planning

5 Revenue Streams to Strengthen Nonprofit Sustainability

Ann Green corporate giving, events, fundraising, grants, mobile giving, monthly donors, planning , , , , , ,

Diverse revenue streams provide a sustainable financial foundation for nonprofits. Explore revenue streams your nonprofit should pursue in this guide.

It’s important for you to diversify your revenue sources. This is especially important now because of the current chaos of eliminating (and then not eliminating, at least for now) federal grant funding. We also saw disruption five years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic started.

This guest post by John Killoran covers a variety of revenue sources to help you diversify your funding. I’d like to emphasize the importance of recurring/monthly giving. This is a great way for nonprofits of all sizes to bring in a steady stream of revenue.

By John Killoran

Leaders across the nonprofit sector face a common challenge: striving to serve a growing community of beneficiaries with constrained budgets. The good news? Revenue diversification unlocks financial sustainability for nonprofits, providing a powerful alternative to relying on limited funding for your mission.

With various funding sources, your organization can develop dependable revenue flows that not only sustain your organization’s day-to-day operations but also enable it to grow. In this guide, we’ll explore five revenue streams your nonprofit can access to strengthen its financial sustainability.

1. Mobile Giving Campaigns

The future of fundraising is mobile, with a growing number of donors using their smartphones to find new nonprofits, complete transactions, and tell their friends about their experiences. That’s what makes mobile giving campaigns so successful—these fundraisers make contributing convenient for donors.

According to Snowball Fundraising’s mobile giving guide, there are five steps nonprofits should follow to start a mobile giving campaign:

[Alt text: The steps to start a mobile giving campaign, which are explained in the following text.]

  1. Evaluate your mobile fundraising logistics. Begin by defining the basics of your fundraiser, such as which staff members will oversee the campaign and how you’ll promote it to donors.
  2. Choose mobile giving channels. Determine which mobile giving strategies resonate most with your supporters, such as a mobile-responsive donation page on your website or a text-to-give campaign.
  3. Select a mobile giving provider. Connect with relevant software providers to streamline your mobile giving strategy. For example, you’ll need to partner with a text-to-donate provider before launching a text campaign to receive a shortcode and accept donations.
  4. Incorporate mobile giving into your fundraising plan. Plan how you’ll integrate mobile giving campaigns into your existing fundraising initiatives, such as by adding a QR code to your flyers so direct mail donors can easily donate online.
  5. Track and adjust your strategies. Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) as donors interact with your mobile giving campaigns to determine the most effective strategies.

Since mobile giving is self-sustaining—meaning donors can contribute to these campaigns with little intervention from your nonprofit—these campaigns allow you to collect revenue in the “background” of your other initiatives. In other words, you can focus on your mission while revenue pours in from your mobile donation page or text-to-give campaign!

2. Fundraising Events

While your nonprofit can host countless types of profitable fundraising events, focus on the ideas that are most likely to appeal to your target audience. Create an event calendar to plan the timing of each fundraiser, including time before and after for event planning and follow-up.

Follow these best practices to maximize your event revenue:

  • Invest in event-specific technology. Tools with capabilities specific to the type of event you’re hosting are purpose-built to maximize your event’s success. For example, event registration software can help with ticketing for an auction. However, your nonprofit will unlock other functionalities by choosing auction software, such as an item inventory, mobile bidding, and other auction-specific tasks.
  • Offer tiered ticket pricing. Create flexible ticketing options that cater to a range of budgets so your event remains accessible to a broad audience. Encourage greater contributions by offering perks to higher-priced tickets, such as exclusive access or premium seating.
  • Plan events in various formats. Donors prefer different event formats for various reasons. Perhaps the majority of your donors are local, but others want to participate from another geographical location. Some of your supporters are excited for an outing, while others don’t want to leave their house. Plan a mix of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events to maximize event participation.

The best part? Fundraising events pair perfectly with more passive forms of fundraising, such as your mobile giving campaigns. Promote your text-to-give shortcode at an auction or feature QR codes on event posters that link to your mobile donation page for increased donations.

3. Recurring Donations

While securing new donors is crucial, most nonprofit leaders know that acquisition is more costly (and less reliable) than retention. In fact, research from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project shows that only 23% of first-time donors ever make another gift, while 58% of repeat donors stick around for another year.

Successfully encouraging your existing supporters to give again, especially on a recurring basis, creates a stable financial foundation of predictable revenue. The most effective way to secure continued support is through a formal monthly giving program, which includes:

  • Defining tiers and benefits. Attach benefits to specific giving levels to incentivize repeated donations. For example, donors giving $10 each month could receive quarterly impact updates, while those giving $50 monthly are invited to exclusive events.
  • Emphasizing the impact of small, regular contributions. Use real-world impact to demonstrate the value of monthly donations. For example, $10 monthly might feed a family for a week, while $50 monthly funds one day of emergency shelter for a family in crisis.
  • Automating communications to retain recurring donors. Send regular messages to thank donors for their repeated support, acknowledge their commitment, and celebrate milestones regarding their involvement.

In addition to the steps outlined above, remember to highlight the convenience of recurring gifts. Once donors join your monthly giving program, the process will run automatically, eliminating the need to donate manually. They can even opt-in to recurring donations through your text-to-give campaign for an easier sign-up process!

4. Corporate Contributions

While it’s tempting to think of individual donors as your nonprofit’s target audience, revenue can come from other sources, too. Companies and businesses often contribute to nonprofits as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR), or a company’s efforts toward improving society.

According to Double the Donation’s CSR guide, there are five main facets of CSR:

  • Philanthropic, which involves a company directly supporting a nonprofit through charitable contributions, such as matching gifts
  • Volunteerism, in which a company encourages employees to engage with nonprofits by offering grants or paid time off
  • Environmental, in which a company adjusts its values and practices to be more environmentally conscious
  • Ethical, which involves companies looking after the welfare of their employees
  • Economic, through which companies invest in their communities

Collaborating with businesses can unlock new revenue and boost visibility since your nonprofit will gain the attention of a company’s employees and customers. To get started, identify companies with values that align with your mission and pitch mutually beneficial opportunities for them to support your cause. For example, request the company sponsor a fundraising event and offer to promote their brand at the fundraiser in exchange for their support.

5. Grants

Grants provide substantial funding for both general operations and specific projects. When your nonprofit secures a grant to cover an essential cost, you’ll have more room in your budget for other financial needs, like funding your programs and services.

Start by researching foundations or programs that align with your mission. You can also search according to your nonprofit’s needs. For example, search for marketing grants if you spend too much on marketing. Follow the grantor’s instructions for applying while highlighting your nonprofit’s unique need for funding.

For support with the application process and grant usage (if awarded), enlist the help of a professional grant agency. Their expertise is especially useful for grants with extensive eligibility and usage requirements. For example, a grant agency might be helpful when applying for the Google Ad Grant, especially if your nonprofit has never participated in the program or created a Google Ad.

Each revenue diversification strategy mentioned in this article offers unique benefits. Implementing numerous ideas provides multiple revenue streams and allows your nonprofit to tap into more benefits than possible with just one or two fundraising ideas. Plus, promoting these giving opportunities via multiple channels ensures you reach the largest audience possible with fundraisers that appeal to them. 

John Killoran is an inventor, entrepreneur, and the Chairman of Clover Leaf Solutions, a national lab services company. He currently leads Clover Leaf’s investment in Snowball Fundraising, an online fundraising platform for nonprofit organizations. 

