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.

7 key components for donor cultivation you should be tracking

7Keys

Fund-raising has many engaging and inspiring sayings. Three that give insight into donor cultivation are:

  • People give to people.
  • You don't raise funds; you raise friends.
  • Fund-raising can be summed up in just three words - relationships, relationships, relationships.

At its heart, donor cultivation is about an organization's staff and leadership developing relationships with those capable of giving support and making them friends of the organization.

I define donor cultivation as an organization-wide strategy and process to learn more about each donor's interests, desired professional and social contacts, lifestyle, and philanthropic desires so that we can better initiate and respond to contact with a donor in order to develop a stronger relationship with that donor.

I can't stress enough how important this definition is - how important it is to the future of an organization's fund-raising efforts. Every successful fund-raising operation cultivates its donors - builds relationships with them. The most successful do it constantly and systematically.

Let's parse this 48-word statement and examine its key components. Again, the definition, this time with its key components in bold type:

Donor cultivation is an organization-wide strategy and process to learn more about each donor's interests, desired professional and social contacts, lifestyle, and philanthropic desires so that we can better initiate and respond to contact with a donor in order to develop a stronger relationship with that donor.

1.  Organization-Wide

To be successful, donor cultivation must be embraced by the entire organization. It is not just a tool to be used by the development department. In order for an organization to cultivate its donors successfully, and grow more and larger gifts, it must become donor centric. It takes the commitment and involvement of an entire organization to cultivate successfully donors.

2.  Donor Interests

The things people are interested in are important indicators of how and to what they will give.  How well do you know your larger donors? Do you know enough about each to conduct an engaging conversation about something other than your organization?  There are many bits and pieces of information you should be capturing about them:

  • How they earn their living
  • What they do for pleasure
  • What clubs they belong to
  • Who their friends are
  • What authors or subjects they read
  • Where they were born
  • Where their children go to school
  • Where they went to school

These are just a few possibilities. But I guarantee if you had this information at your fingertips each time you spoke to or contacted a donor, your connection with that donor would be stronger, your relationship greater, and the amount that donor would give to your organization would be larger.

3.  Desired Professional and Social Contacts

Nearly everyone has professional and social pursuits they wish to further. When it comes to donors capable of making large gifts, do you know what business introductions they would like to have and whom they would like to meet socially?

4.  Lifestyle

How people live can tell you a great deal about how to approach them for gifts. What do you know about the lifestyle of each of your donors?  Does he or she:

  • Inhabit a house, condo, or apartment?
  • Have more than one home?
  • Prefer to dine in or eat out?
  • Give parties and receptions?
  • Own a boat?

Once again, these are only some of the data you may want to consider collecting about donors. But imagine what you could do if you had it at your fingertips.

5.  Philanthropic Desires

How about some donor knowledge that would seem obvious - their philanthropic involvement? Different people give to different organizations for different reasons. Keeping in mind the old 80/20 rule, that 80% of your money will come from 20% of your donors, do you have answers to each of the following for the top 20% of your donors?

  • Why each gives to your organization
  • How each prefers to make a gift
  • What other organizations each gives to
  • How each wants to be recognized and thanked
  • What causes matter most to each

6.  Initiate and Respond to Contact

Our sixth key component is initiating and responding to donor contact.  You need to have contact with donors at times other than during a campaign. Organizations that focus their donor contact on periods of donor solicitation are transaction oriented. They're like the son or daughter away at college who only calls home to ask for money. Donor dialog that begins and ends with a request for a gift is a guarantee of fewer and smaller gifts. Your organization must:

  • Be willing and able to initiate conversations with donors and have a plan to do so
  • Treat any contact with a donor as the most important thing happening to the organization at that moment
  • Have a plan for responding to donor requests quickly and effectively

7.  Relationship

The last key component is relationship. Relationship is connection. We cultivate donors in order to strengthen the connection they have with our organization. The stronger that connection is, the deeper the relationship. The deeper the relationship a donor has with an organization, the more likely that donor is to make larger and more frequent gifts.

In a nutshell, Donor Cultivation is about everybody in an organization working to build the organization's relationship with each donor in the knowledge that a better relationship will result in more frequent and larger gifts.

To learn how FundRaiser Software can help you cultivate better donor relationships

Enjoy an online guided tour of the software

3 Ways of Tracking the Elusive Donor/Prospect
Ideas for an Arts Advocacy organization looking to...

Related Posts

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

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