Now that you know a bit about the marketing that goes into putting your nonprofit on the map, it’s time to explore a powerful concept, which I call a “fundraising funnel.” This fundraising strategy will help to turn your organization from a small charity into a massive nonprofit that makes a big impact.
The trick to getting new donors is similar to the process behind finding a life partner. You have to first court your donors before you ask them to marry you. To put this into perspective, close your eyes and imagine a funnel.
The entrance to the funnel is where donors will first find out about your nonprofit organization. This may be through a friend, social media, or from seeing your flyer at a local event. This is the first time that they come into contact with your organization.
There are four important components of this funnel:
- The problem or cause you work to help
- The degree to which that cause harms society
- Your effectiveness in combatting that cause
- The impact donors can have on that outcome.
You can think of each element above as a sliding scale. A potential donor may only be vaguely aware of the problem that you’re working to address, or they may fully understand its harmful effects on society.
For example, if the problem you’re working to address is providing education to children in a specific third-world country, your donors may have heard of that country before or not. They may understand the impact of quality education or not.
A potential donor’s understanding of the problem you’re working to combat and its impact on society ranges on a sliding scale.
The same is true of your nonprofit’s effectiveness at addressing that problem. While you may have identified a problem in our society that needs fixing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your work is helping that problem OR that you’re a trustworthy organization.
Before a potential donor gives money to your charity, they must first trust your organization and believe that you will be able to make an impact with the funds you’ve raised. They have to believe the promises that you make for a better future.
Lastly, the biggest thing holding someone back from giving money is whether or not that action will make a real impact. Will it simply be a drop in the bucket or a huge problem, or will it actually change someone’s life?
The more that you can demonstrate the impact a donation has upon another human being, family, animal, or problem, the more likely a potential donor will be to take action.
As a nonprofit, it is your job to move donors through this fundraising funnel. As they hit each stage of the funnel, donors will become more bought into your organization, mission, and values. They’ll feel more comfortable making an online donation to a stranger on the internet.
When they get to the end of the funnel, they’ll be ready to take action and become a donor of your nonprofit organization. Not only will they have a desire to remedy a horrible problem in society, but they’ll also trust that your organization can do something about it.
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
Moving Donors Down The Funnel
Now that you know your fundraising success rests on your ability to move potential donors down your fundraising funnel, you might be wondering how to actually do that. How do you get donors to care about your problem? How do you get them to trust you?
In previous articles, we went through the emotions that donors must feel before they give money to charity. One of those emotions is a feeling of empathy. They must empathize with your target demographic. They gotta care about the people, animals, or cause you’re trying to help.
Agitating the Problem
The way that you do that is easy. All you have to do is tell stories about your target demographic in a way that illustrate this massive problem in society. You do this on social media, your newsletter, blog posts and any other content you produce.
You absolutely MUST get the attention of potential donors and then draw that attention to the problem that currently exists in the world. But, it’s not enough just to state the problem you’re working to fix. You must also paint a clear picture in your potential donor’s mind.
Remember, not only must a donor feel empathy towards others, but they must also feel a sense of distress in the situation. They have to feel bad, guilty, angry, sad, or mad. You can’t just state the problem, you must also make donors feel something after learning about it.
Sometimes, a nonprofit will do this by showing children or animals that are suffering. They may tell a story of something they’re trying to help and how awful their life is. The organization might stress statistics regarding inequality to add credibility to their content.
No matter how it’s done, the viewer should be able to put themselves in the shoes of the target demographic and imagine to themselves, “wow, that really would suck,” or “Man, I can imagine how I’d feel if I was living in that situation.”
If you’ve done your job right, then through your content and storytelling, a donor will now be aware of the problem you’re working to remedy and the real costs of the problem should it remain un-fixed.
Still, this is not enough to get someone to take action. You must then move onto the next phase of the fundraising funnel. You gotta prove to visitors why your nonprofit is well equipped to address the problem. Why is your organization effective?
Proving Your Credibility
An easy way to show potential donors proof of the effectiveness of your nonprofit is to tell the before and after story of someone or a group that you’ve helped.
Before you entered the picture, this group was suffering from the problem you’re working to combat. For example, the farmers you’re helping in El Salvador couldn’t speak english, read very well, and didn’t have access to modern farming technology.
After your nonprofit entered the picture, you improved literacy rates by 30%, you made it so that crops got a higher yield by a factor of 2x, and now farmers are able to converse in basic english.
The more that you can illustrate the transformation that you caused, the better. Use photos, video, and testimonials to underscore the effect your organization had.
After being bombarded multiple times by different transformational stories, statistics, and proof, your potential donors will begin to believe the claims you’re making. They’ll start to buy into your organization and believe that you really can make a difference.
Show Their Potential Impact
Finally, donors must believe that their donation will have an impact on the cause. More and more, millennials will only give money if they can see the direct impact of their charitable contribution.
While it might be tempting to pull out statistics when trying to show the change that $1 has, the rule is that the more tangible that you can make the potential impact, the better.