Snowball was one of John’s first public innovations; it’s a fundraising platform that offers text-to-give, online giving, events, and peer-to-peer fundraising tools for nonprofits. By making giving simple, Snowball increases the donations that these organizations can raise online. The Snowball effect is real! John founded Snowball in 2011. Now, it serves over 7,000 nonprofits and is the #1 nonprofit fundraising platform.

Create an Attitude of Gratitude at Your Nonprofit

Ann Green Communications, direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing , , , , , , ,

We all like to feel appreciated and that includes your donors. Thanking your donors should be a priority for your nonprofit organization. Is that the case? Unfortunately, the answer is usually no.

Thanking your donors is not just something you do after you receive a donation and then do nothing for a while. You need to show gratitude all year round and with Valentine’s Day coming up, that’s a great opportunity to thank your donors and show them how much you appreciate their support.

Maybe you would rather not go the Valentine’s Day route, which may seem superficial considering everything that’s going on in the world. The U.S. is not a calm place to be right now. But Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be just for couples and we could all use a lot of joy and kindness. 

Whatever you decide, you should still do something to show appreciation this month (and every month). The holidays are over and February can be a dreary month if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Many of us are dealing with frigid temperatures and what’s going on when places like Houston and New Orleans are getting measurable snow?

This is also a good opportunity to keep in touch with the people who gave to your year-end appeal, especially first-time donors. If you haven’t shown any appreciation since your year-end appeal, don’t wait much longer.

Your donors have the option to give to countless nonprofit organizations, but they chose yours. I like this quote from Mark Phillips –“They are not your donors; you are one of their charities.” Don’t they deserve to feel appreciated?

Here are a few ways you can thank your donors now and throughout the year.

Create a thank you photo

Make your donor’s day with a great photo like this one.

You can send thank you photos via email and social media, use one to create a card, and include one on your thank you landing page.

Make a video

Videos are a great way to connect with your donors. They’re simple, yet effective, so don’t worry if you weren’t a film major. It’s not hard to create a video.

One idea for your video is to show a bunch of people saying thank you. You’ll want your video to be short, donor-centered, and show your organization’s work up close and personal. You can also create personalized videos, which are always a nice gesture.

Your thank you landing page is the perfect place to put a video. This is your first opportunity to say thank you and most landing pages are just boring receipts (and receipts are unacceptable when it comes to showing gratitude). You can also put your thank you video on your website and share it by email and social media.

Send a card

A handwritten thank you card will also brighten your donor’s day. If you don’t have the budget (Although you should have a decent mail/print budget. More on that below.) to send cards to everyone, send them to your most valuable donors. These may not be the ones who give you the most money. Do you have donors who have supported your organization for more than three years? How about more than five years? These are your valuable donors. Don’t take them for granted.

That said, I do think you should make every effort to send a card to ALL your donors at least once a year. You can spread it out so you mail a certain number of cards each month, ensuring all your donors get one sometime during the year. You could also opt for a thank you postcard.

Many organizations don’t send thank you cards, so you’ll stand out if you do.

Share an update 

In addition to saying thank you, share a brief update on your success and challenges. Emphasize how you couldn’t have helped someone without your donor’s support. For example – Thanks to you, Steven won’t go to bed hungry tonight. His family has been struggling to make ends meet right now.

Phrases like Thanks to you or Because of you should dominate your newsletters, impact reports, and other updates.

How you can do better

Make this the year you do a better job of thanking your donors. Remember, it should be a priority.

Thank your donors as soon as you can and send a thank you note/letter or make a phone call. Electronic thank yous aren’t good enough.

Be personal and conversational when you thank your donors. Don’t use jargon or other language they won’t understand. Write from the heart, but be sincere. Give specific examples of how your donors are helping you make a difference.

Also, make sure your thank you note/letter puts gratitude front and center. You don’t need to explain what your organization does, brag, or ask for another donation. You have plenty of opportunities to ask for donations, and if you do a good job of thanking your donors you can raise more money. Plain and simple, the purpose of a thank you letter is to thank your donors.

I’m a big fan of communicating by mail, even if it’s only a few times a year. It’s much more personal. Yet, many nonprofits are skittish about spending too much on mailing costs.

If your budget doesn’t allow you to mail handwritten cards, is there a way you can change that? You may be able to get a print shop to donate cards. You could also look for additional sources of unrestricted funding to cover cards and postage. Think of these as essential expenses for your essential donors.

Maybe you need a change of culture – a culture of gratitude. This comes from the top, but you also need to get your board, all staff, and volunteers invested and involved in thanking your donors. 

Ideally, thanking your donors should be something you enjoy. If you think of it as a chore, it will show. If you can visualize your donors choosing to give you a gift, that can help put you in gratitude mode.

You can’t say thank you enough. Make a commitment to thank your donors at least once a month. Create a thank you plan to help you with this. Planning ahead and creating systems makes a difference.

Keep thinking of ways to let your donors know how much you appreciate them. You don’t even need to wait for a holiday or special occasion. Just thank your donors because they’re amazing and you wouldn’t be able to make a difference without them. Don’t they deserve that?

Read on for more information about how you can create an attitude of gratitude and make your donors feel appreciated.

#21daysofthankology

The Do’s And Don’ts When Thanking Donors

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Donor Recognition: When & How to Acknowledge Supporters

Go All In on Monthly Giving

Ann Green donation page, donor engagement, donor retention, fundraising, gratitude, monthly donors, planning , , , , ,

Monthly giving is one of the few types of fundraising that does well. If your organization doesn’t have a monthly/recurring giving program or it’s fairly small, why is that?

Whether you’re a big or a smaller organization or your fundraising went well last year or it didn’t, monthly giving makes so much sense (or cents).

In this post, I’ll tell you why monthly giving is important for your nonprofit, how to start or grow your program, and how to nurture it going forward. 

In short, you need to go all in on monthly giving.

Monthly giving helps you raise more money

Monthly or recurring donations can help donors spread out their gifts and it’s easier on their bank accounts. They might be apprehensive about giving a one-time gift of $50 or $100. But if you offer them the option of giving $5 or $10 a month, that may sound more reasonable. 

It can also give you a consistent stream of revenue throughout the year instead of at certain times, such as when you do individual appeals and events and when grants come in.

Monthly gifts are smaller, but you can raise a lot of money with lots of small donations. Political candidates do it all the time. Also, monthly gifts aren’t as small as you think. The average is around $25 a month.

It can also be a more feasible way to get larger gifts. A gift of $100 a month may be more appealing to a donor than giving a large sum all at once. Even if they start with a smaller donation, monthly donors are more likely to become mid-level, major, and legacy donors.

It raises your retention rate, too

The retention rate for monthly donors is around 90%. That’s significantly higher than other retention rates. 

One reason is that monthly gifts are ongoing. But your donors have agreed to that, so this shows they’re committed to your organization. 

Monthly donors are long-term donors and long-term donors should always be one of your priorities.

How to get started

If you don’t already have a monthly giving program, make this the year you start one. Remember, it will help you raise more money and shouldn’t be too hard to set up.

A good way to start is to invite your current donors to become monthly donors. Your best bet for monthly donors are people who’ve given at least twice. These are donors who have shown a commitment to you.

That doesn’t mean you can’t ask first-time donors. This could be a good way to connect with donors from your most recent campaign. And if you haven’t officially welcomed your new year-end donors, do that now. Create a series of welcome messages and conclude it by inviting people to become monthly donors.

