How to Personalize Online Experiences for Nonprofit Supporters

Forging personal bonds with supporters online is a challenge for nonprofit professionals in the digital age. However, given that the average person spends a whopping 7 hours per day on internet-connected devices, it’s clear that virtual connection has become the new normal. There’s a wealth of opportunity for your fundraising team online—your team just has to know which savvy digital strategies can help personalize the supporter experience. 

This guide explores best practices to do just that. Whether you’re aiming to secure volunteers, upgrade donors, or spread awareness of your mission, you can transform your online presence into a highly tailored experience your supporters won’t soon forget. 

As we dive in, consider what you already know about your supporters’ typical online behaviors to determine which strategies are best for you. 

Conduct a UX audit.

Your nonprofit’s website is the hub of your online presence, so it’s crucial that your site elements not only function but actively work in the user’s interest. A great UX on your nonprofit’s website optimizes your content for each individual based on their device, preferences, previous interactions on your site, and more. Conduct an audit of your website’s UX so you can improve:

• Accessibility. Ensure your website aligns with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Start by offering alt text for visual elements, captions for videos and other audial elements, and keyboard navigation compatibility for users who don’t use a mouse or trackpad.

• Content relevance and navigation. Highly relevant website content will keep visitors on your page longer. Include components like a search bar, tags on your blog content, and clearly labeled menu options so visitors can quickly find what they want to see. 
• Responsiveness. Over half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, so your site should adapt to accommodate non-desktop visitors. Ensure your content can automatically resize to screens of any size so anyone can effectively use your site. 

As you implement UX shifts to make your site experience more tailored, collect data to ensure you’re on the right track. For instance, you could gather insights from surveys and metrics like bounce rates to see which pages perform better and which you need to optimize further.

Leverage AI and machine learning.

AI has transformed how we interact with online content, from social media algorithms to curated news feeds. Your nonprofit can use AI and machine learning (a subset of AI focused on training machines on datasets to make logical decisions). In particular, these AI-powered capabilities can help you curate a custom experience:

• Website chatbots. Whether your team wants to streamline answering FAQs or provide a more dynamic search tool, built-in chatbots can give searchers the information they need. All you need is a CMS plugin or custom-built tool and an understanding of what your site visitors want to see to get started.
• Dynamic content personalization. Some software solutions leverage machine learning so your website can present the most relevant content to each user. For example, a website might show a different CTA or recommended blog posts to users interested in volunteering versus those looking to donate. These systems collect data about each user, such as browsing history and demographics, and tailor content accordingly. 

You can use AI and machine learning across other digital platforms as well. For example, you could segment your digital marketing lists based on supporters’ existing relationships with your nonprofit and where they are in the supporter journey. Use these segments to connect supporters with relevant information based on their unique characteristics. For instance, you can send new supporters introductory information, like links to your “About” page or testimonials.

Use retargeting and remarketing.

You may have heard these terms used interchangeably, but they’re actually different. Both retargeting and remarketing involve serving personalized content to relevant users, but:

• Retargeting is about encouraging new users to support your nonprofit for the first time.
• Remarketing is about re-engaging existing supporters who have interacted with your online content in the past. 

According to Getting Attention’s guide to Google Ad Grant remarketing, the average remarketing cadence looks like this:

• Awareness: A supporter visits a site for the first time

• Interest: The supporter shows interest in a specific page or type of content

• Abandon: The supporter abandons the site

• Re-engage: The supporter receives targeted communication from your nonprofit 
• Convert: The supporter returns to the site and completes a next action

Regardless of which strategy is ideal for your nonprofit, you can use retargeting and remarketing across digital platforms to funnel users to your site based on tailored messaging. 

Let’s say your nonprofit is planning a silent auction. Here’s a remarketing cadence that highlights personalized content:

• Awareness: A supporter is served a pop-up CTA on your website advertising your upcoming silent auction. 

• Interest: The supporter clicks through to your event microsite and learns about the auction but doesn’t commit to attending.

• Abandon: Time passes and the supporter loses interest in the event.

• Re-engage: Your CMS notes that the supporter has displayed interest in the silent auction but never signed up and sends them a custom email appeal.
• Convert: The supporter sees the tailored email and decides to attend.

To effectively remarket across multiple campaigns, Kanopi suggests conducting regular site maintenance so all of your tracking mechanisms align with your current priorities. This might include monitoring key performance indicators and keeping your CMS updated so it can track engagement reliably.  

Implement social listening.

Don’t just rely on website information for supporter data that can inform your personalization strategy. Social media provides a wealth of insights into your supporters’ preferences and provides an additional channel to build one-on-one relationships with them. Collect data through social listening by:

• Engaging in conversations. Respond to supporter comments and direct messages to build rapport and establish genuine relationships with followers.
• Monitoring trends. Using marketing software, track keywords and hashtags relevant to your nonprofit, such as your name and campaign titles. 

Once you understand your supporters’ priorities and perceptions of your organization, you can use this data to tailor content to their interests. For instance, you might notice a supporter commenting how excited they are for your upcoming volunteer events, so you start sending them pertinent information about how to participate.

Ultimately, nobody knows your supporters better than your team. Use what you already know about them as a foundation and treat these tips as a way to learn even more. Eventually, you’ll be able to develop authentic online connections with users and secure their long-term support just as effectively as you do in person.