Time to get tactical about finding new donors

Being strategic when finding new supporters can save you time and trouble, as well as bring you donors that will stick around a long time.

Here are three mistakes nonprofits usually make when looking for new donors.

1. You may think that because you’re enthusiastic about your social cause, everyone else is. But the truth is that you’ll not find that many people who are as passionate as you. You need to stop expecting donors to have your enthusiasm and accept whatever level of appreciation they have. These donors can still contribute without being as passionate as you. They just need to care.
 
2. Do not try to request donations from your entire community. Keep in mind not everyone contributes to charity, and of those who do, most have their favorites ones. It’s easy to get thrilled about the thousands of people who will be aware of your cause, but there’s only a small segment of the who will care, and of those, an even smaller part will, indeed, take action.
 
3. If you’re showing up everywhere you can to speak about your cause, hoping that because your NPO does a fantastic work that people will support you, that’s not entirely true. Be more careful when selecting your donors and the groups you spend your time talking about your cause, and you’ll see better results.
 
Now, how do you avoid these mistakes and add hundreds of right, new donors?

You can start by creating a Donor Profile to give you an idea of precisely who you’re looking for.
This profile will identify the top psychographics and demographics of your best supporter. And it shouldn’t be complicated to determine that out. Think about your top donors and figure out what they have in common: their age? Their gender? Their education? And all the other variables you can think of.

The secret, really, is to identify who your best current donors are, then find more people just like them. You’ll be way more likely to get supporters that will contribute more and for longer periods.

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