The best way to cultivate donors who have given offline - by mail, phone, events, or face-to-face solicitations - is to request their email address and send them a regular e-newsletter. While some donors may actually prefer email, you should use email as a supplementary tool rather than a replacement for other channels of communication that you already use for maintaining and building relationships.

Using Email to Cultivate Existing Donors

Email gives you the opportunity to communicate more frequently and more efficiently with your supporters and is also much more inexpensive than direct mail. The key to email cultivation is to start an e-newsletter and build your list.

1. Start an e-newsletter. The best way to use email to cultivate your existing donors is to send an e-newsletter with relevant, interesting information and opportunities to get involved. This will increase the perceived value of your organization (and the likelihood that donors will renew or increase their support). Stanford University's analysis of its monthly e-news confirms that e-news recipients are more likely to make a gift than non-recipients. Plus, by providing links to your web site in your emails, you can get your supporters in the habit of visiting your site often; deepening the connection they feel with your organization.

2. Build your donor email list. Of course, for your donor e-newsletter to be effective you have to get the email addresses of your donors. Most organizations are just starting to collect email addresses regularly, so you're not alone if your donor email list is small. But don't wait another day to start building it! Ask donors for email addresses at every point of contact, especially on donation and renewal forms. Use your new e-newsletter as an incentive for donors to give you their email address. Furthermore, many donors appreciate the fact that email communications and renewals save your organization time, money, and paper. Don't hesitate to tell them that.

Using Your Website to Cultivate Existing Donors

Your web site should make it easy for existing donors to get involved and find information about your mission, programs, effectiveness, progress, finances, and privacy policy.

Some organizations have experimented with "members only" sections of their sites, but it's generally not a good idea to limit your content for members only. What's more, unless you've got really valuable content, members aren't likely to keep track of a password. However, some groups have created website areas specifically for donors that contain insider information, success stories, staff profiles, and other features that deepen the donor's relationship with the organization. But, rather than keeping this content restricted, the section is available and even strongly promoted, since it can be an enticement for prospects to give.

No matter what, the best way to cultivate donors through your site is to make their experience on your site a positive one, give them reasons to visit often, and make your site a tool that facilitates their relationship with you. Let them donate and register for events online. If your membership is hungry for the latest information or news about your cause, make sure you incorporate that into your site. You can also build a sense of community on your site by including message boards or chat rooms, though you'll need to "work" them.

Some organizations are recognizing their donors online. You may not be able to afford a real-world "wall of donors," but you could create one online, or you could create an online "printer's proof" of your annual report where you can direct donors to check their recognition name and level. (Of course, get permission from the donor before posting her name online!)

The Web is also a great place to solicit member feedback. With an online survey linked from the site or from an email, you can find out how members use your web site and email. Do they read your emails? Do they click through your emails to visit your web site? Do they come back to your web site, and why? Surveys need careful design, but can be effective evaluation tools. (Check out www.zoomerang.com or www.surveymonkey.com for free and low-cost survey tools.)

Source: Groundspring ITS Topic 2