We live and work in a completely digital world. It’s a wonderful thing to get your message out to hundreds, thousands, even millions at the touch of a button. Our days are more efficient; our response times faster than ever before — so what is the problem?

The challenge it poses is that we’ve lost a lot of human touch with the people we serve. Your donors, team members and volunteers operate in a digital world as well; yet they have a deep craving for a personal connection with you.

You can respond to this need by engaging with supporters and stakeholders in a variety of ways. First, it means taking an honest look at your communication efforts. Are you reaching people in a personal way and expressing sincere appreciation for their affiliation to you? Do your donors receive the dreaded form letter? From a donor’s perspective, a form letter is a complete turnoff. Why bother sending a generic PDF to express sincere appreciation? How special do you feel when you receive a ‘dear valued client’ message from an organization you spend significant money with?

The importance of building emotional connections

What’s more, are your marketing initiatives focused on reaching the masses or are you narrowing your time and resources into developing strategic relationships? In my book Relationship ROI, I share a funny but alarming story about an organization that has solicited my support for over 25 years using direct mail. To provide a little history, I put $2 in a collection plate at age eleven (I borrowed the money from my friend’s dad, to boot!) How many hundreds of dollars have been spent trying to retain my loyalty over the past 25 years using a very clearly outdated database and system?

On the flip side, I donated a large sum of money to an organization that I never heard back from! It wasn’t until my accountant requested the paperwork that I realized I had not even received a receipt, let alone a progress update.  Now, if I had built a strong relationship with the organization and felt emotionally connected by my contribution, you can bet I would still be supporting them today. Unfortunately for them, they took the cheque, cashed the sum of money, and that summed up our relationship. I can’t tell you how many charities I deal with that actually operate this way. If you’re balking at this story then you have the right mindset for great relationship-based fundraising.

Avoiding marketing pitfalls

Simply put, appealing to your donors will not include mass advertising. Micro-marketing to your engaged supporters and building solid relationships with them, however, will provide a higher return on your fundraising efforts. So what does it take? Good old-fashioned care and attention. Make your donors feel incredibly valuable to you. Take the time to get to know them. Spend time during your meetings to express authentic appreciation for their affiliation and listen to what they want from you. Seek ways to help them increase their exposure if they’re business owners and be sure to keep them updated and engaged with how their money is being used. Check in with them to make sure they are pleased with the relationship and ask for feedback.

You’ll notice I left out asking for more money during each interaction. The reality is that if donors can communicate with you personally on a number of occasions, without seeing dollars signs in your eyes, they will develop a strong level of trust and commitment to your charity. When the timing is right your ask will be welcomed and your donor will be more than happy to comply.

Nikki is owner of Sigma Promotions and author of Relationship ROI. She teaches teams relationship marketing strategies to make the fundraising process easier.  Bringing a unique perspective of an active donor and volunteer, Nikki works with charities to maximize their fundraising initiatives through concrete strategies. For more tips and techniques follow Nikki @nikki_pett on Twitter and www.nikkipett.com