Growing your Mid-level Donors

Transcription

1 Growing your Mid-level Donors North-Eastern Ontario Fundraising Professionals Association (NEOFPA) November 5, 2012

2 Middle Child??

3 Misconceptions of the Traditional Model.

4 Planned Giving potential at all levels. PLANNED GIFTS PLANNED GIFTS Major Gifts Mid-Level Gifts PROSPECTIVE PLANNED GIFT DONORS CAN BE FOUND AT ALL LEVELS OF THE GIVING PYRAMID. IN FACT MID-LEVEL DONORS MAY BE THE BEST PROSPECT BASE FOR PLANNED GIFTS. PLANNED GIFTS Annual Gifts

5 What should be our ultimate goal? Optimize the potential of each and every donor.

6 Some Issues Most development programs try to leap-frog from annual to major gifts but we all know that giving is not this linear. Traditional staffing approaches can create silos between annual fund and major gift officers. Aggressive $ goals have potential to try to force mid-donors into major gift programs, and this might not be the best long-term optimization of the donor relationship. We miss financial potential from mid-donors.

7 Food for thought. We structure our teams the way we structure our programs, but many smaller organizations don t have the volume of true major gift donors to warrant a full-time person (and salary) at this level. Are we deflecting volunteer accountability for fundraising when the Boards in many sectors are often populated by mid-donor prospects rather than major donors? What collateral benefits can charities realize from a well established mid-donor program?

8 The missing middle.

9 The missing middle. 13,797 donors give less than $200 per year, which is 90% of donors.

10 What if we could grow the giving of 1,000 donors from an average $75 per year to $500 per year?

11 What if

12 Illustrative Impact of a Mid-Donor Focus. 1,000 Donors of $75 $75,000 1,000 Donors Grow their annual support to $500 $500,000 1,000 Donors giving $500 annually over 5 years $2.5 million total (instead of $375,000)

13 Summed up Major gift programs are focused on building relationships with specific criteria and process. Mass donor programs are focused on data and trends. Mid-level donor programs are the meat in the middle of the sandwich they rely on both relationship and data.

14 What are we missing? Mid-level donors are possibly the strongest segment in the donor file. Most organizations don t have a concrete strategy, approach, or investment to focused on upgrading and retaining mid-donors. Mid-level donors have longer-term impact, so there is a multiplier effect over many years of giving. This could be a good pool for mobilizing peer-topeer fundraising activity. Is our case for support unintentionally excluding mid-donors?

15 Mid-level Donors = Bridge DonorsTM Bridge building is an apt metaphor for the concept embodied by a mid-level donor program. bridge between smaller, annual gifts to the larger major gift thresholds. bridge between sporadic, transactional-type giving and regularized, increased giving that realizes the potential of donors who will never be major gift prospects. We refer to our approach to mid-level giving as the KCI Bridge DonorTM Program.

16 Who are your Bridge Donors? Attracted to your mission they are current/lapsed donors. Gift size dependent on your organization. Do not expect or respond to recognition. Sensitive about what they can/cannot give. Their income / capacity is not unlimited. Will give more when a project inspires them, sometimes without being asked. Give larger gifts/less frequently than typical annual donors Do not want to give through monthly or pre-determined payment plans they are not your monthly donors. Resist personal visitation and face-to-face. Receptive to phone interaction and relationship by phone. Respond better to thoughtful mail that includes intellectual stimulation in addition to high emotive response. (eg. They are willing to read a four page letter.)

17 The missing middle.

18 KCI Capacity Level Prospect Scoring Grid. $50k+ Pipeline Building Prospects Build Strategy and Relationships Immediate Prospects Review and Qualify $750+ Remainder Use Supporter score & Capacity Levels to segment and adjust ask levels Good Supporters & Potential Surprises Explore 0 30 KCI Supporter Score 100 Active Records only

19 Capacity Level Where do Mid-level Donors sit on the Prospect Scoring grid? $50k+ Pipeline Building Prospects Build Strategy and Relationships Immediate Prospects Review and Qualify $750+ Potential Bridge Donor Remainder Use Supporter score & Capacity Prospects Levels to segment and adjust ask levels Good Supporters & Potential Surprises Explore 0 Supporter Score Active Records only

20 How do they respond? Mid-level donors like to give towards specific projects or goals. Mid-level donors are group oriented they understand that they are part of a team of givers that make it possible to accomplish a larger project. Mid-level donors are excellent prospects for planned giving. Source: Barefoot Creative

21 How do we find them? Using the GAB Model: o o o Giving History: Financial commitment to your organization. Looking for increasing levels of giving and/or consistent pattern of giving. Address: Address is a stand-in for contact information, which is needed to engage the prospect. Can also be an indicator of interest in your organization. Behaviour: Most important predictor. Most likely mid-level donor is someone who is significantly engaged in the organization and its mission, which can be evidenced most strongly by how much and how often they interact with you outside of their giving. Look for both online and offline indicators.

22 Segmenting our Mid-level Donors? Propensity (likelihood to give). Capacity (ability to give defined by giving history, wealth scores, etc.). Success of building this pipeline of support is heavily reliant on extracting the right pool of donors. Define a segment (i.e.. 3+ years and $75 for social services; $250 for hospital; $1,000 for university).

23 Managing your Bridge Donors. Sweet spot between broad based and one-to-one cultivation/solicitation. Finding ways to automate some of the high touch of major gift fundraising programs. Some automated cultivation but back to basics with this group, including things like live postage, insider info, Development Officer s name and direct phone number. Perceived access to leadership, for instance webinar with a researcher, Chair of the Board. Receive annual giving mailings but also personalized, hand written notes from their assigned Development Officer. Special Mid Donor Campaigns with Mini-cases to focus their giving around a particular amount (i.e. $200, $500) and project (i.e. a piece of equipment or research grant). Great spot to use volunteers or institutional experts i.e. physicians, musicians, etc.

24 Will they become major donors? Some might depending on capacity. Don t put mid-level donors automatically in major gift stream; not all will be major gift donors but the group movement is key (i.e.. Increase the average gift and the retention of the group over time). Use a continuum to place donors and development staff/volunteers not all will be at the same level.

25 Invest in your mid-level donors. Development Officer portfolio of Prospects. Pro-forma for Boards will increase their interest; many volunteers would see themselves among this group. Written strategy and business case to invest in this group. Thinking differently about your case, and how you package and strategically present projects.

26 Discussion

27 Tara S. George, MBA, CFRE Senior Vice President x 254