Whether it’s a natural disaster, economic downturn or a global health crisis, societal challenges will inevitably impact your nonprofit’s operations at some point or another. Depending on the situation, you may need to brainstorm how to continue providing services, helping beneficiaries and fulfilling your mission within the current circumstances.
Although your focus will likely be on keeping everything running smoothly, don’t forget about the people who make your work possible: your donors. Despite the ensuing crisis, donors still deserve your appreciation, and building relationships with them is now more vital than ever.
Instead of casting donors aside, revamp your stewardship strategy to align with the situation and your team’s current capacity. Let’s explore how you can pivot and continue engaging with donors to keep them around long-term.
1. Revisit your donor stewardship goals and calendar.
Your donor stewardship plan likely revolves around goals that bring focus to your efforts. In the face of a crisis, you may need to adapt these goals to make them more realistic.
Aly Sterling Philanthropy’s donor stewardship guide recommends creating SMART goals, which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. Here’s how you may adjust your goals to hit these parameters during uncertainty:
- Specific: Hone your goals by outlining the concrete objectives you want to achieve. If your organization wants to focus on the same stewardship objectives, you don’t have to make any changes here. However, if you’d like to focus on crisis-related objectives, such as strengthening relationships with major giving prospects to obtain necessary crisis relief funding, then you may make some adjustments.
- Measurable: Attaching metrics to your goal is still important, but due to the uncertainty, you may be more lenient here. For instance, if you previously aimed to grow major gift fundraising by 15%, you may change that figure to 10-15% to account for potential decreased giving capacity amongst your donor base.
- Achievable: If you’ve encountered a similar situation before, base your goals on the results you achieved then. If you haven’t, consider how factors like fewer resources, lower staff capacity or decreased giving capacity could impact your outcomes.
- Relevant: Your goals should still be relevant to your mission. You may adjust them to be relevant to the current situation as well.
- Time-based: Alter your previous timeline as needed, giving yourself more time to achieve your goals to accommodate for the crisis at hand.
Additionally, you likely created a calendar for different donor stewardship activities that may include dates for donor stewardship and acknowledgment campaigns, pushes for planned giving prospect stewardship, feasibility studies and more. Determine which initiatives to move forward with as planned and which you should postpone to execute them better once you have more time to dedicate to them.
2. Maintain open communication.
Your nonprofit is more than just a charitable organization; it’s a community committed to the same goals and mission. Show donors you’re thinking of them during this difficult time and be transparent about the situation by:
- Keeping donors informed. Your donors want to know how the current crisis has affected your nonprofit. Prepare to answer questions about the impact on your fundraising, programming and operations, and explain how your organization is moving forward.
- Acknowledging challenges. Be honest about the problems you’ve encountered to build trust with donors. Express your gratitude for their continued support as you navigate this situation together.
- Being empathetic. Ensure your communications take an understanding approach without downplaying your organization’s need for gifts. Consider highlighting ways donors can support your organization without dipping back into their wallets, such as requesting matching gifts, volunteering or advocating for your cause.
Donors may have their own thoughts and feelings about how you’re handling the crisis and how they’d like to help during this time. Consider collecting feedback from donors so they can express concerns and spark ideas about upholding your mission.
3. Opt for low-cost stewardship activities.
If the crisis has decreased your donation revenue or required you to funnel more funds toward mission-critical work, consider opting for low-cost activities that still show your appreciation for donors’ support, such as:
- Thank-you emails. Emails are one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to show donors you care. Automate thank-you emails to send directly after donors contribute, but remember to send more general emails thanking donors for their support during this difficult time.
- Social media shoutouts. Highlight how certain longstanding donors have made a difference for your organization on social media. Getting Attention recommends taking advantage of each platform’s engagement features, like Instagram Live, where you may interview a donor in real time and interact directly with supporters via live chat.
- One-on-one meetings. Speaking with someone face-to-face and building a rapport forges strong connections. If you can’t meet in person, call donors on the phone or via video conferencing software. Your donors will appreciate your additional effort, the friendly face and the ability to continue learning about your organization during challenging times.
Make sure the activities you select align with your audience’s demographics. For example, if you have a younger audience, they may prefer social media shoutouts, whereas older donors may be better suited for phone calls.
4. Reinforce your mission.
While the crisis may distract your audience from the bigger picture, remind them what you stand for, why they supported your organization in the first place and how your work will go on.
Take the opportunity to strengthen your strategic plan with a reinvigorated mission statement. For example, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northwest Ohio’s mission statement is to “[enrich] the lives of children and families by providing comfort, care, support and access to quality healthcare.” This mission statement explains not only why the organization exists but also how it executes its aim.
Share your new mission statement with your supporters and show how you’re adapting your operations to continue fulfilling your mission in the face of adversity. For instance, you may note that you’ve developed an emergency fund to help beneficiaries in dire need of assistance and encourage donors to contribute.
5. Work with a nonprofit consultant.
If you need help adjusting your stewardship plan, consider working with a nonprofit consultant. They’ll have the expertise needed to help you navigate donor stewardship during a crisis through the following steps:
- Surveying stakeholders. A consultant can reach out to current donors, asking how you can best engage with them during this time. That way, you can incorporate donors’ feedback into your plan and ensure it aligns with their expectations.
- Assessing your infrastructure. Your consultant can also analyze your current resources and determine how you can optimize them for stewardship. For example, they may point out a segmentation feature of your CRM that you can use to personalize messages for small, mid-level and major donors.
- Determining next steps. Lastly, your consultant can recommend how to proceed with your plan. They may tweak your goals, identify metrics you should track or suggest relevant stewardship activities.
In addition to providing their expertise, consultants take certain tasks off your plate, allowing your team to handle more mission-critical work while still prioritizing stewardship.
Strong donor relationships are the foundation for your nonprofit’s work and prosperity. By accommodating your donor stewardship efforts to your current circumstances (instead of halting stewardship altogether), you’ll build trust with donors, show them that you care and motivate them to continue supporting your organization, even through hard times.
About the Author:
Aly’s decision to start her own business in 2007 was driven by her belief in leadership as the single most important factor in organizational success. She was determined to work with multiple causes at one time to scale societal change.
Today, she manages the strategic direction and growth of her firm while advising select clients on the organizational opportunities that impact their mission success, scalability and sustainability. Aly’s expertise includes fundraising, strategic planning and board development for the well-positioned nonprofit. She recently earned certification in the 21/64 approach to working with multigenerational families with funds, foundations and other philanthropic enterprises.
Aly is regularly sought for comment by trade and mainstream media, including the Chronicle of Philanthropy and U.S. News & World Report. She is a frequent presenter for regional and national organizations including NetJets, Owens Corning, Philanthropy Ohio, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and First Tee.
In 2015, Aly led her firm to membership in The Giving Institute, an exclusive and highly respected international organization for nonprofit consultants. Each semester, Aly also proudly teaches a course on women and entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility at Bowling Green State University.