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5 Strategies to Cultivate Mid-Level Donors

Once you identify your nonprofit’s mid-level donors, it’s time to develop a strategy to cultivate them, to help them become more engaged with your organization, and play an even greater role in its overall success.

Before you implement any strategy, it’s best to create quantifiable goals. Are you looking to increase engagement by 10% within a six-month period? Do you want to increase revenue by 15% in the next year? Or maybe you want to raise your average donation from $25 to $35 by the end of a 24-month period? Establishing these goals with a quantity within a set time period will set clear objectives for your team and keep everyone on track while preventing the distraction of competing goals.

Once you create those goals, you can begin planning strategies to cultivate your mid-level donors. Here are five to get you started:

Keep the Mission Visible

With every communication piece that your nonprofit sends, make sure your organization’s mission is visible and clear. Your mid-level donors must understand how your short-term projects play into the overall mission. They must also understand how they are part of that mission.

Celebrate Successes

Of course, asking for donations, support, and sponsorships are important. They’re your nonprofit’s life-blood. Just make sure you also share your organization’s successes. Like the last strategy, it allows donors to see where their contributions went and how they personally fit into your organization.

Say Thank You

Everyone likes to feel needed and appreciated. Including a thank you as a regular part of your communication strategy can go a long way. You can include a thank you in the closing copy of each piece or as a stand-alone mailing that includes a gift for those who have met certain criteria. Phone calls also make excellent touchpoints that feel extremely personal. Make “Thank you” a regular part of what you do.

Talk to Mid-level Donors

Want to know what your mid-level donors are looking for? Ask them. A survey by email, social media, or phone can go a long way toward finding out how to reach them better. This may even be a beneficial first step in your strategy development.

Go the Extra Mile

Making your communication as personal as possible will give you a greater chance at engagement. Closed face envelopes, handwritten addresses, handwritten notes within your pieces, or personalized communication will help show your mid-level donors how much they are valued.

Mid-level donors have potential for significant growth when they are cultivated. This requires the ability to segment your list, report on the effectiveness of your strategies, and track communication pieces and responses. A robust CRM system like DonorDirect makes this possible. With it, you’ll be able to create detailed donor profiles that make segmentation easy. You’ll even be able to send personalized thank-you messages and gifts, allowing you to nurture your donors effectively.

Let these five strategies serve to spark ideas for developing your mid-level donors and achieving your nonprofit’s mission today!