An effective integrated fundraising approach engages prospects, increases donor response, and raises revenue while strengthening your brand across relevant communication channels. That means that development, communication, and marketing departments can’t exist in silos and expect people to be moved to action.
Six Reasons Your Nonprofit Needs an Integrated Communication Strategy
It’s time for nonprofits to adopt a fundraising approach that makes sense. Here are six reasons why it’s time to break down the silos between your organization’s development, programs, communications, and marketing departments:
- Best donors and prospects will become easily identifiable. By tracking donor behavior and preferences, you can better engage your organization’s most dedicated donors and most promising prospects, while also identifying those who should be “blessed and released.”
- Deeper, more relevant relationships will be cultivated. Talking to donor segments in light of what you know about them will encourage their sense of connection to your organization. Continually refining this information will help increase your ability to personalize each message.
- Costs will be lowered and lost opportunities will be reduced. Precious resources are wasted while trying to gain or reactivate disinterested prospects and past donors. An integrated strategy increases fundraising effectiveness by allowing resources to be directed where they will have the greatest impact and provide maximum donor engagement through targeted messaging in thoughtfully chosen channels.
- Donor frustration will be reduced. Knowing when and how your donors prefer to be solicited can greatly improve their response rate to your requests. Creating an intuitive way for them to respond is also an important part of the process.
- Lifetime value of donors will increase. Successful integrated fundraising will provide the highest rate of return over the life cycle of most supporters. By focusing on and measuring lifetime value, you can develop long-term relationships with donors while removing the temptation to use flashy tactics that may contribute only short-term value and detract from the overall strategy.
- Supporters will feel empowered to promote your cause. Using the most current technology can give your most enthusiastic supporters a way to spread your message and mission to their networks and their friends’ networks, thereby reinforcing your cross-channel strategy and maximizing your return.
What is missing from your communication strategy?