Acquire Donors With a Tailwind

A dependable revenue stream that grows—ah, paradise!

Have a fundraising challenge you want to crack? Weary of doing the same old, same old yet hoping for different outcomes? Do you want the over-the-top results that come from superior strategy?

Email me with your particular problem and I’ll arrange a quick consultation offering you a practical solution you can implement. I may even use your situation to share with my readers. Names are changed, of course!

I had the opportunity to speak with the marketing director of a federated health-related charity in Australia last week. Claire reached out to me to ask about jumpstarting donor acquisition in her organization.

I’m still a little in awe of speaking with someone 12,000 miles away and 18 hours advanced in time.

Claire told me of recent changes in her national organization. A number of individual local chapters—all with the same mission and charge—were recently combined in a federated arrangement under a national umbrella. We have several federations here in the States. The American Red Cross immediately comes to mind.

What was top-of-mind for Claire was the very small donor base and resultant donor fatigue that the individual chapters—and now national organization—are experiencing.

How to acquire new donors in the new governance structure? I first told Claire that the donor acquisition need predates the national structure.

Second, I drew her attention to three of The Eight Principles™. Principle 1 is Donors are the Drivers®. Donors drive philanthropy through their visions and values. Any fundraiser that consciously or unconsciously disregards this is headed for a fall. Period.

Once you internalize that donors are truly in the driver’s seat, Principle 7 Renew & Refresh™ comes to the fore. For philanthropic revenue to be sustainable and scale, we must renew our current investors at the highest possible rate (always less than 100 percent, but certainly much higher than the current, overall abysmal rate of 40 percent) and we must refresh our body of supporters by acquiring new ones.

This is the challenge that Claire is facing. Claire's organization has a natural appeal and case to make, but it’s an “open” nonprofit. That simply means that there isn’t a built-in constituency, such as an alumni or membership base, from which to draw.