Digital Stewardship: Respond to that
An emerging trend in donor engagement is digital stewardship. Digital stewardship gives us the ability to creatively thank someone for their gift right away without the other person having to wait on mail. I’ve enjoyed using digital stewardship tools my entire career. I was one of those individuals that probably frustrated my employers with how many times I asked, “how can we do this better?” I used to attend every webinar and go to every conference I possibly could to justify why things needed to change. Who knew that years down the road I would find myself in a place of inspiring other change makers.
My first introduction into the digital world came at the start of my career in higher education. We had this new software that would allow the college to scan and retrieve documents from virtually anywhere….DocuScan ring a bell for anyone? The company has since grown, but I picked up this new virtual tool so fast, that I was asked to visit each of our sites training other individuals how to scan and categorize student documents. I even created policies and procedures! I should’ve known from that very moment that my career was going to look different, but young Melissa simply wanted to make things easier. So fast forward to today and the relevance of that story, is simply this…going digital will give you the ability to tailor experiences based on the majority of donor’s behaviors. Make sense? Okay, let me try to bring it home a little more. The Blackbaud Institute* reports that over 4,000 nonprofit organizations saw an average of 20% increase in online giving compared to previous years. Don’t you think we should respond to that? Of course! In my early higher education years, we noticed that students were wanting to apply online so what did we do in Admissions? Respond to that!
Donor behaviors are forever evolving and it’s up to us as practitioners and philanthropic facilitators to respond and engage our advocates in a way that resonates with them. However, STILL with every emerging trend comes areas of considerations and work you need to do before you participate because we still have the obligation to build relationships and think beyond the transaction.
Using the 5W1H method, let’s look at the thought process of going digital with your donor engagement strategy:
Who are your donors?
Before sending a new digital shiny digital engagement tool that you just convinced leadership to purchase or found a nugget in your budget, consider who your donors are. Is this something they would enjoy? Most likely, yes….but all decisions should be thoughtful ones.
What do they really want?
It’s okay, to read those surveys that you sent and respond to them. Yes, respond to them. You have no idea how many lonely survey responses I’ve found while organizations continued to function trying to figure out why their constituents aren’t responding to their efforts…well, did you read their response?
Where do they spend their time?
The best way to engage your advocates with your new digital stewardship tool is to make it personalized. It’s always helpful to be able to gear the information/content towards their personal interest or their interest in your organization. Institutions investing in tools like EverTrue that provides intuitive insight into donors preferences gives you the entry work you need to identify the best way to connect to your current or new donor.
When is the best time to engage?
Do the research! Determine the best frequency for your organization and really think about it. Don’t plan to send out monthly e-newsletters if you don’t have the staffing time or effort to dedicate to that task.
Why do we need to shift to digital?
As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, donor behaviors are changing as more online platforms/currencies are made available for people to give. Being able to meet donor where they are is important to inform them that you are paying attention to how they interact with your organization.
Whew…still with me?
Last but not least, How do you plan to implement this new digital strategy?
Before you press send, be sure you’ve considered the data behind your new methods and are prepared for the result. Take time to to listen to your advocates to create and implement a clear plan (with policies and procedures…ahem) that resonates your missions’ impact.
Improving the donor experience allows your community of advocates and donors to take part in bringing real change for the mission.
*Source: https://institute.blackbaud.com/charitable-giving-report/online-giving-trends/