Congratulations – you’ve officially made it thru 2020! Your organization’s End of Year Campaign is finished. Hopefully, all the months of preparation—creating offers, mailing proposals, calling and visiting donors, and most importantly asking your donors—have brought tremendous success and financial growth. You are ready to sit back and ride off into the sunset until next year when it all starts again.
BUT WAIT!!!
Now that your end of year campaign is finished, don’t miss an excellent opportunity to build additional support and engagement from your donors because you don’t have a plan! Your donors trusted your organization’s message and impact on your community and world. Now, they want to feel good about their gift. They want to feel part of your team. You can’t stop now and expect they will be there next year-end with their wallets open. There are too many similar nonprofits fighting for the same dollar. You need to make a statement that you are different.
As such, you have a tremendous opportunity to grow your current or prospective donor base this upcoming year. It all starts with sharing appreciation and impact.
3 Ways to Engage Your Donors
Thank you notes are a great start, and if you haven’t done so yet take a few moments right now, identify your top major donors and write a heartfelt note of appreciation. A genuine and gracious thank you note can go a long way . However, it’s only the beginning of building long-lasting donor relationships for your organization to thrive. Here are three more things you can do to engage donors in the new year:
- Report Gift Impact: Donors want to know their impact before they give again. Share not only what activities the gift paid for (classes, counseling sessions, shelter nights, etc.) but what the gift accomplished (educational achievement, increased self-confidence, jobs secured). Of course, also share lots of stories.
- Create Individualized Engagement Plan: For each of your donors map out your next steps to grow their engagement. Ideas include facility tours, coffee with the president, presidential gathering invitations, anniversary and birthday cards, surveys, and individualized updates.
- Ask Again: Major donors are rarely asked often enough. Prepare another proposal and make another offer this spring or early summer. DickersonBakker recommends 2-3 proposals per year for most major donors.
Donors want to be engaged, feel appreciated, and desire to do more. You can help them get the most from their giving. These steps are foundational stepping stones to increase donor giving for any organization. Each experience you provide your major donor will get you one step closer to receiving that next big gift. Can you imagine how transformational that will be for you and the community you serve?
So, don’t stop now!
Do you need to find a fresh approach to grow big gifts in 2021? DickersonBakker has the solution to help you build robust donor relationships and giving for the upcoming year. Contact us today to learn more.
