On Tuesday, January 16th, 2024, we had the pleasure of hosting a virtual presentation by Nikki Ronan and Brian Ronan of City of Light Creative & Consulting, a firm that specializes in helping nonprofits with donor relationship management. They shared their valuable insights and best practices on how to retain and cultivate our existing donors, attract and engage new donors, and increase our unrestricted funding. Some of the key takeaways from their presentation were:

  • Every relationship requires work

    Just like any other relationship, donor relationships need care and attention to thrive. You can’t expect donors to stay loyal and committed to your cause if you don’t show them that you value and appreciate them. That’s why you need to invest time and resources into building and maintaining strong bonds with your donors, from the first contact to the last.

    Some of the ways you can work on your donor relationships are: sending personalized and timely thank you messages, providing regular updates on your progress and impact, soliciting feedback and input, offering exclusive opportunities and benefits, and recognizing their contributions in meaningful ways.

  • Remember that we’re all human (even our donors)

    Donors are not just numbers or sources of funds. They are real people with emotions, preferences, motivations, and challenges. They have busy lives, competing priorities, and limited attention spans. They also have passions, interests, values, and goals. To engage donors effectively, you need to understand them as individuals and connect with them on a human level.

    Some of the ways you can humanize your donors are: segmenting them based on relevant criteria, such as giving history, demographics, or behavior, creating donor personas that represent your ideal supporters, using storytelling and multimedia tools to showcase your beneficiaries and your mission, and communicating with donors in a conversational and authentic tone.

  • Handle data like it is sacred

    Donor data is more than just information. It is a reflection of your donors’ identities, preferences, and experiences. It tells you who they are, what they care about, and how they want to be involved with your organization. By handling donor data with respect and care, you show your donors that you respect and care about them as well. You also ensure that your communications and interactions with them are relevant, accurate, and personalized.

    Some of the ways you can handle donor data like it is sacred are: collecting only the data that you need and that donors consent to share, storing and protecting donor data securely and ethically, updating and cleaning donor data regularly and proactively, and using donor data to inform and improve your donor engagement strategies.

  • Create donor personas

    Donor personas are fictional representations of your ideal supporters, based on real data and insights. They help you understand your donors’ characteristics, motivations, needs, and expectations. Donor journeys are maps of the different stages and touchpoints that donors go through in their relationship with your organization, from awareness to advocacy. They help you identify the opportunities and challenges that donors face at each stage, and the actions and messages that can move them forward.

    Some of the ways you can create donor personas and a donor journey are: conducting research and surveys to gather data and feedback from your donors and prospects, analyzing and synthesizing the data to find patterns and trends, creating profiles and scenarios that illustrate your donor personas and their journeys, and using them to guide and optimize your donor engagement and retention efforts. Consider a strategy for lifelong relationships with donors where their engagement can shift and grow in time.

  • Make donors part of your story

    Acknowledgement and recognition are two of the most powerful ways to show your donors that you appreciate and value their support. Acknowledgement is the act of expressing gratitude and appreciation for a donor’s gift, usually in a private or small group setting. Recognition is the act of highlighting and celebrating a donor’s contribution, usually in a public or visible way. Both are essential for building trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your donors.

    Engage the rule of 7s, trying to make sure every donor stays in the pipeline of communication and sees impact. Some of the ways you can build in multiple points of acknowledgement and recognition are: sending personalized and prompt thank you letters, emails, or calls, inviting donors to exclusive events or webinars, featuring donors in your newsletters, social media, or website, creating donor honor rolls or plaques, and sharing stories and testimonials of how donors’ gifts make a difference.

Meet the Presenter

Nikki Ronan is the founder and lead consultant of City of Light Consulting. She began the organization with over a decade of experience in various not-for-profit settings.

She made the jump to consulting when she realized that she’d become the go-to person for people with questions about the nonprofit world, with a firm belief that there is nothing more energizing or fulfilling than helping an organization reach its full potential.

With a Masters in Community and Economic Development and a second in Organizational Leadership, Nikki brings knowledge and experience to her work with clients.

Nikki is honored to support the incredible work of organizations around the world. In addition to her experiences in higher education, she has had the opportunity to learn through experience in local direct-service organizations, relief organizations, and government settings.