations they have made
• The frequency of their donations
• The last entrada or program they donated to

By pulling this information, you'll have the necessary context to personalize your email messages. For one, you can customize the bulletin to reflect the lapsed time since their last donation. You tin can even set up multiple electronic mail campaigns to target donors of different programs or fundraising campaigns; you can and then customize each email to speak to how the donor's gift impacted that specific programme.

Using an electronic mail automation software solution (like Abiding Contact, Mailchimp, or HubSpot), fix targeted email campaigns to send personalized messages to these different donor groups. Measure your results, and optimize your timing for the second enquire.

Put some thought into how you strike up the conversation again with your donors. Don't just rush into your inquire – instead, celebrate their past involvement with your organisation. Brand them feel good about their support and themselves. Rekindle their passion for your cause, and they will gladly take action over again!

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Prototype Credit: Sonja Langford

A Guide to Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Emails

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Source: https://www.classy.org/blog/asking-donors-to-give-again-through-positive-reinforcement/

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