Donor Relations Group

Are your digital reports ADA accessible? ?? In today’s world, inclusivity is key ??. Our friends at @Storyraise recently published a blog post outlining 5 Simple Ways to Make Your Digital Reports ADA Accessible. From color contrast to screen reader compatibility, they've got actionable tips to help ensure everyone can access your content. Whether you're a content creator, designer, or organization, accessibility should be a top priority! #DigitalAccessibility #ADACompliance #InclusionMatters #WebAccessibility ?? Read more: https://lnkd.in/gQh9E9Jy

Learn how with the C.O.R.E method—Create Once, Repurpose Everywhere! Save time, reach more people, and amplify your message. Grab your free guide and start repurposing like a pro today! ?? #Repurpose #ContentCreation #MarketingTips Download Now: https://ow.ly/vehh50ThPmw #ContentStrategy #DigitalMarketing #RepurposeContent #MarketingGuide

Send us your samples for a chance to win a FREE 2025 Webinar Series subscription! We're looking for physical samples of acknowledgments, impact and endowment reports, campaign collateral, event materials, stewardship pieces, and everything in between. If you sent it via direct mail, we want to see it! Be sure to include a note with your name, email address, and any details about the piece you want to share. We'll collect them and select one lucky winner to receive all 24 webinars in our 2025 Webinar Series (registration starts soon)! Seeing, sharing, and inspiring others with your amazing work is one of the most rewarding aspects of what we do. Thank you for being a part of this community and for giving back and sharing these resources. We couldn’t do it without your support! Mail your sample(s) to: Donor Relations Group 3515 Longmire Drive Suite B Box 237 College Station, Texas 77845

Reporting season is upon us, so we're here with a timely DRG Hero to inspire you as you craft meaningful stories of impact for donors. You may want to grab a box of tissues before you start scrolling through this beautiful impact report from PanCAN. Filled with love letters to donors, this is one of the most moving impact reports we've encountered—so of course we had to share it with you! ???? #ReportingSeason #DRGHero #ImpactStories #DonorLove #ImpactReport https://ow.ly/JbNb50TtbX8

Are you looking to enhance your organization's impact by truly understanding your donors? Join us tomorrow at 1 pm ET for Unlocking Donor Insights: Donor Surveying Big and Small to learn how to harness the power of real-time donor feedback! During this one hour webinar, you'll learn: ?? Survey Design & Techniques: Get a full overview of different survey types and strategies to maximize response rates and actionable feedback. ?? Tracking & Managing Results: Discover how to maintain an organized donor survey database, and tips for efficiently tracking and analyzing your data. ?? Leveraging Real-Time Insights: Learn how to turn raw data into actionable insights that can guide decisions to benefit your organization and donors. ?? Advocating for Change: Use your survey findings to support organizational change and advocate for the resources necessary to achieve your goals. Tune in and unlock the full potential of donor surveys and start leveraging real-time insights to elevate your nonprofit's success! Save Your Spot: https://ow.ly/2tpz50TtaMu

DRG TIP! An Editing Hack for Your Donor Impact Reports Looking for more efficient and effective ways to edit survey responses for your impact reports? Liz Menne shares one of our favorite editing tools that will make your life easier. #EditingHack #ImpactReports #EditingTips #NonprofitEditing #DRGTip