You could create testimonials from current monthly donors to entice future monthly donors.

If you’re having trouble getting donors to commit to monthly giving, maybe you need to do a better job of thanking and updating them.

Make monthly giving your go-to option

Put monthly giving front and center in all your campaigns. It should be an easy option on your donation page. Include it on your pledge form and make it a prominent part of your appeal letter.

I can speak from personal experience that once I started giving monthly, that’s the way I wanted to give to all organizations. Your donors would probably agree. Each year I’m happy to see that more organizations are going all in on monthly giving.

Organizations that don’t offer a monthly giving option are making a mistake. Some have a minimum donation, which I would also not recommend, if possible. If you do have a minimum, make it $5 a month instead of $10. 

If your reason for having a minimum donation amount is to save money on your expenses, is that happening if your minimum deters someone from giving at all? You often have to invest a little to raise more money. And you should raise more money with a monthly giving program.

Make your monthly donors feel special

You need to do a good job of thanking your monthly donors. Start by segmenting your monthly donors into new monthly donors, current monthly donors, and current donors who become monthly donors.

This way you can personalize their thank you letters to make them feel special. Be sure to mail a thank you letter, or even better, send a handwritten note. An email acknowledgment is not enough.

Many organizations send a monthly acknowledgment email or letter, and most are just okay. Some are basically only receipts, and as I’ve mentioned many times in the past, your thank yous need to be more than a receipt. Yes, it’s helpful to know the organization received your donation, but you’re not practicing good donor stewardship if that’s all you do.

You could spruce up these monthly acknowledgments, both by making them sound like they were written by a human and not a robot or AI, and by providing some engaging updates.

You can include a list of your monthly donors in a newsletter, impact report, or on your website. Donor lists are just one of many ways to show appreciation and not the only one, so do much more than just that. Of course, honor any donor’s wish to remain anonymous.

One thing you should do is send your donors an annual summary of their monthly gifts. This is extremely helpful for people who itemize tax deductions. Make this letter more than just a receipt and use this opportunity to connect with your donors. Pour on the appreciation and let them know how their monthly donations are helping you make a difference. If you send one by mail, go one step further with a Thank You teaser on the outer envelope.

Reach out at least once a month

Your monthly donors made a commitment to you by giving every month. Make the same commitment to them by reaching out at least once a month.

You could create a special newsletter for monthly donors or include a cover letter referencing monthly donors. If that’s too much, you could give a shout out to your monthly donors and include information on how to become a monthly donor in your newsletter.

A thank you video is a great way to connect. Consider personalizing it, if you can. You could also provide other video content, such as a virtual tour, for your monthly donors.

Thank yous, newsletters, and updates are not a one-and-done situation. Keep it up throughout the year. Many nonprofits start out communicating regularly with their monthly donors and then disappear after a couple of months. Always make a point to stay in touch with your donors.

Create a special section in your communications calendar specifically for monthly donors to help you with this.

Go the extra mile for your monthly donors

I highly recommend a contact person for your monthly donors in case they need to update their credit card information or make a change to their gift, hopefully an upgrade. Include this information in their welcome letter or email. If you send a monthly acknowledgment email, be sure to include a link where your donor can make changes. 

If you change your payment processor, make it easy for donors to transfer their information. For one organization I give to, all I had to do was click on a link they provided and presto…..

Another way to help your monthly donors is to let them know when their credit cards are about to expire. Don’t rely on your donors to remember this, because most likely they won’t. You also don’t want to miss out on any revenue. Remember, small donations add up.

If your payment processor doesn’t automatically update credit cards, set up a system where you can flag cards that will expire in the next month or two. Then send these donors a friendly reminder email/letter or give them a call. 

When my monthly giving credit card expired a few years ago, only a couple of nonprofits contacted me before the expiration date. Of course, a few slipped through the cracks and I didn’t hear from these organizations until after the donations didn’t go through. There were also a few instances when I checked my credit card statement and realized the donations weren’t getting charged. Remember to take the lead on this and pay attention, or once again, you’ll miss out on receiving this important revenue.

You could encourage donors to give via an electronic funds transfer from their bank account instead. Then neither you nor your donors need to worry about expiring credit cards.

Once a monthly donor, always a monthly donor

Once someone becomes a monthly donor, you must always recognize them as such. You most certainly should send fundraising appeals to monthly donors, but not the same ones you send to other donors.

You can ask your monthly donors for an additional gift during one of your fundraising campaigns, but you MUST recognize they’re monthly donors. For example – We really appreciate your gift of $10 a month. Could you help us out a little more right now with an additional gift? People in our community are having a hard time paying their heating bills.

You can also ask your monthly donors to upgrade their gifts after a year or so. Be as specific as possible – We’re so happy you’re part of our family of monthly donors and are grateful for your gift of $5.00 a month. Many families are having trouble making ends meet and we’re serving more people at the Eastside Community Food Pantry right now. Could you help us out a little more with a gift of $7.00 or even $10.00 a month?

If you send the usual generic appeal, imagine your donor saying – “I already give you $10 a month and you don’t seem to know that.”

But if you let those committed monthly donors know you think they’re special, they’ll be more likely to upgrade or give an additional gift. Many monthly donors have stepped up and given additional donations over the last few years. That’s what you want. And, if they do give an additional donation, be sure to thank them for that. Here’s the opening from a great thank you card I received – “How generous of you to make a gift that goes above and beyond your monthly donations.“

Be sure to invest in this proven way to raise more money, boost donor retention rates, and provide an easier giving option for your donors. 

Need more inspiration, get some ideas here.

How to Make 2025 a Successful Year for Your Nonprofit

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, donor-centered, gratitude, monthly donors, planning , , , , , ,

Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe it’s already 2025. I hope 2024 was a successful year for your nonprofit organization. If it wasn’t, you can work to make 2025 a better year. And if you were successful, you want that to continue.

Many individuals make New Year’s resolutions and set goals. Your nonprofit should do the same. As with personal resolutions, you want your goals to be realistic and attainable. If you’re a small organization, you may not have much luck pulling off a huge gala.

Here are a few ways to help you ensure a more successful year.

Have a plan in place

You must have fundraising and communications/marketing plans. If you haven’t put together these plans yet, do that now! Go one step further and create a fundraising calendar, as well. 

Your plans need to be specific, too. I know you want to raise more money and hopefully improve your donor engagement, but how will you do that?

You know from past experience that you may need to make changes to your plans. In 2020, organizations that were able to make changes to a plan already in place were most successful.

Take a look back at 2024 to see what worked and what didn’t in your fundraising and communications/marketing. Incorporate what you’ve learned into your 2025 plans. 

Be sure your fundraising plan includes a diverse stream of revenue. Individual giving has proven to be successful. A lot of small donations can add up! Start or grow your monthly giving program (more on that below). Also, look into mid-level, major, and legacy giving. 

You can apply for grants and hold events, but those sometimes require more effort than it’s worth. Invest in strategies that make sense for your organization.

Revisit your fundraising and communications/marketing plans regularly and make changes as needed. Do this at least every two to three months.

Make sure that donor relations and donor retention are part of your fundraising plan. Those are key to your success.

Pay attention to your donor retention

Donor retention continues to be a problem when it should be a priority. You’ll have more success if you work to keep the donors you already have instead of focusing on getting new ones.

First, if you don’t already know it, figure out your retention rate. Do this after every fundraising campaign.

If it’s low, you can fix it, usually with better communication. It’s easier and less expensive to keep your current donors than to find new ones so once again, make donor retention a priority.

