Top Fundraising Strategy to Raise More Money in the Coming Year

By Gail Perry

Today I am sharing the No. 1 fundraising strategy that you need to implement for 2015-16—where the easy money is for your wonderful nonprofit:

Build up your donor loyalty

This is how you can create and nurture a whole cadre—an entire bandwagon, even—of raving fans and donors who just love your organization and would do anything in the world for you.

Wow. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that kind of rabid base of supporters? Bet you could change the world a lot faster if you had donors like that!

Donor retention is your place of greatest fundraising opportunity

Why is building donor loyalty such a profitable strategy? Because it’s one of the most cost-effective fundraising strategies around. And it’s simple. It’s easy. It’s even fun—because it focuses on cheerfully connecting with your donors instead of asking for money all the time.

If you spent time and energy on your wonderful donors, if you could show them such a totally lovely experience, then they would brag about you, spread the word, jump on your bandwagon, and even bring their friends to your cause.

They would love giving you money over and over, too. Then you would not have to emphasize the ask so much.

This is a sea-change shift in your fundraising philosophy and strategy

It’s a huge deal. Renewing donors is the easy part of fundraising. We all know that it’s much, much easier to get a current donor to renew than it is to secure a brand new donor. #fundraisingnobrainer!

But, alas, we are failing to renew our very special, fabulous, generous current donors! And, because of our sloppy attempts to communicate and thank them, they are abandoning us. Our donors are slipping away, like the proverbial leaky bucket.

Across the nonprofit sector, nearly six out of 10 donors do not give again in the next year. Yuck. So build up your donor loyalty if you want to gain not only funding, but also die-hard supporters who will stick with you for the long run.

More simple strategies that will bring in the money this year

I’m sharing an entire list of the top 10 strategies to raise more money in 2015-16 next week in a webinar on Tuesday, June 16. If you really want to find out exactly what to do—and what to skip—to dramatically raise more money, join me!

Join me to learn where to focus, what to tweak, and what to add, so you can raise the most money possible for your cause right now. We’re looking at everything from events to mailings to your board, your staff, your message and everything in between. And, yup, it will be recorded!

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Gail Perry Author's page Gail believes in parties first, rabble-rousing second, and having fun while changing the world. Gail Perry CFRE is an international fundraising coach, speaker, trainer and thought-leader. She is a leader in a new breed of fundraisers who are on the cutting edge of fundraising today. Her Fired-Up Fundraising approach, developed over the past 25 years as a nonprofit philanthropy expert, has helped organizations raise hundreds of millions in gifts. Gail's practical and refreshing approach to raising money in today's world is based on the very latest innovative fundraising strategies. An inspirational and popular speaker, she leads energizing fundraising workshops and board retreats around the globe. She particularly enjoys working with nonprofit board members, introducing them to a new perspective on fundraising and ways they can be successful at it. Gail's book, Fired-Up Fundraising, has been called the "gold standard guide to building successful fundraising boards." Gail got her start in fundraising at Duke University, and then went on to lead fundraising at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can read Gail's weekly blogs at FiredUpFundraising.com, and also find her provocative articles at FundraisingSuccess, Guidestar, and Capital Campaign Magic.