3 steps for building long-term relationships with your donors
Donors are the cornerstone of charitable causes. They become your cheerleaders, advocates and champions and they give their time and money to see worthwhile causes become a reality in the community. It’s not possible to have a successful fundraising campaign without nurturing dedicated donors.
Follow these three steps to build long-lasting ties with your donors and supporters and strengthen your fundraising campaign.
1. Make your audience aware of your goals
As Simon Sinek says,
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
Engage with your donors on an emotional level and connect with them on a core belief — what improvement in the world will you make together?
Once the goal of your campaign is clear, reach out to your donors and energize them with what your organization is going to improve with their help. Clarity in your goal attracts the right donors who are interested in the future vision of your cause and who want to be part of the solution. Give people a reason to act and move from being on the sidelines of your cause to active donors.
When running an online raffle, we recommend having one clear cause or project the funds are going to so supporters can get excited about where the money they contribute is going.
2. Tell donors how their donation has made an impact
Once funds have been raised and directed to the cause, update all donors on how their donations made an impact.
It is an essential step in the fundraising process to show donors their hard-earned money was spent wisely on the cause they are passionate about. This helps connect donors to the experience and increases their bond with your organization, ultimately increasing the chance of future donations or raffle ticket purchases.
To make this process straightforward, collect the email address of donors at the time of donation and send a thank you email to everyone. When running a raffle with Rafflebox, the email addresses of all ticket buyers are collected and provided in a report so you can easily connect with your supporters.
3. Ask for feedback
Feedback is a vital step that is often lost when wrapping up a fundraising campaign.
Feedback ensures donors have the ability to provide valuable insight into what’s working and what’s not and makes them feel valued, showing your organization cares about them.
Wait a few days after the campaign to ask for feedback to ensure you don’t bombard the donor with emails. Make the email or survey short and specific so it’s easy to respond. Google Forms and Survey Monkey are easy-to-use tools where you can build a survey in under 5 minutes.
Make sure when you ask for feedback, you genuinely want it. Donors have great recommendations so ensure you document the suggestions provided and look at ways you can incorporate their feedback into future fundraising programs to make them even better.
Don’t forget to send a thank you note once the survey is completed to show donors you are grateful for sharing their thoughts with you.
At Rafflebox, we help charity and non-profit organizations of all sizes run raffle fundraisers. Want to know more about how we can help your organization reach your fundraising goals? Connect with our team today!
