Acquisition

Fundraising is all about relationships — but what do you do if your organization is so new, or so grant-focused, that you don’t have any relationships with individuals who might become donors? In other words: How do you get individual donors for the first time?

Fortunately, the answer for how to get first-time individual donors is simple!

Start with your board and staff members. Why? Because they (and you) already have relationships with individuals, including individuals who might be interested in making a gift to help your nonprofit achieve its mission.

So we’re all on the donor retention bandwagon, right? Treat your donors well; use their personal information to show that you know what interests them; thank them promptly and frequently; describe the impactful results of their support, etc. But what about the acquisition variable in the retention equation?

While the above techniques are important, they all happen after the donor comes in the door — but retention potential comes into play long before that moment. And if donors don’t join your organization for the right reasons, then no amount of engagement and retention activities will keep them on board.

See how MSPCA-Angell uses direct-mail fundraising to retain donors and how the League of Women Voters uses direct-mail fundraising for acquiring new supporters.

How the right data can help you look beyond the numbers and figure out how and why donors connect — and stay — with you.

What do all sustainable fundraising strategies have in common? Diversity. In other words, yes, that old adage about not putting too many eggs in one basket applies to the nonprofit sector. You never want to depend on a limited number of sources for all of your funding, for a variety of reasons. At its core, diverse fundraising is really about your nonprofit's long-term resiliency, and we've seen many organizations take on the challenge of rethinking or expanding how they raise money, usually aming to reach more individual donors.

Social proof is the concept that a person will follow suit the thoughts and actions already validated by others. On the Internet, marketers have looked to social poof as a measurement of a product or company’s value of credibility. Simply put, people care about what others think and recommend. Nonprofit organizations can leverage social proof to attract new donors and recruit a fresh cohort of supporters.
 
Here are a few ways you can increase the visibility of your organization’s social proof to harness its power in garnering new support for your organization.

Here are three ways to make sure your fundraising appeal stays on-message for maximum impact and response.

The DMA Nonprofit Federation's 2011 Washington Nonprofit Conference wrapped up day one with Jennifer Bielat, vice president of direct marketing at Easter Seals, joining four other fundraising professionals to present "30 Ideas for Fundraising Success in 2011 and Beyond." Here are ideas 11-20 (view the first 10 here):

The 2011 Washington Nonprofit Conference wrapped up day one with Jennifer Bielat, vice president of direct marketing at Easter Seals, joining four other fundraising professionals to present "30 Ideas for Fundraising Success in 2011 and Beyond." Here are the first 10.

At the sixth annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing and Fundraising Conference back in 2011, Brad Sisley, chief operating officer at the Coast Guard Foundation, and Andrew Laudano, vice president of fundraising at LW Robbins, shared "11 Proven Strategies to Jump-Start a Small Fundraising Program."