One of the chief duties of any fundraising board involves finding ways to consistently recruit donors to fund the nonprofit’s mission. Creating a strong donor database can be the difference between a successful nonprofit and one that fails to raise enough money to support its goals.
Given all the external factors at play, developing an effective fundraising plan is much easier said than done. In this article, we’ll provide some tips on how to find nonprofit donors to set your organization up for success. We’ll also explain how meeting software helps nonprofit leaders excel in their roles.
Who Are Nonprofit Donors?
Nonprofit donors are any individual or organization that provides financial resources to a nonprofit. The most common types of nonprofit donors include:
- Individual donors
- Major donors
- Corporate donors
- Foundations
Finding the right nonprofit donors for your organization starts with a top-down accounting of your current donor database. These supports have, in some way, contributed to the success of your organization and its mission. You can then expand your donor database by fine-tuning your messaging to better resonate with a broader, more diverse audience.
The board of directors, nonprofit treasurer, and senior staff should work together to create a strategy to reach each donor type.
Tip: Investing in nonprofit board management software helps to ensure your board leaders are well-aligned on your organization’s mission, vision, and fundraising goals.
Navigate board software options wisely using our comprehensive vendor comparison tool.
How to Find Nonprofit Donors
All nonprofits need donors to thrive, and your organization’s leaders must have a plan in place to bring in supporters.
Here are some tips to attract nonprofit donors:
1. Identify Your Target Donor Persona
When you start a nonprofit, you typically have a specific cause or community you want to support in tangible ways. With that in mind, you should identify certain groups or demographics who are most likely to respond to your message, and therefore want to support your nonprofit. Creating a donor persona enables you to craft targeted fundraising strategies that increase donor engagement.
Donor personas include a combination of several factors, such as a person’s personality, interests, lifestyle choices, political beliefs, and more. It’s important to note that donor personas are rarely static for long and nonprofits should review their personas regularly and update them as needed.
2. Research Potential Donors
Next, study potential donors to gain further insights into their behavior so you can develop strategies to drive donor engagement. An established nonprofit can use its donor database to make this process more straightforward. The database stores important data about each supporter and their donation history. If your nonprofit is just starting out, conduct extensive market research to learn about potential donors.
3. Build Relationships
After identifying donor personas and what they respond to, you can start to build a rapport with potential donors. This helps transform donations from a one-off act of charity to a regular occurrence.
There are several ways to develop better relationships with your donor base. One of the most effective ways involves holding an in-person or online fundraising event. These events can be used to demonstrate the value of your nonprofit’s work while providing a fun experience where donors meet like-minded individuals and embolden their belief in the nonprofit’s goals.
Unsure what kind of event makes sense for your nonprofit? Take a look at our article on 20 nonprofit fundraising ideas.
Nonprofits can also use personalized email campaigns to communicate with their audience and give donors a platform to voice their opinions through surveys or comment sections. It’s important to remain versatile and open-minded when building relationships with potential donors. People can feel compelled to give for different reasons. It’s up to each organization to find out what inspires their donors.
4. Make the Ask
First impressions can go a long way, so it’s important to approach donors in the right way.
Whatever methods you choose to reach out to donors, the nonprofit must appeal to each person’s helpful nature with an inspiring call to action displaying the impact of the nonprofit’s work. Nonprofits can also promote matching gift programs as many companies will match their employees’ donations, doubling the influence of each contributor. The donation process also needs to be as easy as possible so donors can follow through with minimal friction.
5. Retain and Steward Good Donors
Donors come with different personalities and backgrounds, but many enjoy receiving recognition for their actions. Sending a nonprofit donor thank you email can make each party feel valued by the nonprofit and build deeper connections moving forward.
Stronger bonds lead to recurring donations or drive donors to engage in peer-to-peer fundraising where they fundraise for the nonprofit on your behalf.
Getting Started With OnBoard
Understanding how to find donors directly impacts the nonprofit’s ability to achieve its goals, but it’s far from the only aspect leaders need to get right. Nonprofit board of directors’ fiduciary duties also include orchestrating volunteer work and writing annual reports.
Digital board management software, such as OnBoard, helps nonprofits build relationships with potential donors and drive operational stability. Key platform features for nonprofits include:
- Fundraising dashboards
- Donor relationship tracking tools
- Customizable templates for agendas and reports that align with nonprofit needs
- Evaluation tools
- Customizable minutes and agenda builder
- Video conferencing tools and Zoom integration
- Secure messaging platform
- Voting and collaboration tools
By optimizing governance processes and fostering collaboration, OnBoard empowers nonprofits to focus more on their mission and less on administrative challenges.
Ready to learn more? Download our free board meeting agenda template to see how OnBoard helps nonprofits level up their governance and fundraising efforts.
Ensure effective, efficient meetings with our comprehensive Board Meeting Agenda Template.
Ready to upgrade your board’s effectiveness with OnBoard’s board intelligence platform? Schedule a demo or request a free trial.
About The Author
- Gina Guy
- Gina Guy is an implementation consultant who specializes in working with nonprofit organizations get the most from their board meetings. She loves helping customers ease their workloads through their use of OnBoard. A Purdue University graduate, Gina enjoys refinishing furniture, running, kayaking, and traveling in her spare time. She lives in Monticello, Indiana, with her husband.
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