Fundraising 101 (Part 2)
In Fundraising 101 (Part 1), we talked about the importance of fundraising and how to get started building both your donor network and your team. Funding is what turns your organization’s ideas into impact, so knowing how to effectively fundraise is key to ensuring you have what you need to make things happen.
At Spruce, we specialize in helping organizations with their fundraising journey. Here are some of our tips on how to improve your fundraising once you’ve gotten started and built up your momentum.
Improving the Donor Experience
Get To Know Your Donors
Once you have a network of donors, it’s important to get to know them. Ask yourself things like:
Where do they interact with your organization beyond donations?
Are they also clients?
Are they philanthropists who donate to many causes?
Do they have a personal connection to you or your work?
To answer these questions, plan around where you may naturally come into contact with your donors and have an easy opportunity to ask. You’ll be better off getting to know your specific donors than imitating what other non-profits may be doing. You can also, after a donation, simply ask them why they donated. Use a comment box on your website or make it a regular part of taking donations in person.
Develop Donor Resources
Most people won’t be convinced to donate in just one conversation – and that’s okay! Having materials to leave behind that keep your organization and your work top of mind will help you here.
A few suggested helpful materials:
Create a one page “Case for Support” that highlights the impact of your work, quotes from people you support, and testimonials from existing donors.
If you’re looking for corporate sponsors, put together sponsorship packages that list different tiers and benefits that companies can take advantage of.
A word of warning: don’t create resources for a hypothetical audience! Your materials should be tailored to the audience you have – not the audience you want. Make sure that you have a good understanding of your audience. Ask some of your supporters to review the resources you’re developing and give you feedback on what’s useful or unnecessary. If you’re just getting started and don’t have a donor base, start by asking other people in your network about what would make them interested in supporting you financially.
Review Your Website
Your website is often the first place that potential donors will go to find out more information about your organization and your work. Examine your website from the perspective of a potential donor.
Is there a “Ways to Give” page that’s easy to understand?
Are you featuring the voices of the people you support or testimonials from existing donors?
Is your impact front and center?
How can I make it easier for people to donate?
Make donating simple, friendly, and require as few clicks as possible. Consider adding options for contributing to securities, life insurance, and recurring donations on a monthly basis – there are many ways your donors can support you aside from “one and done” cash donations.
Setting Practical Goals
Regardless of whether you’re just getting started, building momentum, or improving your donor experience, the most important thing to do is set practical and measurable fundraising goals.
These goals could be:
Total amount of donations
Number of new monthly donors
Something else tailored to your organization and how you fundraise.
As you gain new information about and feedback from your donors, you can adjust your goals accordingly. If you’re not sure where to start or what works best for you, we recommend focusing on monthly donors. Recurring monthly gifts provide you with a predictable, stable income and is an indication that a donor is interested in a long-term relationship with your organization. This can bring many benefits and having champions who are willing to support you financially is a big deal!
Our Advice
Our advice for every organization is to remember that small steps create momentum. Sending out feelers and talking to people you know may not feel important in the moment but small actions add up quickly. Doing something small each week as part of a long-term plan is always better than one large push just once a year.
How We Can Help
At Spruce, we can help you make a strong case for your organization’s mission by writing winning grant applications, helping you diversify your funding, and building a donor experience that gets you long-term financial support. If you’re interested in learning more, please reach out!
We’re happy to chat about what your organization can do to improve fundraising and how we can help!
