Fundraisers: Don’t Discount Your Smaller Donations

I talk with people all the time who can tell me EXACTLY how many major donors they have, or at the very least a fairly precise range. They aren’t as good with mid-level donors but still have a pretty good idea, but then flail a bit when I ask how many smaller donations they get (I usually make the range $0-$100 when I pose the question.

Understandably, we want to know our Major Donors inside and out. We want to know what motivates them to give, why they engaged with us in the first place and if there is anything we can do to assist in any way, shape or form. Makes sense.

Really, it makes sense when you think about it. The average time a Development Professional stays at their job is 18 months or so; therefore, you may not have time to get to know many other donors other than those who carry the heaviest load when it comes to keeping the lights on. 

I think this is short-sighted. Even if you are concerned only with economics, you need to develop a pipeline to make sure your Major Donor pool doesn’t dry up. Most Major Donors don’t start out by writing a $500,000 or even $5,000 check. They start by writing a $100 check, or something in that area. Maybe they’re testing the waters, perhaps a friend invited them to your gala, or they are involved as a volunteer. 

In fact, Penelope Burk found that 70% of survey respondents who gave $10k to one organization also made a $100 gift to another organization.

If you don’t get to know your donors, you won’t know who you should be looking at for a potential Major Gift on down the line after you’ve had a chance to cultivate. 

It’s a process that involves a lot of work identifying and cultivating but it can certainly pay off. 

If the Gates Foundation suddenly decided to write you a check, out of nowhere, for X-amount which would cover your operating budget and allow you to expand, that would be amazing!

It could happen, but realistically, it probably won’t.

Much more likely is that a friend of an already loyal donor is invited to your gala and donates $75. Your database tells you this person has a much higher capacity than that, so you engage with this donor, asking her to come in for a tour, getting him to volunteer, inviting the whole family to attend the next event, etc. Then, after a couple of months you approach them for a larger ask - not as much as the hypothetical Gates Foundation check, but enough to close the gap in funding for this year that everyone on staff has been losing sleep about. And they say yes.

Instead of waiting for example A to happen, go make example B happen! 

And, even if your smaller-level donors can’t afford larger gifts now, they may in the future. And even if they won’t ever be able to afford that, they are still deserving of your respect and attention. If you get a whole lot of those smaller-level gifts, they start adding up in a hurry - go ask Politicians or NPR Stations.

Ultimately, the lesson is retention. Most people that I speak with have a 90%+ retention rate for their Major Donors, but substantially less than that for everyone else. Retaining your largest donors is an excellent first step, but if you aren’t getting to know everyone else and retaining them as well, you’re probably missing out on some potential major donors.