Middle donor engagement increases revenue by 20%+

In the third quarter of 2014 one of my clients — a small hunger and poverty relief organization — began implementing a middle donor engagement strategy that included phone calls, handwritten thank you notes, and invitations to small group tours / mixers at their office.

The focus of their efforts was to thank donors, share with them the impact that their past giving had made on the community, tell stories of the children, families, and seniors they (the donors) had helped, and begin to share the vision for the future of the organization.

Notice there’s no asking listed above. That was explicitly not the goal of this initiative. Asking would come later. But for the initial phase of this engagement, it was just that. Simply a more strategic, methodical way of connecting with their donors, and bringing them closer to the lives they were helping to change.

And it paid off nicely…

By January of 2015, middle donor giving had significantly improved for this organization:

• 29% increase in the number of $100 – $999 gifts
• 32% increase in income from donors giving $100 – $999
• 57% increase in the number of $1,000 – $9,999 gifts
• 53% increase in income from donors giving $1,000 – $9,999

These increases in giving were almost entirely captured through the organization’s existing fundraising channels, those primarily being direct mail, email, and website.

The next phase of engagement for this organization is to begin a series of strategic cultivation steps with a smaller group of these highly committed donors, with the goal of eventually conducting face-to-face asks.

What else are you doing to deepen relationships with your middle donors? Do you have a great case study to share?

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.