Seven Ways to Energize and Engage Your Supporters

Okay - so you're asking folks for donations. But are you also asking them to get actively involved? Here are seven ways you can invite them to participate:

• Ask them for feedback. Send out a survey, soliciting suggestions about your programs and services. Invite comments through an organizational blog. Hold an open public forum. Have personal meetings with key donors and stakeholders. Thank them for their feedback, incorporate ideas that make sense (asking them to help out as you do so!), and quietly discard those completely off-the-wall suggestions.
• Get them to follow you on social media. Include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat - wherever your organization has a presence. And be sure to ask them to share your posts with their networks.
• Ask them to take an action. Right now, people really want to feel they are doing something to make a difference. Ask them to sign a petition, forward an email, and/or make a phone call about an important issue that is consonant with your mission. If you're an arts organization, ask them to support funding for the NEA. If you serve kids, ask them to support funding for afterschool programs. If yours is an environmental agency or you work with immigrants, there are so many bills out there to oppose. And everyone can be urging Members of Congress to uphold the Johnson Amendment.
• Invite them to volunteer. Are you publicizing volunteer opportunities on your website and enewsletters? If not, start now. Take the time to brainstorm ways you can incorporate volunteers. This could be assisting with senior programs, making phone calls, maintaining your outdoor space, selling refreshments at an event. Schedule an annual volunteer day with lunch provided, and take photos to post on your website.
• Solicit their expertise. Do you need some advice about personnel issues? Help proofreading? Someone with technical know-how who can evaluate your website? The answers to a couple of quick legal questions? There are lots of retired folks out there who are happy to help nonprofits; you just have to ask.
• Ask them to join a committee. One of the best ways to get folks involved is through an ad hoc committee - one with a specific focus and a short time frame. Could be a fundraising campaign, brainstorming about programs, or a review of your policy manual.
• Invite them join your board. Everyone who volunteers time and expertise is a potential new board member. Keep a list, stay in touch, and if they are the right fit, ask them to join.

Volunteering is fun - it makes people feel good. And volunteers are more likely to make charitable gifts, because they feel personally invested. Plus you're broadening your networks, lightening your staff load, and strengthening your organizational capacity. It's a win-win.