All About Donor Surveys
Hey Friend,
I know you are IN IT. I know you are working hard thinking through every last detail of your end-of-year giving campaign + the 40 million other things you are trying to get done before December 31st.
Who do you need to reach out to? Who needs to get on your list? Who can you have a touch point with before the end-of-year deadline?
One mistake I see nonprofits making over and over again is getting through their event or campaign and then….crickets. That’s right: zero, zilch, nada.
It’s crazy because nonprofit fundraisers are coming up with ideas, spending endless amounts of energy, executing strategy, but then once they get that donation - they don’t work to keep it. It’s no surprise that donation retention rates are lowwwwww. So, what happens? They have to start the work all over again from square one the next time it comes up to make an ask. No wonder nonprofit fundraisers are burnt out! You might even be raising your hand right now.
What if it didn’t have to be so hard? What if you could put in the thought and effort to think past just the gift? Enter into the world of stewardship.
Last week, I wrote about how you can implement a welcome series - a super important to-do following a gift or sign-up because: that’s a particular moment when someone is hot on you and your organization. 🔥
Today, I want to talk about donor surveys - another great follow up tool that not enough nonprofit fundraisers are using.
Let’s start with this:
Do you know what compelled your donor to give?
Do you know how they became introduced to your organization?
Do you know which social media platforms they hang out on?
Do you know how often they prefer to receive communication?
Do you know how they like to receive their information?
If you answered no to any of the above - you need to survey your donors. Period.
Picture this.
Nonprofit A just wrapped up their annual fundraising gala. They are stoked because not only did they raise more than their goal - they were surprised to learn that a lot of new donors attended their event for the first time. Trouble is, with over 600 guests, it’s hard to know how the newbies were introduced to the organization, who they are connected to, what part of the mission speaks to them etc. To try to capture this information in bulk, the Director of Development decides to send a 5 question donor survey + an opportunity to grab coffee. The results: A 30% response rate that tells them that on average:
Their donors are hanging out on on Instagram, not Facebook
They prefer to receive news and updates monthly
Their favorite types of stories to read include successes and behind the scenes happenings
They heard about the event through their employer
Also, 5 people responded saying they’d love to get together for coffee. ❗❗❗
Nonprofit B just wrapped the same type of event as Nonprofit A and...they do nothing. And continue business as usual.
If it isn’t clear, Nonprofit A not only has FIVE new qualified prospects, but they know a lot more information than they did before sending their survey. By catering to the DONORS - they are going to have a much easier time providing value, inspiration and service to their audience.
So, what are you waiting for? To make things super easy, I’ve created this freebie to help you get started on donor surveys without having to think up questions.
Also, wondering where you might host a survey? Some CRMs like Bloomerang host them for you, but Survey Monkey or Google Forms are great, free options as well.
Super curious, do you deliver a donor survey? If so, what questions do you like to include?
Until next week,
