What is donor cultivation and why is it important? How do you build a donor cultivation plan? We'll cover all of the basics you need to know to get started!
Whether you’re a new nonprofit looking to secure your inaugural donors or an established organization wanting to expand your reach, it helps to return to the basics of donor cultivation.
In this article, we’ll cover:
We’ll also leave you with a donor cultivation plan template to make getting started even easier!
Donor cultivation is the process of identifying potential donors and building the relationships with them that inspire them to give to your nonprofit. Donor cultivation is closely tied to donor stewardship, which focuses more on maintaining those donor relationships once donors have given their first gift.
Donor cultivation can target a variety of individuals or organizations. For example, you may cultivate cohorts of small gift donors at a university or ask the CEO of a large corporation for a major gift.
There are many reasons donor cultivation is important. The most obvious is that it’s what brings donors to your nonprofit to help raise the funds you need for your mission.
The average donor retention rate in 2020 was just 43.6%. That means that over half of first-time donors don’t return to give another gift the following year. While donor stewardship efforts can increase your retention rate, this average also shows the need for ongoing cultivation of new donors. You want to identify new supporters each year to continue to grow your audience.
In addition to establishing a strong donor base, donor cultivation is also important if your nonprofit wants to:
There are six steps you’ll want to include in your donor cultivation plan. These steps take you from your initial research to the moment a donor gives their first donation.
There are many ways to identify people who may want to donate to your nonprofit. Some good places to start include:
It’s not enough to identify the people you want to ask to donate and then bombard them with a bunch of generic asks. Donor cultivation is about relationship building. It’s about letting supporters know that you see them as individuals and appreciate the unique value they bring to your nonprofit.
Take some time to learn about your prospective donors so you can build more authentic relationships with them that are tailored to their interests and needs. In particular, you’ll want to understand your potential donors’:
Once you’ve identified and researched the individuals you’d like to cultivate as donors, you’ll need to work to build relationships with them. The more you can create an emotional connection between the prospective donor and your organization, the more likely they will be to make a donation to your cause.
To cultivate relationships with potential donors, you can:
Once you’ve built a strong relationship with a prospective donor, it’s time to make your ask. The key here is to customize your ask to their giving capacity and interests.
For example, if you’re an animal shelter, you might ask a college student volunteer for a $10 donation to support food costs for kitten season. Or, you might ask a major donor for $10,000 to support a remodel of your dog kennel.
As soon as a prospect becomes a donor, you want to get busy with your thank yous. If the supporter donated online, you can set up your system to automatically email the donor a thank-you note along with their donation receipt.
However, you’ll still want to follow-up within a week with a more personalized thank you. Take that time to describe the impact their gift will make, let them know how glad you are to have them in your community, and offer a call to action for how they can continue to stay involved.
If you’ve received a major gift, you’ll also want to consider setting up a time to meet with the donor in-person over lunch or to tour your facility while thanking them for their support.
The two main things to remember for expressing your gratitude are to make it timely and personal.
This last step is where donor stewardship kicks in to increase the likelihood of retaining that new donor year-over-year. Continue to invite them to events, send them updates, and demonstrate the work you’re doing to make your mission a reality.
To show the impact of a donor’s gift, remember to tell stories that have an emotional appeal and display easy-to-digest data that demonstrates your progress.
Now that you know the stages of a donor cultivation plan, it’s time to create one that is specific to your nonprofit’s goals. The six steps below can guide your team through this process.
The first step to creating a donor cultivation plan is considering who should be involved in it. Typically, you’ll want your development team, board members, and executive director coordinating on the plan.
However, that donor cultivation team should also consider how all of your staff can lend a hand in donor cultivation. For example, direct services staff can share their stories with potential donors and marketing staff can design effective social media campaigns to get prospective donors’ attention. While you will have a core donor cultivation team, ultimately, everyone at your nonprofit plays a role in effective donor cultivation.
Know what you want to achieve from your donor cultivation efforts. This will allow you to track your progress and see what activities are working well and where you might need to pivot.
For example, your goals could include measurements such as:
Once you have your goals set, you’ll want to map those to your calendar through a series of events that will lead you to accomplishing the goal.
For example, if you’re trying to convert 40% of new contacts to first-time donors within 10 months, you’ll want to know when you’re going to:
Think through the little steps to get you to your goal and use those as your schedule.
You can make donor cultivation easier by segmenting your prospective donors into categories they share. This way, all donors within a particular segment can receive the same schedule of invitations, communications, and more.
Some donor segments to consider include:
As you cultivate relationships with potential donors, track those actions in your donor management software, like Instil.
This helps you keep organized and on schedule with your donor cultivation efforts. It’s especially helpful if you have multiple staff working on cultivation efforts because you can easily see everyone’s contributions in one place.
Set up monthly or quarterly meetings for your donor cultivation team to check-in on the results of your donor cultivation plan. These meetings are a great time to discuss what’s working and address any pain points. It’s also a good time to introduce any new prospective donors to the team to begin the donor cultivation process for them.
Donor cultivation is ultimately about relationship building. You want to find the right people to support your cause and inspire them to be a part of your community. You can use the tips above to get started on your donor cultivation plan.
Looking for a little extra guidance? Make sure to check out our Donor Cultivation Plan Template for an easy way to get started with your process.
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