Tips to Improve Donor Retention, Keep The Conversation Going

With the right list hosting service, like Dundee Internet Email List Hosting Services, you can send timely, personalized emails to thank your donors properly. Immediately after they make a contribution or volunteer their time.

Targeted email, triggered by your donors’ actions will create a more personal relationship with them.

When you establish a personalized connection, you are making an effort to understand why the donor supports your charity. Your response to them, with your  well thought out content, will enforce their expectations of your charity.

With your mailing list you can also:

1. Invite your donors to upcoming events and tell them other ways they can contribute, such as volunteer opportunities.
2. Setup list access for all your internal departments, to improve communications and planning.
3. Track your progress when you send out an email campaign.  Create customized reports based on your needs for each mailing.  If expectations fall short, test and test again using a small audience to find the right mailing content/subject line combination.
4. Time your donation requests based on the donor’s past activity.  Offer to set up automatic debit donations on their schedule that they select on their profile sheet.
5. Create anniversary dates for your new donors when they are referred to your list and thank them personally–every year that they are a member.
6. Use your follow-up gift requests with a list of donation choices that make sense to the donor.
7. Email interesting stories to your list that highlights accomplishments, progress, and success of the cause they are supporting–let them know how their favorite charity is doing.
8. Set up a Discussion List (or group email list) to answer questions, saving the answers in searchable archives for all donors.

With the right email strategies in place, you can improve donor retention and easily keep that conversation going.  The more you know about your donors the easier it is to create mailings tailored to their needs and interests.  If you need suggestions or assistance please drop us a line: help@dundee.net