Go wide: Why multichannel matters, even for legacy giving

Not too long ago, a nonprofit could mail a year-end letter and expect most supporters to see it. Today, your donors are spread across inboxes, social feeds, websites, events, workplaces, and giving platforms. That makes fundraising harder. It also makes one principle more important than ever: your organization needs to show up in more than one place.

That goes beyond your annual appeal. It matters especially when you’re talking about endowment, legacy giving, and other long-term support. Here are four reasons to “go wide” with your communications.

Donors need to meet an idea more than once

A donor who glances at “Remember us in your will” at the bottom of a newsletter may barely register it. Then she reads a story on your website about someone who made a legacy gift. Months later, she hears your executive director mention the endowment at an event. Each encounter makes the idea feel more familiar, and familiarity is what moves people to act.

The easiest place to start is weaving legacy messages into communications you’re already sending, rather than relying only on separate planned giving campaigns. The goal isn’t to bombard donors with the same message. It’s to give them several chances to encounter the idea, in different ways and at different times.

Different channels do different jobs

Multichannel doesn’t mean copy-and-paste. Think about what each channel does best:

• Social media builds visibility and tells stories.

• Your website is where donors go when they’re ready to learn more.

• Email lets you introduce an idea and revisit it over time.

• Direct mail reaches supporters who are less engaged digitally.

• Events connect long-term giving to the mission donors see firsthand.

Two channels deserve special attention: presentations and one-on-one conversations. A talk to a civic group or supporter gathering gives you something a post can’t: time to explain where your organization is headed and why long-term financial strength matters. A personal conversation goes even further, helping you learn why someone cares and what they hope their giving will accomplish. For planned giving especially, that conversation may be the most important channel of all. The others create the awareness that makes it possible.

Where a donor gives might not be the channel that inspired the gift

Picture a donor who sees a story on social media, hears your executive director speak, reads about your endowment in an email, explores your website’s estate planning page, and finally calls a staff member with a question. Years later, a gift arrives through an IRA beneficiary designation or a bequest.

Which channel worked? Quite possibly, all of them.

The same is true of current gifts. A donor might learn about you in one place and give through your website, a check, a donor-advised fund, or a giving platform. The channel that processes the gift isn’t necessarily the one that inspired it, so judging every communication by immediate clicks or dollars can lead you astray. Some messages build familiarity, some build trust, and some plant ideas that won’t pay off for years.

Giving platforms are a channel, not a strategy

Third-party giving platforms can put your organization in front of new people and make giving easy. But presence isn’t a strategy.

In spring 2026, Candid surveyed more than 6,000 nonprofits about these platforms. They accounted for an average of 17% of revenue, but the median was only 8%. Nearly one-quarter of respondents reported no platform revenue at all, while about 8% relied on platforms for most of their revenue. Results varied widely.

A giving platform is not an ATM. A profile, whether you created it or someone else did, doesn’t guarantee dollars. Platforms can make you easier to find and easier to support, but donors still need a reason to choose you.

It’s also worth checking what platforms are saying about you. Many nonprofits in Candid’s survey reported profiles created without their consent, sometimes with incorrect or outdated information. Search for your organization on the platforms donors use, correct anything that’s wrong, and keep your own listings current. Because some platforms draw on data from Candid, keeping your Candid profile up to date can help too.

The same goes for Kitsap Great Give. When you register (January 1 to 19 at KitsapGreatGive.org), treat your profile like a front door: fresh photos, a current story, and a clear reason to give. Then use your other channels to send people there on Tuesday, March 9, 2027.

One story, many chances to hear it

Going multichannel doesn’t mean communicating more for its own sake. You don’t need to be on every platform, host more events, or mail your whole database. Start with a clear story: What problem are you addressing? Why does it matter? What are you accomplishing? Where are you headed? How can donors be part of that future?

Then tell it consistently, where your donors actually are, and make sure long-term giving is part of it. Let social media point to your website, and your website explain the ways to give. Let email introduce endowment and legacy options from time to time, and let events and presentations connect today’s work to your future. Then use personal conversations to get to know the people who care most.

You don’t need every donor to respond every time. You need them to know these options exist when the moment is right for them. A donor can’t consider an endowment gift, or name you in an estate plan, if she never learns it’s possible. Consistent communication across channels keeps those possibilities from becoming your organization’s best-kept secret.

Need help telling your endowment or legacy giving story? Our team is happy to be a sounding board, and if your organization has an endowment fund at Kitsap Community Foundation, we’d love to help you share what it makes possible.