The Simple 7-Step Donor Acquisition Checklist
Can you believe it? It’s already the end of the year when Father Time shuffles off the calendar and Baby New Year waddles in.
After the bookkeeper tallies the end-of-the-year donations, every nonprofit president, director, and marketing manager has the same thought — how to engage new donors!
A new year brings exciting opportunities to engage donors. But make sure you’re following the proper steps. Use this checklist to begin engaging donors.
“We need to value donors as much as we need value from them.”
Your Donor Acquisition Checklist:
Step 1. Track Previous Ministry Fundraising
It’s impossible to determine your next step until you see where you’ve been. Take an in-depth look at last year’s overall fundraising efforts. What campaigns and events were successful? Which ones would you say, “Nope, we’re never doing that again”?
You need a solid donor acquisition strategy for next year. Research what attracted the attention of existing and new doors. What ideas inspired donors to give?
Use your fundraising software, like Attendance, to measure the engagement level of each event. Analyze carefully what is working and what isn’t. It will be easy to see what type of events have the best attendance, the highest revenue, and the best rate of acquiring new donors.
Calculate your donor acquisition costs, and consider the direct and indirect expenses it took to acquire them. You need data-driven fundraising, not “let’s try this and see what happens.”
Donor Acquisition Rate:
The acquisition rate is the number of donors who donated for the first time by the total number of donors over a specific period (month, quarter, year, etc.).
Donor Acquisition Cost:
Donor acquisition cost = Total cost/Number of new donors acquired
To successfully acquire new donors, set donor acquisition goals for the coming year. What amount do you need to achieve your overall goal and stay on track with your mission and vision?
Based on last year’s numbers, how many additional donors do you need to get the results you’re looking for? Your action plan should include segmentation, marketing strategy, relationship building, and data management.
FundEasy creates software that makes events and fundraising simple for nonprofits.
Step 2. Understand Your Donors
By far, the number one age group making the lion’s share of donations today is Baby Boomers. These folks range in age from 58 to 76. However, many have already retired and find themselves living on a fixed income. As a result, their ability to donate is becoming limited.
It’s vital to begin courting the younger generations. Learn as much as possible about your typical donor. Where do they live? What’s their average age?
Use a survey to ask about their education level, employment status, or income. FundEasy’s nonprofit fundraising software integrates with Zapier. Through Zapier, you can create surveys using Alchemer. It’s the perfect survey software to provide excellent donor feedback.
It’s imperative to get good response rates when sending out a survey. Boost your response rate by timing the survey correctly. For instance, when a new donor makes a gift, thank them and include a survey that asks a little more about them.
Reward current donors with a discounted ticket to the next event or a t-shirt for responding to your survey. Don’t bombard survey-takers with too many questions, and make your surveys as donor-centric as possible.
Use surveys to also learn about the psychographics of your donors. Psychographics studies a donor’s attitudes, beliefs, values, interests, and personality. Learning about your donor's values helps to create an emotional appeal for your marketing message.
3. Segment Your Donors
You'll want to segment new donors for a more targeted outreach. The best way to create a meaningful connection is to classify them.
For email purposes, label prospects based on some of the following characteristics:
Physical location
Specific social media platforms
How you acquired their name (i.e., website, referral, blog signup, etc.)
Age
For existing donors, consider grouping them according to these categories:
How you originally acquired their information
The size of their donation
How often they engage with you
How often they donate
Their preferred method of giving
Once again, you can use Zapier to integrate FundEasy’s nonprofit fundraising software with Constant Contact, Mailchimp, and Gmail. Create lists with specific guidelines, and the email service you choose automatically adds the names and email addresses of donors and prospects to them.
4. Engage Donors With an Optimized Website and Interesting Content
There are many ways to engage donors and prospects. One of your best tools is an effective, optimized website. Optimization means users easily view your website on a mobile device.
Research shows 59.5% of internet users view websites on their mobile devices.
To make your nonprofit’s website more effective, consider the following:
The look and content should follow your nonprofit’s branding
Make the user experience (UX) easy to navigate
Use compelling Calls-to-Action (CTAs) to drive donations
Gain recognition as an authority in your field by blogging
Drive traffic with effective keyword research for higher ranking
Create a dedicated donation page featuring a donate button
Add additional industry credibility to your site where possible
Add a signup form for volunteer opportunities
Be sure to prioritize security for the donor’s peace of mind. They need to know you are ensuring the safety of their data and have taken the necessary steps to protect them. Learn more in “How Important is a Nonprofit’s Website?”
Use blogs to report news about your organization, such as service updates, notable highlights or milestones, exceptional employees or volunteers, and memorable stories of people you’ve helped.
Blogging drives traffic and reaches prospective donors looking for information about your ministry. When your blog features success stories, donors are more likely to give, and when you confront your nonprofit's issues, they feel aligned with your purpose.
Attendance is complete event management for in-person and virtual events.
5. Create an Event Calendar
Events are the oil that keeps your nonprofit running smoothly. Managing events can be a nonprofit’s nightmare. To do them effectively, you need reliable fundraiser event software.
With our Attendance software program, you can professionally manage your banquets, galas, golf tournaments, 5ks, conferences, and more.
