Note: This post – the second in a three-part series – is by Train Your Board partner Laurel McCombs. Thanks, Laurel!

In part one of this series, we discussed the declining number of donors and contributed dollars across the nonprofit sector. Since then, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project released their Q4 report, confirming that these declines continued in 2023.

The good news: we have tangible ways to address these trends. Previously we discussed the role of building trust. Today, let’s focus on why engagement is key to strengthening your partnerships with supporters.

Engagement – what’s that?

What do I mean by engagement? Effective engagement includes a few critical elements.

1. Two-way and interactive. Engagement is not a monologue. It’s not telling people why they should believe that you’re great. The alternative – two-way dialogues – encourage people to DO something, which creates first-hand experiences that build trust and affinity.

2. Concretely helpful and meaningful. Creating busy-work is a lose-lose for everyone. When we establish committees or special projects purely to give donors something to do, we waste staff time and provide unrewarding experiences for volunteers.

3. Is satisfying to the donor. You likely have more substantive, meaningful engagement opportunities than you realize. Offering several options – an involvement menu – will help you engage lots of folks in ways that are specifically appealing to them as individuals.

Engagement for everyone

Engaging donors isn’t a new concept. However, it’s traditionally been reserved for major donors – and often done imperfectly.

Yes, a more strategic approach will strengthen your major gifts program – and it’s also crucial to engage all levels of donors. In addition to building a robust major gifts pipeline, effective engagement motivates and empowers donors to be advocates, ambassadors, and support your organization in different ways.

Developing engagement opportunities

Of the three elements – trust, engagement, and impact – engagement is probably the most challenging. It requires time and resources. You need to prepare multiple options that will appeal to a variety of people, from short-term activities with low barriers for entry to longer-term opportunities, with higher levels of interaction, for those who want a deeper experience.

Start by determining your current opportunities. Include existing strategies for donors and volunteers. Then take a broader view of the ways someone could participate.

At your next staff meeting, brainstorm for fifteen minutes. Ask staff what needs to be done, particularly tasks that aren’t currently attempted due to a limited time or resources. If it needs to be done – and could be done by a volunteer – put it on the list. You might include needed expertise; support at events; tasks around the office; advice or input on a plan or project; community-building events; and making stewardship calls to donors. Maybe you need someone to organize your supply closet…?

You’ll end up with a meaningful, helpful list you can begin to align with supporter interests.

Create new strategies. Once you develop your engagement options, you might find gaps. How can you build from existing activities? What simple adjustments would help you better achieve your goals?

When adding new opportunities, be strategic. What do you want to achieve, for your organization and your supporters? How can you experiment in realistic ways, given your time and resources?

When in doubt, ask. Don’t make assumptions about your supporters. When deciding how and when to invest in new strategies, the best input comes from the people you want to engage. Asking for feedback is a win-win because – surprise! – it’s also an engagement opportunity.

Let’s engage with each other

There’s much more to explore, but first I want to hear from you. We can all benefit from sharing and co-creating together. Comment below or email me directly. 

What’s worked for you? What are you trying? What new strategies are you exploring? I’m excited to hear your ideas and successes. If we receive enough responses, we’ll follow up with another post sharing your ideas, experiences, and questions. 

Stay tuned for my final post of this series – coming soon – which will discuss the importance of demonstrating the impact of your work.