| There are two ways to grow a donor base. One is | | | | you to their friends who are likely to appreciate and |
| through hard work. Knock on doors, send emails, and | | | | value your mission. Now who is knocking on doors, |
| meet as many new people as you can each day. The | | | | sending email, and calling people? |
| other is easy. Let someone else do it. | | | | The majority of the people you motivated the |
| Option 1 is hard work. Here is the irony with that. Do | | | | passionate donors to introduce you to will be |
| all of that hard work and you still have a lack-luster | | | | prequalified and talking to you because they caught |
| donor base. They give. However, they seldom give | | | | the vision from their friend. All you have to do is |
| generously. They are satisfied but satisfied is | | | | start the transformation process with step 2. Once |
| different from passionate. Over time, they may | | | | you complete step 3 you will have a passionate |
| become loyal but it is more of a habit than an | | | | generous donor and a new referral source. You are |
| emotional connection. | | | | ready to send them out and start the process all |
| If you let someone else do it, the results are better. | | | | over. |
| The donors will be engaged. They will give | | | | Some of the people you sit down with in step 1 will |
| generously. They will be beyond loyal, they will be | | | | be reluctant to assist. They may lack the passion for |
| passionate. Their passion will drive them to recruit | | | | the mission. If so, it is easy enough to thank them |
| others. They will do your work for you. The donor | | | | for their time and move on to more passionate |
| base will grow while you do other things. | | | | individuals. Some of the others who are reluctant to |
| Who is this miracle worker and where can I find one? | | | | assist may be sending a subtle message that your |
| The good news is you already have a core group of | | | | process needs a little polishing. |
| them. Better said, you have a potential core group of | | | | Next Step: |
| them. The work you need to do is transform them | | | | Stop recruiting donors |
| from potential to actual. | | | | Search for the ambassadors you need in the donor |
| The transformation work is hard but easier than | | | | base you already have |
| option 1. It is time consuming but faster than option | | | | Train your ambassadors |
| 1. | | | | Just like any group of ambassadors, yours will need |
| There are three simple steps in the transformation | | | | periodic training (updating on what is new in the |
| process: | | | | mission). It keeps their passion going to have it fueled |
| 1 Review your donor base and identify the donors | | | | periodically with new information. This is a one-on-one |
| who are mostly likely to be passionate about the | | | | or small group process. Mass emails are like throwing |
| mission. | | | | paper into a fire. The fire burns bright for a moment |
| 2 Meet with them as a small group or one-on-one | | | | but it lacks the fuel to keep going. Face time with |
| and discuss the mission from their point of view. | | | | the ambassadors is the same as putting logs on the |
| What parts do they care about? Why is it important | | | | fire. |
| to them? | | | | Sustainable fundraising is built on a growing base of |
| 3 Build their understanding of what is happening, the | | | | passionate individual donors. Sustainable fundraising is |
| results that are being produced, and how lives are | | | | a major part of the foundation of a sustainable |
| changing because of the good work your | | | | organization. |
| organization is doing while it is serving the mission | | | | How many donor ambassadors can you empower |
| Do the preceding well and the transformation is | | | | before year-end? How much is that likely to increase |
| complete. It is now time to ask them to introduce | | | | your year-end appeal? |