GuideStar Blog

Your supporters are worth more than their own donations. Today, individuals are agents of change who can leverage power, and subsequent gifts, through their own social networks. Consider that 600,000+ petitions were created on Change.org in 2015 alone, crowdfunding exploded into a multi-million dollar industry and the creation of citizen powered movements has played an enormous role in bringing issues to the forefront.  

Our ultimate guide shows how nonprofits can use social listening to engage their supporters.

Ever get the sense that people are talking about you? Well, it turns out they are.

 Imagine there is a new, hit show on TV. You’ve vaguely heard about it, but you haven’t seen it yet and you’re not sure if you will.

One day, you’re in line at the bank and the person in front of you is raving about how talented the leading actress is. You make a note in your head to watch the show, but you don’t add it to your DVR quite yet. The next afternoon, your friend won’t stop talking about the show at lunch. Now you just have to check it out.

You have your email list. You have your phone numbers, zips, and addresses. Heck, you even know how many actions each person has taken, their last donation or purchase, and if they open emails. But there’s something incredibly valuable missing here.

A challenge that nonprofits face every day is: How do we reach and inspire new supporters?

The significance of personalization is something nearly 94% of social marketers can agree on. But only a small sliver of businesses successfully take advantage of it, and vast amounts of data is left untapped. A whopping 40% of businesses pass up on creating a meaningful connection using segmentation and personalization.

In a recent blog post, we talked about the power of personalization and discussed tips and tricks to sending meaningful messages. Now we are going to roll up our sleeves and get down to the nitty-gritty of targeting. How do we find the audience that wants to read our emails or blogs? And what makes an email perfect for them?

Does your non-profit organize fundraising on social media? Chances are that the answer to that question is yes. Here are some facts from top reports on the state of fundraising that you should consider:

Here are some key facts about how fundraising and email are changing for nonprofits:

• On its own, email is not enough: the median click-through rate for 2013 was 0.5%;
• Over 50% of email is on mobile now;
• People participate because they’re drawn in by stories and visuals;
• Multichannel marketing is a great way to raise optimism and engagement.

So, you have a Facebook and Twitter for your nonprofit. Great, so does everyone else.You also post content and updates several times a day. Wonderful, so does everyone else.