Major Gift Donor Retention (part 1 of a series)

Major Gift Donor Retention (part 1 of a series)

By Tom Wilson Major Gifts Guru

Stephanie – I currently receive your blogs by email and really enjoy reading them. Do you have information that would be beneficial to someone who is just starting to look at starting a donor retention program? Thank you for your interesting blogs!

Thanks for this important question.

Even in a good economy it’s hard to get a new prospective donor to add your organization to their list of major giving. In tough times, wow. When you realize that it costs you at least 5 times more to acquire a new donor than retain a current one, you begin to focus on the importance of Stephanie’s question.

So, take the stance of a zero loss rate for current donors. That’s right – no tolerance for non-renewals. Of course we’re focused on major gifts here so you can afford to spend the time on retention. A typical renewal rate for first-time donors is usually 50%. People aren’t really donors until they’ve made more than one gift. So go all out for these first-time donors. Make sure they not only get the standard thank you note, but also a phone call of thanks from a board member or fundraising volunteer, and a special note from your president or executive director. Within the first three months after their gift, make a personal discovery call to get acquainted and to help bond the person to your organization. Your goal is to understand their philanthropic values and why they felt your organization was important to support.

Many first-time donors are brought to you through dedicated volunteers who agree to take names of their friends and secure their major gift. This is great. For many prospective donors, the only way to entice them into giving and secure this important first-time gift is through a peer request.

Now the staff needs to get into action and move the donor’s allegiance from granting a request of a friend, almost making an obligatory gift into one that excites the donor, a passionate gift.

So go listening. Start building a personal relationship and help create a sense of purpose to the donor’s giving.

Remember this is for first time donors.

More to come on renewing multi-year donors.

This article is part of a series. Click the links below to read articles also in the series:

Major Gift Donor Retention (part 2 of a series)

Permanent Link: Major Gift Donor Retention (part 1 of a series)

http://majorgiftsguru.com/2009/08/major-gift-donor-retention-part-1-of.html