That said, you may have some new donors who saw a need and felt a connection to your cause. Don’t let these donors slip away either. 

Your goal should be to have donors who support you for a long time.

Go all in on monthly giving

I’m a huge fan of monthly giving and think every nonprofit needs to go all in on it.

Why? First, the retention rate for monthly donors is around 90%. These donors are committed to your nonprofit. 

Organizations that have monthly giving programs receive a steady stream of revenue throughout the year. Donors who opt for monthly giving find it’s easier on their finances. Even gifts of $5.00 or $10.00 a month can make a difference for your organization. Dedicated monthly donors also step up and give additional donations.

It’s doable for organizations of all sizes, especially small ones. Work on starting or growing your monthly giving program so you can have a bunch of highly committed donors. A good way to start is to invite your current donors to become monthly donors.

Monthly donors are also potential mid-level, major, and legacy donors. Remember the importance of individual giving.

Do a better job of communicating with your donors 

There are many ways to do a better job of communicating with your donors. Start by making this the year you say goodbye to boring, generic communication. Stop using jargon, such as at-risk and underserved. Tell more stories and go easy on the statistics. It makes a difference if you can put things in human terms so you can do a better job of connecting with your donors.

Better communication also means more frequent communication. Donors want to feel appreciated and know how they are helping you make a difference. Be sure to implement the ask, thank, report, repeat formula. 

You want to segment and personalize your communication, too. Address your donors by name (not Dear Friend) and recognize their past giving or if they’re a monthly donor.

Better, more frequent communication will help you raise more money. Having a communications calendar will help you with this. 

Work on building relationships

You may think the most important component of fundraising is raising money. While that’s important, so is building relationships with your donors. 

It’s hard to raise money year after year if you don’t build a good relationship with your donors. Every single interaction with your donors needs to focus on building relationships. That includes fundraising appeals. It’s possible to raise money and build relationships at the same time. 

Stop thinking of the donations you receive as a transaction and instead think of them as the start or continuation of a relationship. 

Good relationships with your donors will help you with retention.

Create an attitude of gratitude

A big part of building relationships is showing gratitude to your donors. Many nonprofits do a poor job of this. 

You need to start by sending a heartfelt thank you immediately after you receive a donation and then find ways to thank your donors throughout the year. Put together a thank you plan to help you with this.

Start the New Year off by making fundraising and communications/marketing plans, if you haven’t already done so. Prioritize donor retention, monthly giving, showing gratitude, and building relationships with your donors. This will help bring you more success in 2025.

Improve Your Donor Engagement by Creating a Communications Calendar

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, gratitude, planning , , , ,

I always like to emphasize the importance of keeping in touch with your donors throughout the year. I hope that’s a priority for you, too.

Your donors want to hear from you and don’t just want to be blasted with fundraising appeals. The good news is that better donor communication (thank yous and updates) can help you raise more money. This is especially important if you’ve fallen behind in your revenue goals. Remember the ask, thank, report, repeat formula.

Ideally, you should communicate with your donors at least once or twice a month throughout the year. I know that might sound impossible, but it will be much easier if you put together a communications calendar (also known as an editorial calendar).

I like the term communications calendar because it emphasizes the importance of communicating with your donors and other supporters all year round.

Some of you may already have a communications calendar, which is great. Now is a good time to update yours for 2025, if you haven’t already done that. For the rest of you, here are some suggestions to help you get started. Even though it will take a little time to put together, it will be worth it in the end because you’ll be able to do a better job of communicating with your donors.

This is not just a job for your marketing department. All departments need to work together. Figure out what information you need to share and when you need to share it. You want a consistent stream of information – not three email messages in one day and nothing for three weeks.

As you put together your communications calendar, think about how you will use different channels and which audience(s) should receive your messages. You may only send direct mail a few times a year (and I hope you do use direct mail), but send an e-newsletter once a month and communicate by social media several times a week. You’ll often use several different channels when you send a fundraising appeal or promote an event.

Start big by looking at the entire year and then break it down by months and weeks. You’ll keep adding to your communications calendar throughout the year.

Your communications calendar is a fluid document and these past few years are a good example of how our world is constantly changing. It’s important to keep things current.

Here are some categories you can use in your communications calendar. Some items will be time-sensitive and others won’t be.

Updates

Your donors want to hear how they’re helping you make a difference. Your print and e-newsletters should be included in your communications calendar. If you don’t do a newsletter, make a plan to share updates another way – maybe by postcard, email, and/or social media. Sometimes short updates are more effective.

Current events/News stories

At the beginning of 2020, most of us couldn’t predict the year we were about to have. There’s still a lot going on and here in the U.S., be prepared for uncertainty.

Many donors will expect you to address current situations. Keep them apprised of how all this is affecting your clients/community. Sometimes staying silent isn’t the best option.

Legislation

Advocacy alerts are a wonderful way to engage with your supporters. Be on the lookout for any federal or state legislation that’s relevant to your organization. Encourage people to contact their legislators about an issue or a bill. Then report back to them with any updates and thank them for getting involved.

Time of year

Is there something going on during a particular month that’s pertinent to your organization? Perhaps it’s homelessness or mental health awareness month.

Thanksgiving, the holidays, and winter can be a difficult time for some people. How can you weave that into an engaging story to share with your supporters? This may be another hard winter for many people.

Keep in mind your organization’s anniversary doesn’t mean much to your donors unless you can tie that in with how they’re helping you make a difference. You could, however, reach out to your donors on the anniversary of their giving.

Fundraising and recruitment

Be sure to add your fundraising campaigns to your communications calendar. You’ll want to have a separate fundraising calendar, too. Of course, your campaigns are important, but you also want to show gratitude and send updates during this time without inundating your donors with too many messages. Planning ahead will help you strike this balance.

If your organization has specific times it needs to recruit volunteers, add that to your calendar, as well. 

Thank your donors

Make this a priority! Find different ways to let your donors know how much you appreciate them. You can combine a thank you with an update. Do this at least once a month. Create a separate set of thank yous for your monthly donors, too.

You could even go one step further and create a separate thank you calendar.

Events

Perhaps your organization holds events. Besides your events, are there other events in your community that would be of interest to your supporters? If so, you could share that on social media.

Ongoing content

If you’re making a difference, you have stories to tell. Share a story at least once a month. Client stories (either in the first or third person) are best. Your stories need to be relevant to the ever-evolving current situations, so you may need to create some new ones.

You could also profile a board member, volunteer, donor, or staff member. Be sure to highlight what drew them to your organization.

Put together a story bank to help you with this.

Don’t stop communicating with your donors

As you hear about other relevant information, add it to your calendar, so you can stay connected with your donors/supporters throughout the year.

Here is some more information to help you create a communications/editorial calendar.

Editorial and Content Calendars

Use This 2025 Nonprofit Calendar to Plan Your Content Strategy

Get your nonprofit organized with an editorial calendar

How Will You Welcome Your New Donors?

Ann Green Communications, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, donor-centered, planning , , , , ,

Year-end fundraising is in full swing. I hope your campaign is going well so far. Perhaps you also participated in Giving Tuesday. The latter often brings in new donors, which you never want to take for granted. 

These donors saw a need and found a connection to your cause. Or maybe they were drawn into whatever Giving Tuesday promotion you initiated, but I like to think they wanted to help you make a difference. 

