COMMUNICATING WITH DONORS AMIDCOVID-19

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Written by Jessica BrowningPrincipal and Executive Vice President

April 3, 2020

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We’ve heard too many universities, ministries, and nonprofits say they want to wait afew weeks—until things settle down—to reach out to their donors. “We don’t want tobother our donors when they have so many important things they’re dealing with.” Others say, “we’re not a food bank or a homeless shelter. Our needs just aren’t as

important.”

This kind of thinking can be catastrophic.

Healthy communication is key to everyrelationship…including the ones you havewith your donors. Who: Start at the top.You should be reaching out to all your donorsin some fashion, but it’s important to startwith your largest donors and primary funders.  Hopefully you can name your top 25-50 donorsoff the top of your head. These are yourpartners—the ones who will get you throughthe next two months. Call them. Ask how they’re doing.  Ask abouttheir children, their business. Then tell themyou wanted to give them an update on what’shappening at your school, your church, or yournonprofit—and how you’re solving the crisisaround you. Be vulnerable.  It’s okay to tell them youdon’t have all the answers. 

As long as you have a plan and a commitmentto serve your constituents, your donors willgive you the benefit of the doubt. Be transparent and honest and ask for theirinput. After all, they are your partner. This callis not a request for money, but a wellness call.   We’ve heard tremendous response fromorganizations that are doing this.  Theirdonors are genuinely delighted to hear fromthe nonprofit and anxious to talk about thecause, the museum, or the school they love. Who: Use your board or senior staff.Engage your board in the process of callingmajor donors.  Determine who knows whomand then ask your board to make some of thecheck-in calls.  Emails are also fine for some ofyour board members who are new to this orless comfortable making a phone call.  Encourage them to use the same basic pointersas discussed above.

Since donors can’t come to the museum, tocampus, or to church, bring them to youvirtually. A recent post by Duke Gardens was a walkwayoverhung by cherry blossoms in full bloom—one of the garden’s most visited spots.  Thecaption read, “Since the Duke Gardens areclosed, we wanted you to experience thisbreathtaking sight remotely.”  Siloam Health,a healthcare clinic in Nashville, lets donorsknow their support means they can now seepatients virtually. Is it okay to ask for a gift now?Even in normal times, we always make sure toask a potential donor for permission to makean ask.  Now is no different.  Be honest withyour donors.  Let them know that before thevirus outbreak, you had planned to ask them toconsider supporting you. Ask them if now isthe right time to have that conversation, or ifthey want to wait.   Now is the perfect time to launch mini-appeals—short-term fundraisingcampaigns for a specific need related to thepandemic. 

When: How often do you communicate?For your major gift donors, ask them howoften they want to hear updates.  For yourmid-range donors, a personalized email everyother week is recommended—as long as thecontent is meaningful. Don’t send an email just to check a box. Itmust be relevant; otherwise, you will be justanother email filling up their inbox. For lower level donors, a personalized emailonce a month is good practice. Supplement these personalizedcommunications with social media posts onInstagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  For ideason what to post, keep reading.  What do you say?Remember that you is regarded as the mostimportant word in fundraising.  Our standardadvice is to focus on the donor—not theorganization. Donors generally give inresponse to the way it makes them feel, not inresponse to an organization’saccomplishments.  In the days of COVID-19, however, we cantweak this strategy a bit because donors willwant to hear how you are solving newproblems.  It’s okay to talk about youraccomplishments, but cast the message in away that the donor feels that they (and theirdonation) are part of the solution. How: How do we communicate? Use a variety of platforms: phone, text, email,letter, and social media to reach out todonors.  As we’ve discussed, you need to reachout to different donors in different ways.  Butremember that donors respond to messagesthat elicit emotion, draw them in withyour social media posts. 

"With Duke Gardens closed until further notice this spring as part ofDuke University's COVID-19 health policy, horticulture directorBobby Mottern captured this video so we may all experience thisbreathtaking sight remotely. We hope you enjoy it!"Source: Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Facebook

Foodbanks, hospitals, and homeless sheltersare obvious candidates for these initiatives,but all nonprofits have new needs.  Manyuniversities are raising funds for their low-income students. Museums are raising fundsto offer virtual tours of their galleries.  Getcreative with these appeals and market themacross all communications channels.  Considersecuring a matching gift from one of your leaddonors to kick off the appeal.

Build community throughcommunications.Use the Zoom explosion to your advantage.Universities are hosting virtual class reunions. Independent schools are building supportgroups for parents facing the challenge ofonline learning.  Prayer groups and biblestudies are going virtual.  A local conservationorganization hosted a happy hour with one oftheir business partners, a local brewery. The more you can be the facilitator for yourconstituents to communicate with each other,the more loyalty they will build towards yourorganization.  That will translate into long-term support. One of the best pieces of advice we can giveyou today is to make it a top priority tostart talking to your donors.  Whether it’sthrough the phone, by email, or by Instagram,let them know you are thinking about them.  Let them know how you are serving yourconstituents and solving new problems.  Askthem to post what they miss most about yourmuseum, outreach, or ministry.  The dialogyou create today will not only get you throughthe next few months but will have a positivelong-term impact on your fundraising.

Full-Service Fundraising Firm1036 eWall St. • Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 • 843.849.6256

www.WinklerGroup.com

Tim Winkler, Principal and CEO: twinkler@winklergroup.com

Jim Bush, Principal and President: jbush@winklergroup.com

Jessica Browning, Principal and Executive Vice President: jbrowning@winklergroup.com

Instead of hosting their SOUL Sessions series onsite atHoly City Brewing—an event that brings togetherdynamic speakers from local businesses andorganizations to discuss their work and how it’s anexpression of their deep connection to Lowcountryland and water—Lowcountry Land Trust took theirhappy hour to Zoom. Source: Lowcountry Land Trust