Donor Persona Worksheet [Free Download]
Gain Insights by Documenting Your Ideal Donor
I have a confession to make. For years, I worked in the Communications departments of nonprofits in Washington, DC with very little knowledge of who our donors were.
Part of that had to do with the fact that Communications and Fundraising are sometimes siloed. In my roles, I mainly met the daily needs of the executive and programs teams, while my Fundraising colleagues focused on boards, alumni, and corporations.
Thankfully, Fundraising and Communications teams are working together more and more. And one of the benefits of that is the ability to leverage donor data and personas.
Use Donor Data and Personas to Refine Outreach
If your database is well-maintained, then you can zero in on who exactly is your primary and secondary donors. Are they female or male? Age 63 or 33? Do they prefer to give by check or online? What kind of stories inspire them to give?
Having this information documented makes it much easier to create communications tools in the right channels that touch your donors’ hearts and spur greater giving.
But let’s face it, you don’t always have the data you need to act – at least right now. In that case, I recommend developing and testing a donor persona.
A persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal donor. It helps you visualize and profile them so that you can write donation letters that feel like a 1-to-1 conversation with that person only.
Common attributes in a donor persona include:
Name
Tagline
Background
Demographics
Interests
Goals
Challenges
Common Objections to Giving
Preferred Media
Want to see an example of a donor persona and start working on yours? Download our Donor Personal Worksheet now.
Once your persona is complete, test it for a complete year of your donor communications. Then use what you learn to refine your personas over time.
Soon, you won’t have to guess anymore who your donor is. And you’ll know exactly how – and when – to inspire them to deepen their investment in your nonprofit.
