Turning donors Into Advocates Is the Ultimate Win

You’re happy and grateful that your nonprofit continues to receive gifts from generous donors. But you know what, your donors could still do more for your organization. Perhaps you’re thinking, “What chutzpah! Our donors are generous enough already. If we ask them to do more, we risk losing them.”

But that’s not the case if you ask your donors to become advocates for your organization. After all, if they weren’t already passionate about your organization, they never would’ve made a gift. Donors are already primed to spread the word about your nonprofit. You just need to give them the outlets to do it.

It takes time and effort to build a cadre of dedicated advocates, but it’s worth it. Advocates—especially ones with connections in the community—can boost public awareness about your nonprofit. As more people learn about your organization and the great work it does, you’ll get new members and donors—and thus more funding.

But first you have to turn them into advocates.

How to do it

There are a lot of ways to accomplish this. Following are a number of examples of how to turn donors into advocates.

Find out what they’re passionate about

This should be your first step, because once you know what they’re passionate about, you can customize future appeals.

For example, let’s say you work for an aquarium. Your records show there are a significant number of people who regularly donate to your head-start program for sea turtle hatchlings in the Caribbean. Now you’ve found people who share a particular passion. These are your prime advocate candidates. 

Engagement and involvement

Contact these people. If it’s feasible, call them, because that’s a more personalized way to connect in this era of email and texting. Ask if they’re interested in volunteering for the head-start program.

Get creative. Put a cart with sea turtle artifacts and promotional materials near the aquarium’s sea-turtle exhibit. Ask the turtle lovers if they’d like to volunteer at the cart to answer questions and handout promotional materials. 

Some of them may have time and money. You can invite them on an exclusive trip to the Caribbean to witness the head-start program firsthand. After an experience like that, they won’t be able to contain their excitement—and they will become advocates. 

Social advocacy

Maintain communications with the turtle lovers and keep them updated about the head-start program. Encourage them to tell friends and family about their experiences as a volunteer, both at the aquarium and in the wild. People will definitely want to learn more about the trip to the Caribbean—and see photos.

Some of these people may be prominent members of the community. See if they can use their influence by talking to other movers and shakers in the community about the great work the program accomplishes.

Perhaps some of the turtle lovers work for a company that has a yearly charity drive. See if people would be interested in supporting the aquarium’s sea-turtle program. Convince them that it’s a worthy cause—that’s pure advocacy!

Social media

Ask the group to encourage their Facebook friends to “Like” the aquarium’s page. Repost the aquarium’s Facebook posts. Have the turtle group post their photos from the trip to the Caribbean. Encourage them to occasionally post a link on Facebook to the aquarium’s webpage about the head-start program.

Publications

Talk to your publications department. Ask them to write a profile on a person who donates to, and volunteers for, the head-start program. Be sure the story emphasizes the importance of advocacy for the head-start program and/or for the aquarium in general. The story could be written by one of the donors, or it could be in a Q&A format. Q&A formats are especially helpful because you can bluntly ask, “Why is it important to advocate for the aquarium’s sea turtle head-start program, and why do you think others should, too?”

Takeaways

As you can see, asking donors to boost their support above and beyond their financial support isn’t a burden because they’re predisposed to want to help. In fact, most are probably grateful for the opportunity to “get into the trenches” and fight for the cause.

The tactics outlined in this article might not be applicable to your type of nonprofit. But the overall strategy is. And the strategy is pretty straightforward: Identify your donors, figure out their particular interests, and then arm them with interesting information about that topic. Develop ways to get them involved.

In doing so, you will create passionate advocates.

Tags: donors, membership