They’ve demonstrated that they do. In fact, you could say research proves that donors and members respond more favorably when they have an emotional connection with your nonprofit.
A recent post in the Neuromarketing blog titled, “Connect Emotionally to Boost Sales” has interesting data on this topic.
Now don’t discount it because the post talks about sales and consumers. I’ve pointed out several times that consumer is synonymous with donors. People are people. In fact my post from last week was along these lines, Best time to meet with a major donor.
Neuromarketing states, “A new study of retail chains showed that while just one in five consumers felt they had an emotional connection to a retailer, those that did were far more valuable as customers and as brand evangelists.”
Translate that to read: Donors and members who have an emotional connection with your nonprofit have a higher life-time value and are brand evangelists.
These emotionally connected consumers are …
◊ 4 times more likely to buy from the preferred brand
◊ Twice as likely to respond to direct mail
◊ 4 out of 5 became evangelists
◊ 50% promoted the brand to family and friends
◊ 4 times as likely to follow their brands on Facebook and Twitter
◊ TEN times as likely to shop their retailer’s website on a mobile device
Okay. We can’t say those stats transfer directly to how they respond to your nonprofit. But those stats are a sure-fire indicator that it’s worth your time, effort and resources to make as many emotional connections with your donors and members as possible.
Of course, it begins with how much your mission aligns with their core values and you can’t control that. But once you find the right prospects, there’s a great deal you can do to seal the emotional connection.
I firmly believe you can move leaps and bounds toward the connection by treating donors and members like a fragile, precious gem. Because that’s how valuable they are to your nonprofit. Give them great service. Cultivate and nurture the relationship.
Give them an exceptional experience with your nonprofit. Aside from that it will vary from nonprofit to nonprofit on exactly how else you make that emotional connection. Take cues from your supporters.
Related posts:
Give supporters an exceptional experience … Don’t encourage donors to choose a substitute for you
Use all tools and channels available for cultivation … Mobile as a donor cultivation tool
Not sure what methods to use? … 6 top cultivation methods
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