Ideally, you’re in the room with your donors at least once every eighteen months to two years.
You’re touching base. You’re updating. You’re refreshing their memory of your ministry’s vision.
You’re repeatedly moving through the cycle of thanking and reporting.
As your organization’s advancement leader, I encourage you to continually work on your lists so that they work for you.
In successful prospect planning, there are three groups you’re considering at all times: new donors to retain, donors to regain, and donors to recruit.
When you view every person as needing to be categorized into one of these three groups, you can better design your approach to them to have the most significant impact on your ministry.
Keeping this in mind, let’s walk through a question I am often asked:
Q: Which donor goes at the top of ‘the list’–one who bestows a sizeable one-time gift or gives less but monthly? In other words, who would I focus on inviting if I host 100 people?
A: Both.
To create the culture you are building in your ministry, focus your attention and efforts on your best partners to regain or retain.
Diversify your strategy to increase the chances of getting the right people in the room.
Best of the Best
What makes a donor the ‘best’?
Let the data speak for itself, and the lists won’t lie.
Pick people with the highest long-term giving number out of all your donors.
Longest-Term List | 10-Year Period
Create a list of longest-term value givers who have given the most over a 10-year period.
Significant Giver to Regain List | 5-Year Period
Next, list people who have given the most significantly in the last five years.
Look for those who gave significantly sometime in the past five years but have given intermittently or have dropped off.
Recent Significant Giver List | 18-Month Period
These donors are active and want to engage.
Be mindful. Significant giving can be a one-time allotment or an automated amount that consistently adds up.
Outliers
The riskiest people to list are those who make one-time large gifts. Their impressive donation could result from an unusual circumstance.
At the same time, you may find that someone once gave significantly, but now giving is less of a priority.
We simply don’t know.
Take an intentional approach.
Create and utilize your lists as a solid foundation. Don’t get too statistical with it; look at the people distinctively.
Each name on your list represents a unique individual.
Reach out and remind them of the united vision profile your organization serves with their support.
In His name, keep moving forward!
This is the second article in a series “Work Smarter, Not Harder.” Click here to review article #1 in this series.
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