The word “audit” tends to bring about anxiety and concern when the average person hears it. We picture horrible visions of the IRS combing through our personal information and telling us we did something wrong or owe money. While this may be the case for many individuals, there’s no need for nonprofits to have this same sense of stress and concern. 

Nonprofits don’t pay taxes, so there’s no reason for the IRS to come around, telling you that your organization owes money. However, audits can be incredibly useful for nonprofits to ensure donations are processed properly, tax forms are filed, and general accounting best practices are followed at your nonprofit. 

In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of nonprofit auditing so that you can better understand how your organization can use this important tool. We’ve pulled information from Jitasa’s comprehensive nonprofit auditing article, pared it down, and made it into this more digestible overview for the busy nonprofit professional. We’ll cover the following: 

• Why Nonprofits Conduct Audits
• Internal vs. External Audits
• Selecting an Auditor
• Preparing for an Audit
• After the Audit

Audits can be very useful for nonprofits to increase transparency for nonprofits, create regular financial accountability, and find new opportunities for improvement of financial practices. Let’s get started! 

Why Nonprofits Conduct Audits

Chances are, you don’t look forward to the IRS auditing your personal finances. There are not many people who jump up and down with excitement at the idea of the government double-checking their taxes. 

But nonprofits don’t pay federal income taxes. Sometimes their 501(C)(3) status means they don’t even have to pay state taxes! So, why should nonprofits need to go through a tedious auditing process? 

Some nonprofits are required to conduct regular, annual audits. Meanwhile, others simply volunteer to do so because they see the value in these comprehensive assessments of their nonprofit accounting systems. Your nonprofit might be a part of the former group if (required to conduct an audit) if: 

• It’s written in your bylaws. Some organizations require annual or semi-annual audits in their bylaws to ensure financial compliance and effective accounting practices. 
• Your state requires an audit. Some states also require audits from nonprofits—generally, if that organization accepts a certain amount of funding (usually more than $500,000) from the state government. 
• Your federal funding exceeds $750,000. If your nonprofit accepts federal funding of over $750,000, you’re also required to conduct an audit.
• Grant applications require an audit. Grant-makers want to be sure that your organization will use their funds wisely, so they sometimes ensure accountability by requiring financial audits. 

Even if you’re not required to conduct an audit, you may still find it a useful tool to ensure your organization has strong financial practices. Plus, you can communicate with supporters that you do conduct regular audits, increasing financial transparency and establishing trust in your organization’s financial practices. 

Internal vs. External Audits

While there are many types of audits out there, there are two main categories within the realm of financial audits: internal and external audits. These two differ primarily based on who conducts the audit: 

• Internal audits are conducted by your team internally. The purpose of these audits is to discover potential opportunities to increase organization and streamline operations. 
• External audits are conducted by a third-party auditor. Much like hiring a fundraising consultant, external audits are useful because they provide an outside perspective unclouded by attachment to your organization and mission. These audits are useful for ensuring financial controls and complying with accounting best practices. 

Solving financial discrepancies and ensuring accounting best practices not only keeps your finances organized, but also helps your organization with capacity-building initiatives. After all, it’s much easier to plan for growth when your finances are well-organized. 

Selecting a Financial Auditor

If you choose an external audit, your organization will need to select a financial auditing firm to conduct it. Start your research for an auditing firm by reaching out to your accountant and other organizations for referrals. Supplement this list of referrals with other firms you find through online search. 

Once you have an initial list of potential auditors, you can start narrowing your list to only the best candidates based on your organization’s needs and budget. Then, you should ask each firm specific questions that will help you further narrow your selection. These questions may include: 

• What percentage of your clients are nonprofits? 
• How long will the nonprofit auditing process take? 
• What is your firm’s fee structure? 

Vet your top-choice auditors further by asking other organizations they’ve worked with for reviews. They should have experience, expertise, and the right technology to keep your information safe. This will help reduce risk at your organization as you’ll hand your auditor sensitive information to work with. 

Once you’ve vetted your preferred auditing firms, submit an RFP to solidify the agreement. Then, you can simply make your selection. The work isn’t over after you’ve found your auditing firm because you’ll still need to prepare for the audit. 

Preparing for an Audit 

To prepare, you’ll need to pull together all of the documents and reports that your auditor will review while conducting the audit. Much of this information will be available in your nonprofit accounting software, especially if you use a dedicated software solution rather than spreadsheets. 

Some of the steps you’ll take using this data will include:

• Reconcile all bank accounts. 
• Review uncleared transactions. 
• Review your nonprofit’s vendors. 
• Review customers’ or members’ payments. 
• Review undeposited funds. 
• Look for coding errors. 
• Review your capitalization. 
• Review your account balances. 
• Review your accounts receivable and payable. 

When you’re reviewing all of this information, keep in mind that you’ll be reviewing both monetary and non-monetary transactions. Even if they don’t directly add to your bank account, in-kind donations should be recorded in your accounting system along with their approximate value to your organization. It’s easy to overlook donations of items and forget to include them in various accounting reports, but it’s a necessary step to keep up with GAAP standards and to have a successful audit. 

After the Audit

When the audit ends, you can breathe a sigh of relief, but only for a moment. You’ve made it to the other side of the process, but there’s still some work to be done. 

