If you talk to a leader at any large sales or marketing organization, they know that if they want to make their numbers at the end of the year, they need to focus on the needs of their customers and their target markets. If they want to make their revenue goals, they need to be tightly aligned with the needs of their buyer. If they’re not, they’ll struggle quarter after quarter and they’ll fight for every deal.
It’s the same mentality for leaders at nonprofits who are charged with making their fundraising goals. However, unlike a sales leader who has a primary customer base, the nonprofit fundraiser’s job is more complex. They're constantly maneuvering between two target markets: the causes they’re trying to impact and their coveted donor base who drive the mission.
The causes are the critical target, but those organizations that are tightly aligned with donor needs and expectations will drive more funds, engage a broader base and ultimately have more cash flow to impact their critical causes.
Think of your donors as your customers. It’s critical that you align with their expectations.
Consider these facts
Mobile usage is increasing every year and it is pivotal that nonprofits tap into this behavior in order to reach donors, especially as millennial donor opportunities increase.
This generation born after 1980 have a propensity to give, are now moving into having more disposable income to share. They are also dependent on technology. Pew Research Center findings show that 75% of them sleep with their cell phones. It’s the charities challenge to tap into this behavior and build up mobile fundraising capabilities.
In 2013, $240 billion was given to U.S.-Based nonprofits. Only, $152 million of that was given through mobile enabled channels, despite the fact that people are increasingly using mobile devices for monetary transactions.
This Forbes article reports, one in three people use their mobile phone to access the internet over a laptop. Last year, Paypal process over $3. 6 billion dollars for charities, 22 percent more from the year before.
Just like a sales organization that works to align their product or service with what a buyer is looking for, a nonprofit needs to anticipate the needs of donors. Holding an incredible event and then passing out pledge cards may drive some donations, but it hinders the ease of giving for your donors. It also forces follow-up to collect on those pledges.
However, holding that same event and telling your donors to give with just a couple of taps of their iPhone capitalizes on that moment of impact. It makes giving easy on your donors.
Your supporters are using mobile as part of their everyday routines. Draft into that behavior. Align with their expectations.
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