4 Ways to Spring Clean Your Donor Relations Program
With spring around the corner, it’s a good time to think about decluttering your home — and your non-profit.
Could your donor relations processes and procedures use some freshening up? Following are a few tips to welcome spring and streamline your donor relations programs in the process:
Clean up your mailing lists
When was the last time you scrubbed your donor list? Addresses and names change. How current are your records? Check for any typos or misspellings. There’s no better time than now to go in and clean house.
Make donor relations software work for you
Are you using an older donor relations solution? It may be time to upgrade to something with more functionality. If you can’t effectively track donors, you can’t retain existing donors, let alone develop new ones.
Or maybe you have made the investment recently but don’t take advantage of all the bells and whistles. A training seminar may be worth the investment. This is also a good idea to ensure user is following a standard set of procedures when entering donor data.
Reconnect with former donors
Mine your database for lapsed donors. Who were the heavy hitters in recent years? Maybe they were too busy to donate in 2017 but would welcome another solicitation. Send these donors a personalized message to let them know you miss them and want them back and how important their mission is to your mission.
Backup your files
This one should go without saying, but it’s a good reminder. Regularly back up your system and test the archive file. Such a system could prevent data-loss headaches and embarrassment for everyone involved.
Spring cleaning can save your organization time and money and even boost donations. What would it mean for your mission if you were able to significantly increase the amount of money coming in the door?