4 Principles to Find and Engage Donors in Relational Fundraising

In some nonprofits, there is always a never-ending search for donors, which is like a mythical snipe hunt. In that ongoing search, the big donor for most nonprofits is tantalizingly out of reach. There's a reason for this. It's because fundraisers don't realize that donors aren't mythical creatures. They're also not all billionaires or millionaires.

One of the biggest lessons I've learned through three decades of fundraising is that donors are you and me. Donors are nonprofit partners. If you look at them as anything else, it's a significant misstep. In other words, you have to do the work of prospecting and building meaningful relationships that incentivize donors to support a particular cause.

I want to share four principles that should illuminate the fundraising path and engage donors in relational fundraising. These principles come from raising hundreds of millions of dollars and having had more than 4,000 major gift asks.

1. The Element of Time

First, it's essential to think of the idea of finding donors as a marathon and not a sprint. Immediate results are a mirage. Meaningful relationships require patience, persistence and the awareness that every cultivation activity is a step toward a partnership. 

Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. In a time when patience is low, and everything seems to be on demand, the worst thing a nonprofit board or fundraiser can believe is that donors are just going to show up. Further, money will come flowing into the organization with a turn of the donor switch. 

2. Donors Are Us

The golden rule in fundraising — and in life — is to treat others as you want to be treated. Funders and board leaders should remember this value when it comes to donors. Recently, a staff member at a Christian nonprofit asked me if it would be appropriate to call donors on Good Friday. My reply as a devout Christian was simple, “How would you, as a member of this faith community, react to getting a fundraising call on Good Friday?” In short, we have to have empathy and understanding of donors.

3. The Systematized Approach

While technology has transformed fundraising, the importance of strategy and structure remains the same. Old-school fundraising looking for suspects, prospects, and donors may seem, well, dated, but it underscores an essential point. It's important to think of everyone in the sphere of influence of the nonprofit and its top leaders. In other words, simply relying on what artificial intelligence (AI) tools can sift through isn’t going to give you what you need. Technology needs humans and a more personalized tech and human approach to donor prospecting. 

4. Unearthing the Hidden Gems

Finally, it's essential to look beyond the obvious. As I mentioned, what nonprofits need from donors is not found in AI and technology exclusively. I volunteer my time as an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame. As alumni, we decided to identify and mobilize class leaders in class years where we saw no leaders for a specific project. In short, there are latent opportunities within any organizational network, but they might not be evident at first. Most nonprofits have donor relationships and potential within dormant connections. 

The journey to finding donors is one that continues to be filled with myths and misconceptions. Thinking that donors are just going to give to a nonprofit or that you don't have to do a lot of groundwork is a fool's errand. In reality, donor prospecting is a path where patience, empathy, structure, and an eye for what's hiding in plain sight come in handy. The fact is that nonprofits don't need idealized billionaires or millionaires to make an impact. All leaders and fundraisers have to do is look at themselves in the mirror and others in the community.

In other words, we can all be donors and philanthropists. As fundraisers, we just have to tap into that awareness that great things can come from anyone, especially when we come together as a community. So, next time you're searching for a snipe in a donor hunt, stop. Realize what you're doing. You're on a mythical search for a donor in your mind — or that of your leadership — that likely doesn't exist. Then, look around you, and if you need to, go old school and start with who could be your donor suspects. Let's get back to basics!

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.