Blue and Red Flower Bed, photo by Petr Kratochvil
Giving Tuesday marks the opening of the Giving Season, that time of year when generous donors help plant the bulbs for change, and nonprofits nurture and grow them.
I’ve been planting bulbs of my own this past week (daffodils and crocuses; also testing out if lavender seeds actually work), and that activity gave me loads of time to think about how a little preparation now makes a world of difference in a period of time that’s not all that far ahead.
In the fundraising intelligence world, we can do that, too. Here at HBG, we’re talking with clients now about how they can be prepared for next year.
What is your team doing to be sure you’re filling the pipeline with new prospects who are interested in your cause?
There are some fairly easy things you can do right now, if you haven’t already, to identify great prospects from year-end giving, simply by setting up some daily or weekly reports to be auto-generated from your fundraising database. These reports will flag up people who meet whatever criteria you set. You can start simply and just go for one or two reports, or be super-creative and create a number of reports that hit several departments’ prospect ID sweet spot.
If you get your reports set up and tested now, once those end-of-year gifts start coming in you’ll be way ahead with a list of new prospects to research and engage in the new year.
Here are a few of the HBG team’s favorite reports…
The “Hunh!?” Factor
What’s the first-gift amount that makes people at your nonprofit think “Hunh! Who is THAT?” Whether it’s $100, $500, $1,000 or $5,000, create a report that flags everyone making a first-time gift at whatever your organization’s “hunh level” is.
The Multiple Givers
Don’t miss those super folks who unexpectedly give more than once (or twice) in one year. Maybe they forgot they gave already, but just maybe they didn’t.
The First-time Donors
It never hurts to take a look at those folks who are brand-new donors to your organization. If they’re too many to eyeball (and lucky you if so!), do a weekly or new-year wealth screening of this new donor group.
The Increasers
You also don’t want to miss people who have increased their giving over the past year (or previous years). This is a group who are loyal and believe in your mission. Even if they increased their regular donation by just $5 they’re worth noticing, but if they jumped by 50% or more, you definitely want them on a report.
The Special-Account Donor
Very much worth noticing are the donors who make gifts through Donor Advised Funds or from a private or offshore bank account. If your gifts processing team captures these attributes in the gift transaction record, you should put them on a priority list.
The Non-Alumni Donor
If you work at an educational organization, every non-alumni donor is an extra precious gift. Building a report with these names can help you learn what the story is behind their support.
What other reports do you use this time of year? Share them via the comments so we can all grow!