You may have or will see an increase in donations because of the recent U.S. election. For example, if you work with immigrants or other populations that will be affected by the incoming administration. These donors are sometimes referred to as rage donors.  If that’s the case for you, these are donors who feel passionate about your cause and you don’t want to lose them.

Unfortunately, many of your new donors won’t stick with you. The retention rate for first-time donors is around 20%. We can and must do better.

This is why it’s so important to get a second donation, also known as a golden donation. Once you get that golden donation, you’re more likely to have long-time donors who will keep giving. One way to ensure this is to make your new donors feel welcome.

Start with a special thank you

According to fundraising expert, Dr. Adrian Sargeant, “The thank you is the single most important piece of communication that your donors get. They have a higher recall of it than the appeal that generated the gift.”

Keep that in mind, especially for your new donors.

If someone donates online, it’s hard to tailor the thank you email specifically to new donors. But you can do that with a phone call, handwritten note, or thank you letter.

Try to call your new donors or send a handwritten note. This will make a great impression on them. Get together a group of board members, other volunteers, and staff to help you. If that’s not possible, create a thank you letter specifically for your new donors.

*Make sure these are brand new donors. A good CRM/database will help you avoid any missteps.*

Create a welcome plan

A week or two after the initial thank you, send a welcome package. You can do this by mail, email, or a combination of both. Try to send at least one welcome message by mail. Mail is always more personal and your donors will be more likely to see it.

Welcome your new donors. Thank them again and show them other ways they can connect with you. Invite them to subscribe to your newsletter, join you on social media, and volunteer.

Your welcome package should include a warm introductory message and a few facts about your organization, but don’t brag too much. Keep it donor-centered and be personable. You could also direct people to your website for more information about your nonprofit.

Be careful about how much information you send. Donors want to feel welcome, not overwhelmed.

I don’t recommend sending unsolicited swag. Personally, I don’t like it, but some donors might. You could offer your new donors a gift and they can let you know if they want to receive it, but it’s not necessary. What donors really want from you is to know how they’re helping you make a difference.

Create a series of messages, also known as a drip campaign. Set a timeline. The first sequence of messages can be sent about once a week. After that, you should continue to communicate regularly (at least once a month) and follow the ask, thank, update, repeat formula. In a few months, you could invite your new donors to give monthly. Monthly donors are committed donors.

Welcome emails have high open rates. Impress your new donors right away, so they’ll be more likely to donate again.

Who are your new donors?

They could be event attendees, volunteers, or newsletter subscribers. If you know, refer to that in your thank you note, letter, or phone call. If not, send a short survey with your welcome package and ask, “How did you hear about us?” or “What drew you to our organization?” 

Another question to ask is whether your donors prefer print or electronic communication. Short surveys are also a good way to connect throughout the year. The more you know about your donors the easier it will be to communicate with them.

Make your current donors feel special, too

While I’ve been focusing on new donors in this post, retention rates for current donors aren’t anything to celebrate. The overall donor retention rate is around 45%, so we have some work to do.

Remember the golden donation, but don’t stop there. You want a third (would that be platinum?) and a fourth, etc. donation.  

If you’re not acknowledging a donor’s past support, you’re making a huge mistake. Imagine how you would feel if you gave to an organization for over five years and they never thank you for your long-time support.  Unfortunately, this happens way too often.

These valuable, long-time donors could leave at any time, so ignore them at your own peril. Make sure they also get a special thank you from you.

Keep it up throughout the year

It’s so important to communicate with your donors regularly. Plan on special mailings or emails specifically targeted to new donors. Remember to try to send something by mail if you can. A better use of your print and mailing budget is to send thank you notes instead of swag.

Think of other ways to do something special for your new donors too, such as an open house or a tour of your facility, either in person or virtual.

Of course, don’t ignore your other donors. You could do something special when you get that all-important second gift. Keep reaching out – at least once or twice a month. 

Show appreciation and share updates. A huge factor in donor retention is a good donor relations plan that you’ll carry out regularly as long as your donors support you, which hopefully will be for many years.

Financial Sustainability for Nonprofits: 4 Considerations

Ann Green accounting, fundraising, planning , ,

Effective financial management is critical for your nonprofit to grow and thrive long-term. Explore four considerations for achieving financial sustainability.

By Jon Osterburg

If you work for a new nonprofit, your team’s primary goal is probably to get your operations off the ground and start furthering your mission. But once your organization has existed for some time, you’ll likely start considering how to make it thrive long-term. You’ll create strategic plans, brainstorm new projects and programs, and organize campaigns to raise the necessary funds to execute your ideas.

One important but sometimes overlooked step in future planning is ensuring proper nonprofit financial management. To build capacity, you not only need to fundraise efficiently but also track and allocate funds to sustain your organization’s operations as it grows.

In this guide, we’ll review four considerations to keep in mind as you assess your nonprofit’s financial sustainability—and, therefore, how ready it is for expansion. Let’s get started!

1. Accounting Infrastructure

Your nonprofit’s internal financial systems can make or break its growth potential. After all, to build up your organization, you first need a solid foundation! Before you can grow, you should have a strong accounting infrastructure that consists of:

  • Fiscal policies and procedures. These guidelines govern how your team members handle your organization’s funding as they perform their daily tasks. Create a shared fiscal policies and procedures handbook for easy reference across departments. In it, include guidance on gift acceptance, conflicts of interest, expense reimbursement, and staff compensation, among other aspects of nonprofit finance.
  • Methodology. According to Jitasa, most nonprofits start out using the cash accounting method to track their finances—i.e., recording revenue when it’s received and expenses when they’re paid. However, you should transition to accrual accounting as your organization’s finances become more complex. Since this method involves recording revenue when it’s pledged and expenses when they’re incurred, it allows you to monitor your nonprofit’s financial commitments more comprehensively.
  • Software. Switching to accrual accounting also requires your organization to upgrade from a spreadsheet to a dedicated accounting platform to track its finances. When shopping for this type of software, remember that most of the top accounting solutions on the market are designed for for-profit businesses. However, you can configure them to align with your nonprofit’s recording and reporting needs.

Every other aspect of nonprofit financial management stems from this infrastructure—from budgeting and tax filing to setting fiscal goals in your strategic plan. So, work with your organization’s financial professionals to ensure your systems are in top shape.

2. Finance Team

In addition to strong financial systems, your nonprofit needs multiple dedicated professionals to maintain them. Having a team rather than an individual financial manager allows you to delegate tasks according to each member’s expertise and bandwidth, and they can check each other’s work to catch and fix any errors as early as possible.

Here are the four major nonprofit financial roles your organization needs to fill:

  • Treasurer. As the financial expert on your nonprofit’s board of directors, your treasurer is responsible for financial oversight. Some of their responsibilities include approving budgets, implementing risk management plans, and reporting your organization’s finances to the rest of the board.
  • Chief financial officer (CFO). This individual works closely with other members of your nonprofit’s leadership team on financial strategy. Their duties range from budget creation and cash flow forecasting to grant management and financial policy development.
  • Bookkeeper. This professional is primarily in charge of financial recordkeeping, so they’ll perform most of the data entry in your accounting software. They also frequently handle other day-to-day financial tasks for your organization, such as managing invoices, making bank deposits, and processing payroll.
  • Accountant. After your bookkeeper records data, your accountant will use that information to perform their financial analysis and reporting duties. These include bank reconciliations, audit preparation, financial statement creation, and tax filing, among other responsibilities.

