Author: Rinku Ramchandani

Nonprofit fundraisers know that donor engagement is key to building long-lasting relationships and securing major gifts. Engaged donors who feel a strong connection to an organization’s mission are more likely to give generously and consistently over time.

According to research from the Donor Participation Project, the more involved donors are, the more they tend to donate.

While thanking and recognizing donors is important, true engagement goes deeper. Organizations must make donors feel like partners in achieving impact.

How can nonprofits effectively engage their donors?

• First, they need a compelling vision and case for support to inspire donors. Donors want to contribute to organizations that have a clear vision for change.

• Second, organizations should develop a range of strategic engagement opportunities at varying levels of involvement. For example, they can invite donors to exclusive events, join a donor committee, or provide input on new programs.

• Third, nonprofits must report impact to show donors the difference they are making. But reports alone are not enough. Organizations should share impact through meaningful experiences, like videos, site visits, or meetings with program beneficiaries.

• Fourth, nonprofits should take the time to get to know their donors‘ interests, motivations, and values. Then, they can tailor engagement and stewardship to match donors’ passions. This requires listening, asking thoughtful questions, and being genuinely curious about donors and their stories.

• Finally, nonprofit leaders and fundraisers should reframe how they speak about donors using language that emphasizes partnership and collaboration. Terms like “prospects” and “low-hanging fruit” can alienate donors and should be avoided.

Building authentic relationships is essential for nonprofits to achieve their missions. By prioritizing donor engagement, organizations can cultivate true partnerships and turn supporters into champions for their cause. Overall, donor engagement requires strategy, personalization, and a commitment to understanding donors as human partners on a shared journey.

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Nonprofits often struggle with limited resources and budgets, making donor stewardship a challenge. However, automating parts of the stewardship process can help nonprofits do more with less. By eliminating repetitive, manual tasks, nonprofits can free up staff time to focus on building personal relationships with donors.

A first step is to audit your current stewardship process to identify areas that can be automated.

For example, sending an automated thank you email to donors after they make a gift is an easy way to start. You can use free tools like Mailchimp or Sendinblue to set up automated email workflows based on donation amount or other attributes. For donors without an email, use a service like Zapier to automatically generate a thank you letter that you can print and mail.

Surveys are another area where automation helps.

Use a free survey tool like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey to send an annual donor survey. The data can automatically feed into a spreadsheet, giving you insights into donors’ interests and preferences to improve stewardship.

For more personal outreach, use automation to ease the workload.

Draft template emails or call scripts for student callers or interns to connect with donors over the phone. Have them record responses in a shared spreadsheet or use a free CRM like HubSpot to log interactions. Review the data to identify follow-up needs and next steps.

Celebrating donor milestones shows you value their long-term partnership.

Use a mail merge tool like Mailchimp to automatically generate anniversary letters for donors at certain giving levels or after a period of consecutive years of giving. Include a small gift as a token of your appreciation.

While technology and automation are powerful, always keep the human touch. Use automation for repetitive tasks, but have real people make personal follow-ups, send handwritten notes, and make calls. A balance of automation and human interaction will make donors feel most valued and connected to your mission. With some experimentation, nonprofits can find affordable ways to automate stewardship and build better donor relationships.

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Your donors ask questions—lots of them. The problem is, many nonprofits don’t have a system to capture these questions, analyze them for insights, and turn them into useful content. Questions your donors ask repeatedly point to gaps in the information you’re providing. Fill those gaps, and you’ll strengthen relationships, build trust, and enable donors to become more engaged and impactful partners in your mission.

So where do you find the questions your donors ask again and again?

• Start with your direct communication channels like phone, email, and social media messages.

• Survey frontline staff who talk to donors often. They know better than anyone else what questions get asked daily.

• Monitor online communities and groups where your donors and potential donors connect. Look for themes and trends in the information people are seeking.

• Conduct user experience testing to identify points of frustration in interacting with your organization. The questions that arise here highlight opportunities to better orient donors.