First, you’ll need to implement any recommendations made by your auditor. These changes should fix systemic issues by updating the financial processes at your organization so that you don’t run into similar concerns in future audits. 

Then, you’ll need to evaluate your experience with your auditor. You should ask questions such as: 

• Are you satisfied with your chosen auditor? 
• Did you notice any challenges or disputes among your staff members during the audit? 
• Was the presence of the auditor disruptive to your regular organizational activities?

Chances are, this won’t be your nonprofit’s last financial audit. By asking these types of questions and considering your experiences now, you can improve your audit experience next time around. 

Financial audits may seem frightening in the beginning, especially if you’re comparing the experience of personal audits to those conducted at your nonprofit. However, nonprofit financial audits are ultimately a good thing! They can help you uncover mistakes or process discrepancies to improve your nonprofit’s accounting system over time, ensuring you always have the resources you need to further your mission. 

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Author: Jon Osterberg
Jon Osterburg has spent the last nine years helping more than 100 nonprofits around the world with their finances as a leader at Jitasa, an accounting firm that offers bookkeeping and accounting services to not for profit organizations.

NeonOne set out to understand what individual giving looks like in the post-pandemic world. By reviewing many sources including academic journals, industry reports, blogs, and more, they have synthesized six questions:

• Who are our donors?
• What do our donors support?
• When do our donors give?
• Where are our donors?
• Why do our donors give?
• How do our donors give?

In Neon One’s Donors: Understanding The Future of Individual Giving – Part 1, we focused on the first three questions. In this Part 2, we are focusing on the last three questions.

What are key findings from the article?

• Grants from donor advised funds in community foundations tended to stay in the community, according to the Lilly School of Philanthropy study. The researchers theorized that “the stronger local ties were, the more likely the donor was going to give to nonprofits in their community. They found that the longer an individual stays in the community that they live in, the more likely they are going to give to arts and human services organizations where they live.”

• The top three states for private boat ownership are: Florida, California, and Massachusetts according to a Windfall study. The top three states for private plane ownership are California, Florida, and Texas. The top states for luxury car ownership are California, Texas, and Florida.

• Donors prefer email for hearing about updates and appeals (48%) followed by direct mail as the preferred channel at 21% according to Data Axle.

• There are three primary motives for why donors give, according to Professor Jen Shang, Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy in the UK. They are situation-based, relationship-based, and identity based. The report summed up the difference between the three motives: Situation-based motivations are often triggered by sudden changes in the environment, and individuals respond by giving. Relationship-based motivations are when donors give based on their connection to an organization. Finally, identity-based motivations focus on giving as a way for the donor to express who they are.”

• Donor acquisition went up in 2020. “The percentage of donors acquired in 2020 who gave again in 2021 was at an all-time high in the first quarter and remained strong through the first half of the year.” But its unclear how many nonprofits closed their doors or stopped fundraising.

• The study found that while only 10% of US households have wealth in cash, 80% of donations are cash. “Nonprofits that receive stock donations see 55% higher fundraising growth than those that only accept cash.” You can check Schedule M of your organization’s IRS Form 990 to see if you received reportable asset gifts.

• Double the Donation estimated that $2-$3 billion was donated through matching gift programs. But estimates suggest that $4-7 billion may be going unclaimed since many donors may not know their gifts are eligible to be matched by their employers. Even more striking is the finding that “84% of donors are more likely to donate if their gift is matched.”

• Corporations are now offering donor advised funds (DAFs) as an employee benefit. Similar to United Fundgiving campaigns of the past, employees can designate small amounts from payroll to go into these DAFs.Firms outside of Fidelity and Charles Schwab are working with companies to provide these services.

• Dr. Russell James’ research found that while only 5% leave a gift to a nonprofit in their will, 33% would consider it if they were asked. Like Matching Gifts, that’s a lot of money left on the table.

• Recent research found that recurring gifts are more likely to start in January than December. That should impact messaging for nonprofits about the importance of these gifts. Plus, previous research has shown that recurring givers “have a retention rate of 90% and that recurring givers are six times more likely to leaven an organization in their will or make a legacy gift to an organization.”

What can I do as a result?

• “Think like a donor,” explained philanthropist Lisa Greer in her special aside in the report. What would a prospective donor want to see? Move away from transactional relationship with donors. Don’t over solicit! Remember that they are getting a lot of emails from nonprofits and companies every day. Engage with them like they are people. Because they are!

• Consider how your messaging reflects the different motives for giving. Are you appealing to the donor’s sense of identity or situation-based identity? Are you giving donors the ability to give to satisfy their image of themselves?

• Examine how your organization is talking about giving from assets, such as stock and property. As we’ve noted before, the largest gifts come from assets, rather than income.

• Explore how your organization is educating donors about matching gift potential. That is a really easy way to get in more dollars without too much effort.

• Review how your organization talks about recurring giving. Are you asking? When are you asking?

• Finally, remember that people want to give; they sometimes just need to be asked! Authentic communications with your donors will build the strongest relationships. Asking can be a natural part of an ongoing conversation your organization has with the donor, instead of rote solicitations sent according to a schedule disconnected from the donor relationship.

