5 Keys to Building a Resilient Donor Acquisition Program

A resilient donor acquisition strategy is essential to any fundraising program — how else would your organization build a base of loyal supporters? Unfortunately, recent research shows that donor acquisition is the top challenge nonprofits are facing in 2024.

Nonetheless, there are tried-and-true ways that nonprofits have built their acquisition programs.

During a session at the Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference, three industry experts discussed successful strategies for acquiring new donors through direct mail campaigns. Here are five takeaways.

1. Create a Testing Donor Acquisition Roadmap

As you’re working to update your direct mail campaigns to improve acquisition, you’ll need to have a plan of how you want to test. According to Jacob Geers, director of individual giving and marketing at USA for UNFPA, the process must begin with identifying the challenge you want to address.

“You can test too much; you can bite off more than you can chew,” Geers said. “You really want to have a full game plan for what your targets are when it comes to mail and development.”

2. Be Specific With Your Audience

As you’re testing, it’s also important to make sure you’re directing your donor acquisition strategies at the right people.

“Audience contributes to 60% of the success of an acquisition program,” said Nancy Eiring, senior vice president of fundraising strategies at Fuse Fundraising. “That is your rental list, your exchanges, the co-ops that you have in the mix, as well as lapsed donors and non-financial supporters.”

So, it’s good to segment your mailing list based on the campaign focus. Robin Benatti, director of philanthropy and direct response at World Food Program USA, provided the example of a campaign seeking gifts to continue America’s legacy of supporting people around the world who face food insecurity. It follows, then, that this campaign was only delivered to people who would be interested in continuing that legacy: donors who live in the United States.

Additionally, it can be helpful to consider seasonality with your campaigns. While many can be evergreen, some may do better around certain events or occasions.

3. Test Impactful Creative Elements

When developing the content of direct mail campaigns, Eiring recommended doing tests that “really move the needle.”

“Performance testing is necessary, but don't just test one element,” she said. “Don't test, [for example], a yellow envelope or a teaser. Test things that are going to drive performance — or be cost-efficient on the other side of it. Use testing responsibly.”

Further, you need to make sure that your control campaign is a success. Geers said that USA for UNFPA updated the direct mail package it uses for its control to be more visually appealing. By making sure your control is effective, you have a better benchmark to assess the success of the campaign you’re testing.

Dignity Kits

One campaign USA for UNFPA tested was a direct mail package that placed one of the services it provides front and center. The nonprofit offers Dignity Kits full of menstrual and other hygiene products to people in need, which cost $15 to build. In the campaign, USA for UNFPA highlighted that giving just $15 would provide one Dignity Kit.

“It's a very tangible offering,” Geers said. “What we found is, we took this creative test to those high-performing audiences that we knew worked well, and this test outperformed that.”

Full-Package Revamp

World Food Program USA tested three different direct mail campaigns, one of which was the American legacy package mentioned previously. For the campaigns, the organization really incorporated its main message of fighting hunger globally throughout all the pieces.

One of the campaigns, which focused on international relief, featured an outer envelope that looked like a box of food. This was one of many changes to the package, and the other two were similarly updated. According to Benatti, the redesigned campaigns all proved successful beyond projections.

World Food Program USA updated its international relief direct mail package to boost donor acquisition. | Credit: NonProfit PRO

4. Attribute Acquisitions Properly

With your direct mail acquisition program, it can be difficult to determine exactly how many donors you’re adding. This is where attribution is critical.

“Everybody is exposed to everything these days,” Eiring said. “There's more devices, more channels, more everything. And so when you look at your acquisition program, you can't just look at direct results anymore. You have to look at it in a fuller view, and doing attribution analysis is really important.”

5. Keep Testing

After conducting your test, you may think you’re done. But it can be beneficial — and even necessary — to continue your testing despite your successes.

“When the results are good, strike while the iron is hot,” Benatti said. “In my case, we've had multiple instances where results were incredible and we had some savings, and I could go to [someone on our team] and say, ‘Can we reinvest this back into the program?’ And she would say yes.”

Even if you’re happy with the results of your direct mail acquisition campaign, be open to changing things up. Eiring cautioned against “falling in love” with the ideas you come up with for testing.