Spoiler Alert: Multichannel Communications Work Best With Donors

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By: Ceci Dadisman

In: Development

If you’ve been reading my posts over the years, you know that I’m an advocate of multichannel communications campaigns. It is important to communicate on a variety of channels (social media, email, direct mail, etc) because each channel reinforces the others and strengthens your content.

Your patrons will likely see your message on more than one channel before they take an action.

A recent article in Forbes provides data that shows that shows existing donors prefer email communications, but many donors first learn of a nonprofit on social media.

42% say they prefer to hear from a nonprofit via email

39.5% of donors say they find new organizations to donate via Facebook

This makes sense because existing donors are already engaged with your organization so they are more likely to expect and open email communications.

It isn’t that one channel or the other “doesn’t work”, it is that using both together is the way to go.  This illustrates the patron journey from new acquisition to engagement and the shift in channel efficacy along the way.  All the more reason why segmenting our communications in terms of target, messaging, and channel is important.

Postscript: Only 4% of donors think that events are a good way to keep in touch. We all know how much time, energy, and budget we put into donor events but perhaps we could be doing other things to keep donors engaged with our organization.

Ceci Dadisman
Author
Ceci Dadisman
Ceci Dadisman is a marketing professional with more than 15 years of experience creating effective communications campaigns utilizing innovative, forward thinking methods. She is nationally recognized as a leader in digital marketing and specializes in multichannel communications campaigns. A frequent public speaker, Ceci’s recent and upcoming engagements feature national conference appearances at NTEN, Museums and the Web, National Arts Marketing Project, Arts Midwest, American Alliance of Museums, OPERA America, Midwest Museums Association, and Chorus America in addition to many other local and regional events. Known for her easy-going and vernacular style, she creates open learning environments with an emphasis on information sharing and useful takeaways. She is a member of the National Arts Marketing Project Advisory Committee and the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts Visiting Committee, and is a mentor in West Virginia University’s Creative Consultant program. She also teaches the arts marketing course at West Virginia University’s College of Creative Arts and is on the faculty of Chorus America’s Chorus Management Institute. Ceci was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from West Virginia University’s College of Creative Arts. She currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
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