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.

Small, Local Groups Struggling to Keep Donors

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Dear Kim,

I work in an arts program that serves very poor public schools in a very poor state. Without us, 2nd -5th graders in public schools in our area would have NO arts program at all. We have no government funding and little foundation funding. We have built a base of donors and we squeeze every nickel. This year I am so discouraged by the number of donors who have said they are cutting back their giving so they can give to the ACLU or Planned Parenthood. For the record, I totally support those organizations and what they do, but how can I keep our donors? What we do is still important.

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Creating Value with Non-Ask Events

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Most of the time organizations offer donors reciprocated value. They send thank you notes in response to donations, preprinted labels in the hopes of receiving a donation, tickets when purchased, or other tangible things received either in response to or in anticipation of a donation. This isn’t bad, but it’s very reactive. It assumes the organization has a quid pro quo relationship with its donors.

To start thinking proactively, it’s important to work on non-reciprocated value. This is something that you can offer to your donors for free without asking for a donation or any other consideration. When it holds real value for them, it becomes memorable.

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Ways To Keep In Touch With Your Donors

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In previous blogs we’ve spoken about reaching out to donors and how many times and how often you should contact them. However, it’s important to think about ways to keep in touch. With so many communications options available to your organization, start thinking about moving beyond mailed letters or even emails into different ways to reach out.

One of the important things to keep in mind is that with today’s busy lifestyles, it’s vital to meet your donors where they are. This may mean moving to virtual communication or even using letters (or cards/postcards) sent through the mail for a special touch. Though social media outreach can have pitfalls and requires tending, it is a viable way to communicate with potential donors as well as your existing ones and with the ability for people to share your posts, they can go quickly viral and bring new people to your cause as well.

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How Often Should You Communicate with Donors?

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When your organization receives a gift, you send a thank you letter. Perhaps the donor has requested to be subscribed to your newsletter, which is sent maybe once a quarter. Other than that, do you reach out to your donors? Are you afraid you’re talking to them too much?

It’s a fine balance between too much outreach and not enough. On one hand, you don’t want your donors to forget about you, and it happens in even those with the best of intentions. People’s lives are busy. In the hustle and bustle of juggling jobs and family along with everything else, something as simple as sending a check slips through the cracks.

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Two Ways to Entice Lapsed Donors With Your Letters

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Now that the busy holiday giving season, as well as end of the year tax letters are completed, it’s time to look at ways to bring donors back who perhaps missed out on giving during the past year (or longer). Even if your organization doesn’t consider a donor lapsed until they haven’t given for a much longer time frame than 12 months, it doesn’t hurt to put some enticements into your letters to bring these donors back.

Once you’ve identified your lapsed donors, it’s time to contact them. A primary reason why organizations may not reach out to lapsed donors is an uncertainty about what to say. There are two things that you can do to help entice these donors to return to your organization.

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Looking Deeper Into the Donor Period Comparison Report

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The Donor Period Comparison Report (available on FundRaiser Select and Professional) provides a powerful way to receive an overview of your donors’ giving over several set time periods. From monthly to quarterly, semi-annually, or yearly, this report allows you to see a list of all your donors (or just a selection) and the totals of their giving for each period. In one glance you can chart trends, view donors who haven’t given and even see percentage and dollar amounts of the increase or decrease in giving.

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3 Ways To Target Your Giving Tuesday Donors

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As we draw closer to Giving Tuesday, you may be thinking about how to make highly targeted appeals to your donors based on information like their giving history or other factors. Luckily, FundRaiser software makes it easy for you to select groups of donors and then send them correspondence based on your selections. Let’s look at three different ways you can target your Giving Tuesday prospective donors.

Based on past giving

A motivation code tracks what motivated your donors to give a specific gift. This could be an appeal letter, a campaign, an event, or the fact that they gave to Giving Tuesday last year. Perhaps you want to reach out to donors who haven’t yet given this year or ones who have lapsed. Use your criteria to target your communication directly to these donors.

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

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