The key is getting into the mindset of your donors and what they need to understand their relationship with you fully. This means analyzing each question to understand the underlying concern or gap in knowledge. Some questions may be straightforward, but others point to bigger issues with how you educate and engage your community.

Don’t dismiss any question as too simple or unimportant. A question that seems basic to you may be a barrier for someone else to donate or get involved.

Low-quality, homemade videos addressing the most common questions are perfect for nonprofit audiences. They convey authenticity, build connection, and show you understand donors’ needs.

Keep your answers concise and let people self-select the information they need. Capture and organize the questions you get to refine your content over time. As donors learn and engage more deeply, the questions they ask will evolve. Continually go back to the source—your donors—to make sure the information you provide is as insight-driven and impactful as possible.

Staying on top of the questions your donors ask again and again is a key way to build relationships, increase trust, and empower your mission.

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Fundraisers test to determine if changes to their fundraising strategies have the intended impact. Rigorous testing also eliminates external variables that could skew the results. Without testing, fundraisers risk making changes that unintentionally decrease revenue or alienate donors.

To test properly, fundraisers must state a hypothesis

A hypothesis would be be “adding a $500 option to our donation page will increase the average gift amount.” The null hypothesis is that the change will have no effect or decrease revenue. Statistical testing aims to disprove the null hypothesis with a high degree of confidence, like 95-99%.

Measuring results requires determining a margin of error, like +/- 3%, based on the sample size. A larger sample size means a smaller margin of error and higher confidence in the results. For multivariate testing of several variables at once, the sample size must increase to account for more possible outcomes.

Back-testing uses historical data to build models that predict future outcomes.

Divide donors into groups, building models based on one group and testing them on the other. This confirms the model works for that donor base before applying it broadly.

While “best practices” provide a starting point, fundraisers must test them.

A tactic that works for some groups could alienate others, gradually eliminating them. Testing also considers donor segments to avoid negatively impacting any group.

Though testing sounds complicated, basic tools can run simple A/B tests. Focus on effect size, like whether results exceed the margin of error, more than statistical significance. For small donor populations like major donors, smaller sample sizes may still yield useful insights.

Testing requires time and resources, but so does making uninformed changes that reduce revenue. As fundraising becomes more data-driven, testing is key to developing evidence-based strategies tailored to each organization’s unique donor base. Fundraisers must test to determine true impact, eliminate variables, and avoid blindly adopting “best practices” that do not serve their donors or mission. Overall, testing leads to more sustainable growth and impact.

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Fundraising analytics expert Kirk Smith recently joined host Carrie Davis to discuss data, metrics, and testing for nonprofit fundraisers. Smith urged moving beyond overly simplistic metrics like average gift size and focusing instead on retention rates, gift amounts, and performance of specific donor subgroups.

According to Smith, investing in fundraising and analytics can yield exponential returns, but most nonprofits underinvest due to outdated thinking that emphasizes low fundraising costs. Advanced tools and plentiful, clean data are required for accurate analytics and AI, but these are often out of reach for smaller nonprofits, creating a divide between larger nonprofits that can invest and smaller ones that cannot.

Incentivizing analytics and fundraising with commissions on increased revenue could drive better results but goes against established ethical codes. Rigorous testing is also required to make data-driven decisions, yet many nonprofits lack the capacity to test properly.

Smith advised starting with a “null hypothesis” that assumes no difference between options. Nonprofits also need to consider sample sizes large enough to draw statistically significant conclusions. While best practices have their place, over-reliance on them can mask more effective combinations of changes for specific subgroups.

According to Smith, the answers lie in the data, but nonprofits must build the capacity to find them.

Investing in people, tools, and building a data-driven culture will be key. For smaller nonprofits, collaborating with others in their community or focus area may make advanced analytics more accessible. Overall, nonprofits that want sustainable growth will need to graduate from overly simplistic metrics and generic best practices to customized, data-driven decision making.

