How do you adjust your fundraising strategy for different donors?

It's critical to recognise the diversity of donor orgs, priorities, goals and vision and critical paths to change. What is their DNA? Do they like impact metrics? Are they heavily quantitatively driven? Do they prefer to work with depth or breadth? Advocacy? Programming? Research? All of this is not for organizations to morph into what donors want; but to figure out the right alignment and fit. It is very okay to grow and adapt to chase revenue - that is part of the excitement of building organizations! But one also can’t lose one’s core principles and DNA.

In my experience, it is very important to do a good stakeholder mapping and with the prioritized stakeholders, do a comparison of their material issues with yours. In other words, find the issues that are of mutual interest to the donors and the capacities you have.

All the above is good. Don’t be afraid to ask the honest questions. Listen to them and try digging to find their motivations. Explore their lives and the lives of those around them. When you feel blocked, acknowledge it, share what you think and ask them for feedback and clarity. I love taking on high wealth donors and those with an axe to grind that I am told, “they will never give.” Why? Nothing ventured nothing gained. If my questions ticked them off, what is the loss? If they stonewall me, I use the time to feel for the cracks and edges to overcome. Let them lead you to the alignment.

Unlike in the past when fundraising strategies were solely linked to organizations’ visions and mission that seemed cast on stones, changing donor interests, host country needs and emerging global trends require the need to have tailored dynamic and flexible fundraising strategies. It is paramount for organizations to be aware of the changing funding interests and trends in line with their thematic areas of interest, review and align their strategies accordingly. In a shrinking and highly competitive funding space, only organizations with fit for purpose funding strategies remain competitive and relevant.

It is important to maintain constant communication with the donor to be able to share the achievements and ideas of the organisation with a focus on the topics that are a priority for this particular donor. To understand your donors better, you need to ask them about their needs and expectations.

Consider the messaging or communicating with your donor a regular event - meaning, fulfil all the requirements that the donation comes with-faithfully and regularly! For instance, in the Rohingya refugee context in Bangladesh, almost all the donations come with some specific requirements such as interim report submission, evaluation visit, human interest story/case story submission and video/social media posts production! Fulfil all the requirements on time. Moreover, during the visits, don’t only show the best sites you have. Take the challenge of showing the areas that are not doing well and need further investment! Trust me, it creates a positive impression when you are honest at your work and show the need with modesty and courage!

In my experience, we had different decks for different investors. One of the valuable life lessons I’ve come to value is know your audience. Research your prospective investors, understand their thesis and nichè, and speak the same language. After every conversation I had with investors during our Series A round, we refined the messaging in the deck based off the feedback we received.

Do your research. Get all of the information that you can to know your donor prior to making an ask. We call this work development for a reason... because we are developing relationships and strategies to make the right ask by the right person at the right time. In addition, be authentic. Don't pretend to know things that you don't. Spell out the case clearly and make a genuine appeal.

I view fundraising as a form of coalition building. Being thoughtful, specific, and strategic with your messaging based on audience segmentation is key in engaging and motivating people to support your cause. A one-size-fits-all approach to donor communication and messaging may be efficient in the short term, but in my observation and experience does not prove to be effective in the long term.

Customization of messaging is critical. Some donors want facts and measurable outcomes. Some donors respond to emotional appeals that are need-based. Many donors seek inspirational and aspirational opportunities to support sweeping change. Many donors like storytelling so they can relate to a person or family that will be impacted by their gift. Knowing the methodology in which donors like to receive the information is as important as packaging the information in a way that directly speaks the language of the donor.

Meet your donors where they already are. Use your CRM to record donor communication preferences and tailor your outreach. There are often generational differences here, but we shouldn't oversimplify. We must get more specific than saying, "Younger donors are on social media." What platforms are people using, and how are they using them? How can we adapt to different channels while still being authentic? Get feedback from various donors on their preferred communication and adapt accordingly.

We have now included online newsletter as part of our fund raising messaging. In the newsletter we show case a variety of projects in our different work streams which are ongoing, with documented testimonials of preliminary outcomes. We also showcase impact stories from those that finished to push the relevance of our work to our existing and potential donors. In all this we tap optimally into digital technology. We share our online newsletter to multiple channels including social media. The online newsletter has given us a wider reach of messaging to multiple donors and visibility at the same time. It is cost effective.

What is currently working and how can we refine it to be at its best? This way we are improving viable channels. What isn't working, can we make it work? If not can we look at ways of changing it and enhancing what truly works? If so let us do it!

Test, test, and test again! It's ok if your primary option didn't perform up to your expectation. Use the journey as a learning opportunity!

At the end of the day, regardless of channel, the key is stellar StoryBrand. If the donor does not see themselves as the actor in the cause then they will not take up your call to action.

There is a saying in the private sector funding space: if you want advice, ask for money. But if you want money, ask for advice. The corollary in the non-profit space is to ask potential donors first to contribute their ideas and/or their time, not their money. Bring them on a journey that starts by recognizing other ways they can contribute to your mission, and thereby build a greater connection with your organization and appreciation for what you are doing.

I think of fundraising as matchmaking - finding the connection between donor passion and a charity’s work. The first step is to ask a potential donor about their passions, who they support and why as part of their giving, and what they saw in my charity that caught their interest. Understanding their perspective can go a long way towards aligning donor interest with your work.

In addition to the above mentioned topics you also should include: 1. Personalize your messaging and communication channels to resonate with each donor segment. 2. Understand motivations, interests, and values of your different donor segments. 3. Provide diverse giving options to accommodate different donor preferences 4. Cultivate relationships with your donors by understanding their communication preferences and engagement levels. 5. Provide customized recognition and benefits to acknowledge donors' support. 6. Ensure that your fundraising strategies adhere to ethical standards. 7. Regularly analyze and monitor metrics such as response rates, conversion rates, and donor retention to assess the impact of your tailored approaches.

From the major gift perspective: You are best positioned to invite someone to a large contribution (time, money, expertise, influence) when you have a good "strength of relationship" them. Can you answer yes to these 5 questions? 1) Do you know names have relationships with extended family? 2) Do you know what other causes they are making large gifts to? 3) Do you know what excites them about giving to your cause? 4) Have you talked with them about their giving to your cause within the last 6 months? 5) Do you know key milestones happening in their lives (positive or negative) in the last 12 months or coming up in the next 12 months?

Once you understand your different audiences and channels, make sure you invest in recruiting the right people into your team and then invest in those people. People give money to people, so making sure you have the right people in each post, who have the right temperament and skills to engage with their counterpart donors. It doesn’t matter how good your data is, how well your donor journey is mapped out, how incredible your fundraising products are. If the person communicating with your donor can’t build the trust necessary to give, it will all be for naught. Your fundraisers are your greatest fundraising asset. Invest in finding the right ones, and then invest in them so that you keep them.