For example, you could say that $10 will feed a family of four for a month. You could say that your donation of $25 will give Sophia and children like her school supplies for an entire year.
Connect the donation to the direct impact that it will make in the life of the target demographic. How will it help alleviate the problem or affect the cause in a positive way, tangible way?
This is the secret sauce that will unlock the heart of a potential donor. It’s the last part of the fundraising funnel. After you convince them that their donation will make a sizable impact, it’s almost a no-brainer for them to make a donation.
The second they do, they will join your fundraising pyramid, which we’ll get into in just a second. The act of donating money will help to alleviate the feelings of distress they felt previous, and they’ll feel good as a result.
Your visitors will think things like:
“Yeah, that problem sucks, but at least I’m doing something about it.”
“I feel good. I think this will help people.”
“I’m excited to see how this helps.”
During this fundraising funnel, a person has gone from being a complete stranger to someone who is willing to transact with you, even if they’ve never met you in person. It’s very powerful.
When done correctly, a donor will actually feel extremely good about giving money and excited to hear about how their donation made an impact. They want to feel good and to stay consistent with their identify of being a good person.
You can help them reach these emotional needs, while also bringing badly needed funding to your target demographic. The best way to do this is through a fundraising pyramid.
The Fundraising Pyramid
The key to a successful and sustainable fundraising strategy is to service your donors through multiple layers and tiers that ultimately make up a fundraising pyramid.
The bottom of the pyramid is where you serve the most donors. It’s where you’ll see people giving money to your charity in the $5, $25, or $50 sums. These are individuals who connect with what you’re doing and want to help you in some small way.
In exchange for a donation, you’ll send them a hearty thank you, keep them up to date on the impact of their funds, and share with them ways that they can get involved even further.
This lower level tier of the pyramid is different from others in that it’s very hands-off. Someone can donate late at night when you’re asleep, and you’ll wake up to a notification on your phone. There also isn’t very much participation on the part of the donor. They aren’t giving their time to help your cause. They’re just giving a bit of money.
The lower portion of the fundraising pyramid is also where you provide the least value to new donors. You want them to feel welcomed and eager to give again, so you’ll send them a personalized thank you or other tokens of appreciation. You can help to kindle those good vibes to a small degree.
As you progress up the fundraising pyramid, you’ll be delivering more and more value to your donors. At the second level, donors may progress from simply giving money to also being a volunteer. They can join you at a fundraising gala, charity walk, or other fundraising event where they get to know you and other like-minded donors.
These second-tier donors are becoming more and more bought into your organization, mission, and cause. They are willing to solicit their friends for a donation on your behalf. They are more likely to regularly participate in your annual giving campaigns and GivingTuesday fundraisers.
Not only are these individuals donating larger sums on a more regular basis, but they are also forming deeper connections with you, your organization, and others members of the community. They’re actively participating in your cause.
You reward their commitment though personal attention, tokens of gratitude or appreciation, and continuing to show the effects of their giving on the cause. You also give them the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and create a positive memory out of the whole experience.
As you can see, the more that someone progresses up the fundraising pyramid, the more time, attention, and resources you will devote to giving them a rewarding experience with your organization.
Technically, you could lavish all of this attention and time on individuals who only gave $5 as well, but it would drain your organization of its human resources. It isn’t a scalable strategy to grow your nonprofit.
Next up is the third tier of the fundraising pyramid. This level is reserved for the high level elite donors that are giving substantial sums to your organization.
For example, Pencil of Promise is an organization that helps promote education in third-world countries. You can give money on a monthly or one-off basis. However, to build a classroom, it would cost you about ~$10,000 and to build a school it would be ~$25,000.
An individual that gives money at this level would be most certainly be considered an elite-level donor and a member of the third value level of the fundraising pyramid.
In exchange for this level of contribution, you’d devote more of your resources towards giving that person an incredibly memorable experience. In the case of Pencil of Promise, the donor may get to actually attend the location of the school, meet some of the students, and be kept up to date on how they changed the lives of these students.
You would be more likely to have personal calls and conversations with this donor on a regular basis. You’d want to learn deeply about the goals and motivations of this donor and more ways you can get them involved.
Finally, there is the fourth level of the fundraising pyramid, which I reserve for corporate donors. Entities, like Foundations and other organizations, could also fall into this category. The approach to attracting corporate donors is a bit different from individual givers. You must also treat them differently.
Remember, while a corporation is made up of individuals, its core purpose is to make a profit. Giving money to charity is a wise choice for a corporation because it improves its public image. It makes your donors view the corporation more positively. It also positively affects the corporation’s customers.
A corporation wants to see that their funds have a positive effect, but they also want that result to be in-line with the values, vision, and mission of the corporation. The more that you can help a corporation have this experience, the more likely they will be to want to partner with your organization.
Ultimately, your ability to construct a fundraising pyramid where you serve your donors at multiple levels will determine your ability to scale your organization over time. It’s the hallmark of all great nonprofit organizations.
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
While the fundraising funnel is what gets donors in the door, the fundraising pyramid is what allows them to truly participate in your work, make an impact, and live a purposeful life.
