Acquisition

In this episode of Fundraising Fundamentals, guests Marissa Sackler, founder of Beespace, and Becky Straw, co-founder of the Adventure Project, discuss what it takes to help a small nonprofit grow — a change that often starts with a move from a garage or basement to an actual office and establishing processes and routines.

Several small groups working together can help one another learn and grow.

One year ago this month, I wrote an article that detailed what may be one of the boldest moves by a top brand in the nonprofit industry. Today's blog is your reminder of all that went into that decision by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Why am I reminding you? Because in two weeks, I will be providing you an update on where things stand and the progress ACS has made on its goals.

Due to the incredible response we received the last time we brought together leading nonprofit experts to share their best fundraising insights, we decided to do it again! That’s right — we’ve rallied 13 nonprofit thought leaders to share their best fundraising strategies, tips and ideas with you. I have no doubt that you’ll improve your fundraising efforts and boost acquisition rates if you take the advice each of these professionals are sharing.

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.