Five Fundraising Tips for 2019

There’s no rest for nonprofits; raising money is a full-time, year-round, all-staff job these days. So here are my top five tips as you launch into 2019:

• Ask more: I am constantly surprised at how many nonprofits continue to do just one fundraising campaign per year – and insist that their supporters will be pissed if they get asked more often. Yet research consistently shows that asking more does not turn off supporters. At the very least you should aim to both double and diversify your asking. Along with a full-on campaign (including snail mail, phone calls, one-on-one meetings), do more email asks. Consider pitching monthly donations, scholarship funds, capital improvements. And be sure to hit the peak giving days - Giving Tuesday, and December 31.

• Ask strategically: This means collecting data constantly, and using it wisely. Your database should not only include the obvious – name, mailing address, email, phone numbers, and giving history – but much more: proper salutations, volunteer activity, whether folks want to be anonymous, how they like to be contacted, who has contacted them in the past, whether they have attended your sponsored events (and which ones), particular interests in your programs. This information will allow you to focus your asks and to maintain continuity if/when there are staff changes.

• Make it easy: Have you ever actually checked to see whether it’s quick and easy for folks to donate to your organization online (the preferred method these days)? When you search via Google, is it easy to find your website? Is the donate button prominent? When you go to the donation page, is it easy to navigate? Are folks given choices of how to donate? Do they have to create an account to do so (one extra step can turn donors off)? Have your Board and staff test all of this out on their various mobile phones, iPads, and computers by making quick small donations. And fix anything that’s not working.

• Stay in touch: Don’t make your fundraising campaign letter, email, and/or call the only time you contact your donors. Send them emails about a particularly successful program. Invite them to special events. Ask them to get involved through an ad hoc committee, an online survey, or a fun volunteer opportunity. All of this builds and strengthens your relationships with donors.

• Thank promptly: I can’t say it enough – the number one reason folks stop donating is because they were not thanked. When you are asking them for a donation, always thank them first for their previous generous support. Host an annual donor appreciation event. And get those personalized thank you letters (or emails) out within ten days.

Back to basics: remember that the main reason people give is because they are asked – and that folks feel good when they donate to nonprofits that do good work.