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