The conversation highlighted opportunities for nonprofit fundraisers to strengthen their use of data and testing to optimize fundraising performance. By moving from one-size-fits-all approaches to customized analytics, nonprofits can uncover insights that truly match their unique mix of donors and programs. While it may require upfront investments of money and time, data-driven fundraising offers substantial and lasting benefits.

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Fundraisers from colleges and universities around the country recently gathered via video conference to discuss effective strategies for launching leadership giving societies. A key takeaway from the discussion was the importance of educating donors about the true cost of operating the institution and the impact of their gifts.

Several fundraisers recommended announcing a new, higher giving level by framing it around the increased costs to educate students today compared to when the society first launched. For example, a society that started with a $1,000 minimum gift 30 years ago would require a $15,000 gift today to have the same impact, accounting for inflation and rising costs. Communicating this message, along with stories of students who have benefited from the society, can help justify the increase to long-time donors.

The fundraisers also stressed the need to restructure giving levels and benefits in a way that allows donors to find an entry point that suits them. Simply raising the minimum gift may prompt more pushback than creating additional, higher levels with incremental increases and benefits. Existing donors who can’t immediately jump to a new top level can be “grandfathered in” at their current level or provided an informal grace period to work up to a higher amount.

Virtually engaging leadership donors through online events, meetings with key administrators, and digital communications has also proven effective during the pandemic. While in-person events may be preferred when possible, offering a mix of online and in-person engagement options can make participation accessible to more donors, especially those outside the local area.

Overall, the most successful leadership giving society launches are tailored to the institution and its donors. Fundraisers should analyze donor data and capacity to set giving levels that make sense for their base. A thoughtful roll-out and stewardship plan focused on education, flexible options, and virtual access will position the new or revamped society for growth and long-term success.

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Nonprofit fundraising teams are often overworked and understaffed. But automation can help scale your efforts and allow small teams to achieve more. Nick Pringer, CEO of the Pringer Solutions Group, shared how his team has leveraged automation to drive fundraising for Catholic dioceses across the country.

Pringer recommends starting with a tool like Microsoft Power Automate to set up simple automated workflows. For example, you can automatically send a welcome email to new donors, thanking them for their first gift. This simple act can have a big impact, making donors feel appreciated and more likely to give again.

To increase recurring giving, design an online donation experience focused on monthly donations instead of one-time gifts. Pringer has found that 20-25% of donors who give through these customized pages will opt to donate monthly. Focus your direct mail and email appeals on driving people to these personalized donation pages.

Not sure where to start with automation? Begin with “low-risk, high-reward” tasks, Pringer suggests. Send automated stewardship emails with updates on how donors’ gifts were used. Automate birthday or anniversary emails to build personal connections at scale. These small acts of gratitude and acknowledgement can yield big dividends in donor loyalty and lifetime value.

Of course, no automation can replace genuine human outreach. Pringer still recommends that fundraisers pick up the phone whenever possible to steward donors. But by automating routine tasks, your team can spend more time on high-touch cultivation and stewardship of key donors.

To get buy-in to use new tools, Pringer recommends having the technology vendor explain data security and compliance to your legal team. Start with a pilot program to test the technology on a small group of donors and work out any issues before a wider rollout. With the right approach, automation technology can be an incredible force multiplier for nonprofits looking to strengthen donor relationships and fundraising revenue.

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As fundraisers, we often focus on understanding donor biases and how to motivate them to give. But we have our own biases that can undermine our effectiveness. Cultivating the right mindset is key to overcoming fundraiser biases, according to fundraising leader Kenna Barrett, Ph.D..

Barrett identifies several common fundraiser biases, including optimism bias, pessimism bias, and negativity bias.

• The optimism bias leads us to be overly optimistic about the outcome of a meeting or event. We put “all our eggs in one basket,” ignoring potential obstacles.
• The pessimism bias causes anxiety and leads us to expect the worst in challenging situations like asking for money.
• The negativity bias causes us to dwell on past failures while ignoring our successes.

To overcome these biases, Barrett recommends “the inner game of fundraising.”

