Addressing your Donor Segments as a Nonprofit
1 min to read ✭
Donors to your organization can come in many different shapes and sizes, and may only be united by the fact that they all chose to donate to your organization. It doesn’t make sense to address all your different donors in the same way, so try segmenting them in order to craft appropriate marketing and communications strategies. Here are some different ways in which yu can segment your donor base:
By Donation Amount
Donation amount is a great place to start segmenting your donors. Donors on the high end of the giving spectrum are going to require a different communications strategy than someone on the lower end of the giving spectrum, and vice versa. Try to segment by:
- Donors who give above a certain amount
- Donors who give below a certain amount
- Donors who give between a certain range
Some different ways to address the various types of givers within this segment could include designating certain tiers to certain donation amounts (Gold, Silver, or Bronze for example) and providing content or rewards to encourage people on the lower end of the giving scale to give more.
By Types of Giving
Donors may choose to give in many different ways. Understanding which donors prefer certain ways of giving can be extremely helpful in crafting the proper strategies for reaching a wide range of potential donors. Some ways to segment by types of giving include:
- Monthly donors
- Annual donors
- Donors who gave specifically to certain fund (more useful for larger NPO’s)
- Donors to particular events
Understanding the different ways people choose to donate can be crucial to garnering not only new donors, but retaining previous donors as well. For instance, if someone is a one-time donor to your organization, but only for a certain fund, cause or event, don’t email blast them all the time. Save your marketing energy and money for when your cause is most relevant to them again, and they will be much more likely to donate again.
By Age
Age is one of the simplest but most important segmentations you can make among your donor base, as people across different age ranges respond in a varied manner to different types of marketing. If your donor base largely consists of Millenials, digital and social media channels are your best bet for getting your message across. On the other hand, if your donor base consists largely of people in the middle-aged range, email is likely your best option. Finally, if you find that your donor base largely consists of seniors, snail mail marketing and flyers is likely your best bet.
