Technology is only as good as the users (and information within) and your donor database is no exception. Setting up your donor CRM (constituent relationship management) software with informative donor information can help you increase not only your one-time and recurring annual gifts, but can give you a window into opportunities for major donations.
Here are 5 ways to mine your donor database for major gifts.
1. Analyze past giving
Run reports to look at past giving trends—what donations have they made to you and how often do these donations come in? Look at your donors in different ways such as:
- Those who give monthly in a given calendar year
- Those who make a major gift (i.e.: $500+) annually
- Those who make a major gift (i.e.: $1,500+) every other year
- Those who have given every year, no matter the amount for 5+ years
2. Assess activity
Your CRM should track all activity of those who are in your database—from online giving, mailed-in gifts, volunteer activity and event attendance. Are they a board member? Do they serve on a planning committee? Have they ever made a P2P fundraising page for you? Assessing these key activities helps identify how strong their commitment is to your cause.
3. Review personal interests
Donor surveys can help gather information on what your donors are interested in, other organizations they are affiliated with, what they like to be a part of when it comes to your nonprofit, etc. Track this information within your CRM. Get with your marketing team and/or social media team to gather insights on key donors’ activities online as well—this public information is a great way to gain insight into interests.
4. Research societal connections
Your donor database is a great place to track personal interests and other connections in the community. It is helpful to know if your donors serve on other boards, if they’ve made other gifts and where they spend their volunteer time. This can give you a good indication about their values and other types of organizations your donors are supporting from both a monetary and volunteer standpoint.
5. Prioritize wealth indicators
Track indications of wealth—their ability to give, their job title, position or company they work for. What do they do? What assets do they have? Common wealth indicators include:
- Real estate ownership
- Business affiliations
- Past capital campaign and/or large campaign gifts
- Investments
- Stock ownership
Ask for larger donations
Looking for major donations? Ask for them. Develop campaigns and strategies around larger donation amounts and establish benchmarks for how you will communicate the information and who you will ask based on your CRM data.
For instance, you can create a giving society that asks for an annual gift in an amount that offers exclusive benefits for donations of certain amounts. You could then link that to a donation page that highlights that campaign and offers suggested giving levels of large amounts.
Many nonprofits give special donor recognition for large donations that they receive online. You can advertise recognition opportunities on your website, in emails, on social media and link donors to give online from there.
Bonus tip
The quality of your website can determine whether a major donor might give. Keeping your website current will help establish trust with donors. A detailed “About Us” section will help give validity to your organization and a clear “Impact” page will show potential donors what you are doing with the support you receive.
Review your donor records and information in your CRM before the new year to kick-start your fundraising strategy and major donor outreach. Need help along the way? Check out our simple CRM for donor management tool or request a demo to see how 4aGoodCause can work for you.