First, cultivate a persistence mindset. Believe fundraising is a learned skill, not an ineffable talent restricted to certain types of people.

Second, use “system 2” logical thinking, not just emotion. Prepare for meetings by considering potential questions and obstacles. Ask a colleague to role play a skeptical donor. This helps avoid being caught off guard and anchors you to a reasonable request amount.

Third, rehearse and practice. Role play the entire meeting with a colleague. Work through different scenarios to gain confidence in responding to unexpected situations. Recording and reviewing these sessions can provide valuable insights into how you can improve. Practice helps fundraisers gain skills that translate across roles.

Fundraiser biases often reflect anxiety about failure or discomfort with ambiguity. But fundraising excellence comes from cultivating the right mindset, logical preparation, and practice.

Role play, a technique used extensively in sales and other professions, is key. It provides a “mental rehearsal” to overcome biases and gain the confidence and skills needed to succeed. With practice and persistence, fundraising can become less about biases and more about activating our potential.

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As a fundraising leader, building a positive culture is one of the most important things you can do. Your team culture impacts morale, productivity, and staff retention—all of which drive your organization’s success. Craig Evans, associate dean for development and external relations at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, shares some advice for developing a healthy team dynamic:

Establish ground rules and define expectations.

Sit down with your team and determine guidelines for how you’ll work together. Discuss what you each expect from one another and from leadership. Revisit these rules regularly and hold each other accountable. When done right, ground rules can transform team dynamics and set the tone for a supportive culture.

Prioritize check-ins and communication.

For remote or hybrid teams, check-ins are critical. Hold weekly virtual coffee breaks or meetings and do quick “electronic drive-bys” via messaging to stay in touch. Ask open-ended questions to see how people are really doing. Look for ways to strengthen relationships, not just tasks.

Gain buy-in through transparency.

Explain your reasoning behind new initiatives to get team support. Educate senior leadership on approaches that work. Share wins and lessons openly. When people understand the why behind decisions, they’ll be more invested in success.

Reflect daily on your leadership role.

Each day, ask: What does my team need to hear from me? What do senior leaders need to know? What can I do to support my team? Look for ways to empower others, not just command them. Your team’s morale depends on your ability to step back and consider their experience.

An intergenerational team takes work.

Focus on shared goals and an open environment where all feel heard. Help younger members develop through mentorship. Discuss challenges candidly to build trust despite differences. When you hire, consider soft skills and culture fit—not just expertise.

With the right mindset and tools, you can build a fundraising team that accomplishes amazing things. But never stop reflecting on how to strengthen your leadership and support your team. Their success and the organization’s impact depend on it.

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For nonprofits, uniting marketing and fundraising teams is critical to success. But this is often easier said than done. Marketing and fundraising require different skills and mindsets, and teams can easily become siloed. However, with leadership, communication, and shared goals, marketing and fundraising can work together effectively.

The first step is getting leadership on board.

The executive director and board must understand why marketing and fundraising alignment matters and push for collaboration. They should bring teams together, set shared priorities, and make cooperation a key performance indicator. Without leadership buy-in, other efforts are unlikely to succeed.

Improving communication is also key.

Teams should meet regularly, share updates, and understand each other’s challenges. They should review each other’s content calendars and campaigns to identify opportunities to share messages and leverage resources. A shared project management platform can also help keep everyone on the same page about workflows, deadlines, and responsibilities.

Finally, teams need shared goals to work toward together.

For example, they could aim to increase website traffic by 25% or acquire 500 new email newsletter subscribers. Joint goals give teams motivation to cooperate and share insights. They also make it easier to measure the impact of collaboration.

While united marketing and fundraising teams require effort, the payoff can be huge.

Working together, they can tell a nonprofit’s story in a powerful, compelling way. They can also save time and money, eliminate duplicated efforts, and gain a more complete picture of donor relationships. With leadership, communication, and shared goals, nonprofits can overcome divisions between marketing and fundraising for better results overall. Alignment may not happen overnight, but with commitment, teams can get there.

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