The Digital Donor Engagement Pyramid

1. Integrated online forms

Online forms integrated with your fundraising system provide seamless opportunities for supporters to volunteer, crowdfund, give once, give monthly, set up a recurring payment, increase their contribution, or even just sign up to learn more. At the moment they’re curious enough to check out your donation page, you can provide inspiration that might trigger further involvement – like mission stories, photos, and beneficiary spotlights.

Returning visitors will have plenty of information to guide their next move. Plus, if they are ready to give, they can make a payment straight from their smartphones using a digital wallet, without having to dig for their credit card information.

Connection win: Even if they’re not ready to contribute or participate, you can help them explore the reasons they might want to get involved and highlight several convenient options for deepening their involvement when ready.

With a system like DonorPerfect, your integrated online forms can automatically populate your donor records with all sorts of engagement information, depending on how you set them up:

• Name, date, and amount
• Type of engagement
• Whether or not they’ve engaged with you before
• One-time or recurring payment
• Relationship to other donors

2. Custom reporting and analytics

This is where you can learn more about your prospects and supporters to deepen your connections over shared interests. Custom reporting and fundraising dashboards help you keep a pulse on all of your most important metrics to determine how your team should divide and conquer. Consider assigning each staff member a group of donors to spend time getting to know, and decide which engagements will trigger what messaging.

Here are some examples:

• Custom report 1: How many of your contacts haven’t given yet? If they recognize your effort to save their contact information and think of them again, might they be open to donating their time, or supporting a specific initiative?
• Custom report 2: How many of your non-giving contacts have requested more information (by filling out or even just viewing your online form)? If you were to send all of them a series of personalized emails over time, how would you continue to pique their interest?
• Custom report 3: Which contacts gave last year, but not this year? Is there anything new going on at your nonprofit that they might be interested in? Maybe they’re more suited for a small recurring payment each quarter?
• Custom report 4: Which contacts have given consistently over the last three years? Maybe they’d be interested in hearing about advocacy opportunities in their area.

Connection win: You learn more about them, and they learn more about you! You’re putting in the thoughtful work that will build your connections from the ground up ( to the top of your donor engagement pyramid).

DonorPerfect’s dashboard analytics track your donor retention and acquisition rates, donor lifetime value, monthly giving conversions, and more, or campaign-based metrics that you decide for yourself!

3. Email marketing

Email marketing helps you leverage the information you’ve collected from your integrated forms and learned from your custom reports to send targeted inspiration. Before sending emails, think of the tools you use to introduce strangers to your mission, like storytelling, QR codes, crowdfunding, or prospect research. How can these tools lead someone to your online form to indicate their interest in a deeper relationship?

Because that’s when you have the opportunity to follow up with a targeted approach. Remember, you don’t want to pressure them, you just want to keep their inspiration alive. Engagement isn’t a one-time thing; it’s ongoing, and it isn’t linear. So, you have to provide multiple entry points to your nonprofit. Do this in a way that inspires your donors to be part of something big, rather than guilting them into giving a little.

Here’s a sample donor journey:

• Entry point 1 – QR code: Let’s say a donor sees your program flier hanging at their local coffee shop. It catches their eye with a relatable photo. It reminds them of something or someone in their own life. They read the story underneath, and it says you need donations and volunteers.
• Entry point 2 – Online form: They don’t have much money to spare right now, but they scan your QR code while they wait for their drink. They’re taken to your donation page, where they see that you offer volunteer alerts, and sign up for them. They don’t have much time right now, but they’ll be off work this summer. You save their contact information in your fundraising system as a prospect.
• Entry point 3 – Email: You now know they are interested in X program that deals with X topic, and they’re open to participating someday. You note this in their record. Maybe they’re just waiting for the right moment or the right project. So, you send them an email, addressed with their name, spotlighting a beneficiary you helped with this program – sparking the same feelings they had when they saw your flier. You provide a link to volunteer opportunities over the next quarter.
• Entry point 4 – Email: Your email marketing tool shows they opened your email and clicked the link. They’re still interested, even though they didn’t sign up to volunteer yet. So, you schedule another volunteer alert for the following quarter.
• Entry point 5 – Website: When they clicked on your link, they saw a little blurb about your monthly giving program initiative, inviting them to check out more beneficiary spotlights. You highlight that just $2 per month can do so much for your beneficiaries. They start to see how manageable and rewarding it can be to support your organization financially.
• Entry point 6 – Email: You could have left it there, but you keep going! You saw that they clicked on your monthly giving link, even though they didn’t take action. You send them a personalized email, addressed with their name, thanking them for their interest in volunteering. You include a photo of a volunteer engaged in mission work, with a quote, explaining that supplementing their small monthly payments with sporadic volunteer work “feels so good because it gets their hands dirty while also making a sustainable difference.”

This was the push your new donor needed, as this arrangement makes perfect sense for them. They sign up for monthly giving at $2 per month. Sure, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but a simple review of their donor record will show that they are quite dedicated, making them a perfect candidate for future major and planned giving conversations.

Connection win: Every touchpoint is valuable because it puts your mission on the donors’ minds, so the more they participate (even passively), the closer it is to their hearts.

A fundraising system like DonorPerfect can automatically populate your email copy with data from your donor records, and your subscription comes with a Constant Contact account, so you can easily send different messages to different donor segments!

4. Text-to-give

Nearly all text messages (95%) are read and responded to within 3 minutes of being received. Simply put, text messages are the media your donors, prospects, and volunteers are most likely to check immediately, making it easier for you to capture their interest at the moment of inspiration. Take advantage of this by brainstorming some time-sensitive fundraising initiatives that could be supported by a text-to-give campaign.

Here are some examples:

• You can call for event volunteers or attendees via text, and they can sign up by texting back with a code or visiting a link to your sign-up form.
• Once they’ve signed up, you can link volunteers and attendees to event information like driving directions, parking instructions, safety protocols, or waivers.
• During the last few weeks of the year, you can let donors know about matching gift challenges that will make their tax-deductible donation go much further.

If they respond to your message or click on your link, you’re primed to continue sending time-sensitive updates. And even if they unsubscribe from your updates, you could send a survey asking how they prefer to receive them.

Connection win: You can capture their interest at the moment of inspiration, and they can take instant action on something they might have otherwise put off or forgotten about.

DP Text integrates with DonorPerfect, allowing you to accept donations, recruit volunteers, send event invites, hold contests, and even host scavenger hunts – all via text message! Plus, you can create automation to provide event details on demand. Curious? Text “CORAL” to 844-585-0681 to see how easy it is – or check out this case study.

5. Fundraising events

It takes a lot for people to leave their houses these days. Inflation, gas prices, security concerns, and mental health issues can make it hard to show up to social events. That’s why it’s so important that you show your appreciation for those who make it out, and give those who couldn’t some opportunities to get involved, too.

Even if someone RSVPs, but doesn’t show up, they had the intention and inspiration to support your mission in some way. That’s an engagement. One entry point passed them by, but it shouldn’t prevent them from receiving more. A follow-up email to the tune of “We missed you, but thank you so much for your interest” could go a long way here, especially if you provide opportunities to participate virtually.

Connection win: Everyone wants to feel needed and appreciated, right? Well, that’s exactly how you think about your donors, and they are likely to respond favorably to that!

Try an auction, giving challenge, or goal-meter to add excitement to the event experience. DonorPerfect comes with a laundry list of event management features for all occasions.