Your nonprofit is engaged in diligently engaging your supporters. Congratulations!
Or are you?
Not all ACTIONS qualify as engagement. For example, these actions are NOT engagement:
– Receiving an email
– Receiving a direct mail letter, catalog, etc.
– Inviting a supporter to an event
– Talking to a supporter face-to-face or on the phone
– Clicking on a pay-per-click ad
Although I don’t classify the list above as forms of engagement, those are desired actions. And they move people one step closer to engagement.
What’s next? Here are a few engagement actions but they’re not great indicators of strong support or solid loyalty:
• Opening an email
• Opening your text message
• Clicking on a link within your email
• Signing up for a webinar
• “Liking” your Facebook page
So don’t rely too heavily on those types of actions when evaluating the success of your campaigns.
Instead, set your sights on the following. When you’ve got donors, members and advocates taking these actions … then you’ve got exciting engagement taking place:
◊ Calling your call center
◊ Filling out a survey
◊ Participating in a contest as a contestant
◊ Voting in a contest or poll
◊ Attending a special event, conference, or webinar
◊ Recommending you to their friends and family
◊ Using you nonprofit’s mobile app
◊ Forwarding your emails to their friends and family
◊ Posting a review of your nonprofit, webinar, or event on your Facebook page
◊ Requesting information
◊ Volunteer to help in some way
◊ Scanned your mobile barcode
◊ Clicking through AND watching your online video or listening to your podcast
◊ Post a comment on your blog
◊ Making a donation or joining your association (once they do this, strive to get them truly engaged with the preceding 14 activities)
Again, although everything listed above is the result of a supporter TAKING ACTION, not all actions are forms of engagement. And not all engagement activities are created equal.
Create goals and move toward the deepest levels of engagement. It’s these deep forms of engagement that reap the greatest rewards for your nonprofit in terms of funds raised, higher retention, etc.
What forms of deep engagement are working best for your nonprofit? Please share anything I missed by adding a comment to this post.
Related posts for more useful information:
12 Donor Cultivation Tactics … includes info on involvement / engagement
Donor cultivation and fundraising tools keep growing … an ideal engagement channel
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