Additional Resources

• Donors: Understanding The Future of Individual Giving l NeonOne 2022
• Neon One’s Donors: Understanding The Future of Individual Giving – Part 1 l Aspire Research Group 2022
• Dr. Russell James reveals the secret behind major gift growth – psychology! l Jennifer Filla blog 2022

Your nonprofit’s logo is a core element of your brand, as it acts as a reflection of your organization and mission. When supporters and new prospects view your logo on any marketing materials and donor communications, they should be able to immediately associate it with your mission. 

When we think of brands like Starbucks, Nike, and Mcdonald’s, the first things that come to mind are probably the mermaid emblem, swoosh marking, and golden arches. Loop’s nonprofit branding guide describes the logo as the “foundation of your overall visual brand” which is why it evokes so much emotion and recognition. It’s included in almost every document you create! 

As such a centralized element of your nonprofit’s mission, creating your logo requires additional time and effort to be sure it accurately reflects your mission and makes an impact on viewers. In this guide, we’ll cover four considerations your organization should take when creating your logo, including the following steps: 

1. Reflect on your mission. 
2. Consider the different types of logos. 
3. Choose your colors. 
4. Display your logo prominently. 

Ready to design a stunning new nonprofit logo? Let’s get started. 

1. Reflect on your mission. 

Your logo should reflect your nonprofit’s mission and will represent it moving forward. Therefore, before you start designing, you’ll need to take some time to consider your mission and how you present your organization to the world. 

Consider questions such as: 

• Who is your target audience? They’re the ones who will interact with your logo the most. Ongoing donor engagement can begin with an impactful logo.
• What makes your organization unique? Think about the elements of your mission that help your nonprofit stand out from others that represent similar causes. 
• What is your ideal tone? Organizations with more formal, professional tones will have a slightly different tone and personality than ones with more casual or playful characteristics. 

Answering these questions before diving into different logo options will help you ensure your logo helps tell your nonprofit’s story and accurately reflects your cause. For example, a nonprofit that caters to children might decide to use a logo with dynamic shapes to emphasize its creative side rather than a monogram with hard ridges. 

2. Consider the different types of logos.

When you start considering the design that you’d like to see in your own logo, we recommend getting inspiration from other nonprofit organizations. Explore the best nonprofit websites to see how others incorporate their logo and the types of logos they chose. 

Consider if there’s a specific type of logo that you tend to gravitate toward. Wix provides a list of the nine types of logos that organizations can choose from, including the following: 

• Wordmarks consist of the organization’s name, artfully written out. 
• Letterforms only include one letter, usually the first letter of your organization’s name. 
• Monograms leverage the organizations’ initials, generally used for organizations with well-known abbreviations like NASA. 
• Symbols or pictorials are images that represent the organization’s identity, like Apple. 
• Abstract marks are images that are more metaphorical representations of an organization’s branding, rather than a direct correlation like symbol marks. 
• Mascots are cartoon characters that represent and become “ambassadors” or the organization’s brand. 
• Emblems are more ornate designs that are usually similar to traditional crests. 
• Combination marks are any two elements combined together to create one mark, such as words below a symbol mark. 
• Dynamic marks are versatile, unique marks that can take on any shape that may not fit into the above traditional logo markings. 

The above photo provides examples of each type of logo organizations can choose from. Notice that one thing all of these logos have in common is simplicity. Your logo is featured everywhere from your t-shirts to event registration forms, meaning it should take on many shapes and sizes. Therefore, simplicity is key. 

3. Choose your colors. 

If you already have a brand guide that describes the colors that your organization will use for your brand, be sure your logo reflects those colors. If you don’t yet have a guide like this, choose the colors that you’ll use to represent your organization. 

Consider the natural association colors have with concepts and ideas and which will align best with your mission. For example: 

• Red: Red is often associated with health, passion, and strength. 
• Green: Green is often associated with growth and prosperity, making it a great option for conservation-related causes. 
• Yellow: Yellow is linked to the sun and brings feelings of warmth and happiness.
• Pink: Pink is often associated with creativity and innovation. It’s often associated with causes in the LGBTQ+ space.

Choose just a few colors to use in your nonprofit’s logo to make sure it remains simplistic. Then, make sure you have several versions of the logo; one in color, one in black, and one in white to use on various products and with any background. 

4. Display your logo proudly. 

After you’ve created your nonprofit’s logo, it will be featured on all of your marketing materials. Make sure your logo looks good everywhere and include it on your nonprofit’s: 

• Website. Consistent branding is one of the most important best practices for your website. Include your logo on every page of your website and make sure it links back to your homepage. 
• Letterheads. When you send direct mail to donors, sponsors, or other supporters, it should be immediately clear to your recipient which organization sent the letter. Include your logo on the letterhead to make sure this connection to your cause is clear. 
• Emails. Set up your email templates to include your logo and organization branding. That way, every message you send will look professional and include your organization’s specific identity. 
• Social media. Often, organizations use their logo as the image on social media profiles. This helps new supporters immediately identify the logo and recognize it in the future. 

