Increasing retention with supporter welcome journeys
Charlotte from More Onion offers her fundraising tips.
As fundraisers our day-to-day job is all about connecting with people and inspiring them to take action. But between ambitious revenue targets, ever-changing digital channels and complex technology it can sometimes be difficult to stay focused on building what really matters: lasting human relationships.
In fact, what we often find when we analyse the digital fundraising plans of charities is a clear plan for recruiting more supporters and donors. Significant budgets are invested and multiple channels are linked to increase reach.
While recruitment goals are met, there are not many resources invested into strengthening the relationship with these new supporters and donors. As a result, the engagement of these new supporters is low and the return on investment does not look very promising.
Our recommendation is to ensure that every project where you are recruiting new supporters and donors also comes with a series of planned touchpoints to welcome people and connect with them.
To make your life a bit easier, we want to share with you our top tips for creating engaging welcome journeys for supporters and donors.
Don’t always lead with a fundraising ask
It may seem counter productive, but constantly asking supporters for money can do more harm than good.
Supporters don’t think of themselves in the same silos we often fall into in our internal communications planning. Donors. Campaigners. Volunteers. They are supporters of your cause, interested in hearing about the different ways they can make a difference.
Years of designing and testing has proved integrated supporter journeys including a range of emails consistently deliver the best results.
One email. One ask.
It can be really tempting to include a fundraising ask at the end of every email, or to send one monthly newsletter with multiple links showcasing work from across your organisation.
Our testing consistently proves sending regular communications with one clear call to action is a much more effective way to increase supporter engagement.
Reflect past behaviour
When supporters take the time to do something for you, you need to be acknowledging it in future communications.
If they make a donation to an appeal, thank them.
The next time you ask them to donate, acknowledge the previous donation, and ask them if they can support you once more.
If your CRM doesn’t have all of the information about a supporter’s previous actions, start with what you do know. Acknowledge a previous donation, even if you don’t know the amount donated or the specific appeal it came through.
Include engagement actions
Engagement actions are one of the most powerful yet underutilised tools you have when it comes to retaining supporters.
They’re great because they give supporters a way to interact with your work, that isn’t fundraising or campaigning.
They can be an excellent way to educate supporters on challenging topics, to build empathy with service users, or to receive feedback that shapes your future work.
They help build and maintain your relationships with supporters, keeping them in the loop, so when you do need them to take action, they’re engaged and receptive to your call.
We hope these tips have inspired you to invest resources into improving your supporter relationships.
To help you take the next step, we’re sharing our free Supporter Journeys Guide; a 16 page report full of tips, case studies, and guidance to set up automated journeys.
Whether you’re looking to create your first supporter journey or you’re an expert looking for some ideas, this is the report for you.
We hope you find the report useful. If you have any questions about your supporter journeys get in touch at [email protected]
About the author: As a mobilisation expert at More Onion, Charlotte has worked with and trained hundreds of fundraisers and campaigners on supporter journey design.
Join us at the Fundraising Now online conference – sponsored by More Onion!
This year’s sponsor, More Onion, are joining us on Thursday 5 February at the Fundraising Now conference to chat about supporter welcome journeys. In this session, they will share best practices, case studies and a clear path to better email welcome journeys. Find out more and register here.
