Much has stayed the same in the nonprofit world when it comes to building relationships with valuable supporters like monthly donors. For instance, establishing a clear audience, making giving easy, and asking for a gift at the right time are all nonprofit marketing staples that aren’t likely to change any time soon. But core activities like these can (and should!) be streamlined with modern technology.
Automation is by no means a replacement for the human touch that makes nonprofit marketing so effective (and of course personal), but it certainly can make routine processes easier and help you stay in touch with your (recurring) donors. Whether you’re concerned about how to time your messages or whether to send an email or SMS, this guide will cover what you need to know to create strong, automated messages that boost recurring donor retention rates. Stewardship and retention go hand in hand, especially with recurring donors.
Know which messages to automate
Ultimately, automation is a tool, and knowing when to use it is essential. When implementing your automation strategy, first decide what types of outreach and messages will benefit from being automated. Typically, this includes routine communications like thank-you messages, donation requests, and newsletters.
However, you also have to consider your audience. While every donor matters, some require a more hands-on approach than others. Double the Donation’s stewardship matrix guide calls out a few key groups of donors and how each requires different outreach:
- Mid-level donors are a staple of your nonprofit, but ultimately, these donors provide moderate levels of support and most communication with them can likely be automated. Often recurring donors are considered part of these mid-level donors with some even at the major donor level.
- Planned donors often start as recurring or mid-level donors. However, when they decide to become a planned donor, they will suddenly have a unique giving situation that requires personalized, strategic outreach.
- Major donors need one-on-one relationships, and thus, outside of your newsletter or a donation receipt, almost all communication with them should be handcrafted to their exact preferences.
When setting up your automation triggers, consider adding levels to accommodate a range of supporters. For instance, donors who give under a certain amount may receive your standard automated thank-you message, whereas those who give above it will have a member of your team personally reach out to them to express your gratitude.
Choose messaging channels
Many communication channels support marketing automation. Most emails and SMS platforms enable you to schedule communication or set up automatic messages in response to specific supporter actions.
Determine what platforms you will use to reach supporters and when. For instance, your weekly newsletter might always be emailed out, but when you thank your recurring donors for their monthly gift, should you send an email, text message, or mailed thank-you?
The recommendation is to add personalization as much as possible. Send a mailed thank-you when the recurring donor makes their first recurring gift, include what the recurring donor can expect and then add in a mix of channels based upon what’s in your communication mix.
Keep in mind that automated messages must follow any relevant communication laws. For instance, automatic emails and text messages need opt-in and out options, and it’s always good form to ask permission to send supporters additional messages. For example, you might add a check box to your donation form for supporters to opt-in to receive your newsletter or future campaign updates.
Leverage templates
Automatic messages will only help you maintain relationships with recurring donors if those messages are meaningful. Use templates to make sure your automated messages address numerous situations and audiences.
When making your templates, consider the following factors:
- Audience: Segment your audience into groups based on characteristics that impact their giving behavior. For instance, you might divide your first-time and recurring donors into two distinct groups. Message templates for new donors might contain informational details about how your organization works, while your long-time recurring donors receive updates about the latest happenings at your organization. And always recognize the recurring donor for their monthly giving. It can be as simple as a one-liner: Thank you for your ongoing support. Or thank you for your ongoing recurring support.
- Occasion: Specific types of fundraising campaigns and times of the year require different templates. Adjust your fundraising upgrade request template to reflect your most recent accomplishments, so recurring donors who regularly get it won’t receive the same message over and over.
- Format: Your communication channel will impact every part of your messaging strategy. For instance, email templates may have multiple opportunities to plugin personalized information about the recipient, whereas you may need to tailor texts more strategically. Mogli’s SMS marketing guide shows off how even a short text message template can reference a supporter’s name, donation amount, and supported campaign:
Creating templates is faster than writing individual messages for every supporter, but it still requires a lot of writing! To expand your template library, try looking for free templates online or even leveraging generative AI to create basic outlines you can tweak to reflect your nonprofit’s unique brand.
Add personalized details
You likely have a significant amount of data about your (recurring) donors stored in your nonprofit’s CRM, and you can leverage that information to make your automated messages feel personal.
In every template, ensure there are opportunities to add details unique to the recipient. That way, even if 500 supporters all receive the same message, each feels tailored to the individual donor. A few personal details you might add include:
- Name: Avoid addressing (recurring) supporters as simply “Donors.” Instead, always address supporters by their preferred names. This means using nicknames, proper titles, chosen names, or any other specifications to ensure you understand and respect that individual donor.
- Engagement history: Recurring donors likely have long histories with your nonprofit, and you can reference those details in your automated messages. Show you care about their individual contributions by shouting out how much a donor has given over the course of their relationship with your nonprofit or thanking them for attending your last event.
- Interests: Pay attention to which types of campaigns and initiatives your recurring donors are the most interested in. Then, provide personalized updates about those programs in future correspondence.
Connect your messaging tools and your CRM to automatically populate messages with these personal details. If you’re new to automation or trying out a new tool, be sure to test your messages before sending them to supporters. This will help you catch any populating errors that might otherwise lead to unfortunate mistakes.
Set up a messaging cadence
Email and text message series are useful tools for guiding supporters to take specific actions. For instance, a welcome series that introduces new supporters to your organization can inspire them to explore your website, or fill out a survey, while a donation upgrade series encourages recurring donors to increase their regular gifts.
Use your messaging platform to determine when each message in your series will be sent. This is your messaging cadence, and it impacts how supporters view each individual message and your nonprofit as a whole. Try to find a happy medium here. Too many messages in too short a time period may annoy supporters, whereas multiple weeks without word from your nonprofit may cause your organization to fade in donors’ minds.
Usually, once to twice a week is an ideal cadence, but be aware this is not a blanket rule. There are times to message your supporters more frequently. For instance, you might set automated alerts the week before, day before, day of, and final hour of Giving Tuesday and the last day of the year to encourage last-minute donations.
Additionally, be wary of automated messaging cadences accidentally getting in each other’s way. If you set your upgrade series to occur once a year, you may want to deactivate it or push back its usual time if it conflicts with another ongoing marketing push, such as an active crowdfunding campaign.
Ultimately, emails, SMS, and other private messages are crucial parts of the direct marketing fundraising efforts that advance supporters’ giving journeys. Leverage your automation tools to ensure no supporter is forgotten, and adjust your automation processes to make all outreach feel personalized.
Marketing automation is one of your nonprofit’s strongest tools for maintaining recurring donor relationships. Refine your communication strategy to ensure each of these messages, while generated and delivered by your technology, still has a human touch to build long-lasting donor relationships. And the good news is that automations, once created, will give you more time for those personal connections that are critical to those relationships.
