Why charities should focus on donor loyalty

Often the smallest changes in a charity’s organisation can reap enormous rewards. Take donor loyalty, for example. Some simple initiatives, which show supporters how vital they are to a charity’s work, can dramatically improve donors’ chances of giving. These can include a focus on personalising communication, or by developing exclusive membership schemes for donors.

 

Here we look at latest analysis of donor behaviour, gathered from more than 50,000 supporters of well-known charities, including Cancer Research UK, Barnardo’s, and The Woodland Trust, to find out more about the importance of charity loyalty.

 

 

Benefits of focusing on donor loyalty

 

Among the most eye-catching findings from the three-year research project by consultancy About Loyalty was that by focusing on loyalty, donors gave more and over a longer period.

 

Even a small increase in a sense of loyalty among supporters saw a 15% uplift in the number of donors continuing to give after three years and a 20% increase in income, About Loyalty found.

 

A small increase in a sense of loyalty also saw a 9% increase in supporters wanting to include a gift to the charity in their will. This indicates even longer-term benefits can be achieved by a focus on donor loyalty initiatives.

 

 

Commitment, satisfaction, and trust

 

The research found that the three most significant drivers of loyalty are:

• Donors’ commitment to a cause and a belief that the charity’s work is important
• Trusting that the charity will meet its promises, won’t become embroiled in scandals, and will be ethical
• Satisfaction with the organisation, including how it communicates and raises money

Charities are urged to ensure they focus on these three key areas when communicating with supporters and promoting fundraising campaigns.

 

“These three factors appear time and time again as the most significant emotional drivers of loyalty and retention among donors,” states About Loyalty’s research. “And this is consistent across all charity causes and nearly all supporters. Working together these key statements create an overall picture of loyalty which is more significant than any one of its parts.”

 

 

Importance of measuring loyalty

 

Another tip from About Loyalty’s research is to ensure there is a mechanism in place to measure loyalty. This process should sit at “the heart of every supporter development programme,” says the consultancy.

 

Benefits of measuring loyalty include:

• Spotting supporters with low loyalty levels, who are at risk of moving away from the charity
• Highlighting the most loyal donors, who have the biggest potential for further giving
• A chance to analyse the effectiveness of campaigns
• An opportunity to change the culture of a charity for the better, so it can garner higher levels of satisfaction, trust, and commitment from supporters

 

Donor loyalty in action

 

Barnardo’s has directly responded to a need to improve loyalty among new supporters and face-to-face recruited donors. The children’s charity did this by overhauling its welcome programme for donors. This was rebranded as ‘Take my hand’ to focus on the benefits that donations to Barnardo’s can being to young people’s lives.

 

According to About Loyalty this programme aims to “reinforce to the donor that real change will be created by working together over time to change children’s lives”.

 

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has created a ‘centre of expertise’ to monitor loyalty levels among its supporters. This measures what its supporters want from their relationship with the charity to better tailor communications to each donor.

 

“Being able to measure loyalty has helped us understand which areas and messages we needed to focus on within the myriad of journeys we’ve been pulling together,” says CRUK’s Loyalty and Cultivation Senior Marketing Manager Sarah Maltby.

 

“It’s helped our decisions in what to prioritise when it comes to technology developments around channels and personalization. It’s helped us to demonstrate the value of loyalty to our income generation as well as to our supporters.”

 

Shelter focuses on supporting conversations around homelessness issues among donors. It also makes “the supporter the hero and offering content that speaks to their personal identity to grow satisfaction”, says About Loyalty’s research.

 

“We’re developing a shared understanding of what creates commitment, satisfaction and trust across all Shelter’s supporters,” said Shelter’s retention direct marketing manager Jess Hosseiny.

 

“This is bringing together fundraising, retail and campaigns behind a common goal and enabling us to create integrated communications.”

 

The Woodland Trust is using loyalty to improve its organisation by breaking down silos across charity departments. It has put loyalty at the “front and centre” of its work to create shared targets and key performance indicators that focus all teams on strengthening supporter satisfaction, commitment and trust.

 

“We should always start with loyalty,” says Woodland Trust Supporter Journey Manager David Reeves. “Every single one of our teams that wants to contact known supporters should first understand what drives loyalty and then act towards the single common goal of building and growing it.”