While these are some of the core channels used to market nonprofit organizations, they’re far from the only options available. Getting Attention’s nonprofit marketing guide also names event materials, videos, content marketing, text messages, and Google Ads as marketing tools that nonprofits can use. 

As you put together your marketing plan, consider where you’ll need to leverage your logo and where it looks most natural and professional for that material. Then, choose the version of your logo that will best suit the channel. For example, you might use your black-and-white logo on the top of your letterhead because it looks the best on printed paper. And you may use one with the tagline for t-shirt designs but omit it from the top of your website. 

While your nonprofit’s logo doesn’t make up your entire brand identity, it acts as a core element to your nonprofit’s visuals. Put time and effort into ensuring your logo is as attractive and well-designed as possible to create a positive correlation between your cause and your identity. Good luck!

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Author: Ryan Felix
Ryan is a co-founder of Loop: Design for Social Good who brings a strong intuition and insight to create bold, creative & impactful websites. Ryan has led design studios in Toronto and New York using his knowledge of Human Centred Design to increase meaningful conversions and design enjoyable web experiences.

What is this Report?

The report is an annual report that looks at global giving focusing on three areas: helping strangers, donating money to charity and volunteering time. The report has surveyed 1.95 million people since 2009. For 2022, CAF included data from 119 countries, which was 90%+ of the total adult population on the earth.

What are key findings from the article?

• Sixty-two percent of people reported they helped a stranger last year. This is up from 55% for 2020 and the highest percentage of people since the CAF report began.

• Thirty-five percent of individuals gave to charity in 2021.

• Low-to-middle income countries represent the majority of most generous countries in the top ten most generous list, a change from before the pandemic. In 2018, high income countries dominated with 7 out 10 countries in the most generous list. But in 2020, the number switched to 7 low-to middle income economies in the top ten. 2021 saw a rise in high income countries in the list but six out of ten are still classified as low-to middle income.

• Indonesia retains its top spot as the most generous country, fifth year in a row. Kenya is second most generous, followed by the United States, which has returned to the top ten list.

• The Ukraine is the only European country in the top ten most generous countries, jumping from 20 to 10 in 2022.

• Some countries may define charity differently from others, which may adversely reflect their scores. For instance, the report suggested that some countries who scored low on helping a stranger may have strong safety nets (France, Switzerland, etc.). Japan scored low on generosity but the report suggested that “what might be perceived as charity in the United States is likelier to be understood as responsibility in Japan.”

• The countries with the largest percentage of people donating money are the following:

• Indonesia -84%
  • Myanmar – 73%
  • Netherlands -68%
  • Iceland – 67%
  • United Kingdom – 65%
  • Australia -64%
  • Malta – 64%
  • Thailand – 62%
  • United States – 61%
  • New Zealand – 61%

What can I do as a result?

• Remember that people can give in different ways and engage them. The CAF report breaks down generosity into helping a stranger, giving to charity, and volunteering. Sharise Harrison, Director of Prospect Management and Research at Loyola University Chicago, said it best in an interview with Aspire in 2022: “A good prospect is some institution, organization, or individual who is likely to be engaged, believes in your organization and will provide not only monetarily, but also volunteer time.”

• Specifically, review how you are engaging volunteers. Neon One reported that 53% of people who support a nonprofit decide to volunteer there; 39% volunteer first, then give to the nonprofit. How is your organization engaging with volunteers? And vice versa?

• Make sure to understand people in different countries understand giving and helping others. Some countries may see things as charitable that other countries don’t due to differences in perception. Like everything in philanthropy, it’s about creating relationships and making connections. Philanthropic culture is not the same everywhere.

• While organizations tend to target high income countries for international donations, the report suggests that low-to-middle income countries are stepping up their philanthropy. Everyone can find a way to contribute but they have to be respected and brought to the table.

• As always, ask for contributions! Even though most countries have reopened fully, generosity levels are still up. That suggests that more people see the need to help their fellow strangers.

Additional Resources

• Charities Aid Foundation: World Giving Index l CAF 2022
• Donors: Understanding The Future of Individual Giving l NeonOne 2022
• Interview with Sharise Harrison l Aspire Research Group 2022

What is this Report?

NeonOne set out to understand what individual giving looks like in the post-pandemic world. By reviewing many sources including academic journals, industry reports, blogs, and more, they have synthesized six questions:

• Who are our donors?
• What do our donors support?
• When do our donors give?
• Where are our donors?
• Why do our donors give?
• How do our donors give?

Due to the length of the report, Aspire will focus on the first three questions. The second part will be published in 2023.

What are key findings from the article?

• Typical demographics of a “generous donor” are: Affluent, college graduates, homeowners, people aged 55+. But priorities are different between generations. Older generations give to emergency relief but younger folks tend to give to children’s charities and animal-related causes.

• Black families gave the largest proportion of their wealth to charity. Studies also show that Latino households are more likely to have generational giving traditions. “The Vaid Group and Advancement Project for Democracy, one of the key findings was that “POC donors are much more likely to live in cross-class families and communities, where the impacts of the racialized wealth gap are very apparent. This fuels a fire towards upward class mobility and a desire for community uplift. Giving by these donors has unique features that emerge from the economic, historical ethnic, and racial experiences of each community, and other features that are shared across ethnicity and race.”

