Your members are the reason why your organisation exists. If you want your NFP to survive, you must take steps to improve the experience that your volunteers, and donors have when they interact with your organisation. The more involved your members are, the easier it is to raise funds, achieve your mission, and create genuine, long-lasting impact in your community.

Focus on Branding Your Primary Identity

How do most people discover information about your nonprofit? While social media is getting the lion’s share of attention from brands these days, the website actually remains the primary channel that most use to learn more about a brand. Focus on using your website to build a strong primary identity for your brand.

Make your website a clearinghouse for information where individuals can learn more about your organisation and its mission and take action to join in and support your organisation.

Turn Your Supporters into Members

Use your site to start a two-way conversation about your nonprofit and increase support for your mission. Develop a members-only hub where your supporters can stay up-to-date on breaking news. Provide members with unique logins, and a directory of members.

Make visiting the site an easy way for members to learn more about upcoming events, volunteer activities and create positive change with contributions. Offer unique content and other insider information that will build your community of support and enrich their experience with your nonprofit. Encourage members to take action each time they visit your site.

Make Your Volunteers’ Experience Richer and More Rewarding

Volunteers accomplish much of the work in many nonprofits. Without them, most of the good work that organisations can accomplish would simply go undone. This work would also take more resources to achieve if it wasn’t for nonprofit volunteers.

Your organisation must look for ways to reward your volunteers so that they want to continue to participate and support your work. One step that you can take to improve your volunteer experience and increase their engagement with your nonprofit is to make the application process easier. Simplify your forms and place them online on your site.

Look for ways to offer different types of volunteering. For example, offer positions with a variety of time commitments or that vary in their requirements such as they type of skills they require. Try to provide positions where the work can be completed remotely, and online, in addition to traditional, hands-on work and in-person work. Look for ways to increase community support for your nonprofit by pairing opportunities to volunteer with third-parties such as small businesses and other organisations in your community.

Use management software to help you keep track of volunteers, their background and skills, along with their preferences and use it to match them to the types of work that best suit their experiences and preferences. Make volunteering more fun by hosting events where volunteers are recognised for their work, and, can get together and celebrate their accomplishments.

Make it easy for your volunteers to interact with your organisation, and their fellow volunteers, online. Facilitate the sharing of information and experiences on your website and social media channels. This both increases your volunteers’ connection to your NFP and encourages their contacts to join in the fun.

Encourage Your Donors

Volunteers are some of your NFP’s most important advocates, and, often become donors as well. After all, if someone cares enough about your cause to give you their time, they are likely to donate if you simply ask them to do so!

Regardless of how you recruit your donors, make it easy for all of your supporters to contribute to your cause via apps. Simplify the process on your website and make sure that it’s been optimised for mobile users and accepts mobile payments.

Encourage your donors to use social media channels to share their stories of supporting your organisation. Ask your volunteers, donors and other members to appeal to their contacts on social media to join in their support.

Facebook, for example, makes it easy for users to ask their contacts to give money to a specific charity on their birthday or other important event. Ask your supporters to consider creating a similar custom fundraising campaign on your nonprofit’s behalf. Offer public recognition for donors that share your NFP’s stories on their social media and that encourage others to donate to your cause.