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Sowing the seeds for successful fundraising 

Nonprofits need to develop clear plans to cultivate their relationships with donors. As the connection is strengthened, so will the positive response to calls for support increase.

"Nurture that relationship with your donors and hopefully it will result in bigger and better retention rates," Susan Bachurski told executives attending The Direct Marketing Association of Washington Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C.

While there are many elements that add to the success of a cultivation program, Bachurski, president and creative director of Bachurski Associates, an industry leader in the field of direct response fundraising, cites three key aspects that should be included.

* Fundraising strategies should be matched to the organization's donor types.

* Fundraising campaigns should be scheduled during the best time or season to ask for money and to motivate donors to contribute.

* Organizations need to develop creative messages and packages that serve several purposes including providing information, developing the relationship with donors and asking for donations.

Traditionally, requests for contributions are not viewed as a method of cultivating donor relationships. Organizations tend to foster these connections through newsletters, clips, or some other type of informative literature that does not ask for money.

Bachurski, who has created direct mail programs for numerous organizations, including the American Red Cross, Nature Conservancy, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation, GreenPeace, New York Public Libraries, and the Smithsonian, encouraged executives to think more broadly when it comes to cultivating donor relationships.

"I want you to think about all member communications (as) cultivation opportunities. That includes your asks; that includes your telemarketing; that includes your direct mail solicitation and your email," she told the audience. "Every time you talk to somebody, it's cultivating them."

Bachurski asserted that, if done correctly, requests for donations provide an opportunity to "deepen the bond with the donor." The important thing is to research the donor base to see what appeals to them and what their needs are. Organizations should develop and implement long-term survey and data-collection plans to develop an understanding of their donors.

"To match your fundraising strategies to your donor types, you have to know your donors," said Bachurski. Nonprofits can gain some of this information when a donor initially becomes involved with the organization, but much of it must be collected over time and recorded in a database.

When exploring fundraising options, it is important to be aware of a donor's point of first contact. "It is important to know because one of the key indicators for whether or not somebody is going to be responsive to what you send them is if they were direct mail generated." says Bachurski.

Bachurski recommended knowing into which category of giver your donor fits. Two major categories are philanthropic givers and event givers.

"An event giver is an event giver is an event giver, and they rarely give to anything else," she said.

Organizations should also be aware of donor's frequency of giving. A donor who has indicated that he will give a single gift each year does not need a great deal of direct mail. Multigivers may donate every time the organization sends them something. Therefore, foundations will want to include them in all mailings. The key is to develop the data to gain a clear understanding of the type of donors the organization is dealing with and "to adapt your strategies to suit them," advised Bachurski.

Organizations should also define the levels of giving for each donor, the level of activity for his contributions and the preference of timing for a donor. This information needs to be collected, analyzed and incorporated into targeting or mailings.

The second area of fundraising that organizations should be aware of when developing plans is seasonality of living. "It is important to give your donors what they want. Take advantage of your best fundraising seasons if that's when the people want to give to you," recommended Bachurski.

Organizations should keep in mind that "renewal notices mailed around year end tend to trend upwards, and higher dollar living spikes at the year End," she said. Bachurski cited an example calculating an organization's first notice renewal rates by month mailed. The a average return rate is 17 percent until October, when the rate increases dramatically and remains higher through January.

Finally, foundations can cultivate donor relationships through creative messages and packages. To use solicitation mail for cultivation, Bachurski suggested that organizations include three key elements: It should provide information. It should have an element that deepens the donor relationship. It should encourage the donor to give.

Bachurski encouraged organization to use a mini-proposal format. "Mini-proposals are designed to give donors an in-depth look at the programs and the services of an organization." It is a take-off on a proposal that an organization may send to a foundation. "It asks people to make personal grants to specific projects that are outlined in the mini-proposal," said Bachurski.

Organizations should combine knowledge of their donors, seasonality of giving and creativity when developing fundraising plans. The key to increasing the success of fundraising attempts is to approach every communication with donors as a chance to strengthen the bond between them and the organization.

Bridget Rosenberg is a reporter for the Denver News Bureau.