What Donors Want (And How to Deliver It)

I’d be willing to bet that every nonprofit leader has looked at themselves or their team and asked this question: What do our donors really want from us?

It’s a good question. Whether you already have a fleet of engaged supporters or you’re building from the ground up, you’re likely struggling with the same challenge. It’s not easy to reach people, especially as donor expectations shift, funding sources come and go, competition for donor attention is fierce, and the cost of acquiring new donors continues to skyrocket.

We’ve got great news, however! A growing body of research offers valuable insights into donor behavior. When you combine that data with smart nonprofit technology, it becomes easier to create a donor experience that drives loyalty and giving.

Let’s walk through what we know about what donors actually want and how you can use that knowledge to build stronger relationships and increase engagement.

Donors Want to be Connected to Your Mission

We know people give because they care. But it’s a little more nuanced than that. They actually give because they see themselves in your mission. Studies show that a personal connection is the number one reason people across demographics give—meaning that creating an emotional bond with your donors must be a priority.

You can roll your eyes when we talk about storytelling (again!), but it’s effective. If you remember when we spoke to Angel Aloma, who served as the executive director of Food for the Poor (one of the largest international charities in the U.S.), he shared incredible insights about donor behavior and how to create an emotional connection with your donors. From donor centricity (“Donor is king!” was often repeated in his meetings) to why he didn’t really thank donors for their charity, he built a wildly successful nonprofit. Read more of his thoughts.

Ensure your mission is clear, the impact is visible, and your values are consistent. That will increase donor trust and “stickiness,” meaning they’ll give again and again because they feel a personal connection.

Donors Want Simplicity and Choice

More than half of donors (63%, according to Double the Donation) prefer to give online using credit or debit cards. We probably could have guessed that. But what’s a little more surprising is that 57% of donors are enrolled in a recurring giving program, and that’s up from 46% the previous year.

That is a significant uptick, and it tells us two things:

• Donors seek out low-friction, predictable ways to give.
• Nonprofits must make it easy to say yes, and easy to commit to monthly giving.

What does this mean? Optimize your donation form! Cut down the number of fields donors have to complete. Keep the design and text simple. Offer multiple payment options, including virtual wallets and DAFPay. If your CRM can do it, use dynamic gift strings to personalize your asks.

And always (always!) have a toggle button so a one-time giver can convert to monthly giving.

Have a friend try to donate using their phone. See where there’s friction and fix it!

Donors Want You to Find Them

Double the Donation found that 32% of donors are most inspired to give via social media.

That is a clear directive to nonprofits: your donors are on social media, so you should be, too. Your campaigns should run on social media, and all your posts should have a link to your (optimized) donation form.

Don’t know which channels will work the best? Test them. Put the same message on different platforms and see which has the best results. You can measure the percentage of users who engage with your content (liking, sharing, commenting), how many click on the CTA, and what the results are.

If you feel as though your donors aren’t on social media, then figure out how they want to be reached. Older donors often prefer the phone, with the middle chunk responding to email and the youngest responding to text campaigns.

But it’s best to ask! Studies have shown that 98% of seniors 65 and older own a mobile phone and are perfectly comfortable with texts.

Find out how and where your donors want to hear from you, then go connect with them.

Donors Want You to See Them

It’s clear that donors don’t want to be a number. They want to have a relationship and feel as though you see them and appreciate their engagement, whether it’s donating money, attending an event, or volunteering their time.

According to Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened...and marketers have found a whopping 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns!

Personalizing outreach at scale is impossible without technology. But nearly every nonprofit CRM—and there are a lot of excellent choices—will let you segment your audiences and personalize your outreach.

Good technology will let you know who is giving, how, when, why, where, and what messaging resonates with them.

Then, use the data to communicate with them like a human, not an AI-powered bot. When they feel seen and appreciated, the donor relationship continues to strengthen.

Donors Want to Maximize Their Impact

Which is welcome news to you! 84% of donors say they are more likely to donate to a nonprofit if a matching gift is offered. But an estimated $6 to $10 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed every year.

And (of course, our source is Double the Donation) 1 in 3 donors say they’d give a larger gift if they knew it would be matched and doubled.

To do this, you’ll need to add a matching gift tool that integrates with your donation form. For example, CharityEngine clients have built-in matching gift functionality; if you choose to enable it, it appears on your donation form.

What if you don’t have a nonprofit CRM? Then, at the very least, ask the question on your donation form: “Does your employer offer matching gifts?” and if someone says yes (or even “I don’t know”), send them your EIN, a sample matching form, and instructions to contact their HR office for guidance.

Donors Want to Know They Matter

Donor retention remains a huge problem for many nonprofits. Fortunately, if you focus on it, it’s not terribly hard to fix.

It’s all about stewardship. When your nonprofit gets a new donor, what happens to them? If they don’t hear from you until the next time you’re asking for a donation, you are missing a priceless window to connect and let them know they’re more than just dollar signs to you.

A good stewardship campaign builds in a lot of touches that have nothing to do with donations, and everything to do with building a strong relationship that keeps donors sticking around.

When you’re thinking through a campaign, consider a multichannel approach so you’re reaching out in different ways. Share stories about your impact or studies and articles that will be of interest. Every now and then, send a message that thanks them and shares your appreciation of their efforts.

Use technology to note giving anniversaries and birthdays, then automate emails to go out on those dates.

Let them know how much they matter, and they’ll be around for a while.

The Path Forward: Make Giving Personal, Easy, and Meaningful

The data is clear.

Donors want to feel connected, valued, and empowered to make a difference. They want to give. They want you to figure out how they want to give and where they want to give. They want to know their gifts are making a difference.

All of this can be achieved!

With the right strategy and the right tools, even the smallest of teams can deliver powerful, personalized donor experiences.

Make it easy for them, and they’ll stick around. Better yet, they just might bring friends with them!