FundRaiser Blog

The FundRaiser Software Blog is an excellent resource for nonprofit organizations looking to learn more about fundraising, donor management, membership management, and much more.

How Often Should We Be Asking?

The most essential factor is persistence-- the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by discouragement that must inevitably  come.

Dear Kim,

How often should you try to get someone who gave your organization money once to give again?

~Persistence and Pestering: Where is the Line?

Dear Persistence,

The sad fact that has to be taken into account when building a donor program is that most people who give once will not give again. The percentage of people who give a second gift varies from 25-40%. (This is called your “conversion rate” and is an important metric to track.)

In deciding how often to ask a person for a second gift before letting that name go, look at the source of the first gift. For example, if the gift came through a houseparty, ask the hosts to make a note beside people they think probably gave just to be nice. Solicit those people twice at the most. Many of us are on the receiving end of requests from organizations we supported because we wanted to help a friend, and we feel badly when it seems that the organization is spending more money asking us over and over than we gave in the first place.  

If the gift came through online or direct mail, you have to see each donor as part of a segment. Let’s say you acquired 500 new donors last year and 200 of them have given a second gift. You would appeal to the 300 who haven’t as long as you got a higher percent of response from that list than you would get if you went out to 300 new people. This could be asking twice or three times or five times depending on how the list performs.

After trying a few times (more than once, less than five times), consider calling the donor if you have a phone number. Sometimes people don’t give again because they moved and didn’t get your mail, or because your appeal always winds up in their spam filter. But at a certain point, you will need to write a “is it all over between us” letter which asks the donor to let you know if they want to stay on your list or would rather be taken off.

Keeping your list clean is critically important. With email, a list that is full of people who don’t care about your organization doesn’t cost you more money, but can still be misleading in terms of figuring out how much support you really have. You don’t want to spend money and time on people who are not interested in your work and may resent being asked over and over. Make the focus of your work with donors on donors who give over and over, and who give more and more.

Good luck,

Kim Klein

Originally published in the Grassroots FundRaising Journal. FundRaiser users can subscribe at a special rate of $30/year by entering is "$30" in the coupon code field on the second page of the subscription process.

To learn more about how FundRaiser can help with understanding giving patterns of donors:

Take an online guided tour of FundRaiser and learn about the features in FundRaiser for tracking metrics like Gift Source.

 

Communicating in the Shadow of Disaster – Practica...
Sales Cycles and Spares

Related Posts

Wait a minute, while we are rendering the calendar
tribute gifts campaign phoning donors Codes NCOA processing letter templates Groupings new version letter reports event management holiday case study importing csv appeal letters change of address updating nonprofit fundraising look and feel Volunteer module small donations mailing data analysis donor targeting Company culture password protection product news campaign management annual campaign Reminders adding personal notes to letters Importing Data happiness how to handle auction gifts Constant Contact Network for Good arts overview operational costs support banquet training tip giving levels Alternative Addresses vacation Facebook major donors fundraising letters Excel LYBUNTS add ons corporate sponsors appeal Thank You upgrade pledges online donations community arts nonprofits new leadership alumni holiday giving merge fields #GivingTuesday Facebook campaign entering auction gifts donor preferences donor source on site training announcements FundRaiser Basic Tickles mission driven National Change of Address donor attrition rate Resiliency merge notes targeted mailings membersip benefits brick campaign customer portal recurring gifts mode code relationship tracking ROI gift entry holiday letters publicity materials spreadsheets donor loyalty Crowdfunding Campaign GivingTuesday Cloud pictures new features motivation code donor relations segmenting donors personalizing letters prospects Congratulations volunteers customer service welcome packet lapsed donor PayPal disaster relief donor prospects flash sales Task List premiums development director gift acceptance policy thank you letters membership benefits backing up data auction community broadcasting gift notes field SYBUNTS correspondance passwords planning GoFundMe project ticket sales user interface major gift prospects role of nonprofits donor attrition Personalizing upgrading donors new nonprofit animal rescue membership programs direct mail updates new donors training anonymous donors features government grants tech tip communications donor contact information moves management Snow Birds donor engagement online donations custom page general Thanksgiving Donor Portal large donations donor retention advanced tab correspondence capital campaign technical support repeat donors board members annual maintenance plan follow up foundations donor profile texting donors grants donor recognition spare fields fundraising donor advised funds security In-Kind gifts grassroots campaign user spotlights increasing giving amounts raffle ticketsales operating systems community supported gardens office building donor relationships memorial giving legacy giving in honor of donations tax summary letters budget solicitors donor slip transparency motivation endowment campaign email FundRaiser Hosted data conversion donation history volunteering FundRaiser Spark planned giving accounting software salutation donor retention rate how-to videos monthly giving New Year Reporting to IRS understanding giving trends End of Year Letters social media data entry donor the Ask giving history charity golf tournaments word processor

Connect With Us

  800-880-3454 ext 3
  Email Us
  Request More Information
  Monday-Friday
      8:30AM-5:30PM CST

Customer Portal Login Form

User Name:
Password:

If you are not sure about your Customer User Name, please call 800-543-4131 and we will be able to help you.

Or you have lost your password, Request Password