To fill the last three roles, your organization can hire someone in-house if you have the budget and need to do so, or you could outsource the roles. Outsourced bookkeeping, accounting, and fractional CFO services provide access to all of the expertise of full-time professionals at a reduced cost. Either way, make sure every member of your financial team has experience working with nonprofit finances so they understand your unique needs.

3. Revenue Streams

To prepare your nonprofit for expansion, you need to have steady funding coming in each month so you can cover all of your expenses and save for the future. Here are some ideas you can use to diversify your organization’s funding model, broken down according to the five major categories of nonprofit revenue:

  • Individual donations: Small, mid-level, and major monetary gifts; event revenue; in-kind donations.
  • Corporate philanthropy: Matching gifts, volunteer grants, sponsorships.
  • Earned income: Membership dues, merchandise sales, service fees.
  • Investments: Endowments, stocks, bonds, cryptocurrency.
  • Grants: Government grants, foundation grants, marketing grants.

Bringing in revenue from multiple sources boosts your organization’s financial sustainability—if one stream falls short of expectations or you incur unexpected expenses, you’ll have more options to fall back on as you make up the difference. Plus, the more funds you raise from different sources, the more flexibility you have as you save for the future.

4. Reserve Funds

Your nonprofit’s long-term savings—also known as reserve funds—are critical to its longevity. Not only do they provide you with a safety net in case of emergency, but they’re also often the first money you’ll draw from when your organization is ready to expand. 

However, like with other aspects of finance, reserve funds are only useful if you manage them properly. Infinite Giving’s nonprofit cash management guide provides the following tips to help you start saving more sustainably:

  • Keep 6-12 months of operating expenses in reserve. This benchmark will see your nonprofit through many circumstances outside of your control. It’s also useful when most of your new fundraising dollars are going toward growth initiatives, but you still need to keep your lights on.
  • Store reserve funds in sweep accounts. A sweep account is a type of brokerage account that provides more FDIC protection than normal bank accounts (often covering up to $5 million). They allow your nonprofit’s cash to stay safe while making investment easier.
  • Steward your savings by investing in low-risk vehicles. This strategy allows you to grow your reserves without massive fluctuations in value while ensuring you can access them as needed. Some of these vehicles include mutual funds, CDs, and treasury bills.

Additionally, include guidance on reserve funds in your nonprofit’s fiscal policies and procedures handbook. Cover your savings targets and sources to draw reserve funding from, as well as when your team can take money out of your reserve fund and who is authorized to do so. This way, you’ll make sure you only dip into your organization’s savings when it’s truly necessary.

While many duties associated with achieving sustainability fall to your finance team, it’s actually a team effort that requires your entire nonprofit’s cooperation. All of your staff needs to commit to your policies, communicate effectively with your financial professionals, brush up on basic financial literacy concepts, and maintain your revenue streams and reserve funds. Instill a sustainability mindset in your team from the start and lead by example to set your organization up for financial success.

Jon Osterburg has spent the last nine years helping more than 100 nonprofits around the world with their finances as a leader at Jitasa, an accounting firm that offers bookkeeping and accounting services to not for profit organizations.


Focus on Generosity and Building Relationships on Giving Tuesday

Ann Green donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, email, fundraising, planning , , , ,

Your email inbox can look downright scary these days. This was especially true during the long U.S. election season. Soon we’ll be bombarded with Cyber Monday and Black Friday ads. And then there’s Giving Tuesday. All of this can be too much, too much, and many of these messages look like spam.

In an ideal world Giving Tuesday wouldn’t be associated with political emails and Cyber Monday ads. According to the Giving Tuesday website, “Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity.” In theory, that sounds nice, but in reality, it’s a day when nonprofit organizations unleash an onslaught of transactional fundraising appeals by email, text, and social media.

We’re all feeling overwhelmed after the election. It’s likely both you and your donors are upset with the outcome. Even so, no one likes being barraged with transactional messages.

Your donors deserve better. Focus on generosity and building relationships. 

Beginning in 2012, Giving Tuesday has taken place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year it will be on December 3.

I’m not going to tell you whether or not you should participate in Giving Tuesday. Perhaps you’ve participated in the past and it’s been successful (one way to measure if it was successful is if those donors give again), or maybe it wasn’t. Perhaps you’re planning to participate for the first time. Maybe you’re on the fence. 

Whether you participate or not, Giving Tuesday is part of the nonprofit landscape and if you’re doing a year-end appeal, you’ll need to factor it into your campaign. If you do participate, you want to make it a better experience for your donors instead of the usual barrage of generic, transactional appeals. And, you don’t want your messages to resemble spam.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as Giving Tuesday approaches.

Just because it’s Giving Tuesday isn’t a compelling reason to give

I see so many messages that say donate because it’s Giving Tuesday. Many donors don’t care if it’s Giving Tuesday or if it’s your “annual appeal.” That’s often not why they donate. They give because they care about your cause and want to help make a difference. 

Given what’s likely in the next administration, nonprofits will need to work harder to combat any government funding cuts and policy changes. Your work is important. Focus on your need and the impact of your donor’s gift.

Let them know that with their help, Stacy doesn’t have to go to bed hungry or Jason can boost his reading skills.

People and communities are struggling, and it will probably get worse. You need to acknowledge this in your appeals.

It’s not just about the money

A successful Giving Tuesday campaign is about more than just raising a lot of money. You also want to build relationships and make your donors feel good about supporting your organization. This is where it often falls short.

I’m not a huge fan of Giving Tuesday or any giving days, for that matter, because they focus too much on getting donations. Many of these donors are first-time donors who don’t give again. The end result is you’ve just spent a lot of time and effort on getting one-time gifts. That’s not what you want. You need donors who will support you for many years.

Make it personal and segment your donors

Don’t just blast a bunch of generic, transactional appeals that resemble Cyber Monday ads or those relentless requests for political donations. I receive so many political emails, which are just “noise” that I end up ignoring. You don’t want that. You want to attract your donors’ attention in a good way. A more relationship-oriented subject line can help.

You also don’t want to send all your donors the same appeal. If someone donated last year on GivingTuesday, this is the perfect opportunity to thank them for that gift and ask them to donate again this year. If they donated two weeks ago, maybe they shouldn’t get an appeal right now.

Segment your donors. Acknowledge past donors and make a connection with potential donors. 

Focus on building relationships with your donors instead of just begging for donations.

Also, if you’re sending an appeal to your monthly donors, recognize them as monthly donors and ask them to give an additional gift (many of them will). They get their own thank you, too. Monthly donors are one of your most loyal types of donors. Be sure to make them feel special.

If you’re one of the few organizations that sends more personalized appeals, then kudos to you because that’s what everyone needs to do.

Use Giving Tuesday as a way to follow up with your donors

If you don’t want to launch a full Giving Tuesday campaign (understandable), it can be a great opportunity to follow up with people who haven’t donated to your year-end appeal. You should be sending regular reminders, anyway.

Send email, text, and social media messages before and on Giving Tuesday encouraging people to donate. You can use the Giving Tuesday logos, etc. if you’d like. Obviously, you’ll want to keep following up with anyone who didn’t donate on Giving Tuesday.

Remember, your donors will be barraged with messages on Giving Tuesday. Make yours stand out and be prepared to keep following up.

Put gratitude front and center

Let your donors know how much you appreciate their generosity.

Make sure you have an engaging thank you landing page and thank you email for your online donors. You could even create ones especially for Giving Tuesday. Then you need to follow that with a phone call, handwritten note, or thank you letter.