• There’s a correlation between giving and volunteerism. In a survey by Today’s Philanthropic Landscape, 53% of people who support a nonprofit subsequently volunteer there. 39% volunteer first, then give. Only 8% do neither!

• GivingTuesday’s Data Collaborative found that “75% of GivingTuesday are repeat donors, which far outpaces the industry average retention rate of 45%.” Even more striking,  84% of donors said that GivingTuesday made them want to give more in their communities.

• Donors support several charities annually, from five to seven. The report quotes Mark Phillips of Bluefrog Consulting who said, “They are not your donors; you are one of their charities.”

• Donor attrition is a real thing. Of first year donors, 80.8% are unlikely to give a second year. Asha Curran & Woodrow Rosenbaum at GivingTuesday ask in the report if part of the problem is the sector’s reliance on hard data instead of appealing to people’s emotions.

• Eleven-thirty a.m. on Thursday is the most likely day of the week that donors give online. And contrary to popular thought, December is not when the vast majority of giving is made. The report estimates that 17% – 22% of revenue from fundraising is in December.

What can I do as a result?

• Consider how your organization is engaging your donors, especially first-time donors. We all know that keeping a donor is a lot less expensive and less work than getting new ones. So how many first-time donors drop off at your organization? Lisa Greer, a donor mentioned in the report, said it best: “think like a donor. Remember how many emails they are likely sifting through each day, the volume of texts and calls flooding in. Consider how many companies are competing with you to earn their support. Bombarding your donors with fundraising requests will never be as effective as clearly communicated, professional two-way communication that demonstrates your appreciation and respect for them – along with your dedication, as an organization, to your mission.”
• Consider how your organization works with non-white donors and constituents. How are you treating them? How are you (or are you not) engaging them? Are you cultivating non-white donors? Asking them on your boards? Do your fundraising materials reflect the people in your constituency?

• Consider how encouraging first-time donors to volunteer can help further engage them for the future! And also look at your volunteers. They may be low hanging fruit, waiting to be engaged to donate to your cause.

Additional Resources

• Donors: Understanding The Future of Individual Giving l NeonOne 2022
• Inclusive Fundraising Raises Money – That’s Why Gender Matters! | Interview with Kathleen Loehr | Prospect Research #ChatBytes | 2019
• Donor Centered Fundraising l Penelope Burk

Your nonprofit relies on your donors’ support in order to meet its daily operations. However, if your nonprofit doesn’t fully understand its audience, it’ll be more difficult to engage your donors and motivate them to give. 

Collecting donor data can help your organization create comprehensive donor personas for each of your supporters, whether you have hundreds or thousands of people giving to your cause. While this may seem overwhelming, a strong data collection strategy backed by a solid tech foundation can streamline the entire process. 

In this article, we’ll walk you through the essential data points your nonprofit should collect in its constituent relationship management (CRM) platform: 

• Demographic information
• Nonprofit involvement
• Supporter interests

Comprehensive data can help your organization steward strong donor relationships and tap into your donors’ unique motivations for giving to your nonprofit. As a result, your donors will feel more passionate about your cause, leading to a boost in online fundraising. Let’s begin. 

Demographic information

Your donors’ demographics will give you a baseline overview of the type of donors that are likely to give to your nonprofit. This will inform your outreach strategies so you can better target your ideal audience or even work towards reaching new audiences. 

Specifically, you’ll want to use your donation page or data appends to collect data points such as:

• Age
• Gender
• Contact information
• Employment Status
• Employer

For example, let’s say you collect these data points and discover that most of your donors are Gen Z or Millennials. Younger generations tend to prefer digital communications, so your nonprofit can amp up its social media marketing efforts to encourage donor retention. 

Employer data can also have a huge impact on your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts. If your donors work at companies that offer matching gifts, your organization can receive double (and sometimes triple) the amount of the original donation. In fact, according to Double the Donation, over 26 million individuals work for companies with matching gift programs. If your donors are eligible for matching gifts, they can easily increase their impact and play a more rewarding role in your organization’s journey. 

Nonprofit involvement

By taking a closer look at your donors’ history, you can better understand their giving capacity and interest in your cause. This information will help you tailor your donation appeals, volunteer outreach, and other communications to their needs and preferences. 

Collect the following data points about your donors’ involvement:

• How frequently they give
• Their average donation amount
• The last time they gave
• The events they’ve attended
• Whether they’ve volunteered and how often they volunteer

With these data points, you can then segment your communications to better target certain types of donors. For example, you can create an email segment for donors that used to give frequently but haven’t given in the last year to reengage them with your mission. If you have a fundraising deadline quickly approaching and you haven’t hit your goal yet, you can create an email segment for major donors to ask them to help push you over the finish line. 

You can also segment your communications to promote monthly giving. According to Donately, monthly giving can help your organization establish a reliable donation pipeline that you can access year round. Create a segment for donors that give frequently and have the potential to be monthly givers. In your outreach, highlight the various benefits of monthly giving, including the ability to play a more active role in your nonprofit and the convenience of only having to fill out your donation page once. 

Supporter interests 

These are often answers to questions like: What are your supporters’ hobbies? Why are they passionate about your cause? Are they interested in finding new ways to get involved with your organization? 

