Summary: In today’s podcast episode Chris Hammond from Corporate Giving Connection and Stephen Halasnik from Financing Solutions discuss the peer-to-peer method for nonprofit fundraising and how to cultivate relationships with new donors. These solutions are helping fundraisers connect with prospects within their network efficiently and effectively.
Summary
Introduction to nonprofit peer to peer fundraising
Peer-to-peer fundraising for nonprofits requires fundraisers to ask their friends, familie
s, or colleagues for donations or gifts on behalf of the organization. For many organizations, organizing a team and creating a fundraising theme are simple ways to engage individuals with the organization in order to receive donations. It is important to utilize peer-to-peer fundraising throughout the year to have a consistent funding strategy for the organization.
The main goal of peer-to-peer nonprofit fundraising is to appeal to individuals within the organization’s network who have a higher propensity to give to the organization. Peer-to-peer nonprofit fundraising is most successful when organizations present a clear goal to be achieved in order to garner support from potential donors. It can be beneficial for organizations to create donor templates that outline the organization’s needs regarding donations to ensure that donors are fully aware of what is expected of them and the potential impact of their donation.
Cultivating new donors
In order to maintain funding, nonprofits must find ways to cultivate new donors. Nonprofits can cultivate new donors by having past or current donors speak positively about the organization to their network of peers. Once new donors are acquired, it is important that the organization has a plan in place to maintain donor retention. One way to keep donors involved and maintain their support is by developing a welcome series for newly acquired donors that further educates them about the mission, history, and future plans of the organization. A welcome series allows new donors to become financially and emotionally invested in nonprofit fundraising campaigns.
A large portion of information regarding donor information is sent digitally through an organization’s email list or in the form of a digital newsletter. It is important to monitor the analytics for digital communications to see the open rates, click rates, and types of engagement each communication receives from newly acquired donors. Monitoring communication analytics shows nonprofits what they are doing right and how they can improve communication for fundraising in the future. Monitoring communication analytics can also help nonprofits predict how frequently an individual will donate and gauge their level of investment with the organization.
Developing a recruitment team for nonprofit fundraising
Cultivating new donors requires recruitment efforts to be as efficient as possible. Nonprofits can maximize efficiency regarding recruitment by developing an internal team dedicated to recruitment activities. Recruitment teams should schedule specific times dedicated to communicating with donors. Any recruitment efforts put forth should be clear and mission-oriented to ensure that donors are up to date and engaged with the organization’s fundraising campaign.
Many nonprofits make the mistake of starting the recruitment process once the campaign is already launched and fail to develop a cohesive campaign theme. Organizations benefit from starting recruitment activities one to two months before launching a fundraising campaign to ensure that all the right tools are put in place for success. Successful recruitment teams are able to expand and amplify the organization’s mission to as many people as possible through timely and effective communication with donors.
About Chris Hammond from Corporate Giving Connection
Chris is the CEO and Founder of Corporate Giving Connection (CGC). CGC is a full-service development, marketing, and corporate social responsibility consulting firm that focuses on strategic planning and implementation for nonprofit organizations and corporations. Chris has 12+ years of event management and 9+ years of nonprofit fundraising consulting & leadership experience. He holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Policy and Administration from California Lutheran University.
About The Host Stephen Halasnik, Financing Solutions, Managing Partner
Stephen Halasnik is the host of the popular, The Nonprofit MBA Podcast. The Nonprofit MBA podcast’s purpose is to help nonprofit leaders. Stephen is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Financing Solutions, a leading provider of loans for nonprofits in the form of Lines of Credit to nonprofits. Stephen is a best-selling Amazon author and is considered a leading authority on building great, purpose-driven businesses. Stephen lives in New Jersey with his wife, Gina. Mr. Halasnik’s number one purpose is raising his two boys, Michael and Maxwell, to be good men.
10% of profits from Financing Solutions is donated to charity.
