The New Year has come and gone, and it’s time to turn your attention to your leadership team’s new goals. Finding the financial resources for a patient passenger van or additional volunteer workspace requires much-needed donor interest. The trick is, how do you get more donators when you already feel tapped out?
The good news is there are always people out there willing to put their cash where their heart is. If you can pull on those emotional strings a little and back up your “ask” with actionable numbers, you shouldn’t have any issues bringing in additional donators.
To help you get started, our expert website design and development team at Web 105 has put together a quick list of the dependable ways we see clients adding exponential donators to their lists.
1 – Ask Your Current donators
It may seem too obvious, but one of the greatest resources you can have for finding new donators is your preexisting donor base. These individuals have friends, family, coworkers, and neighbours. When the topic of donating funds or engaging with local Not-for-Profits comes up, you want your current base to sing the praises of your organisation.
Some ways to make this happen include adding a small email campaign to recommend other donators or offering incentives like a raffle for each new donor brought with a winner announced at your next gala.
2 – Host Get-to-Know-You Events
While many Australian NFPs stick to massive events to bring in the big dough, you may want to host a few smaller “get to know you” gatherings. Many of our clients engage in fairs, community events, conferences, and similar occasions using booths to spread the word about what they do, how they help locally, and where donators can sign up.
A great starting point is an open house. Invite the community to come and see how you do whatever it is you do.
3 – Strategic Social Media
You must be on social media. However, you don’t have to post 10 times a day like a serious influencer. Stick to one or two platforms you know resonate most with your target audience and be consistent with one post per day around the same time.
Even if you don’t get a ton of donators through this pathway, social media is a fantastic way to showcase your achievements, communicate with the public, and celebrate your industry.
4 – Talk to Complementary Organisations
Many Australian NFPs host galas or post donor lists. Find a complementary NFP that would align well with your goals. For example, if you are focused on re-housing lost pets or stray animals, seek animal shelters and adoption agencies.
Once you’ve built a relationship, you can start to market your NFP to their donators in a natural, non-competitive way.
5 – Research, Research, Research
Your NFP’s CRM or donor management software should offer some form of data analytics. You can gain a massive amount of information about the demographics of your most engaged donators, what events/communication they appreciate the most, and how often they send in funds.
Having this data allows you to build “customer profiles” where you can better target any marketing efforts to those prospective donators who most resemble the people you know and work out the best with your NFP.
6 – Schmooze Your One-Time or Lapsed donators
If you’re utilizing segmentation at all in your donor program, you probably already have a long list of one-time donators or those that lapsed engagement years ago. Set up an automation where you can send out a “Remember Us” email to redevelop those relationships into new donor intakes.
7 – Optimize Your Website & Email List
We cannot emphasize this point enough: your NFP website is the best way to engage more donators. A good portion of donators don’t want anything more than a little appreciation. They want to avoid the salesey interactions of in-person communication and may prefer anonymity or “soft communication” through an email campaign.
To capture these donators, you need a website that is highly optimized, mobile responsive, and easy to understand, with as few steps as possible, from visiting the landing page to signing up for a donation. Our team at Web 105 can help make this happen without sacrificing your branding or online presence.
8 – Treat Your Volunteers as Future donators
You never know when that elderly helper mucking out the animal stalls of your pet adoption clinic is a millionaire. The same is true for people helping with the elderly or building homes for those in need.
Treat your volunteers as if they were on track to be massive, highly committed donators. You’ve already broken down communication barriers by having them give their time. You may be only one conversation away from them giving money as well.
A beginning step to making this happen would be to include your volunteers in every donor event or campaign. Let them see how beneficial those funds are to your growth, and you’ll likely get a new line of donators from an already motivated demographic.
Let Web 105 Help
Finding donators is crucial to any Australian NFP. While government programs like NDIS are beneficial, getting over those final humps for capital investing, new assets, or growth programming often requires a little more help. These pathways to grow your donor involvement are excellent ways to boost your mission achievement.
At Web 105, we can provide the detailed, donor-centric website design and development you need for success. Everything from donation page intake forms to extension automation is possible.
We work with all kinds of Australian government agencies, healthcare providers, and local NFPs. Our professional team has the knowledge and experience to infuse new life into your online presence with stunning UI/UX and mobile responsive websites. Give us a call today, and let’s get to work!
FAQs
What is the 80/20 rule for major gifts?
It is the idea that 80% of your financial gifts are likely to come from the 20% most engaged donators.
How do I get people to donate to my nonprofit?
Tell your story in an authentic way that directly appeals to the heartstrings of your target audience. Match those donations through corporate sponsorships and be sure to show appreciation to anyone who donates time or money to your NFP.
Where do most nonprofit donations come from?
This varies across industries, but in most cases, individuals make up most of your donated funds and gifts.