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Unlocking major donors: 3 fundraising strategies for high-impact

Access greater donor potential with a multi-channel approach! From targeted emails to text-to-donate, explore strategic fundraising techniques to drive bigger contributions and boost your campaign's impact.

November 07, 2024
4 min read

In today’s competitive nonprofit, advocacy, and political fundraising landscape, a strategic, multi-channel approach can unlock higher donor potential and increase your campaign’s impact. Effective email targeting is crucial, allowing organizations to tailor messages to resonate with different donor segments. Coupled with a smart, data-driven ask for larger gifts, these techniques encourage greater contributions from existing supporters. Adding Text to Donate as a channel makes giving easy and accessible, letting donors contribute quickly on their phones. Together, these tactics can help you reach ambitious fundraising goals with efficiency and precision.

The power of precision: Boost fundraising success with targeted email campaigns

The first step to a successful fundraising campaign is to hone in your target audience, and provide personalized outreach that resonates with that cohort of your supporters. You can leverage filters within your database to target potential donors, enabling you to create personalized donation initiatives that enhance your fundraising efforts.

For example, sending an email to individuals who haven’t yet donated can introduce them to your mission with a small, low-risk ask, like $5. This initial engagement helps you capture new donors, who can then be encouraged to increase their giving over time.

For one-time donor relationships who gave within the last year, consider an ask encouraging them to transition to monthly giving. Framing it as an opportunity to provide steady support can turn occasional contributors into loyal recurring donors. Monthly gifts are easier to sustain and provide reliable funding that strengthens your organization’s financial foundation.

Finally, long-term donors who have contributed more significantly, send a personalized email recognizing their past support and proposing a meaningful, slightly larger gift to maximize their impact. This tailored message could highlight how their previous gifts made a difference and can inspire these supporters to give generously as the year closes.

Donor stewardship is easy with NationBuilder’s targeted email guide. You can create a dynamic email recipient list of supporters in each cohort so you can streamline your efforts. Add those individuals to an email automation to free up your team’s time and ensure your donor outreach is received at the right time. This nuanced approach can be especially effective during high-stakes fundraising seasons, allowing campaigns to maximize engagement while staying adaptable and relevant to each donor’s capacity and past involvement.

Maximize donations: Increase gift size with personalized suggestions

Once you gather your appropriate target audience, you can calculate a suggested donation based on either the recipient’s last donation or average gift amount. By calculating suggested donation amounts based on a donor’s previous contributions, organizations can effectively increase donations in a way that feels personalized rather than generic. This approach leverages donor data to recognize and appreciate each person’s unique history, fostering a sense of involvement and appreciation.

Implementing donation suggestions based on prior giving demonstrates an understanding of donor loyalty, which can deepen engagement over time. For example, asking a donor for a modest increase (like 25%) beyond their last gift not only suggests achievable support but also builds a narrative of ongoing, incremental impact. This tactic makes donors feel that their contributions are continuously significant, encouraging them to sustain and grow their support.

Calculate a personalized suggested donation for your donor database following the ‘How to ask for larger donations in email campaigns guide’. Through these steps you can learn how to use Liquid to create tailored email appeals that encourage increased giving while recognizing past contributions.

Simplify giving on the go: How to launch text-to-donate for quick mobile donations

Starting a Text-to-Donate campaign can significantly boost online donations by meeting donors where they are—on their mobile devices.

Organizations that implement a text-to-donate solution can create a direct, accessible, and convenient donation pathway for supporters. With the rise of mobile engagement, enabling donations via text allows organizations to reach donors at any time, accommodating spontaneous giving. This system’s simple setup, using custom keywords and auto responses, ensures that supporters have a seamless donation experience with minimal friction.

Beyond ease of use, text-to-donate taps into mobile-friendly payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay, which are more likely to be connected to a prospective donor's mobile browser. Tapping into express payment options enhance donor satisfaction and increase the likelihood of successful transactions.

By tracking key performance indicators (kpis) like keyword engagement and donation completion rates, organizations can assess campaign effectiveness and make adjustments. This targeted, efficient approach to mobile fundraising can drive higher donation volumes, reinforce donor loyalty, and create long-term engagement opportunities.

Start your campaign with our text-to-donate guide to create a streamlined mobile giving experience that’s quick and easy for supporters!

Incorporating these three strategic moves into your fundraising efforts will enhance donor engagement, retention rates, and increase contributions. By leveraging targeted email campaigns, personalized donation asks, and convenient text-to-donate options, organizations can create a tailored experience that resonates with supporters. Implementing these strategies not only fosters stronger relationships with donors, but also positions your organization for enhanced donor retention and sustained fundraising success.


Riley Fraatz

Riley Fraatz

Hi, I'm Riley, the NationBuilder Payments Operations Manager! My focus is on expanding and strengthening NationBuilder Payments to help our customers’ communities thrive. Let’s raise more funds, drive greater impact, and build a brighter future together 🤗

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