How Your Nonprofit Donation Journey Is Like A Business Customer Journey

Featured post by Sam Plateroti of Dijy–

Nonprofit organizations are driven by a mission to create a positive social impact, whereas B2B businesses concentrate on solving business problems. Both nonprofits and B2B businesses depend on generated revenue to continue operations. Read on to explore the similarities between both and how your nonprofit can begin to think like a B2B business.

What is a donation journey?

Ongoing donor support is crucial for your nonprofit, just as customers are essential to the survival of a business. But how can you engage new donors and inspire them to become advocates of your cause? To begin, let’s consider the stages of your donor journey, which closely resemble the typical stages of a customer journey.

There are 5 stages to explore:

1. 1. Awareness
   2. Consideration
   3. Purchase
   4. Retention
   5. Advocacy

 For nonprofits, the dynamics are slightly different:

1. 1. Awareness
   2. Consideration
   3. Donation
   4. Repeat donation
   5. Advocacy

Notice the similarity? So what’s what?

Awareness Stage

This is the initial stage (top of funnel, aka TOFU) of your donor journey. This is where potential donors have little to no awareness of your nonprofit. There are several factors to take into account at this stage: Who’s your target audience? Could they be genuinely interested in your cause? What type of messaging would be most impactful to them? During the awareness stage, it’s crucial to focus on marketing efforts and strategies that aim to attract and engage new donors. This objective is to create awareness and make them familiar with your mission.

 What can you do?

• • Create a blog to share information and engaging posts related to your nonprofit and your cause.
  • Leverage social media to engage with your audience and capture the attention of potential donors.
  • Implement SEO strategies to improve your online visibility. Note – this is a long-term effort, but can help with your search engine rankings.

The awareness stage is all about making potential donors aware you exist and how you serve the community.

Consideration Stage

Your potential donors are now aware of you and your organization. They may have even interacted with an email you’ve sent or visited your website. Now, it’s time to make it easy for them to take the next step and become donors. Here are a few tips for converting potential donors in the consideration stage:

• • Make your website user-friendly and easy to navigate. This means having a clear and concise call to action (CTA) that tells donors how to give. You should also make sure your website is mobile-friendly, as more and more people are using their phones and tablets to access the internet.
  • Use marketing automation to send targeted messages to potential donors. This means sending emails, text messages, or other notifications based on the actions that donors take on your website or social media pages. For example, you could send an email to a donor who has visited your website’s donation page, but hasn’t yet made a donation (learn about how automation works!)

The goal in the consideration stage is to provide potential donors with the information they need to make a decision to donate. You also want to make it as easy as possible for them to take the next step. By following these tips, you can increase your chances of converting potential donors into actual donors.

Donation Stage

You’ve done your hard work to raise awareness of your nonprofit’s purpose and mission. Potential donors are now considering supporting you by donating. Now, it’s time to remind them why they should help your cause and make it easy for them to do so. Here are a few tips for converting potential donors in the donation stage:

• • Use a user-friendly donation platform. This will make it easy for donors to give and will help to reduce donor drop-off. 
  • Remind donors of your mission. This is a great opportunity to share stories about the impact that your organization has made. You can also remind donors of the specific needs that their donation will help to address.
  • Make it easy for donors to give. This means having a clear and concise call to action on your website and in your marketing materials. You should also make sure that your donation process is secure and easy to follow.
  • Offer multiple ways to give. Not everyone wants to give online. Make sure you offer other ways to give, such as by mail or over the phone.
  • Make it easy to track donations. Donors should be able to easily see their donation history and track the impact of their giving.
  • Personalize your communications. Use the donor’s name and other personal information to make them feel like you’re speaking directly to them. This will help to build trust and rapport with donors.

By following these tips, you can create a positive donation experience that will encourage donors to give and support you.

 Repeated Donation Stage

Congratulations, you have a new donor! Now it’s time to re-engage them and keep their continuous support. Here are a few tips for re-engaging donors:

• • Thank them for their support. A sincere thank-you is always a good start. You can also send them a personalized note or email to express your gratitude.
  • Encourage them to donate monthly. This is a great way to create a steady stream of income for your organization. Many donation platforms, such as Fundraise Up, make it easy for donors to set up recurring donations.
  • Send them regular updates. Keep your donors informed about your work and the impact of their donations. You can send them newsletters, email updates, or social media posts.
  • Personalize your outreach. Pay attention to what your donors are interested in and tailor your communications accordingly. For example, if a donor is particularly interested in a specific cause or topic, you can send them updates about that cause.
  • Get them involved in your work. This could mean volunteering, fundraising, or even just spreading the word about your organization.

By engaging your donors in these ways, you can show them that you appreciate their support and that you’re committed to making a difference in the world. This way, you can keep their support for years to come!

The Advocacy Stage

Congratulations on acquiring new donors! Now it’s time to encourage them to be vocal about their support. Here are a few tips:

• • Reach out to your biggest supporters directly. Don’t be afraid to ask them to share their support with their friends and family on social media.
  • Post regularly on social media and share what you’ve been up to. This will compel your supporters to share your posts with their networks.
  • In your outreach, ask your donors to “like” or “follow” your social pages and even share their involvement with your nonprofit.

Bottom line: engage your potential donors, engage your current donors, and engage your repeated donors. Keep reminding them why you do what you do and why they should care! Keep your content relevant to them and focus on building your relationship. You started your nonprofit to do something magnificent and make a difference. You’re helping others, so let others help to support you!

This post has been written by Dijy. Dijy uses the power of tech to digitize and automate your nonprofit.