A well designed donor survey is an antidote to anecdotal evidence which can give donor relations practitioners incredibly valuable insights into program efficacy as well as provide leadership with reassurance to end “the way we’ve always done it.” Donor surveys offer direct lines to the folks who matter most—your donors—and can be used to gather insights that shape strategy, increase donor retention, and improve bottom-line fundraising results. Below are four key tips and tricks to crafting an insightful, and “VP groan-less,” donor survey. 1. Think of your “big questions” Before designing your survey, determine what you hope to know at the end. Think of no more than five questions that you’d like to have answered after reviewing your survey data. Write them on your office whiteboard and let them be your “north star.” I recently designed a survey for a client looking to measure the efficacy of their donor recognition societies. Here were our big questions: Can you identify which society (ies) of which you are a member? Are you aware of the benefits that come with your level of giving or giving society membership? Are you satisfied with the recognition you currently receive for giving to <<Organization>> ? Do the benefits or society membership motivate your giving to <<Organization>>? 2. Ask one question at a time Remember how I said to ask yourself (no more than) 5 questions? Well, when done correctly, your 5 questions will likely change to 10-15 donor questions. Why? Double-barreled questions. Double-barreled questions (asking two things at once), can confuse donors and lead to unreliable data. An example of a double barreled question is, “Do you think our events are well-organized and enjoyable?” Rather than asking this multi-part question, split the question into two separate ones, ensuring that you get distinct feedback on both the organization, and how enjoyable your events are. 3. Keep it short, sweeties! (KISS) I think the “VP groans” come in because surveys are usually WAY too long. To help, keep tight reins on who’s allowed to have input on survey questions and design. “Survey by committee” can produce unwieldy and overly complex surveys that overwhelm donors, and can lead to incomplete responses. According to SurveyMonkey insights, survey respondents will answer questions faster if there are more questions posed to them; therefore, for thoughtful responses, KISS! 4. Follow-up with donors who’ve completed the survey. Don’t forget to include a gratitude-filled follow-up email as part of your survey communications plan. This will “close the loop” with donors, and give them the assurance that their time was well-spent and appreciated. Be sure to include some high-level results from the survey in your email as well as how you plan to implement the survey data collected. Want more of our top tips for donor surveys? Join us for Unlocking Donor Insights: Donor Surveying Big and Small on Sept. 24! By Colton Withers

As we talked about on Monday, change is always happening! Here are some quick tips to help your donors and team tackle it together. 1. Communicate Early and Often One of the best ways to avoid surprising donors with sudden changes is to make a plan in advance. As we know, change is inevitable, and whether your senior leadership has been in place for 10 months or 10 years, a transition is coming–why not plan for it during periods of relative calm? For example, during a leadership change, donor relations should have a communication strategy in place to keep donors informed at pivotal moments. It’s important to understand who needs to know what, and when, which means keeping notification lists consistently updated. 2. Involve Donors in the Process Involving donors in organizational changes whenever possible can deepen their engagement. This can be done through surveys, committee participation, or personal meetings. By inviting their feedback, nonprofits can help donors feel more invested in the organization’s future, even as things shift. For instance, when considering changes to the scholarship experience for beneficiaries, invite donors who fund these awards to discuss the new direction and create understanding of why it’s necessary. 3. Focus on Long-Term Relationships, Not Individual Roles Staff turnover is unavoidable. The average tenure for development professionals is between 16-18 months, a period often too short for building lasting donor relationships. For nonprofits, it’s critical to ensure that engagement efforts are focused on the donor’s long-term experience rather than the individual relationships with current staff members. It’s important to implement systems and processes that allow donors to continue feeling connected, regardless of who holds a particular role. Your organization’s CRM platform can play a key role here by ensuring that donor history and preferences are easily accessible to new staff members. 4. Leverage Built-In Opportunities Organizational changes also present opportunities to strengthen donor relationships. For instance, a leadership change can be framed as a new chapter for the organization, one where donors are key stakeholders in shaping the future. Hosting in-person and virtual events with new leadership can be a way to connect with donors and reinforce their importance to the organization. These events provide opportunities for donors to ask questions, connect with new leaders, and continue feeling valued. 5. Be an Advocate for Donors As nonprofit professionals, no matter how organizational change is affecting our own role, it’s our responsibility to be the donors’ advocate. In many cases, donors won’t be at the table when major decisions are made, so it’s up to us to ask how these changes will affect them. Whether it’s the introduction of new gift acceptance policies or changes to event logistics, always consider the donor’s perspective.