When donors give, they are purchasing more meaning for their identity, and nonprofits can only deliver on that meaning by communicating story at scale.
Is the success of your fundraising goal this year built around increasing the number of one-time donations? Of course not.
Online giving solutions have made it simple for donors to support great causes and organizations with just a few clicks.
Your organization gains the financial support you need. And your supporters can feel like they did a good deed.
Yes, you should remove as much friction from your giving process as possible. But it's also not the only thing.
What if there's more to it than just a quick and easy financial transaction?
When your donors support your cause, it isn't just about them – it's also about how their actions connect them with a cause and helping other people.
Their donation becomes part of something bigger than themselves. They attach themselves to your cause and to those you serve.
They are looking to become part of a community on a mission to positively impact your community and the world.
As humans, the stories we tell are how we make sense of the world. They're how we connect with each other, too.
Stories are how people relate to each other and their communities, which is crucial in fundraising.
Storytelling influences donations by helping you connect with your audience and build trust.
It also helps you create a sense of urgency, which is essential because people are more likely to give if they feel their money will make an immediate impact.
Helping people see themselves in the success of your organization helps to create a sense of ownership and responsibility for the mission's success.
If you can make people feel like they have a part to play in the story, they're more likely to give. And if they have already given toward the cause and see the impact they contributed to making, they're more likely to give again and increase their contribution amount.
When your supporters donate, it's not just about giving something away; it's about wanting to build relationships with causes like yours and those being served through the works of your organization.
Helping donors feel like they belong in the community can help them stay engaged and connected to their cause long after giving their first gift. And they will often look for additional ways to support your organization, like volunteering their time or sharing content about your work with friends and family.
When donors see other people doing good, it motivates them to do good, too.
So your community will grow even stronger anytime you can leverage "social proof" or stories from your donors or volunteers that they share about your organization. You just want to make sure that your stories are authentic and true.
Embedding impact stories like these throughout your donor engagement experience can lead to more successful fundraising efforts and help you build longer relationships with your donor base.
Donating to a nonprofit can create experiences that provide a sense of purpose, provide personal fulfillment, and create a ripple effect in our lives that could create a lasting legacy.
To inspire your donors to take action, tell them stories. Not boring old donation appeals – experiences created to help people feel like they're part of your mission's success.
Traditionally, organizations have worked storytelling into their websites, email campaigns, social media, and annual reports.
But as online giving continues to become more critical to your fundraising efforts, integrating storytelling into your nonprofit giving platform is becoming increasingly important.
A good donor engagement platform can automatically connect stories of impact to dollars and donors. This connection will graduate your content from low-engagement channels like email newsletters and blogs to personalized posts that permanently live as stories of the difference supporters are making, privately or publicly.
Make sure your communications include a human element, even when it comes to something as seemingly dull as a donation form, confirmation screen, or even a giving statement.
Empower your donors to create the change in this world they want to see – one that aligns with your mission and serves your community.
When people donate to your cause, they align with your organization's journey to achieve its mission.
They're asking for an invitation to join a shared journey with your organization toward helping those you serve.
To join and experience something bigger than themselves.
They want to feel like they are making a difference, that you hear their voices, and that you are grateful for their support.
As a nonprofit, you must understand why people donate so we can better serve them in return – and ultimately increase revenue and donor retention rates, and lifetime value per donor.
And to retain regular donors, you need to make them feel that what they are doing is making a difference.
Helping them feel like they are making a difference means going beyond simply thanking people for their support and giving them the tools they need to help your organization succeed.
Find out what drives them and how they want to contribute; use this knowledge when crafting your retention strategy.
Leverage your fundraising software to invite donors into an experiential giving experience driven by storytelling.
Donors want to feel like their contribution is making a difference.
You should consider how your fundraising strategy can help create this kind of experience for supporters by inviting them into a journey with you – one that starts before they donate and continues after they give (or don't).
WeGive makes it easy to set up a personalized donor experience for your organization.
We would welcome the opportunity to help your organization show your supporters the difference they are making with the only out-of-the-box donor portal, giving, and engagement platform made for Nonprofits.
Our donor engagement platform allows you to create a journey with your donors and connect them with your mission and the people involved.
You can also use our nonprofit donation solution to engage more deeply with those who support you through a better donor experience.
By doing so, we hope you'll build stronger relationships with your supporters while also increasing their willingness to give back so you can make an even bigger impact on our world!
