Simple Methods to Organically Grow Your

Donor Base

© 2014 Big Dog Innovations

What Everyone Generally Knows About Fundraising Today

Foundations are under increased pressure to perform

Media proliferation has made the landscape more confusing

Competition for donations has increased

Donor behaviors are shifting; where they’ve gone, and in what percentages is the big challenge for 2014

What Many Development Officers “Sense” About Fundraising Today

Everything has changed in communications

Old tactics are not producing like they used to

New approach methods must be developed

Here are four simple steps you can do to take advantage of doubling the size of your donor base in 2014.

Each of them may represent a slight tweak in your approach to mirror the changed world of donor behaviors today.

# 1 - Optimize Your Direct Mail98% or more of direct mail gets tossed in the garbage It’s 2014, people prefer (by a factor of 7x) to use a digital

response option as opposed to traditional response mechanisms

Give them a digital option, use “Call-to-Actions” (CTA’s) to drive increased interactions- whether donations, dialogue, or both

# 2 – Give Your Social Media a Strategic Facelift Change the angle of content from being “about you”, to content specifically

aimed at eliciting feedback

It’s one thing to “get likes”; it’s another thing entirely to use social media the way it was originally intended… as a forum for discussion and interaction

If you look at all of your posts from the past three months you should be able to spot areas where a slight shift in what you posted could have done more to incite dialogue and further establish relationship opportunities

If you think there’s a “content shift” opportunity, you’ll probably be able to maximize results by focusing your efforts on no more than one to two platforms; the “less is more approach” may deliver your best returns

# 3 – Start a Mobile Communications Plan

The heavier hitters, the affluent in the 50 and older community have reached nearly a 50% Smartphone adoption rate

With 99% push messaging open rates you can’t afford to ignore this medium any longer

When evolving your mobile strategy start simple-

1. Determine what may be needed to fight “old management thinking”, mobile is the future of communications

2. Acquisition plans; use all your media formats to acquire cell phone numbers

3. Mobile content is different, you’ll need to strategize differently, but just like social media the content must become “about your target market”

4. Converting objectives- just like with direct mail, use call to actions and dynamic landing pages to increase your possibilities

Wanna make a bet on the affluent percentages; ask grandparents how they’re communicating with their grandchildren today!

# 4 - Teach Your Board Members & Benefactors (Who May Typically Be Digital Immigrants), What Digital Natives Already Know

With easy to follow instructions board members can be taught how to use digital communications in their various “spheres of influence”

This method of “local viral growth” can have a dramatic impact on the quality and quantity of your potential donor base. Give them a digital

plan; board members want to help!

Remember, when it comes to fundraising today…

Old communications tactics no longer apply

You’ll still have direct mail, stewardship, events, and major donors

But, your strategic plans and tactical approaches should change with the times- after all, your donors already have

Let me know if this deck was helpful.

Also, if you’d like to see further explanation anywhere…

Peter Winters President, Big Dog Innovations917 301-9100 pwinters@bigdoginnovations.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/peterwintersbigdoginnovations/SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/BigDogInnovations

Cross Media Implementation Team-MSP Digital Marketingwww.mspdigital.com