Soapbox Engage Blog

New donor acquisition can feel like a riddle, wrapped in a conundrum, tucked inside a big, fat fundraising target. And, while current donors are difficult to retain, new donors can be exceptionally more difficult to find. Sadly, you can’t simply expect new donors to fall in your lap with their wallets open.

Besides, that would be weird. Also, a tad awkward.

For new donor acquisition, you need a goal and a plan to ensure success.

Setting your Donor Acquisition Goal

Your goal can start simple as, say, X new donors gained by spending Y dollars. It can get more advanced with a bit of precision, targeting not just a quantity of donors but a certain quality as well. For example, sustaining or monthly donors have a higher lifetime value than one-time donors. An advanced goal could focus on gaining a smaller number of new sustaining donors rather than a larger number of one-time donors because, in the long-term, they are more valuable to your organization

Numbers are a Fundraiser’s Friend

You’ll need to do some data digging to set your goal for new donor acquisition so get comfortable and spend some quality time in your database. Common data points to help you analyze and make a more thoughtful goal are:

• Number of new donors on an annual basis for a few years in a row
• Number of current prospects in your database
• Average lifetime value of your donors
• Donor retention rate for a few years in a row

Okay, you have all that data? Wow. That was fast! Now what?

Crunching the Data for Donor Acquisition

Your number of new donors annually will give you an idea of what you’ve already accomplished in donor acquisition. The number of current prospects in your database is going to tell you the pool of people you have to work with. The average lifetime value of your donors gives you a starting point on what is reasonable to budget for donor acquisition costs. Finally, your donor retention rate is going to help you measure how many new donors you’ll be able to keep. All of these together will give you a litmus test on whether or not your goal is reasonable - or ridiculous.

Your Perfect Donor Profile: Who Loves Ya, For How Much, and Why?

While you’re getting friendly with your data, you can also try developing your perfect donor profile. What segments or types of people are giving larger donations, giving in certain ways, or responding to specific appeals? At a minimum, a perfect donor profile can help you identify a priority list of prospects and differentiate how you appeal to certain groups. Taken to the nth degree, Adrian Sargent notes:

“...profiling can bring audiences to life by painting pictures of their differentiating characteristics and suggesting fundraising messages they are likely to find appealing.”

Build it and they will come?

You have a goal. You have your profile. Now, where do you find the people? If only donors would drop from the sky, amiright? Alas, donors don’t grow on trees. Nor do that awkward lap-wallet thing. Unless you’re in the business of holding friend-raisers every other month or have a connection generating new prospects for you, finding that perfect pool of new donors can be a big challenge for a small nonprofit.

So, what’s a dedicated development director to do? Leverage your current donors and advocates. This doesn’t have to be a huge lift. Marc Pitman recommends following up every ask with something like, "Do you know other people who may be interested in learning about what we’re doing?" This simple question has the twofold benefit of generating great leads and identifying current donors that are incredibly supportive of you.

As Joan Garry points out:

"The best source of new donors are your existing donors. Utilize the power of a peer-to-peer ask to raise new money for your organization and gather new donors."

I agree! One of the most successful acquisition campaigns I have run involved peer-to-peer fundraising through a 5K. My organization would hold an annual race and ask that participants fundraise on our behalf. Approximately 20 - 30% of the donors and participants would be brand new to the organization, which really meant 200 - 300 new contacts. It was awesome and it raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. The truly valuable aspect of this tactic, however, was the follow-up plan I developed for this group of new donors that generated specific messaging and content. By acknowledging how these new donors connected with our organization initially, speaking to that and the impact of the event they participated in, we were much more successful in keeping those donors year after year.

Ready for more new donor acquisition know-how? Watch our free webinar, Win New Donors this End-of-Year Fundraising Season. We share proven strategy, straightforward ideas, and a wealth of Salesforce Nonprofit Success Pack knowledge that will empower you to win new donors during this critical time.