Welcome Weeks: A New Donor Timeline
The season of giving brings a wealth of new donors to many nonprofits. But how can you ensure that these new donors stick around?
Cogeo has put together this new donor timeline for your organization to make sure that your year-end fundraising campaign is the gift that keeps on giving.
DAY 1: Welcome
Thank your new donors as soon as possible! Iterate how appreciated their contribution is and how it will help your organization reach its goals.
Make sure your new donors feel highly appreciated and welcomed. Each donation, no matter what size, should be treated as if it’s a million dollars.
Some donor platforms offer the option to automatically thank your new donor and provide them with a receipt. If this is not an option, be sure to check for new donations on a highly regular basis if not every day. It’s not only important to express your gratitude, but to provide them with bill of sale language, such as:
This receipt confirms that no goods or services were promised or received with this gift in exchange for your donation. {Organization} explicitly prohibits offering goods or services in exchange for donations. All donations are final, nonrefundable and tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law as a charitable contribution to {Organization}.
If your donor offers a significant gift, otherwise known as a major gift (at Cogeo that’s a donation that meets or exceeds .1% of your annual budget), you’ll want to thank them personally. Rather than an automated message or a standard template, have your Executive Director and Board Chair call or write them a personal ‘thank you’ to show the donor their sincere appreciation.
DAY 2: Track
Make sure each donor and donation is recorded in your database.
As donations roll in, it is crucial that your team is tracking donor information through a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). This includes:
First name
Last name
Email
Phone
Address
Gift Amount
Gift Date
This task will help your nonprofit learn to fundraise smarter, not harder. Your team will have easy access to key details of each donor and will be able to properly steward them, track their donation habits, and include them in outreach that directly targets their giving capacity and trends.
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WEEK 1: Update
Send a neatly designed email to the entire database about the final results of your year-end campaign.
As soon as the campaign closes, collect the final number and any other engaging data and share the results with your entire community. This will likely be sent via email, and you’ll want to include:
Final results:
How much was raised
How many people participated
What the funds will be used for
Thanking everyone who donated for their generous contribution
Updates:
Upcoming events
Things to look out for in the new year
Volunteer opportunities
This news should be shared on all platforms. If your nonprofit has a presence on social media, be sure to create a nicely designed post with this information.
WEEK 2: Capitalize
Identify major gift donors and create a steady stewardship calendar for them.
Mark each major gift donation that you receive throughout the campaign (Reminder: at Cogeo, a major gift is a donation that meets or exceeds .1% of a nonprofit’s annual budget). These donors should be placed in their own group in your CRM database so they can be easily stewarded and receive additional touch points describing how their funds are used throughout the year.
They should be stewarded regularly:
Initial thank you (immediate)
Stewardship 1 (3 months)
Stewardship 2 (6 months)
Stewardship 3 (9 months)
Schedule your next one-on-one meeting (12 months)
This will be their introduction into your organization’s Moves Management system, which will ensure that each major gift donor will build a relationship with your nonprofit’s leadership, feel a part of your nonprofit’s success, and donate routinely.
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WEEK 3: Invite
Give each new donor the opportunity to get involved with your nonprofit.
Each new donor, no matter how big or small, should know what’s happening within your organization.
The easiest way to do that is to offer them a chance to subscribe to your organization’s routine newsletter or email, especially if that is your main source for announcing events or volunteer opportunities. There are many donors who may not be able to pledge a major gift, but would be more than happy to donate their time, energy, or services to the success of your organization -- so, give them that opportunity!