Finding new donors
Here’s an interesting comment from a webinar attendee who came to nonprofits from the business world:
“ I think something else I learned from newspaper marketing eons ago applies to nonprofit fundraising - the concept of “churn.” You have to keep replenishing the mix because you’re always losing subscribers (contributors) so sustaining a level (or gaining) requires a consistent, ongoing effort.”
She’s right, nonprofits need to continually add to our mix by introducing new people to our work. About 20% of the population moves each year, so your donors may move someplace warmer or closer to their family. Other times, donors find another cause, or they retire, or they worry about their assets diminishing, or they die (and you didn’t ask them for a bequest).
We lose people, but even if we didn’t, you would still need to add new donors, because your organization probably needs to grow. Unless you can say you’re meeting the needs of everyone you wish to serve, and that you’re doing everything you should be doing, you probably need more money. So adding donors makes sense.
What are you doing to add more donors? I recommend the following:
Get a baseline of the number of donors you have now. How many people gave money to you in the last 12 months? The last three years? Without a baseline, you can’t set goals to grow.
Then, work with your board to set some numerical goals. For example, if you hold a monthly open-house to showcase what you do, have a goal of ten attendees per month for the next twelve months. That puts prospective donors in your pipeline, but also prospective volunteers and clients. (And if you don’t put on a monthly open house, you should consider doing so, and develop a compelling presentation about what you do.)
Another numerical goal I would recommend is that your board take on the task of adding 200 new donors in the next year. It’s a attainable goal for most boards: they can have small house parties and invite their friends, or meet with people one-on-one, or invite them to your open houses, or write them a letter, or invite them by email to an online site, or invite them to a special event. There are a number of ways they can add people, and some people will even become competitive about it. Adding 200 new donors makes a big difference for a lot of organizations, and setting this goal helps the board see how their efforts make a difference.
It’s well known that writing down your goals makes a big difference in whether you achieve them; I hope you’ll take a few minutes now to write down your goal for adding new donors in the next twelve months.
If you have questions about fundraising, please write me, Katherine Wertheim, CFRE, at katherine@werth-it.com.