This document summarizes a training session on creating a donor strategy. It discusses segmenting donors into groups, defining each segment, and mapping out engagement strategies for each. The key segments discussed are board members, top donors, mid-level donors, annual fund donors, non-donors, and institutional partners. For each segment, the document outlines who to leverage, potential asks, and suggested engagement and outreach approaches. The goal is to better manage donors and data through segmentation and to motivate donors to support organizational goals.

1. Do More 24
Capacity Building and
Strategy Training Series
Session #2:
Creating your donor strategy
December 2, 2016

2. • Welcome, introduction
• Reviewing goals
• Refining and mapping a comprehensive
strategy
• Q&A, wrap-up

3. • Reviewing goals homework
• Sharing our goals
• Approval?
• How was the process?
• Any challenges?
• Comparing to last year’s goals and results
Goal Setting

4. • WHAT = the SMART goal (session #1)
• WHO = the UNIVERSE (session #2)
• HOW = how you’re going to engage them (sessions #2-3)
• WHY = their motivation for funding the goal (session #3)
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

5. • WHO = the UNIVERSE
• Segmenting
• Helps with better management of donors and data
• Allows for better collaboration
• Helps with breaking your main goals into manageable
parts
• Helps to focus outreach activities for you, your team,
and for your ambassadors
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

6. • Define the segments
• Back fill the “HOW” and the “WHY” for each
segment
• Creating your segments
• User defined levels
• Collapse and combine as needed
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

7. • Segments for discussion:
1. Board of Directors
Current and former
2. Top donors
High gift of $10,000 and up
3. Mid-level donors
High gift of $1,000 to $9,999
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

8. • Segments for discussion: (continued)
4. Annual fund level
High gift is less than $1,000
5. Prospects/Non-donors
Volunteers, vendors, people served, and staff who
have never made a contribution
6. Institutional partners
Current or past funders – foundations,
corporations, churches, local governments, other
nonprofits
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

9. • HOW = getting to your goal:
• Part 1 (today) = tie strategy into your goals
• Part 2 (next session) = review technical details,
outreach, and content
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

10. • HOW = getting to your goal:
• Ladder of communications (from most to least effective (and most costly)):
face to face meetings
small group event, meeting, or discussion
phone conversation
handwritten letter or note
personal email (from your Outlook or Gmail)
typed letter
website/blog
large group event, meeting, or discussion
mass produced, typed letter (direct mail)
video
mass produced email (Constant Contact/listserv)
brochures, pamphlets, annual reports, and marketing items
news items
advertisements
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

11. • #1 Board of Directors:
• Who do you need to leverage?
• Probably the Executive Director and Board Chair
• Board’s fundraising committee
• The ask(s)
• Ask the Chair in a face-to-face meeting for personal gift and buy in,
try to get on agenda for a board meeting
• Leadership funding and matches
• Personal give and get goals (their gift plus 5-10 others)
• Provide engagement opportunities for board members, and
their guests, to learn more about your project
• Help and educate the Board as needed
• Start early, coordinate with ED and Board Chair in January
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

12. • #2 Top donors:
• Who do you need to leverage?
• Major Gifts Officer, relationship owner (ED, etc.)
• The ask(s)
• Personal give and get goals (their gift plus 12 others)
• Maybe for matching funds
• Provide engagement opportunities for them and
their guests to learn more about your project
• Immediately after commitments from Board
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

13. • #3 Mid-level donors:
• Who do you need to leverage?
• Relationship owner
• The ask(s)
• Personal give and get (their gift plus 12 or more other)
• Act as an ambassador
• In most cases, there are more mid-level donors than top donors
• More calls and emails than face-to-face meetings
• Provide engagement opportunities for them and their
guests to learn more about your project
• Immediately after commitments from Board
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

14. • #4 Annual fund donors:
• Who do you need to leverage?
• Staff, board, others for outreach help
• The ask(s)
• Will the Board Chair, a well-known top donor, or your
Executive Director kick off the emails with a personal
message and appeal?
• Ambassador program with personal gift plus 24 or 48
other asks
• Ask via email, mail, and at already scheduled events
• Start in April/May
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

15. • #5 Non-donors:
• Mostly the same approaches as Annual Fund
• Except language - don’t lead them to assume they already give…or that
volunteering is enough
• Who do you need to leverage?
• Staff, Executive Director, volunteer managers and leaders
• The ask(s)
• Will the Board Chair, a well-known top donor, a leading volunteer, or
your Executive Director kick off the emails with a personal message and
appeal?
• Ambassador program with personal gift plus 24 or 48 other asks
• Ask via email, mail, and at already scheduled events
• Start in January by collecting data – at volunteer events have cards on hand
they can fill out so you can engage them via email
• For staff…make it very personal, treat them like mid-level donors – ask in
person. Create a competition and make it fun.
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

16. • #6 Institutional partners:
• Who do you need to leverage?
• Executive Director, relationship owner
• The ask(s)
• Start with your strongest institutional funders and work your way
backward
• If they’ve never given you money, it’s a low possibility but worth a
conversation
• Develop a sponsor proposal
• If its staff volunteers turn it into a leverage point – ask them to run
an internal campaign and to match employee giving for the day
• Ask them to share on social media too
• Start early (Jan/Feb) as partners will need time to plan
• Corporate and church are best bets; foundations & government are long-shots
Refining and mapping a
comprehensive strategy

17. • Questions and clarifications
Q&A

18. • Donor Strategy
• Use segmentation to better manage your donors and
data.
• Define your segments according to what makes sense for
your organization and your universe of donors
• Consider the “Ladder of Communications” when planning
outreach and engagement for each segment
• Homework:
• For session on 1/12/17, review your segments and
brainstorm potential outreach strategies
• Next class: Thursday, January 12th, 2017 – Motivating
donors to give to your project
Summary and next steps