Acquisition

Acquire new donors. It's a directive that every fundraiser has heard, especially in the recent era of financial instability for nonprofit organizations and donors alike. And it was the topic of a recent DirectMarketingIQ webinar entitled "Acquiring New Donors through Direct Mail: Best practices and case studies from leading fundraisers." (Click here to access the webinar, as it's still available on-demand.)

Speakers Bob Merrigan, president of Merrigan & Co., and Michael Rooney, partner at Integrated Direct Marketing, answer a few highly relevant questions for fundraisers about acquiring new donors through direct mail.

For many nonprofits, acquisition budgets have been cut to the bone, and attrition continues to eat away at the donor file. Here are 10 mostly low-cost suggestions to build your donor and prospect list, despite the ever-shrinking budget.

The economy … well … sucks at the moment! But does that really mean nobody is giving? Nope! Fundraising is alive and well and even thriving. I have 10 tips to help you get your share of the money that's going around.

This envelope came from a local hospital with whom my husband had a two-night stand earlier in the year. It was metered with nonprofit postage, and the return address was the hospital name and "Office of Philanthropy." Since we had never donated to it, what could shout "donor acquisition" more loudly? It couldn't have been more simple, but the good copy worked.

Blaise Mercadante, chief development and marketing officer at Miami Jewish Health Systems, talks about the organization's efforts to groom the next generation of donors.

Competition is stiff — new mail solicitations arrive every day. Through the mailbox or the inbox, organizations must build a connection with their donors right from the start to begin long and fruitful relationships. Here are seven ways to improve your welcome package ... and ultimately improve retention.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

When the Southeast Texas Food Bank was incorporated in 1991, it did no fundraising whatsoever, it had two donor names (the executive director and a board member) and its budget was around $700,000. Today, it has 25,000 donor names in its database and an operating budget of $1.9 million.

Today, every fundraiser understands that direct mail can't do it all. Any campaign needs the other channels, to some extent ... and ideally on the same page. And while the closely coordinated direct-mail and e-mail campaigns are both popular and successful today, perhaps the most effective demonstration of the offline-online marriage is a personalized URL (PURL) campaign.

Fundraising professionals shared four ways to justify donor acquisition to the higher-ups during the 2011 Washington Nonprofit session "Asking Up: Making the Acquisition Justification to Your CFO/CEO/Board."