This information will help you build stronger relationships with donors and find relevant ways to keep them engaged. For example, a donor with graphic design experience may express that they want to play a larger role in your organization. You can then open up a new volunteering opportunity to them, such as improving your fundraising website or your marketing materials. 

Understanding your supporters’ passions can also help you craft personalized donation appeals that are more likely to inspire action. For instance, if you’re an environmental organization, you may have several donors that give because they care deeply about saving endangered species. In your donation appeals to these donors, you can then emphasize the different ways your nonprofit’s work is helping to protect endangered animals. 

By taking the time to get to know your donors, they’ll feel more valued and appreciated by your organization. At your next in-person event, ensure that members of your nonprofit board or staff are present to engage with donors one-on-one and ask them about their interests. If you have a large donor base, you can create online get-to-know-you surveys that take just a few moments to complete. 

To steward strong donor relationships, you need a comprehensive understanding of each of your supporters. The accessibility of data has made it easier than ever to create donor personas and use this information for better engagement and outreach. Use donor data research tools, like your donation page and data appends, to collect essential data points and learn the best ways to drive donor retention. Good luck! 

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About the Author

Jacob Spencer | Customer Success / Account Manager at Donately
I strive to make every step of our customer journey as enjoyable as possible. My goal is to turn everyone that trusts Donately into a raving fan! Raising funds can be daunting, but we know that with the right tools, it can and should be easy. 

Throughout my career, I’ve been able to help sales and success teams tackle new markets, grow and expand. Leading with empathy, listening to actually solve problems, and remembering that we are all human are the key elements to growing any business in a meaningful way.

When I’m not working you can find me spending time with my wife, 2 boys and our Border Collie, Abbie. Family>Everything.

Whether you have an upcoming fundraiser you’re trying to promote to donors or if you’re preparing for the end of the year, your nonprofit needs a focused and impactful marketing strategy. 

Email marketing has traditionally been the backbone of nonprofit marketing strategies for years. And not without reason! Nonprofit email marketing is a powerful tool that allows your organization to reach individual donors with specific messages that engage them with your organization. 

However, this only works if your organization keeps up with the latest trends and strategies for email outreach. If you fail to do this, your organization might fall behind and spend more and more time on an inefficient strategy. Make sure you’re using the most effective email marketing tactics to reach your supporters by leveraging the following tips: 

• Identify and segment your audience.
• Set a purpose for each message.
• Conduct A/B testing for various strategies.
• Use email addresses to target ads. 

The average email open rate for nonprofits is much higher than other industries. This rate rests around 26% compared to the national average email opening rate of 6%. Take advantage of this opportunity and make sure you’re making the most of your outreach by ensuring your email strategy is up to date.

1. Identify and segment your audience

Sometimes it seems like the most time-efficient way to get a message across to your audience is to send a mass email. That means if you have an upcoming fundraiser, you would add all of your donors’ and supporters’ email addresses to the recipient box. While this might seem time-efficient, it’s actually not effective at all. 

People are much more likely to read and engage with messages that are personalized. In fact, according to one source, 74% of Gen Zers, 67% of Millennials, 61% of Gen Xers, and 57% of Baby Boomers all prefer personalized messages in the marketing messages they receive. That’s over half of your audience (no matter their age) that prefers a more personal touch to your emails. 

The best way to make sure you personalize each email you send is to segment your audience and craft messages per segment. It might take slightly longer than a mass message, but it’s a much better strategy. 

Doubleknot’s segmentation guide explains that there are three primary types of data that nonprofits can use to group their audience into segments for marketing purposes: 

• Sociological. These data points include the social, cultural, economic, and lifestyle traits of your target audience. For example, you might use gender or age as data points for some segments. 
• Preferential. When donors provide you with information about their communication preferences, you can also use this to make specific segments. For instance, if a donor prefers to only receive emails twice a month, you can limit the number of messages you send them. 
• Psychological. These are the traits that you might collect via survey or in notes after a one-on-one conversation with a supporter. Psychological data comprises an individual’s values, passions, interests, etc. For example, if you know a donor’s motivations to give, you can mention those aspects of your mission in your outreach to them. 

Save relevant details regarding this type of data in your nonprofit’s CRM. Then, use that information to create segments and better personalize your outreach strategy. Be sure to regularly clean up this data in your database so that you are always working with the latest information. 

2. Set a purpose for each message

Each email that you send to your audience should have a concrete purpose. The last thing you want to do is to send mindless emails that don’t call your supporters to do anything — these types of messages simply waste both you and your supporters’ time. 

Strategize what the most important thing you want to promote at your organization is. Ask yourself, “Why are we sending this email?” Then, you can use that information to structure your messages and encourage supporters to help you accomplish your goals. For example, consider promoting opportunities for: 

• Online fundraising. Use your messaging to explain how the funds will be used and to share stories of previous fundraising campaigns that impacted the community. Then, be sure to include a link to your donation page so that people can give directly after reading your message. 
• Event registration. Use these messages to highlight key aspects of the event like the auction items for lower-level audiences and your VIP tables for major donors. 
• Volunteer events. Send specific outreach emails to talented supporters for specific volunteer opportunities (like graphic design skills). Or, send a more general message to past volunteers asking for help at your next event. 

