Building relationships with donors online is essential for fundraising. Finding ways to find more donors can be a challenge for nonprofits. We recently shared five ways to find more donors and wanted to double down on how your organization can find more partners. Jay Love, the co-founder of Bloomerang, shared his insight on fostering donor relationships after 30+ years in the nonprofit software sector here some of our favorite tips:

  1. Create partnerships with like-minded nonprofit organizations. Corporations and public nonprofit organizations, such as churches or schools, are an excellent way to partner with you and enable you to engage with new donors. It is possible to work with corporations or groups in your community to find ways to receive donations. Begin to think creatively about what this partnership could look like. Can the organization give an in-kind donation? Maybe they would be willing to do a gift match campaign. But do not stop there: Start engaging with those who work for such organizations and encourage them to share relevant information with others. Be sure that you do not just try and build a relationship with the organization themselves, but also the individuals in these organizations as well — assist them in becoming an advocate for the cause. Invite corporate partners and other local non-profit organization leaders to help you promote and educate prospects and donors. You may also want them to attend one of the many events that you host and to help you answer any questions that they may have.
  2. Go after the donors who have previously given to your organization, as well as reactivate those donors who have given in the past. Go back into your donation management platform and find all the individuals who have only given once or have lapsed their donation and follow up with them. Remember, A lot of donors who have given to your organization before are some of the best candidates to give again. You can do various things to try to get them to give again, like starting a new fundraising campaign or having them participate in fundraising events that you host. Do not forget to say a thank you to donors who have previously supported you; tell donors how much you appreciate the support they have given your organization.
  3. Grow and maintain an effective email list of people who want to support you. Collect emails from people who sign up for e-newsletters by attending events and volunteering on a regular basis. Start a newsletter to introduce your organization to potential donors. Newsletter recipients are great warm leads for finding potential donors. Be sure that your organization’s newsletter effectively outlines what you do, what you want to accomplish, and even offer ways to become involved with the organization.
  4. Optimize your website, especially for mobile. Optimizing the content on a website that drives donations is as important as maintaining high-quality content on social media. More than half the time people are navigating the internet on their phones, so you need a responsive website to attract and keep visitors. It is essential for any nonprofit to have a responsive and user-friendly site. You can encourage new visitors to visit by running a pop-up on your webpage to offer them a variety of resources for free. Start a conversation with people who may be able to donate by sending them a nice email welcoming them and adding them to your newsletter. You want people to easily access information on how to make a donation, and you want them to feel comfortable clicking through to the appropriate page on the website. You can add call-to-actions to attract visitors to a particular  fundraising or volunteering opportunity on the website. If a potential donor finds your donation request online, be sure to ask for basic details to allow them to easily give you the money they need.
  5. Volunteers are some of the best donor prospects. Did you know that 42% of volunteers decide to volunteer before ever considering donating. Many people take time to volunteer for an organization to see if the organization is truly making an impact. If you treat volunteers well and show the value they add to the organization, their inclination to give skyrockets. That is why it is important to show all volunteers that you respect and show that you appreciate what they do for you. You can combine any of the following strategies in order to make sure that you reach a very diverse group of donors in all of the different ways that you can contact them. When you start collecting funds from donors, the stewardship strategy for that donor will begin to work. Immediately thank donors for what they have given, and encourage people to do what you ask donors to do if they want to do more. By following the suggestions above, you will help them become regular, loyal supporters. In the end, your donors will be your long-term supporters, and by encouraging others to become supporters, you will be able to attract more donors. And as a result, the cycle of support continues.

MyDonors is a great donor management platform with a cost-effective and scalable financial model to meet the needs of a nonprofit organization of any size. To find out more information about MyDonors, visit mycommunity.info

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Source: https://bloomerang.co/blog/10-ways-to-find-new-donors-for-your-nonprofit-organization/