There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the last 18 months have been exceedingly tough for charities, not just in the UK but also around the world.

Economic and social issues exacerbated by the pandemic has meant that there is enormous ongoing global demand for the services non-profit organisations provide, but less opportunities to engage with your volunteer fundraisers and donors face-to-face. Charities are also still in the process of adapting their structures and systems to the ‘new normal’, which has added an additional barrier to engaging with volunteer fundraisers and donors. To help you overcome this here are some tips and ideas to help you inspire and re-energise lapsed donors and volunteer fundraisers.

Why do donors and volunteer fundraisers lapse?

The number one reason volunteers may lapse or disengage with charities is that they are not kept informed about what you are doing and working on.

Once someone fundraises or donates to a cause, charities need to thank them quickly and ensure that there is ongoing communication. During the last 18 months many charities either saw their workload increase hugely or conversely went into a form of hibernation. For the latter, there may have been little to say to supporters and for the former, there may not have been staff available to stay in touch with supporters.  Either way, there are so many charities competing for attention that, the sooner a charity makes a donor or fundraiser feel connected to the cause, the better their chance of keeping them, and if you lose that connection, you stand a high chance of losing that supporter.

What can you do to avoid supporters lapsing? 

To stop donors and volunteer fundraisers from losing interest, charities need to keep them engaged, whether you have massive news to tell them or just to let them know you are still there working towards raising money for your cause. The truth in our ‘connected’ world is that a monthly newsletter just won’t cut it anymore.

If you are lucky enough to have a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system you may be able to utilize that to design a sequence of communications to keep them up to date. For smaller organizations there are free versions (or free trials) of CRM systems that will be able to help you with a basic communications campaign.  For example, Donorfy which Charity Digital UK   rated as one of the best CRM systems for smaller charities with incomes under £1m.   Alternatively, if you already use Microsoft 365 they have a CRM add-on called Dynamics that can be downloaded and added to your app suite from Get Microsoft Dynamics 365 – Microsoft Store en-GB .

These kinds of systems not only help you keep connected with your supporters generally, but they can also help you to segment (to split) your database into groups so that you can create targeted customised content proper to ensure you are getting the most suitable message to the right group of people.  The more personal you can make the communication, the better!

CRM systems can help you tailor your messaging, by tracking your supporter engagement. But if you are not in a situation to be able to work with a CRM system, don’t worry. Email platforms like Mailchimp offers a basic free package and some reports on how your supporters are engaging with the communications you are sending such as who opens your email (open rates) and who clicks through onto your website (click rates). You can then also use Google Analytics ( Analytics Tools & Solutions for Your Business – Google Analytics ), which is also free to help you track your website performance. Both Mailchimp and Google Analytics have free accessible user guides to help you get started.

What can you do to avoid supporters lapsing? 

E-mail whether sent directly from your account, an email platform or CRM system is still one of the cheapest and most effective ways a charity can communicate with a big audience, but always remember that people absorb information in different ways – so you’ll need a mix of communications channels, including e-mail but should also include other methods such as direct mail, social media, blogs, website, phone etc. 

As mentioned above in the last section you also need to be aware that you may need to use differing tactics, and messages to your different audience segments to ensure you engage all donors.

However, if resources are stretched and you need to limit your efforts to one message to communicate to your audience, the most accessible way to engage people is via storytelling. For example, instead of telling donors and fundraisers how much money you need to keep your charity running for the day, tell them a story about that shows the impact their donations in the past have made to you your charity and to the lives of those that you help. If you can include words directly from one of the people you have helped – in their words. By focusing on the donor as the ‘hero’ of the story; without their support this story would not have ended positively and if they begin to give again, you can help more people and tell them more stories like this one.  Essentially you are highlighting the impact their support had on the lives of the causes they care about and why they need to continue to give.

In conclusion the simple message is that communication is key. Communicate simply with your donors, both current and lapsed and communicate often. Remember that different groups will need different methods of communication and use the most suitable channel. There are usually reasons beyond your control causing a donor or volunteer fundraiser to lapse in their support of your cause. Maybe their money is tight, or they’ve just had a child or started a new job, which is taking up time they would normally use to volunteer. 

By keeping the communications lines open, targeting their interests and engaging donors and volunteer fundraisers through storytelling of the achievements and impact of your charity, you can help nurture and sustain that relationship, so when the situation changes, they’ll be ready to fight for your cause again.