How Nonprofits Can Build a Strong Donor Persona in 5 Steps
Want to boost donor engagement and increase support? It all starts with truly understanding your supporters. Building a strong donor persona goes beyond simple demographics, helping you connect with their motivations and challenges on a deeper level.
Here’s how to create one and leverage Salesforce tools to implement it immediately:
1. Start with Data
Use Salesforce’s reporting features to gather key demographic details—age, job role, donation history, and engagement patterns. Track past campaign participation and event attendance to get a comprehensive view of your donors.
💡Create a custom report in Salesforce to identify high-value donors and segment them by engagement levels. Use this data to refine your personas.
2. Understand Their Motivations
Utilize Salesforce Surveys to ask donors why they give. Questions can cover their values, the causes they care about, and what keeps them engaged with your nonprofit’s mission.
💡Send out a Salesforce Survey to recent donors and use the feedback to create a custom dashboard showing common motivators and key insights.
3. Dive into Psychographics
Leverage Salesforce’s Contact and Opportunity records to log qualitative insights from one-on-one donor interviews. Capture their communication preferences, personal interests, and donation triggers.
💡 Use Salesforce’s Notes and Files to document key interview insights directly within donor profiles for easy access during campaign planning.
4. Create a Reference Tool
Use Salesforce’s customizable Dashboards to create a visual donor persona summary. Include key traits like preferred donation channels, typical giving amounts, and common objections for quick reference.
💡Build a donor persona dashboard in Salesforce that team members can access, ensuring consistent understanding across all departments.
5. Update Regularly
Set up automated reminders in Salesforce to review and update donor personas regularly. Incorporate data from new campaigns and donor interactions to keep profiles current.
💡Schedule quarterly tasks in Salesforce to revisit donor personas and adjust based on new data and emerging trends.
Take Action Now
By integrating these donor personas into your Salesforce strategy, you can tailor your outreach and communication to resonate more deeply, boosting engagement and support.
Use your updated donor personas in Salesforce to personalize your next email campaign. Track the results with Salesforce’s campaign analytics to measure engagement improvements.
Looking to optimize your nonprofit’s Salesforce for better donor engagement?
Equals 11 is your trusted Salesforce consulting partner. We’ll help you streamline your CRM, unlock valuable donor insights, and enhance your fundraising strategy.
Contact us today to realize the full value of your Salesforce investment.
