When non-profits improve their digital experience, good things happen!
As much as we’d all prefer to be finding our way out of the pandemic, we are still navigating through it. This further heightens the need for charities and non-profits facing decreased donations to improve the quality of the digital experiences they deliver – for today and for whatever shape the next normal takes.
Today we’ll topline one of our most popular webinars, Tips on How to Build a Better Online Experience for Your Non-profit Brand by ST’s Advisor, Digital Transformation Taslim Somani. We hope to give you a sense of how you can take your digital experiences up to the next level and keep them there.
A new way to think about your donor’s journey
We find it extremely helpful to think of the donor journey in four distinct phases:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Donation
- Post-donation
Two iterative steps, or loops, bring the four phases together seamlessly. Connecting phases 1 and 2 is the discovery loop, in which potential donors gain understanding of and affinity for your cause and brand. The connective tissue between phases 3 and 4 is the loyalty loop, which enables your brand to stretch beyond traditional stewardship and deepen your donors’ loyalty and commitment.
Throughout their experience, your donors should be surprised and delighted with a journey that’s useful and expedited. These guiding principles will result in a lasting relationship with far greater potential for increased donations. Let’s take a closer look at the three key actions.
- Surprise and delight – inspire and entertain your prospective donors while providing genuine utility. For instance, Stand Up For Cancer incorporates inspiring messages in the on-line experience that simply bring a smile or moment of pride with no expectation of further interaction from the visitor. These messages bring welcomed perspective and inspiration to their experience: “I am more than my diagnosis.”
- Reduce friction – eliminate frustrating and unintuitive moments that take your donors off-track. Keep them on course to donate with a friction-free experience. For instance, a digital experience that has not been optimized for mobile might only offer one payment channel or bring things to a halt with long page load times, or strand potential donors with unhelpful error messages. These are all friction points that can and will scuttle a donation.
- Build relationships – express gratitude post-donation, keep donors informed of your on-the-ground efforts in a timely fashion – beyond newsletters – and encourage them to get involved with your cause. For instance, delivering your message via video on thank you pages solidifies your connection with donors by conveying gratitude in an intimate and sincere way.
We hope you’re inspired to put this valuable learning into action right away. Take a little time out of your day to re-watch – or watch for the first time – Tips on How to Build a Better Online Experience for Your Non-profit Brand. Our esteemed presenter is digital fundraising expert Taslim Somani, who expands generously on all the topics we’ve toplined here today. There’s so much more to learn, so please don’t miss this opportunity.
For optimal effectiveness, underpin your donor’s entire journey with KPI measurements and insightful use of data. Remember that improving the donor experience is not an event, but an ongoing process that requires constant attention and frequent tweaking. We can help. Talk to Donna Richardson, ST’s Director, Fundraising Solutions today about how ST helps charities and non-profits like yours improve their digital experiences and be ready for whatever the future brings. Contact Donna at donnar@stephenthomas.ca
As Advisor, Digital Transformation at ST, Taslim Somani has over 20 years’ experience in digital marketing and fundraising, including eight years with ST working with non-profits including Médecins Sans Frontières, CUSO International, Kids Help Phone, St Johns Ambulance, Jane Goodall Foundation, Sick Kids Hospital Foundation and more.
Taslim’s fields of expertise include strategic planning, multichannel fundraising, virtual P2P events, symbolic giving catalogs, digital fundraising campaigns, website redesigns and social media planning.