For most nonprofits, a constituent relationship management (CRM) platform is an essential tool to add to your tech stack. Your CRM allows you to track and analyze various data points for each of your organization’s supporters. You can then apply those analytics to improve your communications with supporters and plan your fundraising efforts more effectively.

While storing donor data is the main function of a nonprofit CRM, there are countless ways you can leverage the various features of your CRM to improve your donor management. In this guide, we’ll walk through four of the top strategies to make the most of your CRM:

Segment your supporters.
Send targeted donor communications.
Develop a monthly giving program.
Manage major gifts.

Each nonprofit has unique needs that a specialized solution could address, so before you implement these strategies, ensure you have the best nonprofit CRM for your organization. Make a list of your organization’s main challenges and goals, then look for a CRM with features that could help you work through those obstacles, achieve your goals, and improve your donor management. Let’s get started!

1. Segment your supporters.

Donor segmentation is the process of dividing your nonprofit’s supporters into groups based on shared characteristics to gain a better understanding of who your donors are. You’ll use several types of donor data to do this, all of which can be found in your CRM.

Nonprofits often segment donors according to their:

Demographics. Consider factors such as age, location, employment, family status, and wealth.
Giving history. This includes donors’ average contribution amounts, how frequently they donate, a record of the last time they donated, and their lifetime value to your organization.
Additional engagement data. Supporters can show their dedication to your nonprofit’s mission by getting involved in more ways than just donating—they can also volunteer, attend events, participate in advocacy efforts, or engage with your organization’s promotional materials.

After reviewing each type of data, you can assign donor segments based on several overlapping characteristics. For example, you might have one segment of older, wealthy donors who respond well to direct mail. Another segment might include younger supporters who donate smaller amounts but primarily engage with your organization through volunteering and sharing your social media posts.

Determine which of your supporter segments are the largest or the most essential to involve in achieving your organizational goals. Then, add notes to each of the donor profiles in your CRM software to track which segments each donor is part of so that you can more effectively target your outreach efforts.

2. Send targeted donor communications.

Being strategic in reaching out to supporters is useful both for attracting new donors and deepening relationships with existing donors. The segments and analytics in your CRM provide a starting point for sending targeted communications. Some all-in-one CRM solutions even have email marketing capabilities so you can create campaigns, track conversion rates, and add communications-related data to your donor profiles in one place.

When communicating with donors, consider using your CRM data to:

Personalize your emails. Even if you’re sending an email to hundreds of supporters, it’s best to tailor your template to each supporter by adding personal details stored in your CRM to each message. For example, in a donor thank-you email, you could add each recipient’s preferred name to the subject line and include information about their giving history in the copy.
Recommend opportunities that interest each supporter. Data on each donor’s past engagement can let you know what areas of your mission interest them, so you can recommend additional ways to get involved that they’ll be receptive to. For example, if an animal shelter noticed that a supporter had made several in-kind donations of dog food, they could reach out to that supporter about volunteering at a dog adoption event.
Review donors’ preferred method of communication. If you notice that a donor isn’t opening any of your emails, but does respond to text messages from your organization, you could focus your communication efforts more on sending highly personalized texts.

Kwala’s guide to donor communications explains that reaching out to supporters regularly makes them feel valued. By using your CRM to balance personalization and automation in your communications, you can strengthen your relationships with donors and retain their support long-term.

3. Develop a monthly giving program.

A monthly giving program not only helps retain supporters throughout the year, but it also provides a consistent revenue stream and increased financial stability for your organization. Your CRM can be useful in planning for this program and strategizing ways to make the most of it. For example, you could:

Review your donor profiles to identify strong monthly giving candidates. The best supporters to contact about joining your monthly giving program are those who make significant contributions on a semi-regular basis. If a donor made an annual gift of $100 the past three years, they might be open to giving $10 each month instead. You’d only be asking for an extra $20 per year, and they can donate more conveniently by setting up an automatic payment.
Maximize your monthly donations through corporate philanthropy. When an employee of a company with a matching gift program signs up for monthly giving, you can reach out to them about submitting match requests to their employer. These programs allow your organization to receive additional donations each month at no additional cost to the supporter, which is why tracking employment data in your CRM matters.
Streamline payment processing. Make sure your nonprofit’s donation form and payment processor are part of an all-in-one CRM solution or at least integrate with your CRM. By transferring payment data from the donation page to your CRM automatically, you can keep donors’ information secure and build their trust in your monthly giving program.

Integrating your donation form with your CRM also helps with adjusting your suggested giving amounts and tracking matching gift revenue, making it easier for your nonprofit to run a monthly giving program over time.

4. Manage major gifts.

It’s estimated that 80% of nonprofit funding comes from the top 20% of donors. So, your nonprofit needs to dedicate extra effort to building relationships with major donors and strategically pursuing giving opportunities in order to secure these critical funds.

Your organization can leverage your CRM in several ways when soliciting major gifts, including:

Using your supporter profiles as a starting point for identifying potential major donors.
Integrating your CRM with prospect research databases to narrow down your list of candidates.
Tracking outreach efforts and opportunities throughout giving initiatives and campaigns.
Storing major gift data to help manage funding more effectively long-term.

CharityEngine’s page on major gifts software points out that automating certain aspects of securing major gifts, like identifying prospects and analyzing data, streamlines the process. Doing so leaves your organization with more time to get to know each individual donor and develop a personalized solicitation that they’ll respond to.

From creating targeted communications to encouraging monthly giving and managing major gifts, your nonprofit can leverage your CRM to overcome a variety of challenges and accomplish your goals. Do your research to find a CRM with the right list of features and customization capabilities to best serve your organization and its donors.

About the Author: Dave Martin

Dave Martin is the VP of Marketing for CharityEngine. He is a digital marketing expert with a unique combination of nonprofit and for-profit experience. Earlier in his career, Dave worked in global telecommunications marketing, product management, and product development both in the United States and Europe. Dave has a BA from the University at Buffalo, an MIA from Columbia University, and an MA from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium.