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Attracting & Engaging New Donors
Attracting & Engaging New Donors

Tips & tricks for how to attract new donors.

Megan Carlson Kladakis avatar
Written by Megan Carlson Kladakis
Updated over a week ago

Your mission & needs are growing. 🌱

You need NEW individuals to become aware of your cause and get involved - volunteering, advocating, donating & more!

Attracting & engaging folks starts with AWARENESS: πŸ’‘

  • What's the problem? What are the facts/stats in your community outlining the need? (ex: "There are 700,000 hungry neighbors in our 10 counties who don't know where their next meal is coming from.")

  • What does your organization believe about the problem? (ex: "We believe that no one should go hungry. We believe everyone deserves a meal!")

  • What is your organization doing to solve the problem? (ex: "We rescue 100,000 pounds of food each month from retail stores and distribute these groceries to hungry neighbors through local food pantries and directly through mobile pantries.")

Once donors are aware, the next step is to ENGAGE: πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈ

  • How can a donor help? (ex: "The BEST way to support our mission is to support us by donating your spare change each month through your round-ups or giving $5 or $10 each month.")
    ​P.S. πŸ‘† - Did you know that most potential donors on the outskirts of your network would give if they only knew that a small monthly gift could make a big difference at your organization?

  • What options do donors have? (ex: "Unable to give monthly? We'd really appreciate your one-time donation and/or consider learning more about volunteering, in-kind, other ways to give...")

  • What benefits do donors receive? (ex: "As a monthly donor, you'll receive frequent & exclusive content about our work and a free T-shirt!")

  • How easy is it for donors to give? (ex: "We've made it easy for you to give! Just click this link [Harness fundraising page] or text our keyword to 26989 and we'll send you the link to start your journey!")

Now that you've engaged your donors, the next step is to GRATIFY: πŸ’–

  • Update Harness's automatic text messages or create your own to keep the gratitude (& GIF fun) going sharing THANK YOU messages with your donors.

  • Share impact posts with your donors via text or email to keep them in the loop of your recent organization updates, client testimonials, celebrations & more!

  • Keep the conversation going throughout each year with a healthy variety of "Thank You", "Impact Update", and "Need Your Help" messages.

Pro Tips for engaging younger donors:

  • Younger folks need to feel like they're contributing to a cause where their vote/voice/dollar matters - add an impact amount to your donation pages (ex: $5/mo = 10 meals to hungry neighbors)

  • As a general rule, younger folks don't have the capacity to make a big gift so let them know that an easy way to give back is to sign up for your Round-Up spare change giving option and/or ask for a small monthly gift each month (ex: $5/mo)

  • Younger folks like to give quickly & easily on the go - consider encouraging donors to text your keyword to get access to your donation page to give on their phone

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