When you look at an event attendance spreadsheet or a capital campaign donor list, it can be difficult to see beyond the numbers. However, data plays a critical role in understanding why supporters give to your organization and how to encourage them to continue supporting your mission.
While your nonprofit likely tracks everything from years of involvement to website clicks, there are really just a few key data points you need to identify individuals who might be interested in giving to your organization. This article provides four strategies to improve your fundraising outcomes using data your organization likely already tracks, to increase your fundraising revenue.
1. Identify major giving prospects among your existing supporters
Your database may be hiding individuals who are willing to contribute a major gift to your organization. Without data analytics, you’d never know!
DonorSearch by EverTrue’s prospect research tools guide outlines three main indicators to help you evaluate whether a donor could make a major gift, including:
- Affinity: Individuals who have demonstrated a strong investment in your organization may be willing to make a sizable donation. Look for supporters who frequently attend events and have a history of volunteering or board service.
- Philanthropic mindset: Some people are more likely to contribute to nonprofits than others. Donors who give consistently to your nonprofit, other similar organizations, and related charitable causes are excellent candidates.
- Capacity: Even though wealth isn’t everything in a good prospect, it’s still important to understand their financial status. Stock ownership, real estate holdings, and business affiliations can give a picture of a donor’s budget.
When evaluating prospective donors, also consider their psychometrics, or the extent to which their values and motivations overlap with your organization’s cause. Supporters with a strong investment in your organization, the inclination to contribute time and resources to nonprofits, and a high capacity to give are most likely to be open to a conversation about a major gift.
2. Engage mid-level donors
You may have an outreach sequence welcoming new donors into the fold, automated thank-you messages that send on each donor’s giving anniversary, and a dedicated team of frontline fundraisers that support your major gift and legacy gift supporters. But what about your mid-level donors?
According to AGP, mid-level donors have a 65% multi-year retention rate. This means that they hold some of the greatest fundraising potential in your donor base, plus they often give frequently over a long period of time, creating a stable baseline of financial security. They also tend to have the greatest capacity to upgrade into major donors. So, how can you increase their engagement in your organization?
Engagement data holds the key. Apply these techniques to use donor analytics to cultivate new outreach channels:
- Track their event attendance. Then, send personalized invitations to events that reflect their interests. For example, if you’re hosting a 5K race, you could send an invitation to supporters who have previously participated in these types of events.
- Target your fundraising outreach. Mid-level donors are often recurring giving powerhouses. Use your past fundraising data to identify campaigns that speak to these donors, and develop a strategy to encourage their involvement in future initiatives.
- Show your appreciation. When donors become long-term contributors, the lasting effect of their support may go unrecognized. Create special forms of recognition to acknowledge your long-term donors, such as a donor wall or a thank-you video from members of your team.
- Create mid-level donor societies. A donor society shows contributors that your organization truly values their gifts, and provides an opportunity for them to meet like-minded supporters. You can also use your donor society as an opportunity to gather qualitative feedback about what programs your mid-level donors want to see more of in the future.
Over time, mid-level donors often become strong candidates for major or legacy gifts. If you invest in your relationship with these donors now, there is a greater chance of their gifts increasing in size in the future. Use your constituent relationship management (CRM) platform to track and flag donors who give over a long period of time so your team can launch targeted engagement efforts.
3. Identify and solicit planned gifts
Planned giving is an important part of an organization’s long-term financial stability. Identifying potential legacy donors uses much of the same data and prospect research you already rely on, with a few additional signals to consider.
One of the most useful is consistent giving over time. A donor who has supported your organization for years and is still actively giving has demonstrated an ongoing connection to the mission. That can make them a strong candidate for a planned giving conversation, even if their individual gifts have been relatively small. In this case, the pattern of support can tell you more than the size of any single gift. Past engagement data can add another layer of context. Look at the programs, initiatives, or areas of your organization a donor has consistently cared about. That gives you a more meaningful starting point for showing how a legacy gift could support the work that matters most to them over time.
Additionally, you can use past engagement data to identify areas of your organization or specific initiatives that your prospect cares deeply about. Market these programs as meaningful opportunities for supporters to fund the work they care about today and sustain it for the long term.
4. Track shifting giving trends to adjust your strategies
Donor psychology changes over time. Economic shifts, new programming or initiatives, and changes in personal financial status can all affect overall fundraising. When developing a fundraising strategy, it’s important to consider both sector-wide giving trends and internal financial reporting to create an accurate forecast.
Your fundraising data is a valuable tool to predict your future budget. Look for trends among your annual giving, such as:
- A surge of gifts in December or around annual fundraising campaigns
- Recurring donations, either annually or monthly
- Frequency and amount of major gifts
- Documented bequests
- Engagement metrics that precede both new gifts and donor churn
Your team can use this data to predict when you’re likely to receive fundraising income and how much to expect. Additionally, you can use baseline metrics compiled from data in previous years to track your organization’s financial and operational growth over time. Use this data to show your donors the impact of their funds on your organization’s ability to create positive change.
Your organization’s fundraising data provides a roadmap for engaging your donors. Consolidate your engagement and outreach within a centralized donor management system so your team can maintain a bird’s-eye view of your donor landscape. Learning about your donors through their behavioral patterns and aligning your programming and initiatives with their interests shows you care about their connection to your cause.