Do something special for your new donors, but don’t ignore any repeat donors. 

Go the extra mile and do a good job of thanking these donors – both right after they’ve made their donation and throughout the year.

We’re going to skip Giving Tuesday 

Maybe you’ll decide to skip Giving Tuesday altogether. If that’s the case, you may want to hold off on sending email on Giving Tuesday. Remember, other organizations will be participating and any messages you send will be competing with the onslaught of Giving Tuesday appeals. 

Before and after Giving Tuesday, use this opportunity to stand out by keeping your fundraising campaign focused on gratitude and relationship building. Year-end is a good time to ramp up your donor communication (examples include thank you messages, holiday greetings, and updates) so people don’t think you’re only asking them for money.

Give back to your donors

I think you’ll find your Giving Tuesday campaign, or any fundraising campaign, will be more successful if you focus on more than just the giving part. And a big part of a successful campaign is getting repeat donations. This means giving back to your donors, as well.

Always focus on generosity and building relationships, and don’t make it feel like a transaction.

How Will You Thank Your Year-End Donors?

Ann Green direct mail, donor engagement, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing , , , , , ,

I imagine many of you are working on your year-end fundraising campaign. You may have started working on your appeal letter, which is great, but how much time have you spent thinking about how you’ll thank your donors? Maybe not that much. If that’s the case, you’re making a mistake because it’s just as important, if not more important, to plan how you’ll thank your donors. 

I highly recommend creating a thank you plan, which will help you show gratitude before, during, and after a campaign. 

Your donors deserve an amazing thank you. The problem is most thank yous don’t come anywhere close to being amazing. Many organizations treat thanking their donors as an afterthought and it shows. You can’t do that. It will hurt your chances of getting future donations. If you’ve been having trouble keeping your donors, doing a better job of thanking them should help.

There are many ways to thank your donors after an appeal – by mail, phone, email, on your website, or a combination of those. The more you can do, the better.

Thanking your donors is something you need to do well. Don’t shortchange your donors with a half-hearted, generic thank you.

Do an amazing job of thanking your donors. Make it a priority. Here are a few ways to do this. 

Start planning now

Don’t wait until the day after your appeal goes out. Give yourself plenty of time to plan. Write your thank you letter at the same time you write your appeal. 

Figure out what you’ll be able to do. I highly recommend a handwritten note or phone call. Can you do that for all your donors? If not, maybe you’ll break it down by new donors, long-time donors, or donors who have given a certain amount.

It’s important to thank your donors as soon as possible. I understand that handwritten notes and phone calls take more time, especially during the busy year-end season. If that’s the case, you can and should do those at other times of the year instead.  At the very least, your donors should get a letter, even if they’ve donated online. Thank you emails tend to resemble receipts, but we have the power to change that. Whatever you decide, remember to get started on the content now. 

In the past, the standard was to send thank you letters within 48 hours. If that’s too hard, don’t wait much longer than a week. Make sure you’re ready to go when the donations come in. 

Make your donor’s day with a handwritten thank you note

I love it when a nonprofit sends a handwritten thank you note. This is a rare occurrence, so if you do it, your thank you note will stand out in your donor’s mailbox.

Handwritten notes are great in many ways, but one advantage is you don’t have to write that much. In fact, you can do one in just a few minutes.

You could make thank you cards with an engaging photo or buy some nice thank you cards. Get together a team of board members, staff, and volunteers right after your appeal goes out to help you with this.

Think about how much your donors will appreciate this nice gesture. Here’s a sample note.

Dear Lisa,

Thank you so much for upgrading your gift to $75. We’re still seeing more people coming into the Westside Community Food Pantry. It’s difficult for many families in the community to afford groceries right now. Your generous gift will help a lot. We’re so happy you’ve been a donor for the past five years.

Phone calls are another personal way to show appreciation

Calling first-time donors is known to improve retention rates. But you could also call long-time donors to make them feel special.

Again, you want to get a team together to help. This is a great thing for your board to do. Here’s a sample phone script.

Hi Steve, this is Jennifer Taylor and I’m a board member at the Westside Community Food Pantry. Thank you so much for your generous donation of $50 and welcome to our donor family. Your gift will help feed more local families right now. Many of them are struggling to make ends meet.

Write that amazing thank you letter

If it’s impossible to send handwritten notes or make phone calls, you can still impress your donors with an amazing thank you letter. As I mentioned before, many thank you letters aren’t amazing at all and are mediocre at best. You’ll have an advantage if you take some time to create a great, donor-centered letter.

The purpose of a thank you letter is to thank your donors. Keep that in mind at all times.  

Don’t start your letter with On behalf of X organization…. If you’re sending it on your letterhead, it should be obvious it’s coming from your organization. Instead, start your letter with – Thank you, You’re incredible, or You did something great today!

You also don’t need to explain what your organization does. This often comes across as bragging by saying something like – As you know, X organization has been doing great work in the community for 20 years…. Someone who’s donated to your organization should already be familiar with what you do. 

And, don’t ask for another gift in your thank you letter. You did that in your appeal letter. You can ask again another time. Always keep gratitude front and center.

Write separate thank you letters for different types of donors. Welcome new donors and welcome back your current donors. Monthly donors should also get special recognition.

Your thank you letter needs to make your donors feel good about giving to your organization. Let them know how their gift is helping you make a difference. Include a brief story or example, such as the sample handwritten note or phone script I included above.

As with all writing, make your letter personal and conversational. Write to your donor using you much more than we and leave out jargon and any other language your donors won’t understand. Also, you must address your donors by name – not Dear Friend. Personalization is crucial when thanking your donors.

Your envelope makes a difference. Don’t use a boring, white #10 envelope. Make your letter stand out by using a colored or textured envelope. You could include a teaser that says Thank You and use a nice stamp (You can buy thank you stamps). Hand address the envelopes if you can and include a handwritten note inside that will help make it more personal. You could also include an engaging photo in the letter.

Yes, you do need to include the tax-deductible information, but do that at the end, after you impress your donors with your letter, or include it on a separate page. It’s easiest to include this with your thank you letter or email. Then you don’t have to send it again unless your donor requests it.

Create a more personal online thank you

The thank you plan I reference above gives you advice on how to create better thank you landing pages and email acknowledgments. These often come across as transactional. You need to think of the donations you receive as the start or continuation of a relationship, not a transaction.

Remember, even though your online donors will get an electronic acknowledgment, they should still get thanked by mail or phone. I like to think of the landing page, email, and what comes in the mail or by phone as the thank you journey. Don’t forget this is an ongoing journey.

I do want to emphasize the importance of a good email subject line. Stand out in your donor’s inbox and use language that conveys gratitude, such as Thank You, Lisa! or You just did something great! Steer clear of anything like Donation Receipt or Your Receipt from X Organization. It’s not that hard to do this and you’ll make a good impression.

Remember to make thanking your donors a priority, both now and throughout the year. You should be more successful if you do.

How to Reach New Audiences With Your Nonprofit’s Message

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, community partnerships, donor engagement, donor retention, planning, social media, website , , , , , ,

Want to reach new audiences to expand your nonprofit’s supporter base? Explore these ideas to engage with new groups of potential supporters. 

By Jay Love

Is your nonprofit looking to reach new audiences with your fundraising appeals, volunteer events, and advocacy opportunities? You’re in the right place!

Reaching new audiences is critical to growing your organization’s supporter base and fostering reliable revenue to fund your cause. In this guide, we’ve compiled a list of top ideas to help expand your reach and introduce prospective new supporters to your mission. 

