Engaging Major Donors, Online?

When most of us think about our online donors, we think about small or mid-level donations.  The type of donor that is gradually transitioning from direct mail to email.  What we don’t usually think about is our major donors – the individuals who make very large contributions that help the organization build new programs or take old ones to the next level.

Earlier this year, Mikaela King and Nancy Withbroe released a whitepaper suggesting we need to start changing our thinking on this front.  King has a highly recommended guest post summarizing their work at Connection Cafe.

Their main reasoning: major donors are already online.  They are already on your site before they make a gift.  They are looking for evidence of what you’ve been telling them, connections to the things they most care about and more.  If they’re making the effort to go online, shouldn’t we find ways to better engage them while they are there?

You could definitely file this as another great example of why tools aren’t strategies.  Your web site, email program and other online marketing efforts are tools.  While many organizations have a major donor strategy to raise significant portions of their budget, those organizations have often ignored the online tools when thinking about this group.  While you want to give major donors special care, cultivation and appreciation, doing so online gives you even more tools to make and further those connections.

I recommend reviewing out the full whitepaper, but here is a list of some of their ideas for using the online experience with major donors:

• Ask for large gifts online: include higher-dollar amounts when you solicit gifts through your web site, and personalize ask amounts to a person’s giving history.
• Don’t just ask for large gifts – explain the need for them and the impact they’ll have: include “price points” that show how you’ll use larger gifts.  What could your organization achieve with a gift of $1,000? $5,000?
• Create a section of your web site or a micro site specifically targeted to major donors: customize information to this audience – make current financial information readily available, include “exclusive” and in-depth program content, event invitations, and reports.
• Provide program reports and update them monthly: provide quantitative data on program needs and impact, goals, progress and achievements
• Post interactive content: tell stories and ask donors to provide their own, show videos, or post a “program cam” where visitors can see your programs in action!
• Create a special email “stationary”: mimic the look of a one-on-one email from the President or a program officer; this could include a “forward” of an email from a program director or a “cc” to an executive assistant.
• Acknowledge people who have already made significant gifts to your organization in the past year, with their permission, and ask others to join this “exclusive” club!

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