Engage, Then Ask

3. Make the connection between women who volunteer for or are otherwise active in your organization and their giving potential. Even if you don’t have a women’s alliance, you do have a database. How do you list your donors? Who pays attention to the name on the check? Who follows up with the consistent annual women donors in the $100 to $250 range? Take the time to identify 100 in that group, assess their capacity, invite them to learn more about your organization and engage them. For example, a Midwest nonprofit hired a consultant to develop a planned-giving program. In analyzing the database, the consultant found 500 women donors over the age of 50 who had made annual gifts for three or more years. Within two years that nonprofit raised $6 million in planned gifts and pledges.