Creating Impactful Messages with Personalization

According to Bloomberg News, 86% of all email traffic last year was spam. CBS News states that the average person sees between 3,000 to 5,000 advertisements a day. People are SO tired of hearing from companies and causes they don’t care about. So what can you do to keep your donors from hitting the delete button when getting an email from you?

Personalization. Personalization is one of the hottest topics in marketing and communications this year. Personalization is the practice of providing unique and targeted messages to a small group, rather than blasting one message to the entire world, hoping it catches someone’s attention. The art of personalization is going to be something donor relation’s professionals can leverage to maintain quality relationships with current donors AND provide an impactful message for prospective donors. For the sake of this article, I am going to be focusing on how to use personalization with current donors to help build trust and create lasting relationships.

Personalization means that donors should feel that every email or letter they receive should feel like it was written specifically for them. This means that donors who designate funds to a project, fund, or specific student organization should receive updates specific to their donation. Many organizations make these practices standard for major donors who have contributed a large sum of money. This needs to be a practice with ALL donors, even those who give $10/month and graduated last year. These are your donors of the future and you want to keep them loyal to the work you are doing. So what can you do to make donors feel like you have spent the time to create a personalized message just for them?

Create content that feels personal. It's not all about the financials when it comes to updating donors about the funds they contribute to. Donors want to know the specific impact that their contribution has made to your university or organization. All donors should not receive the same thank-you letter. Your communications should include information about the funds donors have specifically contributed to. Do you have donors that designated funds to a new building you just broke ground on or your university’s rowing team? Those donors should receive updates about the projects or groups their funds support! Yes, this takes more work to create these messages, but updates do not need to be lengthy. Don’t underestimate the power of a picture, short video update, or letter from a student to show how funds are making a direct impact on their education. Donors want to know that the money they have donated is going toward the cause they designated and that good work is being done with those funds. These communications could be in the form of an email, snail mail, or online portal for the donor to access the specifics of the funds they donated to.

Information accuracy. One of the biggest mistakes that can be made when creating personalized content for donors is sending them the wrong message! Personalization is all about making sure the donor gets information about the projects their contributions have supported. Technology can help ensure that you have correct data on the contributions of each donor and also help you organize the updates provided from different areas of your university or organization. This means that it should be a priority to ensure that data is accurate. Donors will be much more likely to feel a sense of loyalty and connection with you when you show them you care about the individual donation they provided and are also willing to keep them updated on the progress of the organizations and project they care most about.

Timely communications. Donors want to hear from you more than once a year when it comes time to see their annual donor report and for you to ask for another donation. Frequent communications show that you care about keeping the donor engaged more than just when you are asking for another donation. Did you hit a big milestone on a building project or did a particular department have a breakthrough in research? Celebrate those victories with your donors! Quarterly updates can make a huge impact. Quarterly updates via snail mail can be A LOT of work, so try using online publishing methods. One of the most innovative ways can be in the form of a “blog” where donors can access updates on their specific funds online with credentials provided by the university. This allows donors to check for updates to their funds when the time is right for them. You can send a quick gentle email reminder when posts have been made!

Personalization seems like a lot of work. It is a lot of work, but the impact of your effort is so much greater than sending out a large email that doesn’t resonate with anyone. Your donors will thank you when they finally receive communication from you that feels like it was made just for them. Even if they live across the country or across the world, make donors feel like they are transported back on campus during the best years of their lives.

Want to talk personalization? Reach out to me via email at [email protected] tweet me at @brookeagrimes, or subscribe to monthly updates from the Sharing Solutions Blog.

Brooke Grimes
Director of Marketing
AcademicWorks, Inc.