Non-Profit Fundraising: Contact Management and a Maximized Budget

Non-Profit Fundraising: Contact Management and a Maximized Budget

Fundraising efforts are a key component of supporting worthy and reputable causes, such as your charitable and non-profit organizations. From traditional marketing and fundraising events to online donation pages, there are many ways to raise funds, but at the core of every successful campaign is connection. In addition to networking and meeting potential donors, contact management helps you create an efficient and effective avenue towards your fundraising goals.

For many organizations, non-profit fundraising is the primary – if not sole! – means of revenue. This makes fundraising methods vital to the lifespan of your organization and the amount of good your group can do. In order to protect revenue and extend budgets for your organization, PacificEast has created a method of contact management, designed to maximize your fundraising efforts.

How Contact Management Can Maximize Your Budget

When managing a fundraising campaign, donors and contacts are the lifeblood of your revenue. With that, communication with contacts becomes a critical action. Contacts can include everyone from digital subscribers, social media followers, connections made during peer-to-peer fundraisers and even contact lists acquired of those with a known interest in a particular cause. How you put that data to use that really counts.

There are many ways to help nurture client and member relationships, turning one-time donors or volunteers into long-term advocates and champions for your organization.

Valuing Your Leads: When examining leads from contacts, it is important to determine which of these are more likely to become donors and which are likely to pick up the phone if they are called. Those contacts who regularly interact with your accounts, for example, are showing a consistent interest in your messaging and promotions. The same principle can be applied to regular event attendees and past donors, as well. Just because a donor has lapsed doesn’t mean they won’t contribute in the future.

Foster Engagement: Seeing a rise in online followers is a great morale boost but it is important to understand why these new contacts have decided to support you. Responding to comments on message boards, social media posts and fundraising pages not only helps you understand what drew supporters in, but allows you to develop deeper and more meaningful connections, which in turn creates a clear picture of the best way to connect with your audience and lets them know their support is appreciated.

Accept Non-Monetary Support: Not all of your contacts will have the ability to make financial contributions to your cause, but this is not the only way to support the organization. Even small amounts of money add up over time, but recognizing the value of your contacts is priceless. Looking carefully at contacts can help to shed light on other factors such as social media presence and endorsement potential for those with high follower counts.

Catered Communication: Not all your contacts will have the same level or type of involvement. By segmenting e-mail and contact lists, it is possible to have more effective communication and interactions. Targeted communication can help preserve budgets, manpower, the amount of time spent on a project and prevents contacts from unsubscribing due to an onslaught of pesky e-mails and alerts. Customizing the types of fundraising you promote will help to build a more efficient campaign overall.

Keep Track of Members: It is important to monitor the actions of your members and contributors in order to better connect them with an appropriate fundraising type that yields the best results. Taking stock of involvement levels or a headcount at an event can help assess how successful a campaign is and open the door for new and exciting fundraising ideas for the future. Not everyone wants to donate online, but many might be more inclined during an event. This type of data allows nonprofit organizations to create a calendar of campaigns and events with the greatest chance of success.

Thank Your Donors: Whether online fundraising or at an event, don’t forget to thank your donors and volunteers. More than simply being kind, donations go a long way to help communities. A quick note from organizers or board members can help to express appreciation. Sincere and personalized thank you notes encourage donors and help to further the bond between organizations and the cause.

With any non-profit organization, people are at the heart of both the mission and the solution. By studying the data and getting to know your donors, fundraising can be made effective and easy, all while developing a strong network. Reach out to PacificEast today and we can help you make the most of your contact lists.