Appreciation messages need to have a purpose too, even if you’re not immediately promoting an upcoming campaign. You should explain the impact supporters had, thank them for getting involved, then offer a next step, like filling out a feedback survey. 

You should always include an opportunity for your supporters to get involved after reading your message. These calls to action should link your readers to proper landing pages directly from your email. For example, link to your online donation page as a part of your fundraising outreach and to event registration pages when inviting people to attend your next big auction. 

3. Conduct A/B testing for various strategies

A/B testing allows your nonprofit to test aspects of your email outreach on your audience to see what strategies are most effective. Essentially, it helps you gain insight into what your audience responds best to so you can use that data for future campaigns. 

You should only ever test one variable at a time. Send one message using one strategy to half of your audience and use the other strategy for the other half. For example, you might send a message to half of your audience using a graphic style image and another message with a stock photo to the other half. Whichever gets more click throughs is the more effective image strategy. 

Some of the factors you might choose to test in your emails using A/B testing include: 

• Subject lines
• Calls to action
• Images
• Videos

Make sure you have relevant metrics you can measure to see which option performs better during tests. For example, you might measure the email open rate when testing two different subject lines or the click-through rate when testing different calls to action. 

Save this information and update it when necessary. A/B testing is an important aspect of donor data because it describes those preferences specific to your audience. It’s much more precise than simply reviewing statistics for general audiences from other market testers and will be useful in future campaigns. 

4. Use email addresses to target ads

You can take your email strategy a step further by leveraging your email addresses to create ads that will help drive more traffic to your organization. This process is called email mapping. It allows your nonprofit to send targeted ads to a list of specific email addresses.

Although many organizations are often hesitant to leverage ads, whether due to financial strain or a lack of understanding of their impact, Feathr’s nonprofit advertising guide explains that there are a great number of benefits that accompany this strategy: 

• Increased reach, providing more opportunities for supporters to get involved with your mission. 
• Major returns and campaign conversions for a low-cost outreach strategy. 
• Automation options, saving your team’s time for working on other aspects of your mission.

When you use email mapping to display ads to your supporters, these messages will show up in the margins of web articles, on their Facebook feeds, and elsewhere across the internet. Be sure the message you display relates back to your email campaign. This repeat exposure reminds your supporters about the opportunities you offer to get involved and increases the chances that they will do so. 

Now that you know email outreach strategies, create goals based on what you want to pursue. Be sure each goal is tied to a specific measurable metric so that you can define what success looks like for your organization. The key performance indicators (KPIs) you might choose to track could include your email open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate. 

Consider which KPIs will be more impactful for your particular mission. This tracking of metrics will also help you identify improvement opportunities for future campaigns. Good luck!

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About the Author

Aidan Augustin | Co-founder & President, Feathr | linkedin.com/in/aidanaugustin
Aidan Augustin is the co-founder and president of Feathr, an industry-leading software company making digital marketing more accessible to nonprofits and event organizers. Feathr has helped over 800 nonprofits and thousands of events know, grow, and engage their audiences. When he’s not steering the ship at Feathr, he’s playing strategy games, singing karaoke, or reading books about people who changed the world.

What is this Report?

The report is the first World Ultra Wealth Report that is published by Altrata. It’s the tenth such report using Wealth-X data. The report looks at the global ultra-high net worth (UNHW) population in the first half of 2022.

UHNW individuals are defined as individuals who have a net worth over $30 million. High net worth population is defined as individuals with net worth over $1M.

What are key findings from the article?

• The Ultra High Net Worth population fell by 6% and the combined value of wealth dropped 11% in the first half of 2022. The report points to the war in the Ukraine and global economic volatility (including inflation) as causes of the drop.The population of UHNW individuals totals 392K and they have combined net worth of $41.8trn. “The ultra-wealthy account for just 1.2% of the global HNW population, yet hold over 31% of this group’s total wealth.”

• North America reported the biggest drop in total UHNW individuals at 10%. China was the only major wealth market that saw a rise of 2.3% in total number of UHNW. In the US, the report believes the drop is due to policy changes at the Federal Reserve, rising interest rates, “slump in capital markets.”However, the US is still number one with 121,465 UHNW individuals, followed by China with 51,145 individuals. Germany, Japan, and Hong Kong are the next three respectively. Hong Kong is the #1 city of UHNW individuals followed by New York and Los Angeles.

• While women are only 11% of UHNW population, their numbers are rising. The average age of UHNW women is 64 and more than half inherited some or all of their wealth.

• However, the number of UHNW women who are self-made is not evenly distributed in all regions. US is close to the average at 51.1% whereas China has a whopping 81% of UHNW women who made their wealth. Other countries like Germany are lower, at 16.5%.

• The majority of UHNW women work in the non-profit and social organizations sector. In comparison, the majority of UHNW men work in banking and finance. The report ascribes the higher percentage of women in nonprofits due to greater amounts of inherited wealth.

