I want to tell you a secret. Ready? Listen close.
Did you know that new names are the best names on your donor file?
Re-evaluating Your Fundraising Strategy
The moment that someone engages your organization is the moment when his or her interest in what you do is the highest. When someone first signs up; when they first engage; when they make their first donation – that’s when they have a deep interest and curiosity about your organization.
Historically, in the fundraising world the accepted donor strategy has always been that once we get a donation from a new individual, we give them a little time before we ask them to give again. Nothing could be more wrong! Statistics tell us the exact opposite is true.
Impacting Donor Lifetime Value
When people engage your organization, you need to respond immediately. You need to embrace them. You need to welcome them. You need to communicate with them. And then you need to make another ask, all within the next thirty to sixty days. Any good fundraising consultant will tell you that maximizing you donor lifetime value is critical. But what you do at the beginning of your relationship with your donors will impact their lifetime value.
The first ninety days of the relationship are the most important. This time period will define the significance of the relationship you will have with this individual. Your fundraising strategy needs to take this into account.
New names are the best names. Take good care of your donors from the very first day.
