Regardless of your charity cause or goals, sometimes focusing more on building a donor base is more important than hunting short-term donor dollars. Here are some of the ways that a fundraising management consultant can increase your donor base for your humanitarian charity.
Connecting Donors
Although people might donate to a general humanitarian cause after a major disaster like a hurricane, once the news cycle moves to another disaster, people will likely forget it. Connecting donors to your humanitarian cause can help you last longer than a news cycle.
Donor to Donor: Organizing events that connect longtime donors to potential donors can be an easy way to build your donor base. For instance, a fundraising management consultant can arrange for a local professional sports team to offer discounted or free tickets to give your donors a destination to connect. At these events, you can not only introduce your strongest donors to potential donors, but you can also increase exposure for your cause.
Donor to Cause: Sometimes, humanitarian causes can feel abstract. Helping your donors connect with the people your charity serves can forge lasting commitments from your donor base. For instance, around holidays, you can have your charity raise money for specific individuals or families. You can kick off these campaigns by hosting gatherings that allow your donors to share a festive evening with these individuals and families.
Short Term Campaigns
Having big fundraising goals is great in theory, but often unattainable in reality. Breaking your big fundraising goals into smaller campaigns can help generate the momentum you need to galvanize your donors.
Corporate Partners: Building relationships with local and national businesses can open up a range of short term fundraising opportunities. For instance, you can approach a local restaurant to make the first Monday of every month be a day of charity for your cause. They might feature a signature menu item especially to sell for your cause. Over time, these short-term campaigns can build your donor base without the overhead of additional marketing and recruiting.
Flash Fundraising: Short-term fundraising campaigns must be simple to understand and quick to process. A fundraising management consulting firm can help you develop flash fundraising campaigns that target donor demographics that you might be missing. For instance, your local community might have a big annual event like a fair or musical festival that brings many visitors into town. Creating a flash fundraising campaign to reach out to these groups help your donor base extend out of your traditional donor base communities.