Attendance provides the following:
Mobile-friendly Event Web Pages
Add an event schedule, maps, and information for social sharing.Customized Registration Forms
It’s the perfect way to collect the specific event information you need, such as names, email addresses, seat requests, and meal choices. Manage both online and offline registrations.Build a Diagram of Your Venue
Build a diagram of your table layout and auto-fill names with our Table Chart Wizard. Let table hosts use our Guest List Manager to register their guests and add contact information, meal choices, etc., on their own.Branded Email Invitations
Send professional emails to your entire donor list at once or invite prospects one at a time.Name Tags
Automatically print name tags and mailing labels.Check-In
Check in guests, record no-shows, register walk-ins, and fill open seats faster without wifi.Integrations
FundEasy connects with various products you use every day.Payment Confirmation
For ticketed events, see which guests have paid online and easily record checks or cash payments.Automated Confirmation Emails
Send confirmations, reminders, thank yous, and follow-ups to any group, including canceled guests.Reporting
You can view, print, or export pre-designed or customized reports. These reports are perfect for future goal-setting when you track fundraising success.
You can conveniently use Attendance for your hybrid fundraising events too. In-person combined with virtual events run smoothly and efficiently with Attendance.
Peer-to-Peer is powerful software that equips others to fundraise on your behalf
6. Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Do you know your donor’s favorite social media platform? Which platform appeals to your potential donors? You can’t gain their attention when you don’t know where they are socially.
You need to reach donors and potential donors year-round, not just at event time. Get your donors and prospects more involved by having them follow you on social media.
Generate regular content, including videos on at least two social media platforms. Boomers still favor Facebook, while younger generations prefer Instagram.
FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer fundraising software is perfect for getting donors to fundraise for you. Read more about peer-to-peer in “Team Fundraising vs. Individual Fundraising.”
Peer-to-Peer provides the following:
Branded Messaging
Invite your donors to fundraise for you. They register for your event and create their own fundraising pages using your branding. They can add photos, videos, and updates, but the overall look remains the same for everyone participating.Built-In Social Sharing
It’s quick and easy for participants to spread the word and invite donations.Integrations
Connect FundEasy to products you use every day.Immediate Deposits
Direct donated funds to your bank account immediately.Animated Fund-Meter
Every donation fills the thermometer a little higher. Donors see the real-time impact of each donation as they give.Online & Offline Donation Tracking
Participants can accept easy online giving offering automatic receipts. Record offline donations, so fundraising totals are always accurate.Leaderboard
Encourage competition with real-time tracking on a leaderboard.Customized Registration Forms
Get real-time registration data, including customized information such as t-shirt sizes.Reporting
Capture participant data online and import it into your donor management system. Create customized reports for in-depth analysis and quick and easy settlement reports.Processing Fees
Allow donors to cover processing fees so 100% of their gift goes to your organization.
Crowdfunding is project funding made simple.
FundEasy also offers Crowdfunding for nonprofits. Crowdfunding is the practice of raising small amounts of money from a large number of people. Typically done online, this type of fundraising taps into the power of many. Read “How You Can Raise Money Via Crowdfunding.”
FundEasy’s platform walks you through how to raise money via crowdfunding and shows you how to build your page in minutes. Our software helps you share your campaign, invite donors to contribute, and get deposits straight into your bank.
7. Target Your Marketing Plan
Consumers are bombarded with marketing messages daily. The number of requests is staggering, whether asked to purchase an item or donate to a cause. As a result, organizations have roughly eight seconds to get someone’s attention.
You need to target your marketing message. Use relevant landing pages that correspond directly with an email or social media campaign. Invite donors to share their support on social media and join your email list.
Communicate your various donor levels or the benefits of a monthly gift vs. a one-time donation. Highlight a suggested giving amount and make sure everything is secure and mobile-friendly.
Consider using more traditional forms of marketing, such as direct mail or solicitations over the phone or through text.
Try guerrilla marketing. It’s a way to drive publicity to your organization that’s different and surprising. Some examples are chalk art in front or on the side of your building, candid videos on Tik Tok, photobombing, or a flash mob. Guerrilla marketing doesn’t work for every organization, but if you have a relevant brand that can have a little fun, it makes a big impression.
Keep free marketing tools, such as Google My Business, up to date. Make sure your hours, phone number, and address are always current.
When marketing to donors, always promote your organization’s mission. You need to create an emotional connection with the viewer. Stories are an excellent tool for invoking emotion.
Always be transparent about your reasons for requesting donations. Every donor wants to know how your organization spends its money and who will benefit.
When you receive a donation, thank the donor immediately after confirming their gift. Donors want to know their transaction went through quickly and easily.
Donor acquisition is about building relationships and helping others feel invested in your cause. A successful acquisition strategy uses past and current data, understanding your target market, a robust website, planning, marketing, and quality nonprofit fundraising software.
Contact FundEasy and discuss your fundraising needs. We’re confident we have the software to meet your fundraising challenges. Call 847-628-7746 to speak with a sales representative, or visit us online at FundEasy.com.
If you'd like to learn more about our Peer-to-Peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, please reach out! We'd love to chat.
Also, if you haven't joined already, we have an exclusive Facebook Group just for our customers! If you are a current FundEasy Customer and would like to join, go here to learn more and request to be added!
Crystal Hoag
This article was inspired by our customers and written to encourage your fundraising efforts. Although we work with nonprofits and events daily, our team members are not Event Consultants. We encourage you to consult with your event consultant, executive team, and/or affiliate organization before making any major changes to your events.