The goal here isn’t that you should immediately start participating in every activity we’ve listed. Instead, browse these ideas to select a handful that would work best for your unique audience and staff capacity. 

1. Set up a giving referral program. 

Establishing a referral program for your giving opportunities incentivizes existing donors to engage with new supporters on your behalf, allowing you to leverage more extensive networks. If your nonprofit has a monthly giving or membership program, you can recruit current participants to promote the opportunity to their family members and friends. 

Offer incentives to current donors to encourage participation, such as:

  • Complimentary nonprofit-branded merchandise
  • Gift cards
  • VIP event access

Thank donors who participate in the program with a personal appreciation message and recognition on your social media pages and email newsletters. 

2. Participate in cross-blogging.

Cross-blogging opportunities require your nonprofit to partner with similar organizations to write posts for their online blog audiences. By participating in these blogging opportunities, you can introduce your mission to a new audience and show them why your organization is worthy of their support.

Reach out to other community organizations in your area, such as nonprofits or civic organizations, to ask if they’d be interested in a cross-blogging partnership. Outline the mutual benefits of this opportunity—by writing posts for your nonprofit’s blog, your partners will also be able to reach a new audience. 

In your blog posts, share engaging stories that illustrate your nonprofit’s mission. Make the stories more impactful by incorporating your unique perspective, referencing recent statistics, and including quotes from your beneficiaries. Include links to your organization’s website so readers can get more information. 

3. Engage with peer-to-peer fundraising donors. 

Peer-to-peer fundraisers allow your nonprofit’s supporters to raise money for your mission on your behalf, expanding your fundraising reach and engaging new audiences. Many organizations send a simple thank you message to new donors and leave it at that. However, we recommend actively engaging with peer-to-peer donors to show them the impact of their gifts and increase the chances they’ll become recurring donors. 

Qgiv’s peer-to-peer fundraising guide offers ideas for increasing retention by inviting new donors to:

  • Volunteer with you
  • Sign up for your email newsletter
  • Complete a survey to provide suggestions on the giving process

Asking new donors to complete a survey can be particularly effective, as you can uncover their giving motivations. While many donors likely gave to support their loved one’s peer-to-peer campaign, some may have a genuine interest in or passion for your mission. These donors are the most likely to stay engaged with your organization after the fundraiser ends. 

4. Offer valuable educational content through your website.

Whether you work in the environmental, healthcare, or community sectors, your nonprofit may have unique insights or information to share about your cause area. By featuring valuable educational content on your website, you can improve your site’s reputation and reach new audiences of visitors interested in the information you have to share. 

Filling your website with rich educational content can also improve your SEO results, increasing the likelihood of your pages appearing higher on search engines. 

Focus on educational content like: 

  • Educational courses
  • eBooks
  • Informational videos
  • Virtual webinars or panel discussions

Be sure to work with your organization’s subject matter experts (SMEs) to design your educational content and ensure its accuracy. Ask them to review your content and make updates as needed. 

5. Host community classes or workshops.

Community classes bring people together to learn a new skill or meet new friends in their area. These workshops are a valuable public service your nonprofit can provide to foster new connections and draw attention to your mission. 

Host classes that align with your nonprofit’s purpose. For example: 

  • A local animal shelter may host puppy yoga or dog training classes.
  • A local community garden nonprofit can host healthy cooking, gardening, or plant identification classes.
  • A nonprofit focused on helping community members gain technology skills can host a digital literacy workshop or coding classes.

These opportunities are also effective for engaging with various volunteers, some of whom may be new to your organization. New volunteers will be more likely to increase their involvement when your classes and workshops are fun and have interesting topics. Plus, volunteers are 66% more likely to donate to the organization they volunteer with than non-volunteers, meaning these individuals can be valuable potential donors. 

6. Collaborate with influencers.

Influencers are individuals who have large followings on online platforms like social media or blogs. They are regarded as authoritative figures on specific topics and can sway their audiences’ opinions with recommendations and endorsements. 

By working with an influencer, your nonprofit can reach its large, engaged audience to share your message and drive engagement with your involvement opportunities. Find an influencer relevant to your nonprofit’s mission to ensure their audience aligns with your existing one. For example, a nonprofit that helps fund school band programs could partner with a musician with a large TikTok following. 

Provide your influencer with the messaging you’d like them to use when discussing your nonprofit and a link to your website or online fundraising page. Also, research disclosure regulations so you comply with marketing laws.

7. Take an active social media approach.

In addition to working with an influencer, another way to engage with a wider online audience is to be more active on social media. Engage with your current audience and reach new potential supporters by following these tips: 

  • Comment on and share posts about your organization. Use social listening tools to track social media conversations about your nonprofit. Bloomerang’s nonprofit software guide highlights Buffer and Hootsuite as two social listening options. Then, engage with those posts by liking, commenting, and sharing them when appropriate. 
  • Post regularly. Use a social media scheduling platform to create posts in advance and schedule them to be published at regular intervals. For smaller organizations, posting around three to five times per week tends to be the most feasible. 
  • Host challenges with unique hashtags. Social media challenges can effectively engage your followers in fun activities and inspire them to share posts about your nonprofit with your followers. For example, you could start a #SelfiesforSeahorses challenge to encourage followers to share pictures of themselves using the hashtag to spread awareness of your organization’s sea life conservation efforts. 

When creating social media content, remember the 5 Cs of good nonprofit communications. Your messages should be clear, concise, conversational, and compelling, and they should establish a connection. Workshop your social media content with your nonprofit’s team to strike the right tone that aligns with your brand. 

8. Co-host events with community organizations. 

Partnering with other organizations in your community can offer mutual benefits. Your nonprofit can reach a new audience while providing your partners similar access to your existing supporter base.

Reach out to other organizations to see if they’d be interested in co-hosting events with your nonprofit. These organizations may include: 

  • Businesses
  • Other nonprofits
  • Civic organizations and clubs
  • Local schools and universities

With your community partners, you can host workshops, classes, silent auctions, fundraising 5Ks, festivals, chili cookoffs, or bake sales. Create branded event marketing materials for you and your partners to ensure consistent and professional branding. 

9. Host cause-merchandise fundraisers.

Branded merchandise can help your nonprofit reach prospective new donors without lifting a finger. When supporters wear or use your branded merchandise, they’ll spread awareness of your organization’s logo, colors, and other brand elements. 

Therefore, you should ensure the merchandise you create is highly visible. For example, you could sell: 

  • Branded t-shirts
  • Tote bags
  • Baseball hats
  • Mugs or water bottles
  • Bumper stickers

Promote your merchandise using social media, website, and email platforms to encourage supporters to purchase your products. You can even start a social media campaign asking supporters to share photos of them using or wearing your merchandise. Create a unique hashtag for that campaign.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to connect with new audiences and spread your nonprofit’s message—it just takes some creativity and outside-the-box thinking. 

No matter which strategies you choose, track metrics to evaluate your progress. You can track social media engagement rates, merchandise sales, event revenue, new donor acquisition, and other relevant data points to better understand which strategies drive the most engagement among new audiences. 

Jay Love is a Co-Founder and current Chief Relationship Officer at Bloomerang.

Jay has served this sector for 33 years and is considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly.

Before founding Bloomerang, he was the co-founder and CEO of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to over 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.

He is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in Business Administration. Over the years, he has given more than 2,500 speeches around the world for the charity sector and is often the voice of new technology for fundraisers.