As discussed in the previous two posts in this series, developing a long-term strategy for engagement requires that you first take stock of the current state of your organization’s assets and audience. This helps you highlight where you are hitting the mark and identify opportunities for improvement.
This post focuses on the third element in our six-part how to.
- Messaging
- Segmentation
- Website
- Emails
- Social Media
- Multi-channel Integration
Website
A nonprofit’s website is the top digital destination for donors who are seeking information about— or wanting to engage with—that organization. As such, it should be treated as the anchor for digital communications with donors and serve as a useable, useful and informative destination for these individuals, among others. With this in mind, it is critical to understand how effectively your website is meeting the needs of visitors, so that you can identify ways to maximize the likelihood that site visitors will become engaged donors.
Evaluate the user experience (UX), visual design and content of your organization’s website. Make sure you have analytic tools, such as Google Analytics, in place to understand how your website is being used and navigated by visitors. Examine where people are landing, where they are leaving, how long they are staying and what they are looking at during their visit.
This granular information is invaluable when it comes to understanding the popularity of various pages, the quality of content and the user flow. You can use the results to inform a content strategy that illustrates gift impact and results (e.g., an impact calculator that can show how a donor’s gift could be used), with a view toward promoting deeper donor engagement.
To learn more, download A Guide to Long Term Donor Cultivation or check back next week for the next post in this series.