3 Simple Donor Acquisition Strategies for New Nonprofits

As a new nonprofit, your organization likely faces a saturated market with limited resources. Communicating your urgent need for donor support can be challenging without an established brand and supporter community, but with the right donor acquisition strategies, you can quickly rectify this.

Effective donor acquisition strategies involve using the right channels to share the right content — with the right audience. As a result, your nonprofit can maximize its reach and, ultimately, its ability to make an impact. In this guide, we’ll explore three simple donor acquisition strategies that your new nonprofit can easily implement to establish a strong foundation of support.

1. Use Multiple Marketing Channels

Multichannel marketing is a strategy that involves using a combination of several channels, both online and offline, to reach and interact with potential donors. By using various platforms, your new nonprofit can reach a larger audience and increase engagement with its content.

While the channels you use depend on your organization’s resources and the communication preferences of your target audience, here are three that are essential to any marketing strategy:

• Direct mail. Up to 90% of direct mail is opened (compared to 20-30% of emails), and 75% of recipients can recall the sender’s brand. This powerful channel leaves a lasting impression on potential donors and inspires donations more effectively than email. Purchase or rent prospect lists from other nonprofits as a starting point for your sending list and segment these prospects when possible to personalize your messages. 
• Social media. Alongside your direct mail campaign, post broadly on social media to engage with new audiences. Social media is highly interactive, providing an opportunity to speak directly to potential donors. Additionally, each social media platform has unique strengths that allow them to resonate with different audiences. For example, Instagram is driven by visual content, while X (formerly Twitter) is best at spreading awareness through short-form text content. 
• Your website. Your website is the centerpiece of your marketing materials because it’s the first-hand source for all information about your organization. Share the link to your website across every channel you use to encourage curious prospects to learn more. A website with compelling content and clear calls to action will convert visitors into dedicated supporters.

After choosing which channels to incorporate into your donor acquisition campaign, create an overarching marketing plan that dictates the content, timing and frequency of your communications. 

2. Create Compelling Content

Donor acquisition is more challenging than retention because your nonprofit hasn’t yet established an emotional connection with potential donors. However, content creation can inspire newcomers to support your nonprofit — if you share authentic and moving stories.

Especially if you’re a newer nonprofit, the key to boosting your donor acquisition rate through any marketing channel is telling your nonprofit’s story. Include humanizing details in your content to ensure it resonates with viewers, then explain clearly how donors could fit into your story.

Develop great content that inspires action by sharing:

• Testimonials. Build trust and credibility by providing social proof of your nonprofit’s impact through testimonials from beneficiaries, volunteers and staff members.
• Impact stories. Showcase your nonprofit’s effectiveness with genuine impact stories that detail your work as a direct result of donor support.
• Videos. High-quality videos can powerfully demonstrate your impact with inspirational visuals and audio. 
• Blogs. Write about topics relevant to your cause to educate a broad audience about your nonprofit’s mission, work and need for their support.

Make sure to clearly lay out how audience members can get involved to ensure your nonprofit acquires their support. 

For example, your nonprofit may produce a video that tells the story of your organization’s founding, complete with testimonials from board and staff members. At the end of the video, remind viewers that your nonprofit wouldn’t exist without their support. Encourage the audience to visit your donation page and contribute so your nonprofit can continue its essential work.

3. Measure Your Marketing Success

To understand what’s working and what can be improved in your donor acquisition strategy, you’ll need to measure the success of your marketing efforts. Even the most well-planned nonprofit marketing strategies need to be updated over time. This can help you stay on track to reach your goals and adjust your approach as needed. 

Key metrics to track include:

• Cost to acquire gives you insight into how effective your acquisition efforts are at securing new donors.
• Donor lifetime value (LTV) estimates the value each new donor will bring to your nonprofit.

Formulas for key donor acquisition metrics, which include the cost to acquire a donor and the donor’s lifetime value. | Credit: Meyer Partners

Pair this data with fundraising measurements to draw a correlation between your marketing and fundraising efforts. For example, let’s say a social media post encouraging users to donate by visiting your website received an especially high click-through rate. Analyze the source of your website’s traffic and the conversion rate to determine whether or not that post was successful in garnering support.

Donor acquisition is an ongoing process, but it becomes easier as your support base grows. Dedicated donors can spread the word about your mission to their personal and professional networks. As your nonprofit’s community grows, so will its potential for impact.

The preceding blog was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.