We read so many articles talking about a shift in the way charities need to work when it comes to their supporters and we’re sure you have too. It’s all about relationships, genuine relationships, and involving your supporters in your cause or mission. There’s a definite move towards allowing supporters to get more involved and of course allowing for more transparency on demonstrating your donors ROI. CRM software was built to allow your data to to allow you to get to know your supporters better and them you.
A fantastic example of a charity in Amsterdam trying to build genuine relationships with supporters was highlighted by Reinier Spruit, founder of 101fundraising. Here’s a sample of the thank you email he received from Together is not Alone:
Dear all,
It's been a couple of months since the half marathon and you must be curious what happened with your donation.
Here's a list of children who can participate in out-of-school activities thanks to you.
- Bridget, 15 years. She is taking guitar lessons. Patly paid by the Youth Culture Fund and partly by you!
- Ilias, 8 years. Lives with his father in Amsterdam North. Is doing kickboxing now. The Youth Culture Fund is payuing fees. You are paying for the clothing and attributes.
- Sofia, 15 years. She lives with her mother and 3 sisters in Amsterdam South. She is taking dance lessons with Dance-Dancing thanks to you!
- Iijah, 4 years. He's too young to qualify for support from the Youth Culture fund. He's taking dance lessons with Da Moves and is very excited. When he's older he wants to appear on 'So you think you can dance'!
This charity has used their data to great effect here and all charities can do this easily with the right tools. There are a few steps to the creation of a thank you email like this. You can create a marketing list of all the people that make a donation to a certain campaign you’re running then set a reminder to email them a thank you note once the event has finished. Similarly you can log all the information of your beneficiaries so that this knowledge is at your fingertips when it comes time to send that thank you note. Your thank you email need only be written once and then sent to all relevant supporters with one click (and you can include their name unlike in the email above). All this is literally done in minutes and seconds with Ribbon CRM.
In this case Spruit says the openness and honesty of this email made him want to donate again. What a fantastic and vital result! This is the kind of thing relationship building can do for your charity but it doesn’t stop at a second donation. Every piece of interaction with a supporter is logged on their profile in the CRM so you can spot highly committed donors and exactly what they engage with. This means your marketing can become tailored to supporter’s interests (i.e. running a marathon over baking for a bake sale) but, importantly, still be automated.
There’s no doubt you could manage an email campaign like the one above without a CRM but it would take a lot longer and a lot more manpower, not to mention the necessary ongoing dialogue from it would only add to the workload. Ribbon CRM is designed to improve and streamline your digital procedures easily and effectively, freeing up your time and increasing your income.
If you’d like to find out more about how Ribbon CRM can help your charity or social enterprise, you can contact us here or call our charity consultant Rachel on 0114 282 3444 or rachel.nunn@arkom.co.uk.
Related articles:
Following up on your successful fundraising event
How CRM software can boost your fundriasing effort
Government shake-up of fundraising regulation
Source:
http://101fundraising.org/2016/03/an-example-of-greatness-in-donor-appreciation-recognition-and/