The nonprofit world is crowded. The number of public charities in America increased 42.3 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the Urban Institute. During that same period, the U.S. population grew just 9.7 percent.
The competition for individual donors is getting fiercer, and donors now have more choices of where to give. Many nonprofit consultants have shifted their focus more to donor retention, an activity that’s gotten more study in recent years.
But a simple truth remains: You have to have donors to retain them. And in an environment in which more than half of donors don’t give to the same charity a year later, it’s vital to bring in new blood.
So, how do you it? Any way you can—from bake sales to multi-million dollar multimedia campaigns.
“There are lots of ways to skin a cat,” says Gail Perry, author of Fired-Up Fundraising.
Below are links to The Chronicle‘s top resources for expanding your organization’s pool of donors.
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Advice
Important Terms to Understand About Donor Acquisition
Key phrases and concepts for finding new donors. -
Advice
7 Basic Ways to Acquire New Donors
The most common ways to bring new support to your organization. -
Advice
Schedule: Deadlines for Working With a Direct-Mail Company
The requirements and timeline for sending a solicitation to donors with help from a company specializing in the process. -
Advice
Finding the Best Donors Through Data Cooperatives
Donor-sharing services have reshaped acquisition in the last five years. -
Advice
Finding Donors On the Road
A startup charity in suburban Texas looks high, low, and wide for its first supporters. -
Advice
A Simple Test Helps Human-Rights Campaign Raise Money From Social Media
Looking to get rid of some water bottles, the nonprofit learned more than it expected about the group’s Facebook and Twitter followers. -
Advice
International Aid Group Appeals to Donors’ Values in First #GivingTuesday Campaign
American Jewish World Service used matching gifts and a powerful critique of holiday-season commercialism to raise gifts. -
Advice
Saving Rosie the Riveter’s Factory and Salvaging a Capital Campaign
Accustomed to raising money from a small group of loyalists, the Michigan Aerospace Foundation reaches donors across the country by embracing the cultural icon. -
Advice
One Nonprofit Looks to Service Recipients as Potential Donors
A social-service group reluctantly asks its clients for support and finds them willing to give. -
Advice
Case Study: How Operation Smile Is Appealing to Spanish-Speaking Donors
The nonprofit offers a path for attracting first-time donors from a quickly growing segment of the population.