Answering the “who, what and when” for setting up audiences on your Waypoints can be a daunting task. It becomes easier once you understand the different stages of the donor engagement cycle. You’ll see the strongest success if you create specific messages for each of the five stages.

The 5 Stages of Donor Engagement



Image Placeholder

Stage 1: Visitors

These are the first time visitors to your website or those that have a very low engagement score. You know very little about them and they know very little about your organization. For this audience the goal of the Waypoint is to inspire visitors to engage further.

Waypoint Content: The content on these Waypoints should be focused on demonstrating your organization’s impact and answer the question “If there is 1 thing people should know about my organization what is it?”

Waypoint Audience: This audience should be set to show only to the bottom 10%-15% of the engagement scores. We also recommend excluding users that are already donors or email subscribers.

Stage 2: Leads

These are visitors that shown an interest in your content/organization but have not taken any action to further deepen their connection with you.

Waypoint Content: This content should be focused on getting users to take action and make an actual connection. It is a great time to offer a download resource to get email subscribers, ask them to sign a petition or attend an event. At this point the focus should be on non-donation actions.

Waypoint Audience: The audience for this should be in the 15%-50% engagement score range. They should not be current email subscribers, or current donors.

Stage 3: Contacts

Now that your website visitors have taken action and given you permission to contact them, it’s time to start educating on the opportunities to engage further with your organization.

Waypoint Content: The content for these Waypoints, should clearly demonstrate the impact your organization is having, and connect that impact to the reasons why the reader should donate or volunteer.

Waypoint Audience: This audience should be your most engaged visitors (top 50% and above most engaged), the messaging can also be tied directly to the previous actions the user has taken such as signing a petition or downloading your content. By combing engagement scores and content affinities you can create highly targeted messaging.

Stage 4: Supporters

This audience is made up of highly engaged users who have been well educated on your organization’s mission and their opportunities to further the cause. This group of people is the most likely to go from a one time show of support to a longer term partner.

Waypoint Content: These Waypoints should have content to demonstrate the impact the user has had through their support of your organization and ask them if they want to go deeper in their relationship.

Waypoint Audience: This audience should be limited exclusively to people who have made a one time donation.

Stage 5: Partners

This audience is made up of your most avid supporters. These people are the lifeblood of your organization and make it possible to keep driving your mission forward.

Waypoint Content: The content on these Waypoints needs to be all about impact and appreciation. These users are committed to working with you to further your mission and they need to know they are having an impact and you appreciate it.

Waypoint Audience: Exclusively your key partners and recurring donors.


If you have any questions about the 5 Stages of Donor Engagement, email us at customersuccess@journity.com.

- Journity Team