INDIVIDUAL GIVING

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Individuals are responsible for 50% to 85% of nonprofit organization revenue. 

Most sources of charitable revenue can be traced back to the generosity of individuals.

Building relationships with donors is the most important thing you can do to support your cause.

Direct Response is a marketing or fundraising vehicle used to generate a measurable action from individuals.

+ Direct Mail

+ Telemarketing

+ Email Appeals

+ Direct Response Television

+ Online Campaigns     

Telemarketing excels at:

+ Monthly Donor Conversion

+ Lapsed Donor Reactivation

+ Lapsed Donor Prevention

+ Major Appeal Support

+ Advocacy Call-To-Action

+ Membership Renewal

+ Donor Survey

Online giving continues to experience strong growth, especially if combined with traditional strategies. Mobile devices and text-giving are also more popular. Small organizations see substantial benefits of digital philanthropy. However, email clutter is a significant challenge.

Your Individual Giving Program should focus on these strategies:   

1. Donor Acquisition

2. Donor Renewal

3. Donor Cultivation

4. Lapsed Donor Prevention

5. Lapsed Donor Reactivation

6. Monthly Donor Conversion 

Social Media engagement is the new acquisition. Properly cultivated, followers can advocate for your cause, support your organization's mission and become loyal donors. Include messaging across different social media platforms to attract followers from different generations.

Believe it or not, that personalized appeal letter sent through the mail with a live stamp and postage-paid reply envelope is still a major source of revenue for many organizations. While much more costly than online appeals, direct mail response rates and average donations are significantly higher.    

Successful individual giving programs integrate multiple fundraising channels, including direct mail, email, social media, and telemarketing. Each channel plays a unique role and speaks to a different donor segment and generation.           

Monthly giving should be the brass ring you reach for when it comes to individual giving. With the proper stewardship, monthly donors can maintain loyalty for many years. Monthly giving is also a path to major and legacy gifts.         

Meaningful donor stewardship maintains the active support of your donors and reduces the number of new donors you need to acquire each year. Stewardship communications to donors should express appreciation and reinforce donation impact.