Recently I made some new friends at The Fundraising Effectiveness Project and they shared some awesome research findings with me. You can see the first one below proving that high-dollar donors are actually more loyal (stickier) than low-dollar supporters.
I think what this chart implies is this: The fundraising pyramid is dead
The idea that nonprofits should first seek to gain low dollar donors and move them up the pyramid is just not a wise strategy. Low dollar donors are clearly less loyal and don’t repeat at nearly the same rate as high dollar donors $1,000 – $4,999 (at 87%). Plus, low dollar donors are very expensive to acquire yet they are much more fickle. Click to tweet! Therefore, they clearly can’t deliver enough returns for the long haul compared to the other givers.
4 things you should do today:
1- Develop a strategy that emphasizes efforts to gain more high-dollar donors instead of low-level supporters.
2- Focus on customer service and retention by providing value everywhere (especially in your engagement offers).
3- Search for ways to move mid-level donors up (again by providing value especially in your engagement offers).
4- Aim for referrals. Encourage your current high-dollar donors to introduce you to other high-dollar donors.Click to tweet! This will be the lowest cost marketing you can implement and it will deliver the greatest return for your investment. The ice bucket challenge did this for low-level donors. But most of them never gave again. What can you do to get referrals from major and mid-level donors? Figure that out and you’ll be a fundraising rockstar!
>> A Healthy List of Captivating Blog Posts About Major Gifts
>> 4 reasons to focus on major gifts (including major legacy gifts)
>> Too much talk about donor retention?
>> Fundraisers: Loyalty is What Really Matters
>> 8 Considerations For A New Major Gifts Campaign
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