On their birthdays, I call each of my kids on their birth minute. I don’t want to just say happy birthday. I want them to know I remember the exact second they came into this world and the joy it brought me… and the joy they have brought me every day since.
I bring each child the most personalized experience I can. As a parent, that’s what I should be doing.
Your organization should work hard to provide the most personalized experience for your audience and supporters. Giving them personalized interactions makes them feel like you understand them and you get what interests them as it relates to your mission, work and impact.
Personalization is a HUGE part of a high retention rate and high lifetime giving value. It’s critical to fundraising and marketing success. It’s a must for creating a two-way street and building relationships.
But here’s the thing: Personalization is MUCH more than just adding a person’s first name at the start of a direct mail letter or an email. I’m gonna share with you how to learn about your audience and deliver to them a personalized experience that will help you raise more.
(Side data point: Email subject lines that include the subscriber’s first name have a 50% higher open rate. I’m not saying stop addressing people by their first names! Continue doing that but you gotta go deeper.)
Proper personalization actually starts with how YOU make purchases online.
Learning from ecommerce
Being addressed by name helps keep our attention. Think about why good direct mail fundraising letters will be personalized and the person’s first name mentioned multiple times throughout.
But in April 2025 that’s nowhere near enough.
Think about your online purchases: The really good ecommerce companies know their customers well. They know what you like to buy, what you won’t purchase, what deals work and don’t work, what to offer and when.
There’s a reason you keep buying over and over from certain companies. It’s not just that the product is good. It’s the personalized attention and experience you get from the company.
Know who’s just like you? Your audience of supporters and donors.
They too want a personalized experience and far too few nonprofits provide that. Take a few minutes and read this great post about personalization and email. One quote stood out to me.
Courtney Grab, Senior Marketing Manager at Litmus, emphasizes the essence of true personalization: “There’s a misconception about what email personalization is. It’s not just about using someone’s name; it’s about asking users what they want and need and how they’d like to be engaged with, then delivering that. This level of personalization truly differentiates your emails from the masses.”
THAT is what your nonprofit needs to deliver constantly and consistently. What could a personalized experience look like?
- CRITICAL! Survey donors to learn more about them- lemme help:
- Know their level of giving- annual donor? Monthly supporter? Major giver?
- Figure out what content they engage with and then feed that to them
- Through what medium do they want to be connected with your organization- direct mail? Text? Email? Knowing this means you now connect with people in the manner THEY want. Personalized!
- How are they connected to your organization- volunteers? Event attendees? Downloaded something from your website? Email subscribers? Donors? Foundation? Corporate partner?
As you can see, plenty of ways to personalize a person’s interaction with you so you boost engagement and build the relationship.
But going from survival to thrival isn’t just about the above. You’ve got go a little deeper and ask the four questions.
The four questions you better be asking
Sigh.
As someone who works with organizations on this and does trainings on gratitude, the above drove me nuts. Proper gratitude should be for EVERYONE, no matter their giving level!!!
And your gratitude should also be personalized.
(Warning: Major understatement alert) If you know me, you know that I am not a fan of Giving Tuesday (GT). But I AM a fan of Gratitude Tuesday.
Every year I do a roundup of the hundreds of GT emails that arrive in my inbox- the good, the bad and the ugly. I encourage you to have a look at what Second Helpings in Indianapolis does on that day. 😍 😍 😍
If you really wanna connect with people, learn more about them, strengthen the relationship and provide them with a personalized experience, great gratitude is a good place to start.
My challenge to you is to go beyond that: You need to ask them the four questions.
Call people associated with your nonprofit and tell them you’re calling to thank them for their support of your organization. If they’re a donor, share with them a brief impact story or data point so they know how their recent gift was used.
Then ask them if they have a minute as you have a question for them. Here are four questions you should choose from to ask (or, if the convo is going great, ask all four):
Ask the question, be quiet and take notes. Their answers to the above questions will provide you with a TON of information you can use to personalize their experience.
Added bonus: You’re gonna get some quotes from people you can use in your fundraising and marketing materials.
Another added bonus: You may learn things about your organization you didn’t even know (e.g. how people find out about you, how they view your work).
Here’s how you go from survival to thrival: Want people to read your materials? To take action? To donate and stay connected with your organization? Provide them the most personalized experience possible!
Retention will skyrocket. People will feel closer to your nonprofit. You’ll grow, be able to serve more people and have more impact.
Win win win!
