Today I attended training on “Building Effective Boards” for non-profit boards.

Merge is a for profit company mind you, but I currently serve on a non-profit board. So I wanted to sharpen my board skillz. (Yeah, that’s with a z.)

Here was one take-a-way today: the #1 reason people give is:

They know about the organization (65%-the leading indicator by far). You might have thought the leading reason people give is because they believe in the cause, the non-profit is really efficient with donations, etc., but nope, it’s: “Does the donor know about your non-profit?”

So the strategy of non-profits is to make sure potential donors know them. And when I say “know,” I’m not talking “about” them. That donors know the organization. They know the mission, the purpose, how they run, who the people are, etc. There are many, many ways to do that. Surely part of that approach is their digital strategy, right? Most likely a newsletter + blog + online video + web site, or a combination there of assists them in this mission.

I truly hope they’re leveraging the web to help their donor base “know them” (it’s only a $300 Billion market). If not, I think they’d see donations go up if they executed such a digital strategy.

And by the way-if knowledge is key for non-profits, do you think that applies to the selling process for “for-profits?” How well does your web site allow prospects to get to know your company?