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User Data and Modeling: How To Treat Your Donors as Individuals

By: Andrew Glover
July 12, 2019

The psychology behind every donor is complex. Every person has various drivers that lead them towards something or drive us away. Non-profits can benefit significantly by trying to mirror many for-profit companies who make a great effort to please their customers.

When you think of big-name for-profit companies, you may think about consistently amazing customer service or remember a pleasant experience. Everyone has had a positive and negative experience with large businesses. As a non-profit, it’s also crucial to channel positive experiences for your members.

For example, think of a high-end hotel chain. An expensive night at a hotel often imparts both luxury and a unique customer experience. Every person is a valued guest while staying at the hotel. Based on how much a guest is spending, they expect a pleasant experience. Otherwise, they will be unlikely to stay at the same hotel again or recommend the hotel to friends and family.

In essence, the red carpet is rolled out for people who stay at high-end hotels. Non-profits can reap the same benefits as for-profit’s when they take a similar approach to rolling the red-carpet out for their donors. Let’s look at how to provide an ongoing positive experience for your donors and how to treat them as individuals with your marketing communications.

Using data to differentiate your donors

Using data to differentiate your donors can lead to better outcomes and increase your return on investment. Using RFM modeling and segmentation will allow you to build a campaign that will enable you to treat your donors as individuals. Another alternative is to use propensity scoring to target the right individuals for your mailer goals.

When your donors feel like an individual, they will think they are receiving a red-carpet treatment from your non-profit. When your donor’s feel this level of individuality from your campaigns, they will trust your company and feel more bonded to your mission.

Here are several methods to help incorporate user data in a meaningful, individual-focused way for marketing.

RFM segmentation

RFM segmentation is a great way for your non-profit to categorize your donors based on their behaviors. You can target members based on their previous choices and actions, which allows your non-profit to provide content that is relevant to specific groups of people. You already have a plethora of user data at your fingertips. Using the data in a productive manner with RFM segmentation will help you choose the right audience each time.

This level of individualization will improve your donor’s loyalty and increase the likelihood of a lifetime commitment.

Propensity Scoring

Propensity scoring is another fantastic way to target the right individuals for your mailers. Propensity score matching gives you the ability to target a certain audience to achieve better conversions. This method allows non-profits to identify the best candidates for their marketing efforts. You will eliminate the guesswork of a marketing campaign when you opt for propensity scoring because this method chooses the right recipients for your campaign based on the available user data and groups your donors into categories.

Donor Outreach Through Direct Mail

Direct mail is the most personalized form of marketing outreach. Each piece can be customized for your donors. After targeting your donors through RFM segmentation or propensity scoring, you can build your direct mail campaign based on their individual wants and needs. Combining all these methods will provide you with a great marketing outcome and provide your donors with a feeling of receiving a high-end experience from your organization. Treating your donors as valuable additions to your non-profit will leave them feeling like they have received the red-carpet treatment.

Valtim can help you treat your donors as individuals

Valtim has highly skilled professionals that can assist your organization on its way to treating your donors as individuals. We offer a wide variety of services to assist you with providing a world-class experience to your members. Before starting a direct mail campaign, we can help your target your ideal audience using RFM modeling and segmentation or by evaluation propensity scores.

No matter the method, we can narrow down the best individuals to meet your marketing needs. Valtim can help you with your marketing goals from beginning to end and help you achieve a great ROI while treating your donors as unique individuals.

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