New Donors

For small nonprofits, building the donor base is a mandated chore, and this article from Guidestar provides some guidance in getting started.

An excerpt.

“In today's tough economic environment, many not-for-profit organizations are struggling to grow donations. For many, the impact of a relatively weak economy has affected the quality and quantity of gifts. Taking a more strategic approach to donor development has never been more important. When our principals meet with those seeking donations, we hear common themes of why many are struggling to find new opportunities. See whether any of these reasons apply to you:
• No time—Most of those responsible for development are busy. Even the best are bogged down with multiple organizational tasks (returning calls and e-mails, attending conferences, stuffing envelopes, to name a few). Not-for-profit employees wear many hats, and just keeping existing donors happy can be a stretch.
• Not sure whom to target—Taking a shotgun approach to calling on "everybody who has a heartbeat" or cold calling potential donors rarely results in producing quality prospective donors who are ready to write a check.
• Prospecting potential donors is a low return activity—Given the amount of time involved in prospecting for new donors and the difficulty in landing a good prospect, many responsible for development question whether the effort provides a reasonable return. (Note: Some development officers equate prospecting donors with "cold calling," which is usually a waste of time. We believe there are other, more productive ways to attract new donors—see below.)
• Prospecting new donors is frustrating—Nobody likes rejection. The research is pretty clear: donations have decreased over 25 percent from 2009 to 2010; many donors are not in the mood to entertain giving money away.

“Getting new donors is tough. Making sure you have done everything possible to make it easier is not to say it will be easy. Here are some techniques being used by some of the most successful organizations:

"1. Make sure your organization is targeting the right prospective donors. The responsibility for providing clear direction starts at the executive level. Organizations need to understand the necessity of creating a target profile that gives staff and volunteers clear direction about the types of industries and individuals that provide the best opportunities for developing partnerships. If you don't like pizza parlors for donations, say so. If you overdepend on doctors for donations, say so. But also be explicit about what the most desirable industry segments are for the organization and why. Time is a very precious commodity; wasting time on the "wrong" donors' takes away time from the "right" donors.”