February 27, 2015 | Read Time: 2 minutes
If you’re looking to find new donors, there are many different strategies from which to choose. Here are seven tried-and-true methods.
Community contacts: For new nonprofits, the best way to find first donors is to solicit friends and friends of friends. Think of this as your “friends and family” funding round before you move on to investors. This approach also works well for recruiting and establishing relationships with high-value donors.
Online acquisition: This approach involves finding donors through your web site, search engines, email, social media, crowdfunding, and online advertisements.
Direct mail: Snail mail may feel old-fashioned, but it’s still one of the primary ways people give. Still, response rates to direct mail are dropping, and most direct-mail campaigns cost more than they produce, at least initially. Long-term, though, the donors reached through direct mail often pay for the 98 percent or more who never respond.
“Acquisition is an investment,” says Angela Struebing, president of CDR Fundraising Group. “You’re not going to make money in your first mailing. Most nonprofits are breaking even within 18 to 24 months.”
More recent ideas, like data cooperatives, are also helping nonprofits reach new donors.
Events: From black-tie dinners to community picnics, nonprofits of all sizes use events to lure new donors and reward those who give loyally. Events can be especially powerful because they give you a potential donor’s undivided attention, says Kristi Meagher, an event planner at the Chicago firm Jasculca Terman.
Peer-to-peer fundraising: Nonprofits frequently recruit donors or volunteers to ask their own friends and associates to give. This category includes charity events like the Susan G. Komen 3-day, in which volunteer walkers raise donations from sponsors in their own networks.
Media advertisements: Television, radio, and billboards can include direct calls to donate, though they are often used more for raising awareness.
Telemarketing: Nonprofits more often use phone calls to reactivate lapsed donors or to thank donors who’ve given recently, but you can also use phone calls to gain new supporters. Colleges and universities, for instance, frequently call alumni who have never given.
