No matter when you’re reading this, there’s likely a fundraising campaign right around the corner. As we write this in January 2022, our team is already ramping up for Doctor’s Day in March. Are you prepared for your next campaign?
In our years of experience helping non-profit hospitals raise money, we’ve made countless changes and optimizations to the way we strategize and implement our campaigns. No matter the changes, we consistently return to what we see as the four cornerstones of successful email fundraising. Keep these in mind as you prepare for your next campaign:
Your relationship with your donors, just like any relationship, needs cultivation and hard work. Donors don’t only want to hear from you when you’re asking for money. Be sure to steward them throughout the year and keep them up-to-date on what’s going on within your organization. They’ll be more likely to give at campaign time, and will appreciate hearing what’s new in your hospital. After all, they likely helped pay for it!
Pro-Tip: Build regular stewardship communications into your communications calendar ahead of time.
These goals don’t have to be a dollar amount. They can be a number of donations, a number of new donors, or anything else creative! What matters is setting a goal that you and your donors can aspire to. And if you can secure a matching gift from a generous individual or business, it helps create buy-in from the rest of your community. They see that others are supporting you, and they want to join.
You know when your campaign ends. Make sure that your donors know that, too. Using your goal or matching gift is a great way to drive urgency. Explain to your donors why it’s important that they donate now, not tomorrow or next month.
It’s perfectly fine to raise money for your organization’s area of greatest need. But be sure to tell your donors exactly what that’s funding. If your hospital needs new medical equipment, or you’re funding a nursing education scholarship, make that clear! Donors are significantly more likely to give if there are tangible priorities that they can help you achieve.
Pro-Tip: Use clinical staff to your advantage here. Hearing from a physician or a nurse why a new piece of equipment or a facility upgrade matters to them can be very impactful.
No matter what your next campaign is, best of luck! And remember that our team is here to help. We love working with non-profit hospitals to optimize digital fundraising and communications. If you want to learn more, we want to hear from you! Connect with a member of our team today.
If you’re anything like us, you’re constantly obsessing over every aspect of your fundraising emails. What can I do to boost my open rate? Is my content engaging enough? What changes can I make to raise more money? The smallest details can make or break your email campaign. As you know, less engagement means fewer donations. And that leaves your foundation with less to invest in your patients, caregivers, and community.
Here are four simple email best practices to set you up for fundraising success:
Emails from a physician or other clinical leader can produce open rates 2-3x the industry average*. Your supporters see them as trustworthy, familiar, and authoritative. And they can provide a unique perspective about the impact of philanthropy. As an added bonus, engaging with physicians is a great way to build a relationship between clinical staff and your foundation. *(Source: Digital Health Strategies Internal Data)
The subject line is the first piece of content your supporters see in their inboxes. It should be catchy, engaging, and make the reader want to learn more. Avoid direct asks in your subject line, be careful with emojis and punctuation, and be concise. This ensures that your message gets through spam filters and is opened by your supporters. When in doubt, use A/B testing.
Even half an hour’s difference in send times can have a drastic impact on your engagement rates. Every audience is different, so it’s important to take a look at your personal trends. In general, avoid sending fundraising emails on the weekends, late in the afternoon, or very early in the morning. For us, 8:30 am is usually a safe bet.
Your email should have a single call to action: “Donate now, Honor Your Caregiver℠ today,” or “register soon.” Too many asks can clutter your email and cause confusion for your supporters. Make sure that your ask is direct, and make it as simple as possible for your supporters to follow through.
At Digital Health Strategies, we obsess over the details so that you don’t have to. Through years of working with non-profit hospital foundations of all sizes, we’ve identified the trends that drive success in digital fundraising. If you’re ready to learn more and maximize your fundraising opportunities, we’d love to hear from you. Send us an email and let’s get to work!
It’s time to turn your grateful patient program digital. As more and more of your supporters use online channels to engage and donate, it’s critical to your fundraising efforts that you be on the leading edge of the trends that drive success and growth for your organization. Taking this step can save you time and money and cultivate your donors in a new and exciting way. And getting this started may be simpler than you’d expect. Let’s break it down:
Turning your grateful patient program digital accomplishes everything that your existing program does — without the headache and cost of direct mail and other channels. Instead, you’ll use the power of email and automation to reach discharged patients in a timely and efficient manner, driving them to a customized web application to share their stories, honor their caregivers, and donate to your organization.
Don’t just take our word for it. Digital grateful patient programs are driving results for non-profit hospital foundations of all sizes right now. One of our clients implemented a digital grateful patient program and grew their email list by 500% within one year. On top of that, they converted one patient into a $1 million+ donor within 6 months of receiving a grateful patient email message.
We’re experts in building digital grateful patient programs that work for our client’s specific needs. We’ve helped non-profit hospital foundations of all sizes grow their email lists, honor their caregivers, and raise more money.
Our Honor Your Caregiver℠ platform provides you with every tool you need to get this done. Within 90 days, we’ll help you launch a digital grateful patient program with customized messaging and content, a dedicated online platform for patients to share a story and make a contribution, and automated workflows to streamline the process from discharge to donation.
Ready to learn more? We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us and our member of our team would be happy to chat!
