1. FLEXIBLE GIVING
Mobile Giving:
Donors are completing more donations on their mobile devices and we expect this trend to continue going into 2022 so there will be an increased importance on:
- Digital Wallets: The use of systems like Google and Apple pay automatically populate payment securely. This allows donors to pay without leaving the page, mailing a check, or having to find their wallets to get a credit card.
- Trusted Payment apps: Using apps like Paypal or Venmo will make it even easier for your donors to donate. Your donors most likely have accounts (and balances) that will make them feel safer to donate. Donating through PayPal or Venmo captures the interest of 55% of donors who share they would likely donate if nonprofits presented these options.
Crypto Donations:
More and more people are starting to invest in Cryptocurrency and the nonprofit industry is seeing the benefits. On 2021 #CryptoGivingTuesday $2,401,000 of cryptocurrency was donated that is 583% more than last year and we expect this number to continue to increase. We recommend that nonprofits prepare themselves to accept these kinds of donations.
Workplace Giving:
Approximately $5 billion is raised in workplace giving annually. Nonprofits can bring their missions to workplaces and build relationships with companies to grow with them. Find corporate partners who align with your organization’s mission.
2. Personalize Experience
In order to create loyal donors, it is important to develop meaningful relationships with your donors. How do you do this?
- Segment your donors based on key characteristics geography, donation frequency, demographics, donation amount, etc. This will allow you to ensure that you are targeting the right people, at the right time, with the right message.>/li>
- Communicate with your donors throughout the process:
-
- Send Thank You’s after the donation
- Give them insight into the impact their donation is having
- Give regular updates as to what your organization is doing
- Publish a end of year report to celebrate your donors and your nonprofit’s progress
Most importantly make your donors feel like they are a valued and important part of your nonprofit. For example, have you ever donated blood? After your donation within a few weeks you are provided with a note with what hospital it went to, making your impact tangible. Send follow ups with personalized notes make it feel less generic.
3. Share your Impact
It is increasingly important for nonprofits to be transparent with how money is spent. Over the last two years, nonprofits have faced unexpected challenges and unfortunately, it does not look like that is going to change. With nonprofits all around the world trying to get attention from perspective donors, the best way to win them over is to make your impact measurable. For example, on your donation page show the difference your organization is making … with a $5 donation we can do X, $10 this, and so on. This will allow your donors to feel their impact and may incline them to donate more. See example from Hearts To Homes:
YOU CAN HELP!
$2,800 furnishes an entire apartment.
$1,200 furnishes a living room.
$750 furnishes a kitchen, including a dinette set.
$500 furnishes a bedroom.
$100 buys a comforter and pillows.
$50/month furnishes a bedroom and bathroom.
$40/month purchases a loveseat.
$25/month buys a dinette set.
$10/month buys a TV.
$5/month buys a microwave.
It is important to also be transparent with your needs, talk about your goals and why it is important to hit them.
Use social media, newsletters, and other communications to allow your donors to get a behind-the-scenes peek at what you and your organization are doing.
4. Hybridization of giving campaigns
Including technology in your fundraising will continue to be increasingly important as we enter into 2022, especially as we see the rise in COVID-19 cases again… Though to be honest we foresee technology staying an important part of all fundraising going forward. Some ways that you can include technology is:
- Mobile Bidding: This will allow people to participate in auctions both at the event and virtually side by side.
- Widely available event recording: This will allow your event to live on and may encourage some after the fact donations.
- Streaming: This will allow people who are further away or feel unsafe attending an event to participate in the event.
- Text communication: This will allow you to chat, poll, and update the attendees throughout the event.
- Instant engagement: Push notifications allow you to have contact with your guests before, during, and after the event which will allow you to have multiple touchpoints to share your appeal.
Things on the horizon! Metaverse/virtual reality. With people being scared to leave their homes, but still craving that human interaction we may see a shift towards a virtual universe. This is a concept that we think it important to keep a close eye on in 2022, who knows one day we may all be attending galas in this 3-d virtual environment.
5. Recurring Giving
A smartly set up monthly giving program can help you boost revenue, improve retention rate, and acquire more donors. The first step is to make sure that you have the right systems in place:
- A Branded Design
- Easy to use interface to sign up for monthly giving
- Customizable options (add impact levels to reinforce why one should give monthly)
- Email Marketing: make sure thank you’s are sent timely and that their impact is continuously being shown. This is not a one size fits all approach you need to personalize these messages to retain the donor.
Kelli-Anne Cerini
Marketing Manager
Kelli-Anne is a Manager for Cerini & Associates’ marketing staff. She oversees all marketing and communications efforts for the firm. Kelli-Anne is heavily involved in firm operations, recruitment, and development. She work’s with the firm’s various services areas and management team to define and meet growth goals, as well as working to help organize and promote the Long Island and New York City Imagine Awards.