Make Your Donors Feel Listened To + Loved with a Donor Survey

The Donor Attraction Letter

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Have you reached out to your donors recently to get their opinions, impressions, and suggestions?
 
If not, sending out a simple donor survey soon can help you engage more effectively with your supporters and make strong emotional deposits that lead to more giving.
 
As a best practice, I recommend nonprofits reach out to their donors with a survey at least once a year. People LOVE to share their feedback and feel listened to. Your donors are no exception.
 
Not too long ago, I received a donor survey from the Michigan Humane Society, one of my favorite nonprofits. As a donor, I was happy to see their interest in my thoughts and took the opportunity to give them some insights about why I give and what I care most about. As a fundraising professional, I was pleased to see them taking this step to get to know their donors better. Bravo to their development office—bravo!
 
So, What Kind of Survey is Best?
 
Naturally, this depends. : )
 
Although your donor survey can take many forms, I’m focusing this post on a simple survey you can create at SurveyMonkey.com, an online questionnaire tool.
 
If you’re not already familiar with SurveyMonkey.com, give it a whirl. Their basic version is free. The software is user-friendly and comes with some handy analytics tools.
 
Beyond your online survey, you can expand your survey communications plan with phone, in-person, and direct mail channels.

What Are Some Good Questions to Ask?
 
You’ll want to give thoughtful consideration to the questions you pose.

There are many things to consider as you create your questions. Here are just a few:
 
What is the purpose of the survey? Does it relate to improving overall donor satisfaction or something else, like an upcoming campaign?

What decisions will be impacted by the results of the survey?
 
Will the survey be customized for different segments?
 
How will you use the data you’re collecting?
 
To help get your creative juices flowing, here’s a look at some sample questions that might be helpful to include:

• How long have you been a part of our donor family?
• What inspired you to first donate? 
• I support [NAME OF NONPROFIT] because: 
• What is your favorite way to give? Why? 
• I enjoy seeing news about how my support is helping via: 
• How satisfied are you with the level of service you’ve received through our development office: 
• I’m interested in learning about the following ways to get more involved: 
• I prefer to be communicated to via: 
• Have you included [NAME OF NONPROFIT] in your estate plans? 
• If you answered no to the above question, would you be open to having a conversation about making a planned gift? 

Tips for Getting a Good Response
 
At this point, you’re probably thinking:
 
Sure, sending a donor survey sounds great. But getting donors to actually respond … that’s the hard part!
 
Yep, that’s for sure!
 
But, knowing more about your donors, their communication preferences, and what motivates their giving is vital. This survey can help you collect lots of important donor data to help inform future decision-making around how to best build your donor relationships.
 
So, let’s talk about how you can increase your likelihood of getting donors to fill out your survey. Here are some of my top tips:

• Keep the survey short and focused. Shorter surveys typically have higher response rates and lower abandonment.
• Create clear, simple questions. They need to get straight to the point and should not include jargon that respondents may not understand. 
• Make the majority of questions closed-ended. These give specific choices like yes/no or a list of options. Open-ended questions are good to include, too, as they provide incredibly valuable insights. But, aim to use more closed-ended questions to ensure higher response and aid in analytics.
• Test your survey first. Before sending to everyone on your list, test it with your colleagues (or perhaps 1 or 2 donors) to iron out any glitches.
• Offer an incentive. Research shows that this is a great way to boost response rates. Determining the best incentive, and whether you’ll offer something to everyone who participates or to a winner from a drawing, will depend on different factors. When possible, tie it in to your mission. With some advance planning, this can be a great opportunity for a corporate partner to join with you, offering a gift/valuable coupon.
• Use a multi-channel communications approach. Promote it on your website, send it via email, encourage participation via social media and use direct mail. Conducting phone or in-person surveys are even better and this may be the best way to engage certain donor populations, including major donors and Baby Boomers.
• Send several reminders. For people who haven’t responded yet, send/post reminders leading up to the close date of the survey. 
• Personal outreach for select donors. For donors you’re especially interested in getting a response from, go beyond the general emails/postings. Cut through their in-box clutter by forwarding the original email with a personal  message (very effective), send a handwritten note encouraging participation, and call these donors to let them know how much it would mean to have their feedback.  

Don’t Forget the Follow-Up!
 
Hooray!
 
Your survey has closed, and you’ve got a plethora of actionable insights you can turn into donor gold.
 
Now what?
 
In addition to the bigger picture analyzing and longer-term donor cultivation/stewardship steps, don’t forget these two important near-term action items:

• Thank your respondents. Let them know how much you appreciate their participation. This is a perfect time to send a personal handwritten note (people love ‘em and don’t get many these days).
• Take action on anything that needs immediate attention. Did one of your questions ask about interest in talking about a planned gift? If so, contact this donor ASAP to start that conversation.

 The big takeaway is this:
 
If you’re looking to build loyal, lifetime donors who love your nonprofit, getting to know your donors with surveys like this isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity! Showing your donors how much you care about their giving experience with you will make them feel special, listened to, and loved. And that’s a terrific formula for keeping more of your donors and growing their giving over time.

Dedicated to helping you attract and keep your donors,

Jen Viano
Nonprofit Writer/Consultant
Editor, The Donor Attraction Letter
 
PS: Want Some Help?
 
If you’d like help creating a donor survey and communications to promote it, please reach out to let me know! I’d love to help. Hit reply to this email or call me at 248.957.8918.