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More than 80 percent of all giving in the United States comes from individuals.[1] While many fundraisers focus on growing their individual giving programs through major gifts, it is important to know that mid-level donors also present a large opportunity to increase giving.
Mid-level donors can be described as those donors who are not part of your direct mail or major gifts programs. Instead, mid-level donors are those generally giving between $1,000 and $10,000 annually. While they account for only one percent of the average donor pool, they contribute one third of the dollars given to charities each year.[2]
Mid-level donors are your most committed and most loyal donors. They believe in your cause and they have strong upgrade potential, yet, they are often neglected, leading to poor retention and inadequate prospects for new major gift donors.
Mid-level donors are exceptionally valuable, and now is the time to create a plan to engage them. What follows is a guide for creating a coherent, productive, integrated mid-level donor program:
1. Understand Your Mid-Level Donors
- Using an in-house or outsourced team, collect and screen data to understand your small- to mid-level donor's propensity and motivation to give.
- Develop a portfolio of prospects that have the qualities needed to become major donors and new mid-level donors.
- Evaluate how big of an investment you should make in a mid-level donor program and request buy-in from your stakeholders.
2. Develop Systems for a Mid-Level Donor Program
- Decide who will be responsible for these donors (an existing fundraiser, a new fundraiser, or a volunteer). Be sure to evaluate current priorities for existing staff in order to make room for this initiative.
- Create a task list for those working on this program to:
- Analyze your donor pool and create a mid-level pipeline;
- Nurture donors at this level;
- Create a pipeline of future major donors; and
- Measure success.
- Develop a budget for this program. You can either reduce less efficient fundraising efforts from your existing budget or make a case for additional dollars.
- Determine cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship strategies for your portfolio of prospects.
- Think of effective ways to encourage new donors to give as well as enticing existing donors to renew and upgrade.
- Reduce the frequency of asks to this group of donors but continue to make each solicitation impactful.
- Review your fundraising messaging to evaluate what you might update or change to catch the attention of mid-level donors.
- Look for ways to help these donors stand out and make them feel engaged.
- Organize opportunities to train your volunteer leaders on how best to engage these donors.
- Create a system of metrics to track success with these donors.
3. Implement, Test, Evaluate, and Strengthen
- Put the program into place and set check points for effectiveness evaluation at the one-month, three-month, six-month, and one-year marks.
- Calculate your return on investment based on the metrics you put in place.
- Determine what implementation efforts should be continued, strengthened, halted, or put on the radar for further evaluation.
- Ask your mid-level donors for their input to see if your changes are taking effect.
It has been OAI's experience that focusing some of your fundraising efforts on mid-level donors will generate growth in the gifts from existing donors year-over-year, and create new prospects for major gifts. If your goal is to strengthen your donor pipeline through increased renewals, upgrades, and the building of a long-term donor pipeline for all levels, begin to take the steps necessary now to start your mid-level donor program.
[1] SOURCE: Giving USA 2014: http://www.givingusareports.org/
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Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI) is prepared to help you mine your data and create a program through which you can move your mid-level prospects to the next level and become more embedded with your mission. Please contact us today for more information at [email protected] or (202) 338-6100.
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