• Asset distribution is similar for both UHNW women and men except with real estate. UHNW women tend to invest a higher percentage of their wealth in real estate and luxury assets compared to men. UHNW women tend to prefer jewelry and art as luxury assets compared to men. Notably the report found, “Women account for 70 of every 100 UHNW owners of luxury watches and jewelry, assuming an equal number across genders. In contrast, UHNW men prefer jets and yachts.

• Given that nonprofits are the number one industry for UNHW women, it’s not surprising that philanthropy is the biggest hobby of the population. For UHNW men, sports are first, then followed by philanthropy. Both UHNW men and women prioritize giving to education, followed by arts & culture, then social services.

• In the US, UHNW women make larger political gifts on average: $134K compared to $125K. They donate more frequently, but men tend to give bigger donations from companies.

Additional Resources

• World Ultra Wealth Report 2022  l Wealth X 2022
• Inclusive Fundraising Raises Money – That’s Why Gender Matters! | Interview with Kathleen Loehr | Prospect Research #ChatBytes | 2019
• How Households Make Giving Decisions | Lily Family School of Philanthropy – Women Gives 2021
• Your Data Will Reveal Untold Stories Of Women’s Philanthropy l Kathleen Loehr & Associates Blog 2022
• Trust Is Critical For Women’s Philanthropy l Kathleen Loehr & Associates Blog 2022

What is this Report?

The Boston Consulting Group’s 22nd annual report looks at global wealth as well as the field of wealth management. Ultra-high net worth individuals are those individuals with assets over $100M.

What are key findings from the article?

• Global wealth expanded by 10.6% in 2021. It’s the fastest rate in a decade with $26 trillion in new wealth. BCG credits gains were made in corporate profits and real assets. The company noted the resiliency of wealth growth despite the pandemic and the Great Recession.

• However, BCG warns of destabilizing factors of global inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their models suggest that there would be a short-term decrease in wealth but then an average rate of growth at 5.3% through 2026. The company also expects inflation to stay high in 2022 but decrease in 2023.

• Asia-Pacific and Oceania (but not Japan) is projected to have the largest growth of 8.4% through 2026. Middle East and Africa would be next with 5.4% and then North America at 4.1%. Western Europe would drop to 4%.

• Sustainable investing is growing fast. Investors are keen on net-zero, which means that the amount of greenhouse gases produced, and gasses taken from the atmosphere are zero. Companies have a goal of becoming net zero by 2050 but investors want changes now. BCG believes that by 2026 the asset class of sustainable investing will rise be 8%-17%, a rise from 4%-11% today. Wealth managers will have to consider climate data when making recommendations for investments.

• The report noted: “Responsible investing—which loosely considers environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors—is not the same as sustainable investing.”  The report defines sustainable investing as including investing in companies with top sustainable sectors. Broader sustainable investing excludes investments that fail to sustain measures like net zero by 2050. It excludes things detrimental to the world such as weapons and war manufacturing.

• Cryptocurrency will grow 4 to 5 times bigger before 2030. BCG makes this prediction despite the recent turmoil in the sector. Although cryptocurrencies are 90% of the space, there is a growing interest in NFTs, crypto custody and insurance, mutual funds, crypto options and futures and more. BCG thinks there will be regulations in the future. Blockchain-based decentralized finance, known as DeFi, attracted more than $200 billion in assets since April 2022. Major financial institutions such as Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase have hired people in crypto-related jobs since 2018.

• Digital wealth management (WM) companies have grown significantly, attracting $14.5 billion in 2021. Digital WM uses financial technology, sometimes automation, to provide wealth management services to its customers, usually completely remotely. These are younger companies, many formed in the past 15 years. Examples include Marstone, Yield Stone, and StashAway.

What can I do as a result?

• While investors are becoming more interested in sustainability and net-zero, prospective donors might become interested in how your organization is implementing/considering these areas. Even if you aren’t a nonprofit with an environmental focus, these concerns about environmental impact are going to expand in future areas, not just the world of wealth management.

• While extremely volatile, crypto is likely here to stay. While many think we are seeing the final hemorrhaging of the cryptocurrency, it’s significant that BCG thinks it will continue. How prepared is your organization to accept it? Or has your organization made a choice not to accept it due to ethical concerns, such as environmental cost, etc.? As noted in previous blog posts, the industry is new and there will be startups that will fail and others succeed, just as we have seen with other industries.

• But cryptocurrencies and NFTs are not all there is to crypto. Decentralized finance is likely to grow, and a new class of prospects may come out of that industry with money to donate.

• With the increase in digital wealth management, more people have access to invest in private equity, private debt and pre-Initial Public Offering (IPO) participation that was originally limited to top investors. Digital WM can bundle these investments with multiple individuals. This means that more prospects may have investments, but may be using digital services instead of traditional wealth management firms.

Additional Resources

• Boston Consulting Group Global Wealth 2022 l Boston Consulting Group
• The Cryptocurrency Merry-Go-Round: Are you on? l Aspire Research Group 2021
• When Clients Take the Lead: Global Wealth 2021 l Boston Consulting Group 2021
• Are NFTs the next best fundraising opportunity? And what are they, anyway? l Aspire Research Group 2021
• The Trend That Keeps Trending: Cryptocurrency l Aspire Research Group 2022
• Aspire Research Cryptocurrency Resources l Aspire Research Group